Google has officially announced its upcoming “Made by Google” Pixel Fall event will take place on October 6. We’re only about a week away from seeing the brand new Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro flagships, and the first Google Pixel Smartwatch. While we’re waiting for new information to pop up, we have recently seen a few leaks detailing the price, showing off the retail box for the smartwatch, and telling us some essential details about the hardware of the upcoming device.
Outdated chip
Previous rumors claimed that the Google Pixel Watch might be equipped with a whopping four-year-old chipset, the same chip that powered the first, and original Samsung Galaxy Watch, launched all the way back in 2018. The Samsung Exynos 9110 chip powered the original Galaxy Watch, built on the 10nm process. It’s worth noting that this has the potential to be true, as Google is said to have been working on its own smartwatch for a very long time, but it remains to be seen if the company has managed to optimize its first-ever smartwatch for a new chipset.
The Exynos 9110 could be rebranded to follow Google’s Tensor branding. Still, it could very well have the exact specifications and power as the original SoC, which, even if optimized well, it could likely provide less than appealing battery life and performance when compared to other competing devices on the market.
For comparison, Qualcomm announced its brand new Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 and W5 Gen 1 chipsets in July, earlier this year. The chipsets are built on the 4nm process, and promise the efficiency, battery life, and new technologies we’ve been waiting for. For the first time, smartwatch makers might finally have a chance to compete against the Apple Watch, and we’re more excited than ever to see the first smartwatches with these new chips from Mobvoi and OPPO, coming in the coming weeks and months.
Large bezels
Google shared the video above on September 22, giving us a closer look at the upcoming Google Pixel smartwatch. The video shows that the smartwatch will follow a more traditional design with a rounded display. It appears to be relatively slim and small, and we expect it to be similarly sized to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, although we don’t have the dimensions yet.
The video gives us a glimpse of the display size for the upcoming smartwatch, which appears to have a much smaller screen than we initially anticipated. Previous renders and unofficial leaks suggested the display would go up to the edge of the device, but the new video confirms that it might be a lot smaller.
Unimpressive battery life
The Google Pixel Watch is rumored to pack a 300mAh battery, which is a reasonable size for a Wear OS smartwatch. Other manufacturers often equip their similarly sized devices with a similar cell inside their wearables, but it remains to be seen if this will yield a multi-day battery life. There are also some reports that the smartwatch might not support any fast charging technologies, which could mean that a full top-up could be achieved in about two hours, which is very long for a smartwatch. 9to5Google says that a full charge could take 110 minutes.
Using an older chip might mean that we could see slower charging speeds, and no support for faster-charging technologies, and so far, all fingers point to that scenario. It remains to be seen how well the smartwatch will perform in a real environment, and we hope that we can get at least a full day’s worth of use out of the watch, before needing to look for a charger.
High price tag, considering the specs
A recent leak from 9to5Google claims that the Google Pixel Watch will start at $349.99 for the standard, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi model, while the cellular version could retail for $399.99. The post also mentions that the non-cellular models would be available in a Black casing and black bands, Silver case, and Charcoal bands, as well as in Gold casing and Hazel bands. The cellular model is rumored to come in nearly identical colors with minor differences.
Google is also rumored to be working on providing an extensive range of colorful straps for the Pixel Watch. Still, we have no information on how much those could set you back individually.
The price of the Google Pixel Watch is expected to be relatively high. The Galaxy Watch 5 costs $279 for the 40mm model, while the 44mm variant retails for $309. The Apple Watch SE 2 starts at $249, while the Apple Watch Series 8 is available for $399. Considering the leaked specifications and features, the Pixel Watch might not be as expensive as many thought initially. However, it might still cost significantly more compared to other recently unveiled smartwatches with more powerful internals.
The rumors aren’t always true
This is worth keeping in mind. We have seen numerous times that rumors and leaks don’t always pan out the way we expect them, and companies can make last-minute changes to fix issues. For reference, everyone was confident that we would see a square Apple Watch Pro smartwatch, which later turned out to be slightly different from the leaked renders we saw. There were a lot of resemblances, but the fact is, we have to take every piece of information with a heavy grain of salt.
There is a high probability that most of the leaked information and rumors are just that, rumors, or made up. We’ll find out more information about the upcoming Google Pixel Watch on October 6, at the Pixel Fall event. We are excited and can’t wait to get our hands on the upcoming smartwatch. We’ve been waiting for it for as long as you have, and we are eager to take it for a spin, and compare it against other popular smartwatches on the market.
If, however, the rumors are indeed true, then Google will have a hard job convincing people to buy their smartwatch, over other competing devices. The Galaxy Watch 5 series, and the upcoming Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 smartwatches are all expected to perform better, not to mention, they could also have better battery life and the same integration with Android devices as the Pixel Watch.