Google Pixel Watch: Don’t expect a Pixel Watch tonight

With Google ready to launch a truckload of new products at its #madebygoogle event this evening, you’d be justified in wondering if a new wearable will be among them. As much as we’d love that to be the case, if the company is to be taken at its word, we’ll be waiting a little longer before we see the fabled Pixel Watch.

Although you should never rule out a surprise early launch – stranger things have been known to happen – the director of engineering for Wear OS, Miles Barr, revealed in an interview with Tom’s Guide earlier this year that there wouldn’t be a Pixel Watch in 2018.

“To think of a one-size-fits-all watch, I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said. “Our focus is on our partners for now.” And if you think those just look like a series of carefully chosen words, the final nail in the coffin is that Google later confirmed Barr’s comments in a statement to the site: no watch this year.

This doesn’t mean that Google isn’t working on a Pixel Watch, of course, but it does suggest that plans are a lot less advanced than original rumours suggested. Earlier in the year, a Pixel Watch this year seemed like a dead certainty thanks to a leak from the usually accurate tech leaker Evan Blass, who said that the company’s first smartwatch would launch alongside the Google Pixel 3.

And if this wasn’t news enough, German technology website Winfuture.de had reported that there would be not one, not two, but three Google Pixel watches released at the same time. The site claimed to have found three codenames for the Google watches currently in production: Ling, Triton and Sardine. These names tell us next to nothing, but if Winfuture is right, each Pixel Watch will pack a brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 processor – one that focuses on battery life improvements, allowing the watch to constantly listen out for voice commands without draining the battery.

Hold your horses, though: it’s possible that not all three will see the light of day. In the buildup to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL releases, there were also three codenamed devices in production, yet only two came out – although there is evidence to suggest that the third went on to be the HTC U11 Plus. 

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Google Pixel Watch: What you need to know

Google Pixel Watch release date: When will it come out in the UK?

Not this year. While a launch alongside the Pixel 3 seemed like a nail on certainty, Google has now confirmed it won’t be releasing a watch this year. 

In an interview with Tom’s Guide, Google’s Miles Barr stated that the company isn’t ready to push a watch out just yet. “To think of a one-size-fits-all watch, I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said. “Our focus is on our partners for now,” he said. Google later confirmed this hint by saying there would be no watch in 2018.

So what does that mean, then? Well, the evidence seems to overwhelmingly point to a Pixel Watch existing – it’s clearly not ready for showtime though. Whether that time is in 2019, later or never depends just how usable it is in its current form.

Google Pixel Watch: How much will it cost?

If the Pixel smartphone line is anything to go by, the Pixel Watch will most likely be positioned at the upper end of the smartwatch market. Google doesn’t make budget Pixel devices, and Google’s Rick Osterloh has spoken out to say that there will be “no cheap” Pixel phone in the future. It’s safe to assume this philosophy will extend to the wider Pixel family. It’s a premium brand, essentially, so expect a premium price.

If we look at the current high-end smartwatch market, devices such as the Fitbit Ionic, the Samsung Galaxy Watch and the Huawei Watch 2, it’d be reasonable to suppose that the Google Pixel smartwatches could be anywhere between £250 and £400.

Google Pixel Watch design: What will they look like?

More than anything, this is the area about which we know least. But looking at the designs of other Google-made devices, like the Pixel 2 and the Pixel Buds, we’re expecting a stylish and minimalist smartwatch which prizes functionality over frills. The Google Pixel Watch may be the Wear OS equivalent of the Apple Watch that we’ve been waiting for – an exciting prospect indeed!

Google Pixel Watch features: What will they do?

Besides telling the time, Google Assistant will take centre stage. You’ll be able to issue all manner of voice commands, dictate messages and ask all the questions you’d usually direct towards your nearest voice assistant

Winfuture say that some variants will have heart rate sensors, a stress tracker, and other health features such as sleep logging, while a fingerprint scanner and facial recognition are also possible. The website says that GPS, LTE and VoLTE will also be supported.