Earlier this week, Google confirmed what we’ve suspected for a very long time: the Google Pixel Watch is coming later this fall. And whereas we discovered some particulars, the reveal was extra of a teaser than a full-blown announcement. A few of that was to be anticipated, and naturally, the following few months can be filled with hypothesis about what the ultimate type of the Pixel Watch can be. However one factor Google has to get proper is the chip inside.
It’s clear, from the Pixel Watch’s design to the corporate’s large endeavor in retooling Put on OS, that Google is making an attempt to make an Android flagship smartwatch that may give the Apple Watch a run for its cash. The factor is, Put on OS’s sluggish evolution wasn’t all on Google. For numerous years, Put on OS was stymied by a scarcity of succesful processors.
Most Put on OS watches run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon Put on chip. A number of run on proprietary chips, however these are an exception to the rule. At a time when Samsung and Apple have been rolling out superior smartwatch options left and proper on more and more highly effective SoCs, Qualcomm understandably put extra of its effort into its cellular chips than its wearable ones. That left Put on OS and not using a processor that might sustain. The watches have been laggy, downloading apps on the wrist could possibly be tedious, and typically it felt just like the watch was combating in opposition to you.
There are various the reason why Put on OS struggled to realize a foothold, however there are two main elements that led it to the place it’s at this time: sometimes up to date software program and this chip downside. Fixing both was going to be a bumpy experience, however on the very least, Put on OS 3 is a concerted effort on the software program entrance. The {hardware} problem is a bit more regarding as a result of up till now, Put on OS watches have primarily trusted Qualcomm’s chips. And sadly, Qualcomm didn’t ship.
There was hope when the Snapdragon Put on 4100 platform was introduced because it used newer (although nonetheless outdated) course of know-how that will allow quicker efficiency and extra trendy options. However then it took over a yr for a handful of watches to really use it, and the whole expertise nonetheless wasn’t dramatically improved.
To be blunt, the Snapdragon Put on 3100 and 4100 platforms will not be going to chop it for the Pixel Watch. It was telling when Samsung opted to make use of its personal Exynos W920 SoC over the Snapdragon Put on 4100 platform for the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup — the very first Put on OS 3 watches. No matter Qualcomm had obtainable, it merely was by no means going to outmatch Samsung’s personal tech.
And when Google and Fossil began explaining how upgrades to Put on OS 3 would possibly work, it grew to become clear that the 3100 wouldn’t lower it both. Fossil revealed that none of its 3100-powered smartwatches would obtain the improve to the brand new unified platform, counter to what many believed. When Google introduced which present Put on OS watches could be eligible for an improve to Put on OS 3, it not solely excluded all 3100-powered watches — it additionally included the ominous message with others that “in some restricted instances, the consumer expertise could also be impacted.”
The kicker was when a couple of months after the Put on OS 3 reveal, Qualcomm introduced in July 2021 that it was getting its geese in a row to develop a brand new 5100 platform throughout the subsequent yr. Which ought to imply the 5100 is sort of prepared except it received delayed.
This leaves us with an enormous query. What precisely goes to energy the Pixel Watch? And can it be capable of run Put on OS 3 the best way Google envisions?
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Maybe Google will license Samsung’s Exynos W920. Samsung has declined to touch upon whether or not that’s a chance a number of instances. (Understandably so.) One other latest rumor is that the Pixel Watch will characteristic Samsung’s last-gen wearable chip, the Exynos 9110. Or given Qualcomm’s sudden need to hustle on a brand new wearable chip, maybe the Pixel can be one of many first watches powered by the 5100 platform. Or, possibly Google will adapt its Tensor chip for the Pixel Watch. We requested Google to remark concerning the Pixel Watch’s processor, nevertheless it declined to remark.
All of those eventualities are exhausting to foretell. Put on OS 3 ran effectively on the Galaxy Watch 4 — besides when it got here to battery life with the always-on show. You possibly can’t say the Pixel Watch would endure the identical, even when it has the identical chip. It’s going to run a refreshed model of the Put on OS 3 UI and certain gained’t use the very same parts. Leaks already recommend that the battery sizes are totally different. The watch operating on the older Exynos 9110 is perhaps probably disappointing, however not the tip of the world both. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 ran Tizen fairly easily — and Put on OS 3 is no less than half Tizen. As for battery life, the Galaxy Watch 3 wasn’t something to put in writing house about nevertheless it was, no less than in my expertise, higher than its successor.
Choosing a Tensor chip could be intriguing — partly as a result of we wouldn’t know what to anticipate but in addition as a result of Google wouldn’t be restricted by a 3rd occasion. As for a Qualcomm 5100 chip, it’s exhausting to be hopeful primarily based on the previous.
That stated, Qualcomm might shock all people, and I discover it exhausting to think about that Google would endure a subpar chip when it’s been actively and constantly laying the groundwork for the Pixel Look ahead to over two years. That will be flopping when it counts most.
Clearly, we gained’t know what the chip can be till Google confirms it later this yr. However one factor’s for positive — Put on OS 3 can’t repeat the errors of the previous. It’s not the tip of the world if the Pixel Watch doesn’t include FDA-cleared EKGs, physique temperature sensors, and each experimental well being characteristic underneath the solar. (We requested Google about this too, nevertheless it once more declined to remark.) These can at all times come later. What it might’t afford are laggy efficiency and abysmal battery life.
The one method to decide Google’s success (or failure) can be to check the Pixel Watch ourselves. However realizing what’s powering it could no less than give an thought of what to anticipate.
