Samsung to patch Galaxy Watch reading issues for users with tattooed wrists

Samsung is gearing up to launch yet another smartwatch this summer, the Galaxy Watch 6. Rumored to come equipped with a slightly better chipset than the previous generation, the Exynos W930, Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is likely to suffer from the same reading issues that affect most smartwatches.

Despite Samsung having the most advanced sensors packed inside its most recent Galaxy Watch models, all its smartwatches seem to have trouble reading health and fitness data when they are worn on tattooed wrists.

It’s truly bizarre, but the ink used in tattoos more often than not prevents a smartwatch’s sensors from determining whether or not someone has it on their wrist. Because of this, Galaxy Watch users with tattoos on their wrists are often unable to get their smartwatches to read any fitness and health data.

Thankfully, Samsung is aware of the issue and plans to patch it in a future update, SamMobile reports. According to a Samsung Community moderator, the company's engineers are already working on one or more updates that should add improvements to the Galaxy Watch’s wearing detection function.

These improvements specifically target users with tattoos on their wrists and are planned to be rolled out in the second half of 2023. This means that the first update should arrive any time after the official launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch.

That’s not to say that only Galaxy Watch 6 users will be getting the patch, it’s just that they might be the first to benefit from these wearing detection improvements. The Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 will most likely receive the same improvements as well, although the timing and the nature of these improvements are unknown at the moment.

Samsung has already confirmed its next Unpacked event will be held later this month. We expect the South Korean giant to introduce at least two phones (Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5), a new smartwatch (Galaxy Watch 6), a pair of earbuds (Galaxy Buds 3) and one new tablet (Galaxy Tab S9). Keep in mind though that Samsung hasn’t confirmed any details about its upcoming Unpacked event except that it will take place in late July.