What you need to know
- A report from 9to5Google claims the Pixel Watch is powered by a four-year-old processor.
- The chipset in question was released in 2018, alongside the original Galaxy Watch.
- There’s still no indication as to what this means for compatibility with currently available Wear OS smartwatches.
We knew there had to be a catch with the Pixel Watch. Google’s unveiling of its first in-house built smartwatch made waves following leaks we’ve provided and it made an appearance during the Google I/O 2022 keynote.
Leave it to leaks to pour some rain on the parade, as 9to5Google is reporting that the Pixel Watch won’t be using a custom-designed Tensor SoC or even Samsung’s latest Exynos W920 processor. Instead, the source states that the Pixel Watch is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 9110 chipset, which first debuted in 2018 alongside the original Galaxy Watch.
From there, the 9110 processor has been included in some of the best Android smartwatches over the past few years. This includes the Galaxy Watch Active 2 from 2019, and the Galaxy Watch 3 which was replaced by last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic.
As suggested by this report, the reason for this decision from Google could be due to how long the Pixel Watch has been in development. Google is said to have been working on the Pixel Watch for a few years, likely starting the project “when the 9110 was new,” as opposed to it being something that could actually take advantage of these newer processors.
What makes this somewhat problematic is the fact that we still don’t know which current Wear OS watches will be supported by Wear OS 3. Shortly after Google I/O 2021 concluded, Qualcomm jumped the gun a bit, confirming that any smartwatch powered by the Snapdragon Wear 4100 and higher would be able to make use of Wear OS 3. However, Google was swift in its response, . that it has not “confirmed eligibility or timeline on whether any Wear OS smartwatch will update to the new unified platform.
Naturally, the first thought could be that Google was trying to shut down the idea of older chipsets being compatible with the new frameworks. But if this new report turns out to be true, Google could end up in a lot of hot water for using a chipset that’s even older than Qualcomm’s current-generation wearable SoC. Especially after leaving third-party watchmakers out of the loop for the past year, with no end in sight.
We still have at least a few months to go before we’ll know for sure what Google is using to power the Pixel Watch. And if this older SoC is at the helm, it might be tough for Google’s first smartwatch to stand above the Galaxy Watch 4, let alone a potential Galaxy Watch 5.
We have reached out to Google for comments and will provide an update when one is available.