Google Pixel Watch: latest specs, price and release date rumours

Google Pixel Watch: design and screen

We got our latest look at the Pixel Watch courtesy of an official Google video, released ahead of the 6th October unveiling. The footage, which focuses on the design of the wearable, shows how the bespoke strap locking mechanism works and highlighted a few always-on displays. It also revealed how the glass watch face appears to cover the entire top half of the device, which could be cause for concern for anyone that’s dinged or scratched a smartwatch screen in the past.

The video was subsequently updated for other markets, seemingly to make the bezel seem thinner – we’ll have to wait until the official reveal to see exactly how much of that watch face is actually screen.

The Pixel Watch had pretty much been revealed in its full circular glory after someone —presumably a Google employee — left it behind at a restaurant in the US. An anonymous source (since outing themselves as Reddit user tagtech414) sent snaps and details of the mystery timepiece to Android Central, stating that it appeared to be “a testing model for the Internal Pixel team.”

That didn’t give Google much option but to reveal it fully at I/O in May. As per the leaks, the real deal is a gloriously minimalistic circular smartwatch with a near bezel-less display and physical crown, along with at least one visible button.

Though Google hasn’t shown off the Pixel Watch charger, the leaked model’s rear suggests either a Fitbit-like dock charging solution, or wireless charging. The rubber straps look like they’ll be soft and comfortable enough, though their design suggests that they’re proprietary. For the sake of ease and customisation, we’re hoping that won’t be the case.

Straps and watch bands are going to use a proprietary connection that’ll make swapping them out easier, but also limit choice to compatible bands only. Google only showed off one design during its I/O event, a soft-touch silicone strap with two loops and a peg that should keep it secure even while exercising.

It’s coming in a handful of colours. According to 9to5Google, the firm is prepping up to six alternate designs, which will be sold separately, although it’s unclear if they will all be ready at launch. Expect a Milanese-style steel mesh band, two types of leather, a solid metal link bracelet, a fabric strap and a one-piece stretch band. That would essentially cover all the same bases as the Apple Watch.

At launch, black, silver and gold cases are expected, alongside obsidian, charcoal, chalk and hazel bands. Obsidian should be black, while charcoal will be dark grey. Chalk will likely be an off-white hue.

Google Pixel Watch: release date

When Google officially showed off the Pixel watch for the first time at Google I/O, it was coy over exactly when we’d be able to strap one on our wrists – although we knew there was every chance Google would officially launch it alongside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones.

That means late September or early October, to coincide with the firm’s annual release cycle, and was later confirmed in a tweet. October the 6th was the date for your diary. The accompanying video featured the Pixel Watch heavily.

As to whether Google will release the watch day-and-date with the reveal event, that seems unlikely. The firm usually leaves it a week or two to get stock into the wild, meaning there could be another wait until customers can get one.

The dates lined up with leaker Jon Prosser’s suggestion that Google would use I/O to tease the watch, rather than fully reveal it. Serial leaker Evan Blass had also stated that it “won’t be long now”, providing evidence of internal Pixel Rohan training material at Google.

We were expecting the typical Tech Teaser fashion of showing nothing more than a secretive 20-second video, with tantalising close-ups of a circular screen, and very little else. Happily, Google clearly showed off the watch from multiple angles, and gave a good look at some of the software features we can expect.

Google Pixel Watch: price rumours

While there’s nothing concrete just yet, retail sources have told 9to5Google that the Pixel Watch will start at $350 in the US, for the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi model. A cellular version should cost $400. That would make it considerably more than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and more on par with the Apple Watch Series 8. The site expects European pricing to be consistent with US pricing, rather than being any cheaper.

Until we hear different, we can only look to the past – and the competition – for some decent hints on what to expect. The Apple Watch Series 8 starts at £419. If we had to guess, we suspect the Pixel Watch will be somewhere around £350 when it hits the UK: pricey enough to be considered flagship, but perhaps a notch below Apple.

That said, an older report from WinFuture claimed that there may be three variants of the Pixel Watch, so we’ll have to see if there’s actually a range of prices.

Google Pixel Watch: specs and OS

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 2100 chip used to be the smartwatch CPU of choice before being replaced by the Snapdragon 3100 and subsequent 4100. The Pixel Watch could ditch Qualcomm for Samsung’s own Exynos processor though, if the most recent rumours are to be believed.

The Big G isn’t talking specs just yet, but given its partnership with Samsung this is more than a little believable, and we expect to see an Exynos 9110 inside the Pixel Watch. Interestingly this is a step behind the Exynos W920 processor found in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but rumours suggest it will be joined by a co-processor that should handle always-on functions and health tracking. 9to5Google suggests 32GB of storage, more than any rival Wear OS watch right now, and “more than 1.5GB” of RAM.

Qualcomm recently revealed its latest wearable silicon, the Snapdragon W5 and W5 Plus. The first of these chips is aimed at more basic fitness trackers, but the latter is primed for smartwatches. There’s a lot more here than a new name, with the CPU being made on a 4nm process – down from 12nm on previous-generation chips. It’ll be much more power efficient as a result, and will offload more duties to the coprocessor than before too. As to whether it’ll appear on the Pixel Watch? That remains to be seen right now.

Oh, and it goes without saying that it’ll run Wear OS, a smartwatch platform designed in conjunction with Samsung, powered by the health and fitness smarts of Google-owned Fitbit.

The latter’s WearOS redesign was revealed ahead of the launch of the Pixel Watch through an updated Play Store listing, showing key features like step count, sleep tracking, heart rate and hourly activity, plus a workout screen with coloured bars seemingly indicating heart rate zones.

Google Pixel Watch: predicted battery life

It was originally thought the Pixel Watch would boast a major battery life advantage over its Samsung rival, with 9to5Google reporting the Pixel Watch will come with a 300mAh cell compared to the Galaxy Watch 4’s smaller 247mAh battery.

Of course, how long the battery actually lasts will be dependent on a number of things, most notably the software’s power consumption, and the report suggests “about a day” being the typical use case. Whether Samsung or Qualcomm is the one providing the CPU will also be a factor.

That’s all the info we have on the Google Pixel Watch at the moment, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted on all the latest developments ahead of its launch. Stay tuned.

Additional reporting by Andrew Hayward

• Read more: The biggest new features in Android 13