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Samsung has released a new software update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. It appears to fix the recent bricking issue, at least for some users. Rolling out with firmware version R8**XXU1GVK4, the new release also brings the latest, November security patch.
A few days back, it came to light that Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 models were having a major problem. Several users reported that their smartwatches wouldn’t turn on. A previous update carrying firmware version R8**XXU1GVI3 appeared to be the culprit. It kind of bricked the wearables. While the watches worked fine after the update, they wouldn’t turn on once turned off. So if you manually power off your watch or the battery ran out, it becomes useless.
The buggy update was released almost a month back. But the problem came to light recently as more users ended up having their Galaxy Watch 4 turned off permanently. Samsung immediately paused the rollout and promised to release a fix. The promised fix is now rolling out. The changelog for the latest update mentions that the company has applied a “power operation-related stabilization code” to the firmware for improved system stability and reliability.
That said, one user has reported that the latest update bricked their Galaxy Watch 4. They were on the GVI3 build and installed the GVK4 release to be safe from the bug. But it didn’t go as expected. Their watch wouldn’t turn back on after installing the new software release. Some others report that their watch restarted a few times before coming to life with the latest software build. So Samsung doesn’t seem to have fully fixed the issue.
Meanwhile, some Redditors speculate this issue is only affecting devices manufactured in mid-2021, around the August launch. Perhaps a particular lot or batch, or units from a particular manufacturing line, may be affected. But there’s no confirmation on that. We advise you to be cautious with the latest Galaxy Watch 4 update.
Install the latest Galaxy Watch 4 update with caution
Interestingly, the official changelog for the latest Galaxy Watch 4 update recommends users create a backup of important files before installing. Samsung has detailed the process in the changelog, which is unusual. The changelogs for previous updates don’t contain such recommendations. Maybe the company sensed potential danger here. It’s advisable to be cautious with this update. You might want to hold off installing it for the time being. We should get a clearer picture of whether this release is safe over the new few days.