After a long drought, the floodgates seem to have opened for the Google Pixel Watch rumors, as in the wake of renderings apparently showing the watch, we've now heard a number of key details about it.
9to5Google found a mention of "PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_WATCH" in a recent Google app update, which tells us a few things. Firstly, it strongly suggests that Google's first smartwatch will be Pixel-branded, and secondly, the mention of "experience" suggests that there will be Wear OS features exclusive to the Pixel Watch.
We say this because Google uses the term "experience" in the code for Pixel phones to refer to features unique to Android.
We don't know what those features will be yet, but one of them could be on-device rendering for the Google Assistant. This is something that is already offered on Pixel phones, and it means that the Google Assistant can run faster and can even perform some tasks without an internet connection.
9to5Google has found references to this feature in various Google apps in connection with "Rohan", which is said to be the code name for the Pixel Watch. Google Assistant could get a facelift on the laptop, too, with the image below also spotted (on a Wear OS 3 emulator this time).
The curved light bar at the bottom would indicate that the Wizard is running, while your search query and any answers would appear at the top. Interestingly, this image also appears to show a hardware button in addition to the crown, but such a button is not present in the leaked Pixel Watch images. Still, maybe this is a generic image, or maybe there are multiple Google Pixel Watch models.
Finally, investigating code related to Wear OS, the site also found evidence that the Pixel Watch may have a Samsung Exynos chipset.
This would not be at all surprising, as the Exynos W920 in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is the best chipset currently available for Wear OS devices, and Samsung has been working with Google on the latest version of Wear OS. It has also already been said that the Pixel Watch will use this chipset.
That said, this leak doesn't name that specific chipset, it only points to an Exynos in general, so the Pixel Watch may be using a different model.
Review: Good battery life and wide support could make this the best Wear OS watch
Considering all the leaks, it is possible that the Google Pixel Watch will launch soon, and if it does, its main Wear OS competitor will be the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
These are currently the only smartwatches running Wear OS 3, and they are high-end devices, but they have issues, with some features only for Samsung phone owners and no iPhone support.
So if the Google Pixel Watch makes all of its features available to all Android phone owners and better yet includes iPhone compatibility, then it will have a huge advantage over Samsung's offerings.
Beyond that, the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic in particular has poor battery life in our experience, so if Google can handle two or more days of life here, then the Pixel Watch could be the laptop to beat in 2022.
Via GSMArena