Google’s Pixel Watch might have the next-gen Assistant and an Exynos chip

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumours about the long-rumored Google Pixel Watch, which may finally launch sometime next year. Google has been developing its own Wear OS software platform since 2014, but in all that time, the company has never sold a Google-branded smartwatch with the software. There have been rumors of a smartwatch with the Pixel brand (or simply Google’s name) for years. We’ve seen potential watch faces too, two of which also appeared in renders leaked by Front Page Tech. Now we’re learning more about the upcoming Pixel Watch thanks to information from the Wear OS 3.0 emulator, including that it may feature the next-gen Google Assistant alongside an Exynos chip.

The details, uncovered by 9to5Google, include more evidence suggesting that it’s a Pixel watch (and not some other branding), and that it may also include the next-generation Assistant that launched with the Google Pixel 4. The evidence for the Pixel branding is that Google generally has some kind of Android feature tag within system files on Pixel devices —  for example, the Pixel 6 has “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2021”, and the Pixel 5a has “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_2020_MIDYEAR”. In a recent update to the Google app, 9to5Google found a reference to a “PIXEL_EXPERIENCE_WATCH” feature tag, suggesting a relationship to the Pixel line of devices.

As for the next-generation Assistant, the team at 9to5Google found multiple references to “rohan”, the codename that it’s suspected the Pixel Watch will use. The next-generation Assistant is also a Pixel exclusive, suggesting as well that this is almost certainly a Pixel watch. The report also shows off an image denoting how the Assistant may look on the Pixel Watch was found, and it has the recognisable four-color bar at the bottom — a signature of the Pixel’s Assistant.

It’s worth noting that there is a second button in the graphic above not found in renders of the Pixel Watch thus far, though the picture does match the generic watch seen in demo animations in the original Wear OS 3.0 announcement.

Finally, there was also evidence found that “rohan” is powered by an Exynos chipset, though it’s unclear if it’s the Exynos W920 which is found in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Samsung and Google worked closely together for Wear OS 3.0, and obviously, the chipset in the Google Pixel 6 series is tied very closely to Exynos. It’s even possible that Google may repackage this chipset as an addition to the “Google Tensor” series, though with a more wearable-oriented name.

At the moment, there’s not a lot we know about the Google Pixel Watch, though we know it’s been in the works for years. Maybe next year we’ll finally get to see it!

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