Today, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Watch 4 as well as 5 smartwatches are now compatible with Peloton machines. This includes the bikes, treadmill and rower.
Today’s update to the Peloton App includes this integration. When you start a Peloton workout, your Galaxy Watch 4 or 5 will be asked to pair with the device. Once you have tapped the connect button, the smartwatch will allow you to use it as a heart rate monitor.
Peloton’s Bluetooth heart rate monitors are not required to be purchased separately. Peloton offers a $90 wrist-worn heart rate monitor. While it’s great, it’s not as good as a smartwatch that can track multiple fitness metrics.
However, there are some requirements and caveats. First, your smartphone must be running Android 8.0 or higher and the latest version of the Samsung Health App. Unfortunately, the integration is not available for Samsung’s WearOS 3 smartwatches. The older Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and other Wear OS 3 smartwatches are not compatible. For now, Pixel Watch or Fossil watch users are out of luck.
Peloton should show Android users some love as they tend to give priority to Apple Watch and iOS users. Technically, this is still true. Peloton released an Apple Watch Integration around the same time last year. This is a good thing for Wear OS 3, but it also points out the platform’s flaws. It’s a reminder of the fact that Wear OS 3 has a stronger third-party app ecosystem compared to Wear OS 2. These are all signs that Google’s ongoing efforts on this front are encouraging.
However, this only applies to Samsung watches and shows how fragmented the WearOS market is. Apple Watches are a universal device, but you can still have different experiences with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, Pixel Watch, or the Fossil Gen 6. It is disappointing that Samsung has not made this integration available to Samsung watches. We hope it will soon be available for other non-Samsung Wear OS 3 watches.
