Google Pixel Watch 4 – First Images, Thoughts & Predictions

Google Pixel 4 will be a holding update for the company.

Pixel Watch 3 (three, 2024) was a competent smartwatch and set the platform in the right direction towards sharing Wear OS/Android domination with Samsung, similar to how Apple Watch dominates iOS. Both Google and Wear OS have a long way to go to achieve comparable commercial success, and Pixel Watch 4 must maintain the company’s momentum.

Wear OS 6

Pixel Watch 4 will inevitably ship with Wear OS 6 (or 5.5), whichever is announced. Let’s put speculation on software updates to one side and focus on what we can discern from the hardware side based on the newly leaked marketing renders and known changes to the component supply chains.

Visible Hardware Changes

A cursory glance at the face, sides, and reverse shows that nothing too obvious has changed.

However, digging deeper, it is clear that the optical array now lacks charging pins. Almost certainly, this means wireless/QI-type charging will be added. QI charging is relatively inefficient and consequently less environmentally friendly, but the lack of pins makes waterproofing easier.

The speaker to the left of the face appears to have two small and unusual buttons above and below. This significant, non-whimsical design change will not be for something as simple as volume control. Perhaps these can be used for some exotic sensor support? (A: No). More likely would be to control on-screen scrolling somehow, but why not use the touchscreen for that? A mystery.

The watch appears to have modified dimensions. Others have compared imagery and deduced a 2mm thicker case and, perhaps, a slightly reduced ‘bezel’. The new wireless charging tech will eat up a larger internal case volume. However, 2mm remains a significant thickness increase, so there will inevitably be a larger battery and an improved battery life. That said, Pixel 3 boasted a 30% battery capacity bump from its predecessor; looking at trends, it’s unlikely that two big battery bumps will occur in consecutive years.

Further interesting speculation would be that bigger battery life on Pixel 4 might mean that we won’t see a Pixel Watch ‘Ultra’ until 2026.

Or that the extra juice is needed to power AI in a new SnapDragon chip

Other Likely Changes

Pixel Watch 2 and Watch 3 share the same internal tech powerhouse: their Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 (4nm) chipset (2022), Cortex-M33 Co-Processor, and Adreno A702 GPU. The same display is shared  – 1.2″ AMOLED, 320 ppi as are the same sensors  – multipath HR sensor, ECG, SpO2, skin temp, cEDA. Regarding connectivity, Pixel 3 strangely added Wi-Fi 6E(ax) independently of the W5’s Wifi 5 abilities; otherwise, the Bluetooth and UWB capabilities were unchanged.

Industry norms suggest that at most two components will be upgraded yearly. I would speculate that the SnapDragon chipset will be the one that’s upgraded – the major component responsible for many of the device’s capabilities. Changing it has plenty of design repercussions, ranging from physically accommodating a differently sized module to the software changes needed to support the features it offers.

The SnapDragon chipset covers GNSS reception over GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS. Still, it does not support the high-precision dual-frequency offered by competitor chipsets from Sony & Airoha (MediaTek) found in Garmin and Suunto smartwatches – although even Apple Watch 10 still keeps a comparable single-frequency reception, being more energy efficient. Having used the SnapDragon W5+ for two years, it’s due for a change, but its maker, Qualcomm, has not yet announced a replacement but is rumoured to in July 2025 – similar timing to the expected Pixel 4.

However, you have to ask why Google dumped the SnapDragon W5’s Wifi 5 capabilities last year and added its own WiFi 6 capabilities. That’s a strange move to do for one year for a feature (WiFi) that is of secondary importance in wearables.

This all suggests that Qualcomm’s heralded RISC replacement for the W5 will not come this year. In 2026, we will see its dual frequency GPS and Wifi 6 (7?), as well as the AI co-processing abilities used by Google.

What do you think?

Take Out

My original excitement about a significantly upgraded Pixel Watch was quickly subdued. You’ll get a battery bump, but that’s it from the hardware. Hopefully, the software side of things will see further good changes.