Rumors suggest Google is working on its own flagship smartwatch to show off Wear OS – here’s what we know so far.
The Google Pixel Watch is something we’ve been hearing about for years, and though sporadic leaks tell us “it’s coming soon!”, we’re still waiting on the device. Given all we’ve heard about a Google Watch, we can surmise that it’s been in development, but the big question then is when it will arrive. Several reports says it’ll arrive at some point in 2022, and one leak goes as far as saying the exact launch date will be May 26. Just like how Pixel phones are a showcase for Android, the Google Pixel Watch is expected to be an example of the full potential of Wear OS – and given the wearable operating system’s big update was shown off at Google IO, we figured the watch wasn’t far behind. Below we’re going to break down everything we know so far about the upcoming watch. Then, further down, we’ve put together a list of the features we’d like from the first flagship Google Watch. An exact release date for the rumored Google Pixel Watch isn’t clear – just predictions based on leaks. One report from Insider claims to have spoken to people familiar with the matter who suggest it’s coming in 2022, and more recently we’ve heard that May 26, 2022 will be the big day – perhaps during Google IO 2022. A tweet from noted leaker Evleaks claiming a “reliable source” said it would be announced alongside the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL back in 2018, then a rumor claimed the Google Watch would land on October 15 2019 at the Pixel 4 launch – but of course, neither happened, and we’re still waiting. We’re fairly confident that such a watch is in the works though, and it’s possible that the Pixel Watch could benefit from Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, which could see the latter company’s wearable skills put towards Google smartwatch hardware, but that deal was only finalized in January 2021. A smartwatch based on Fitbit’s tech is probably unlikely to land in the near future – though Google has announced that a premium Fitbit running Wear OS is in the works. Better still, at Google IO 2021 the company announced that Wear OS is integrating features from Samsung’s Tizen OS, which could suggest what’s coming in the Google Watch. We’ve also heard that Google has reportedly ordered processors from Samsung (according to ETNews) which would be capable of detecting body movements. There’s no guarantee that these are for a smartwatch (they could be for a Pixel phone) but a wearable would be an obvious fit. That, then, is strong evidence that some form of Pixel Watch is in the works. As for price, we don’t currently have any idea how much this watch will cost. Considering the Pixel range is usually high-end products with generally flagship level prices, we’d expect that but we don’t currently have any evidence supporting it. The first real Pixel Watch design leak came from leaker Jon Prosser, who shared an image showing the wearable with a physical crown. Prosser followed up with a batch of rendered images based on info provided by a source, which show potentially the first full looks at the Pixel Watch’s supposed design. Here’s the full video of Prosser’s reveal. Per the renders, the Pixel Watch looks like a circular smartwatch with a bezel-less display, no buttons, and a single physical crown on the right side. The renders also recreate the suggested interface, including a watch face with radial time markers, giving it an analog timepiece look.
