Google is blessing older Wear OS watches with Gemini, check if your smartwatch is eligible

Gemini is set to fully replace Google Assistant this year, and the transition is not limited to just Android phones or tablets. Google has already confirmed that Gemini will be the default assistant on other categories of devices, including its Nest smart speakers, in-car entertainment systems with Android Auto, and even smartwatches running Google’s Wear OS. The last of these has already come to fruition and is now extending to older watches.

After first announcing Gemini for Wear OS in May at the Google I/O 2025 developers’ conference, Google debuted Gemini on Wear OS with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series last week. It followed up with an announcement confirming it would roll out to other Wear OS smartwatches from other brands, including OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi, over the coming weeks. Fulfilling its commitment, Google is now bringing Gemini to smartwatches other than the Galaxy Watch or Pixel Watch lineup, as first spotted by 9to5Google.

With this rollout, Gemini is expected to be available across a wider range of smartwatches. The only requisite is for the watches to be running Wear OS 4 or newer versions.

I was able to activate Gemini on my OnePlus Watch 2, which, unlike the OnePlus Watch 3, hasn’t been updated from Wear OS 4.

How to get Gemini on your Wear OS smartwatch

To check if Gemini is available for your watch yet, head over to the Play Store on your smartwatch and scroll down until you see the Manage apps option. You’re likely to see a new Google Gemini on Watch ready to be updated. Go ahead and install the update.

Once done, you will see a new Gemini app in the app drawer on your smartwatch. Meanwhile, the Google Assistant app will now be gone.

Just like Google Assistant, you can assign a button to launch Gemini on your smartwatch or say the hotwords “OK Google” or “Hey Google.” Like Android devices, the “Hey Gemini” hotword is not yet functional. Besides waking up Gemini with your voice, you can also use a dedicated tile — which, unfortunately, will have to be set up again if you were already using it with Google Assistant — and assign up to two favorite actions for Gemini to execute.

On your wrist, Gemini already wears many hats and can set timers, alarms, and interact with other apps such as Google Messages or Calendar. It still can’t provide a summary of notifications on the watch or access third-party apps like WhatsApp just yet. However, you can search the web for more detailed responses, but be sure to verify them yourself.

Besides taking over Google Assistant’s responsibilities, Gemini also brings a flavor of Material 3’s Expressive design language and bouncy animations similar to those found in Android 16.