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The Google Pixel Watch (First Gen.) is an excellent smartwatch, but there are a few key areas where it needs to catch up to the competition. Those issues lie in limited sizes and, more crucially, the battery life that usually lasts 24 hours maximum.
We recently heard that the upcoming Google Pixel Watch 2 could debut with a significant upgrade this year, and it could be powered by a Snapdragon chip, a larger battery, and offer improved tracking capability and new features. The Pixel Watch 2 might be a big upgrade this year, and we’re now hearing even more rumours and leaks, revealing even more crucial information to help us see the full picture.
A more powerful chip
Before we get started, let’s start with the basics. The Google Pixel 2 is rumoured to be powered by the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset (via AndroidAuthority). The first Pixel Watch was equipped with the Samsung-made Exynos 9100, which, although it worked fine, was far from the best. The new Snapdragon chips were announced in July 2022 and brought several key improvements over the previous platform, and it now offered better power efficiency, more performance, Bluetooth 5.3, and more.
The Snapdragon W5 is built on the 4nm process as most mobile SoCs, providing major efficiency improvements. Although the chip is slightly outdated, it’s one of the best chips manufacturers can get their hands on and use today.
Better display panel, same old bezels
The Pixel Watch was heavily criticized for its large bezels and small display, and while we’re not expecting a change in the size, Google will reportedly change the panel to improve the experience. This means that we could see the same 1.2-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 384 x 384; however, we could see improvements in brightness, colours, and even responsiveness. A newer display could also improve the battery life as it could consume less power, so there’s much to be excited about.
Ultra-Wideband (UWB)
UWB could finally arrive at the Pixel Watch 2, offering an entirely new experience for Android users. UWB, for those unaware, allows users to pinpoint the location of other devices precisely, and it could be used to offer advanced tracking to improve the Find My Device network with compatible devices.
That’s not all; the same technology is used to store car keys supported by brands such as Volkswagen, GM, Hyundai, and BMW. This feature could allow you to unlock your car and use it without a phone or keys.
Bigger battery
The first generation Pixel Watch was heavily criticized for its poor battery life, and the new Pixel Watch 2 should offer significantly better performance thanks to the new Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip and improvements made to Wear OS 4. To help make the Pixel Watch 2 last more, AndroidAuthority says that Google will reportedly equip the smartwatch with a 306mAh cell, up from 294mAh from the first generation
New features
The Pixel Watch 2 will run Wear OS 4, based on Android 13. The new operating system will offer additional features and support for dynamic theming. The watch will also support seamless updates, similar to the process we’ve seen on Android. When a new update becomes available, the OS can update the platform while the old version runs in the background. We can only hope that this will speed up the process and offer a more seamless process, only requiring a reboot after installation.
The Google Pixel Watch is the first smartwatch from the software giant, and it’s been in its works for multiple years. The watch is powered by Wear OS 3 and has Google Assistant, Fitbit health tracking features, and more.
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