Even though it hasn’t received nearly as much attention as the Pixel 11 phone lineup, Google’s next major smartwatch has still been making headlines over the past few weeks. Several reliable leakers have already revealed a lot of key Pixel Watch 5 details ahead of its expected August 12 unveiling, including design leaks and spec rumors.
Still, if you had any lingering questions after those reports, MyMobiles and Dealabs appear to have answered them today, filling in nearly all the remaining gaps in the Pixel Watch 5’s features, capabilities, and key selling points.
This is not a bad spec sheet, it’s just… super-familiar
- Actua 360 LTPO AMOLED screen with 320 ppi density and up to 3,000 nits of brightness;
- Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 Accelerated SoC with Cortex-M55 coprocessor;
- 64GB internal storage;
- Wear OS 7.0 software with Gemini Intelligence;
- Custom 3D Gorilla Glass 5;
- 41 and 45mm case sizes;
- Wi-Fi 6;
- Bluetooth 6.0;
- GPS;
- NFC;
- 4G LTE;
- Satellite SOS;
- 5 ATM and IP68 water and dust resistance;
- Optical heart rate monitor;
- Blood oxygen sensor;
- ECG;
- Skin temperature sensor;
- Altimeter, barometer, compass;
- 332mAh battery (41mm variant);
- 465mAh battery (45mm variant);
- 12.3mm thickness;
- 31 grams weight (41mm variant);
- 36.7 grams weight (45mm variant).
So what exactly is different here?
Before you write off the Pixel Watch 5 as “nothing,” and move on to the Apple Watch Series 12 or one of Samsung’s new Wear OS smartwatches, take a look at a few modest but notable upgrades.
Yes, the Pixel Watch 5 is changing a few things from its predecessor, but these are clearly not radical upgrades. The Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 inside last year’s Pixel Watch 4 will reportedly be “accelerated” this time around, and while any boost in raw performance is welcome, it’s hard to get too excited when the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 are already running a brand-new Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset.
The same goes for the Pixel Watch 5’s jump from 32GB to 64GB of storage, which is about as unexciting an upgrade as smartwatch makers can manage, along with one of the smallest battery increases the wearable industry has ever seen. Still, at least it shouldn’t add any extra weight or thickness, which almost counts as a win.
What will the Pixel Watch 5’s main selling points be?
Based on several leaked marketing materials, it looks like Google will focus most of its hype for the next smartwatch on AI, health tracking, and battery life.
Of course, the same was more or less true for the Pixel Watch 4, too. In fact, the Pixel Watch 5 doesn’t really add much that feels new in health tracking or battery life, although Google does promise its “most accurate sleep tracking yet,” plus “powerful sensors” designed to help you live a better, and possibly longer, life while keeping the watch going for up to 72 hours between charges with Battery Saver enabled.
Big G will naturally devote a big part of its marketing to Gemini Intelligence, pitching a watch that can “anticipate your needs and deliver helpful information at just the right moment.” That sounds appealing enough, but it still doesn’t feel quite as exciting as Google probably thinks.
The price hikes sound like the biggest problem
No, the Pixel Watch 5 isn’t expected to get a huge price increase over its predecessor. But with so few obvious upgrades and a nearly unchanged design, it’s going to be hard for Google to justify even a small hike.
The cheapest Pixel Watch 5 model is likely to cost $399 in the U.S., up from the Pixel Watch 4’s $349 starting price for the GPS-only 41mm version. The other variants are reportedly set at $429 for the 45mm non-LTE model, $499 for the 41mm LTE version, and $529 for the 45mm cellular model, with all of those prices sitting above comparable Galaxy Watch 9 models that also offer stronger processing power.
