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Galaxy Watch 4 to launch with only one assistant for now and it's not the one you might expect

By Alan Friedman

Published: Aug 14, 2021, 1:11 PM

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Galaxy Watch 4 to launch with only one assistant for now and it's not the one you might expect

This past week Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Both timepieces will have Wear OS pre-installed but will not launch on August 27th with Google Assistant on board. Instead, Samsung's beleaguered Bixby voice assistant is the lone virtual assistant on the timepieces at the moment.

9to5 Google reports that this might change in the future and it was told by Samsung that Assistant is considered one of the features from Google that Samsung is hoping to add to the Galaxy Watch 4. In the settings for the timepieces, there is an option that will allow users to deploy another voice assistant, but Bixby is the only name listed at this point in time.

Right now Bixby is the lone voice assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4 line

Bixby is far from being universally loved by consumers, and with Wear OS installed, Google Assistant would have seemed like the natural choice to be given this assignment. A future software update could be all that is needed to bring Assistant to the Galaxy Watch 4 line. Or the virtual helper could be offered as a download from the Google Play Store.

"Time" to pre-order your new Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatch

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 (40mm)

Cellular model w/ $40 instant discount and extra band

$259 ⁹⁹

$299 ⁹⁹

Expired

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (46mm)

46MM Cellular model of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

$429 ⁹⁹

Expired

In a statement, the Korean manufacturer said that "Samsung is working closely with Google to bring those popular Google services to Galaxy Watch 4 series. We will share more details once they’re ready." Not only does it appear that Google Assistant and Bixby will eventually co-exist on users' wrists, but the same thing also seems to be in the works for Samsung Pay and Google Pay although the latter is reportedly not yet working on the Galaxy Watch 4.

Google did say just this past week that Google Pay will be offered on the Galaxy Watch 4 line, and while we also believe that Assistant will end up on the watches, the question now is one of timing.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.