One UI 8 Watch update is breaking the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s battery indicator

Samsung completed the One UI 8 Watch update rollout this past December. Since then, numerous Galaxy Watch 5 Pro users have reported a strange battery-related issue that Samsung hasn’t addressed with the January 2026 patch.

Affected users say the problem isn’t actual battery life, but a broken battery indicator that no longer shows accurate levels.

The bug makes it seem like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro recharges faster than before. But once charging stops, the battery level drops rapidly — sometimes plummeting to 75% in just a few minutes.

We have noticed a similar though milder behavior on the standard Galaxy Watch 5, where the indicator drops to around 98% immediately after removing the watch from the puck charger.

Not all Galaxy Watch 5 Pro users are affected, but those who are blame a miscalibrated battery indicator in One UI 8 Watch. In other words, for most users, the update doesn’t harm battery life itself, but the inaccurate display can cause real headaches.

Users say clearing the cache or factory resetting the watch doesn’t help. Without a fix from Samsung, there’s little anyone can do.

Given how long Samsung took to bring One UI 8 Watch to older models, it’s frustrating that such issues exist.

Thankfully, the problem might be limited to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro — and maybe the standard Watch 5. So if you were thinking about buying a new Samsung smartwatch that happens to run One UI 8 Watch out-of-the-box, it doesn't seem like you have anything to worry about. Assuming, of course, that you like the One UI 8 Watch design, to begin with.

Thanks for the tip, Marcin.

Author’s note: One UI 8 Watch isn’t just buggy — it’s arguably worse in UI design. The new tiles make the UI busier and less legible than before, taking a step back from previous versions.