New details for Google’s Pixel Watch surface, point to a potential Spring 2022 release date

So, do you remember last month when we thought Google was going to finally reveal its own smartwatch – the “Pixel Watch” – created by its newly acquired Fitbit team? Do you recall them skipping over it entirely and then hearing nothing of it in the time following? We do. I can’t tell you how palpable my desire is for this watch to come out, and many of us have been putting off buying a Fitbit Sense or some other product in its place in hopes that it came out this year.

Well, a new report by by Insider which was later backed and verified by The Verge revitalizes the inevitable coming of the Pixel Watch, also known by its potential codename, “Rohan”. In fact, the watch itself is said to be coming from another team internal to Google, and not the Fitbit team, which is an interesting bit tidbit. Despite this, the watch is said to require daily charging and integrate Fitbit in some capacity as a part of project “Nightlight”, which will be a step towards merging the two platforms that Google owns.

If you recall, Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech had some exclusive renders made up based on his early secret preview of the hardware. In them, which you can find below, there is no physical bezel, and according to the new reports, it will require proprietary watchbands from Google.

Source: Front Page Tech

While these renders certainly don’t tell us exactly what it will look like, it’s interesting that Google keeps pushing this thing back further and further, yet continues to work on it in secret. In 2017, a watch that was said to be the Pixel Watch was stripped of that branding and released as the the LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport because it apparently didn’t look as though it belonged to the Pixel family, according to Google’s hardware lead, Rick Osterloh.

Once it finally does release, which is said to possibly be in Spring of 2022, it’s not guaranteed to even be called the “Pixel Watch”, but like the Pixelbook, Pixel phone, and other devices in that family, it will serve as a sort of “halo” device to inspire and push Google’s hardware partners toward a better understanding of what’s possible with the software and hardware so that they can follow suit and make of similar or superior quality.

Right now, though, it’s undergoing extensive testing or “dogfooding” in-house at Google, and will come to market “if the latest testing round is a success”. According to The Verge, the watch will be priced higher than Fitbit and “compete more directly with the Apple Watch”, but at this time, we simply don’t have any pricing! It’s refreshing to see news about the Pixel Watch spring up, and it restores my hopes knowing that it’s still being worked on and that Google has big plans for it across the board. Basic step counting, a heart-rate monitor, and other features you’d expect are said to be baked in, of course, but beyond that, we’re still standing with our hands out until Google giveth more information.