After years of non-stop rumours, the Pixel Watch is finally set to be launched imminently. Read on for all you need to know about Google’s first smartwatch.
We’ve been following the Pixel Watch rumour mill for what feels like an eternity, and so it’s a relief to see that its launch is finally upon us. But what has Google actually officially unveiled about its wearable, and what do other rumours indicate, ahead of its release? For the answer to these questions and more, just keep reading on.
Release date
The Pixel Watch will be released on October 6, at 10am ET (3pm BST).
The device will make its debut alongside the Pixel 7 series of smartphones, and a new pair of true wireless earbuds. However, the first time the wearable was unveiled at Google I/O 2022 earlier this year, which really whetted our appetite for the full launch.
Price
Our most reliable estimates for the price of the Pixel Watch are sourced from 9to5Google. According to this site, you can expect the Wi-Fi only model to cost $349.99 (~£310), while the LTE variant will apparently cost $399.99 (~£355). These prices put it in a similar bracket to the Apple Watch Series 8 (from $399), and would make it a fair bit pricier than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 (from $279.99), so we’re keen to see how its specs and software will measure up against Apple’s premium wearable.
Credit: Google
Design and display
Leaked design renders show off the slim profileNear bezel-less displaySingle physical input
With so many leaks leading up to this point, there were very few surprises in anticipating how the Pixel Watch would look and as it turns out, the renders were largely spot on.
Encased in a pebble-like body, the Pixel Watch has been designed with a clean two-tone aesthetic that’s overlapped by a rotating crown on the right-hand side. From what we can see so far, there appear to be three different colour types for the Pixel Watch: black, silver and rose gold. These colours are reflected on the watch’s underside and on the rotating crown. The front-facing portion packs a near bezel-free display that complements the seamless design of the Pixel Watch.
This design was further demystified when a Reddit user seemingly got their hands on a sample of the watch and documented their unofficial unboxing with plenty of revealing photos.
According to 9to5Google, there will be a renewed focus on watch faces with this wearable, with this source having noticed a mention of “photos_watchface_preview” in the code of the Google Photos app, which suggests that you can made custom watch faces using your own saved images.
Credit: Google
Specs
Exynos 9110 chipset24-hour battery life
The most in-depth look at the specifications list of the new watch has come courtesy of the renowned tispter Yogesh Brar on Twitter.
It has to be said that there may be a few surprises on this list, and not necessarily good ones. For starters, it will seemingly run on Snapdragon’s older smartwatch chipset, the Exynos 9110, rather than the newer Exynos W920. What’s more, the battery life will only last 24 hours according to this source, which is less than ideal.
However, there are plenty of other attractive features rumoured to be joining the watch, including a heart rate sensor and ECG, while the construction sounds robust thanks to 5ATM water resistance and a Gorilla Glass 5 screen.
Features
Set to run on Wear OS 3Google has partnered with Samsung on the softwareThere will be Fitbit integration
There’s still a lot to learn about the features baked into the Pixel Watch, such as the battery life, but Google has revealed that Fitbit’s ecosystem will play a huge part in the watch’s fitness tracking.
Fitbit’s Active Zone Minutes – which tracks your week-on-week process towards your fitness goals – will be coming to the Pixel Watch. Compared to daily results, AZM allows you to make up your progress on different days which better suits busy folks who have an ever-changing schedule.
Fitbit’s sleep tracking and continuous heart rate monitoring will also be brought over, giving you a more holistic understanding of your current bill of health.
Without going into too much detail, Google has alluded to seamless use of its own apps on the Pixel Watch, so we can anticipate a fast and streamlined experience when using services like Google Assistant and Google Maps. However, 9to5Google have reported that you may need to install a whole new app in order to access Pixel Watch functionality on your phone, in addition to the usual Wear OS app, which could be a sign of clunky functionality.
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