New chipset for Pixel Watch 2 should deliver improved performance and better battery life

This coming October, when Google is expected to unveil the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, we will also see the introduction of the Pixel Watch 2. And according to Android Authority, a new chipset will be powering the next iteration of the timepiece. The Exynos 9110 SoC, introduced in early 2018, was the gray bearded silicon employed on the first-generation Pixel Watch even though it also powered the first Galaxy Watch years ago. According to the report, that chipset will be replaced on the next Pixel Watch with the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1.

The Samsung chipset featured a pair of Arm Cortex-A53 cores running at a clock speed of 1.15GHz. The Snapdragon SoC has four of those cores running at 1.7GHz. And the GPU in the Snapdragon wearable chipset, the Adreno 702, is a big improvement over the GPU used on the Exynos component. Additionally, the Exynos 9110 was built using Samsung Foundry's 10nm process node. The Snapdragon W5 is built using a 4nm process node. Performance and energy efficiency should be much improved. 

Also helping to deliver better battery life, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 supports low-power states such as Deep Sleep and Hibernation. The Pixel Watch 2 will have a battery rated at 306mAh (typical) which is a 4.1% hike from the 294mAh battery that the original Pixel Watch was equipped with.

The Pixel Watch 2 will also be equipped with an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip. This could be used as part of Google's upcoming Find My Device network to help provide a new Google item tracker with precise locations on where to find a missing item that has been tagged. UWB could also allow the Pixel Watch 2 to be used as a digital car key. Right now, BMW supports the technology with other automakers like GM, Honda, Hyundai, and Volkswagen working on adding the feature.

The Pixel Watch 2 will have Wear OS 4 pre-installed and is expected to keep the same look with the large bezels on the display that some users criticized last year. The 1.2-inch circular OLED display, with a 384 x 384 resolution, comes from Samsung Display this year; the screen on the OG model came from BOE. Also, the Pixel Watch 2 is expected to be the first smartwatch that will run software updates in the background while allowing the user to still use the device.

There are two codenames for the Pixel Watch 2. "Eos" is the version that runs on LTE and "Aurora" is the Wi-Fi variant. There are also three model numbers: G4TSL, GC3G8, and GD2WG. Earlier this month, the new watch faces for the Pixel Watch 2 were the subject of a major leak.