Google reportedly planned to launch the Pixel Watch a year earlier

One of the major criticisms of Google’s Pixel Watch when it launched in 2022 was that it had dated internals. However, new details from leaker Kamila Wojciechowska revealed the Pixel Watch was supposed to launch in 2021 alongside the Pixel 6.

Moreover, the Pixel Watch was originally called the ‘Google Watch.’

Wojciechowska tweeted what appears to be a promotional image from the “archive of google.” The image shows the Pixel 6 series and Pixel Watch together. Text on the image reads: “Uniquely Google. Uniquely you. Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro and Google Watch.”

While we don’t know for sure why Google changed the name of its smartwatch, the logical guess is that the company wanted to unify the hardware under the ‘Pixel’ brand.

fun fact from the archive of google: the pixel watch was initially supposed to be called the “Google Watch” and launch alongside the Pixel 6 series. pic.twitter.com/MDwacIoiUQ

— kamila 🌸 (@Za_Raczke) September 21, 2023

As for why Google delayed to watch, well, that’s another unknown. More perplexing is why Google seemingly didn’t use the extra year to improve the watch. Dated internals aside, the Pixel Watch shipped with several missing features that Google added later via software. It makes me wonder why those features weren’t finalized earlier if the watch was delayed.

Whatever the reasons, Google does seem to have learned some lessons from the first Pixel Watch. The Pixel Watch 2 is on the horizon, and rumours indicate it will sport Qualcomm’s latest W5 Gen 1 chip paired with 2GB of RAM and a custom co-processor — in other words, up-to-date internals. Plus, the Watch 2 is supposed to get the electrodermal activity sensor from the Fitbit Sense 2 to track stress levels, something curiously absent from the original Pixel Watch.

We’ll likely learn more about all of this at Google’s upcoming October event.

Source: @Za_Raczke Wojciechowska Via: Android Police