Rendered in all its glory roughly 12 months back, the search giant's first-ever in-house wearable device was then spotted just a few days ago casually hanging out in a US restaurant, having presumably been left behind (intentionally or not) by a Google employee.
This obviously gave us a golden opportunity to check out the objectively gorgeous real-life design of the upcoming Apple Watch rival and hear about its fit, feel, and apparent build quality from a purportedly independent (and unprofessional) source. Of course, plenty of things are still unconfirmed or completely unknown, although a typically reliable Twitter tipster is today joining the gossip games with a few interesting nuggets of information that may or may not pan out soon.
An avalanche of promising and not-so-promising intel
Thus, nothing is etched in stone just yet, even though the presence of a "new Wear OS 3.1 build" on the software side of things, for instance, was essentially confirmed by Evan Blass recently.
Multiple other credible leakers also predicted the Pixel Watch would more or less share the same sensors as the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, ECG monitoring included, while consolidating the Google/Samsung partnership that basically buried the Tizen platform last year in the two companies' joint efforts to challenge Apple's total industry supremacy.
Moving on, it's certainly nice to hear that Big G plans to offer a little bit of choice, with two different Pixel Watch sizes and "at least" four band colors reportedly in the pipeline. That's especially nice to hear considering that commercial availability could well be "limited", at least at launch, although there are no details yet on exactly what that means.
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Hopefully, we're not talking about a "limited release" in the same vein as last year's Pixel 5a 5G handset, which would almost completely annihilate the Pixel Watch's mainstream appeal.
Said appeal shouldn't be harmed by its rumored $300 to $400 price range, which may not sound incredibly aggressive but it is quite fitting for what we expect in terms of design, specs, and features here. After all, Samsung's premium Galaxy Watch 4 Classic normally starts at $350, while the Apple Watch Series 7 carries a recommended price point of $399 and up.
Where does Fitbit come in?
That, our friends (and especially our fitness-obsessed readers), is the million-dollar question, which we're afraid will only be answered when the leaked prototype pictured above (or a different one) manages to turn on and run some sort of a finished or half-finished version of Wear OS 3.1.
Ever since Google acquired Fitbit, we've been expecting this eventual Pixel Watch to borrow some elements from the wearable industry veteran's proprietary OS and combine them with the best of Wear OS 3, which in theory should give this bad boy the software edge over the aforementioned Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
The mystery Pixel Watch Fit may or may not resemble the Fitbit Sense (pictured here).
Then again, we're now hearing a Pixel Watch Fit device of sorts could be coming soon as well, and while you might expect something like that to rival the more affordable non-Classic Galaxy Watch 4, its starting price is currently tipped at $400.
That makes us think Google could reserve a few advanced sensors and health tools, like ECG or EDA technology, for this otherwise mysterious model with thick bezels, although we're obviously not prepared to bet anything of value on that largely hunch-based prediction. Hopefully, it will all become (a little) clearer after the I/O conference in a couple of weeks, even if we wouldn't necessarily hold our breath for an actual May release.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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