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There were plenty of light-hearted jokes after Google announced the Pixel Watch at I/O last week, especially since rumors of such a watch’s existence have been around for years. We actually laughed a bit when it was official because we were almost not sure if it was really official. By the way, it’s official.
Soon after the jokes, we couldn’t help but find excitement at the reveal. Google had finally nailed it – they were preparing to give us a Pixel Watch, which is a Wear OS watch that we feel was missing from the ecosystem from the start. The design is on point. Google integrates Fitbit for health tracking. It looks like the perfect size. It’s even running a new version of Wear OS, which sounds like major improvements. Everything was in front of the gate, even if we didn’t know the small details like specifications or price.
And then just before the weekend the first rumor about them real Pixel Watch emerged to kill all vibes. The crew at 9to5Google heard from sources suggesting that the Pixel Watch 2022 will run on a 2018 chipset from Samsung. brother what? no
According to this report, Google uses the Exynos 9110, a dual-core chipset first used by Samsung in the Galaxy Watch that debuted in 2018. The chip was big enough in the Samsung world that it also made its way into the Galaxy Watch Active 2 a year later and then the Galaxy Watch 3 another year after that.
The Exynos 9110 was a more than capable chip, that’s for sure. It’s a 10nm chip that powers the Tizen and offers one of the better smartwatch experiences out there. For the Galaxy Watch 3, probably thanks to Samsung’s RAM boost, I found in my review that the watch ran quite well and handled all the tasks I threw at it smoothly. So what’s the problem?
That’s a 2018 chip, man. The biggest problem in the Wear OS world in the last 6 years was that all the devices were running ancient Qualcomm technology and couldn’t keep up with the times, competitors and technological advancements. We thought we’d finally put that story behind us with last year’s introduction of Samsung’s W920 chip in the Galaxy Watch 4 range, and yet here we are.
Google is reportedly using this chip because the Pixel Watch has been in the works for some time and there’s a chance that trying to move to a newer chip would have set it back further. Or maybe Samsung isn’t even ready to let anyone else use the 5nm W920 just yet. With it becoming clear that Google is no longer a fan of Qualcomm chips for devices, the 12nm Wear 4100+ was probably out of the question.
At least for now, there is hope that Google has spent a lot of time (how several years) finding ways to get everything and more out of this chip. Since I don’t recall ever seeing a Wear OS watch with the 9110, we might all be surprised. Google is pretty good at tweaking its devices with chipsets that aren’t always top-notch (think Pixel 5… Pixel 6 too), so we could see that again in the Pixel Watch.
However, I am concerned about overall performance. Google has already said Wear OS 3 will bring big changes, warning that it can run older watches, even those with Qualcomm’s Wear 4100 and 4100+ chips. Google explained that upgrading from Wear OS 2 to Wear OS 3 on devices with this chip could spoil the experience. The Exynos 9110 is technically a more efficient chip than these.
My other concern, at least in terms of the Pixel Watch’s perception or action, is that it doesn’t matter how well Google does it if they use the Exynos 9110. Google, which uses a 4-year-old chipset, is the kind of article that makes its own headlines, and not in a good way. We’re already seeing them and the Pixel Watch is 5 months from launch.
