Just weeks after the Apple iPhone 15 is unveiled to the world, Google will throw its hat in the ring with a couple of flagships of its own —the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The search giant will also reveal thePixel Watch 2during its October 4 hardware launch event, on top of a newPorcelain shade of the Pixel Buds Pro. We’re now gaining some additional insight into the compatibility of Google’s second-gen smartwatch, thanks to a Pixel 8 landing page.
A footnote attached to the Pixel Watch 2 banner on thesaid pagepoints out (viaPhoneArena) that the wearable will be compatible “with most phones running Android 9.0 or newer.” This is the first time we’ve been able to glean some sort of compatibility-related info on the Pixel Watch 2. But this isn’t surprising by any means, given that the first-gen Pixel Watch is eligible to work with phones featuring Android 8.0 or up, so it’s only natural for the newer model to require a more recent version to function smoothly.
There’s also the mention of the Pixel Watch 2 requiring a Google account to run, another expected requirement. The footnote then goes through the boilerplate info, such as requiring internet access and the disclosure that some features could be limited by a paywall, etc.
The fact that this landing page is still up suggests that Google doesn’t really want to keep the Pixel 8 series and the Pixel Watch 2 under wraps anymore. It’s worth noting that we’ve had a generous helping of leaks coming directly from Google, such as the onedetailing the physical attributes of the Pixel 8earlier this week.
But Google took things up a notch yesterday as it published acouple of teaser videosshowing off the Pixel 8 Pro’s matte finish and the base model’s glossy Pink colorway. Previous rumors have pointed to the Pixel Watch 2 featuring more-or-less the same design as its predecessor, with a bulk of the changes occurring inside.
Toward this end, consumers should expect the first-gen model’s NXP coprocessor underneath, but with the slightly revamped Snapdragon W5 (non-Plus) chip running the show. This could potentially address some of the complaints emanating from the slowish processor used onlast year’s Pixel Watch.
Meanwhile, ultra-wideband or UWB could be one of the marquee features of the new wearable, as revealed by an elaborate Android Authority reportlast month. A battery upgrade is also rumored, with the Watch 2 expected to pack a 306mAh unit as compared to the 294mAh battery on the first generation model. It will be interesting to see if Google will retain the first-gen model’s rather steep $350 price tag on the Pixel Watch 2 or go even higher.
