Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 users are getting a massive software upgrade soon

The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event just took place and showed off all of the new goodies on offer from the Korean brand. That included a host of new products across various categories.

We saw new foldable phones, new smartwatches and even some new tablets from the brand. But it's not just those who are in the market for a new device who are getting the benefits.

As part of the presentation for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series, we got wind of a big upgrade coming for users of older Samsung watches – like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. That's because Wear OS 4 is coming soon.

The operating system will run on the new devices as standard, but older devices won't be left out for long. They should receive the update shortly after the new devices have hit the market.

That's a decent upgrade. There are a host of cool benefits on offer in the new version of the OS. For starters, users will get new apps. We already knew WhatsApp was coming, but Audible and Gmail were also confirmed to arrive soon. The subsequent Samsung press release also confirmed that a Google Calendar app will join the fray.

There's also new technology on offer with regards to temperature measurement. The infrared sensor on the devices will soon be even more useful, as the new Skin Temperature API is given to developers. According to Samsung, that means you could now take a contact-free reading to measure the temperature of objects around you – like a plate of food, for example.

There's no concrete date for when the upgrades will be available. In the presentation, we only heard that the update will be "available soon." 

Still, it's worth keeping an eye out for if you have an older device. They also mentioned that the upgrade would be available on all devices from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series onwards. That's great news.

Those devices are now around two years out of date, and still receiving major OS updates. That's really good for the user, who can continue to enjoy the latest and greatest features without having to shell out for a new model.