Pixel Watch battery capacity leak paints worrying picture
Google looks set to launch its first smartwatch, which rumors and a trademark filling suggest will be called the Pixel Watch, this year. A group of Google employees apparently left behind a prototype unit in a restaurant recently, lending credence to reports and renders that had said the wearable would have a round display, a minimalist design, and a crown for navigation. The watch's battery capacity has now leaked.
A pre-release unit that Business Insider learned about last year lasted a day on a single charge and the expectation was that the final version would offer longer battery life.
Per today's report, the Pixel Watch packs a 300mAh battery. According to an earlier rumor, it's 40mm wide, and for comparison, the 40mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 which is equipped with a smaller 247mAh battery lasts nearly 24 hours. The Pixel Watch will allegedly be thicker and heavier than the Galaxy Watch 4, which is seemingly why it has more room for a comparatively bigger battery and it might be able to run for a little longer.
Other comparable models include the Fossil Gen 6 and Skagen Falster Gen 6, and both of them need to be charged nightly.
The Pixel Watch is extremely likely to be powered by a Samsung-made chip, maybe the same one the underpins the latest Galaxy watches, so optimization is apparently the only thing that can extend the battery life beyond 24 hours.
Today's report also says that the Pixel Watch will offer cellular connectivity, but it's not clear if this is true for all three rumored models.
Google's first smartwatch will run the Mountain View giant and Samsung's jointly developed Wear OS 3 platform and since the company now owns Fitbit, the watch will likely also include Fitbit integration and may borrow some health sensors from the brand as well.
The watch will reportedly only be available in a few markets and is expected to be priced between $300 and $400, which would make it a little more expensive than the Galaxy Watch 4 which starts at $249.99, but possibly a little more affordable than the Apple Watch 7 that starts at $399.
We will have to wait and see if it lives up to the hype and outshines the best smartwatches of 2022.
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