Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic receive new features in latest update as owners complain of overheating issues and short battery life

Samsung has started rolling out the second update for the Galaxy Watch4 series, having started shipping pre-orders two weeks ago in some countries. Samsung issued an inaugural firmware update before the Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic launched, making R8**XXU1BUH9 the first update since the pair have reached consumers.

R8**XXU1BUH9 is a reasonably large update at 305 MB, although the changelog only reports that it improves 'system stability and reliability'. However, Samsung has moved Samsung Health settings into the main settings menu. Previously, you had to open Samsung Health to change how the smartwatch autodetects workouts and measures your health stats.

Additionally, R8**XXU1BUH9 adds a cancel button for automatic workout detection. Adjusting volume levels should now be easier, and how many calories you have burned when cycling should be tracked more accurately. So far, Samsung has rolled out the update in Germany, the UK and the US, for reference.

Unfortunately, complaints are piling up on the Samsung Community Forum and Reddit about excessive battery drain and overheating issues. Both issues are restricted to LTE models; we only have Bluetooth models currently, so we cannot replicate the issues described in the links below.

Apparently, both problems worsen when a Galaxy Watch4 or Galaxy Watch4 Classic have weak LTE signal. Both smartwatches will attempt to amplify the available signal, which causes them to produce excess heat and drain their batteries quickly. Currently, it is unclear if a software or hardware fault is causing this, but a workaround could be to enable airplane mode when in a low signal area. Samsung has not publicly commented on the issues yet, either.

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