The Pixel Watch is slated to launch in October alongside the Google Pixel 7 series and is expected to be simultaneously met with enthusiasm and skepticism. The Pixel Watch will be the first smartwatch made by Google, sporting the latest and greatest from WearOS, but with a clean Pixel-esque UI and experience. However, it does have a lot to prove, as it has stiff competition with the likes of the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, which have cemented their names in this space.
Since the official announcement of the Pixel Watch at Google I/O earlier this year, rumors have trickled in regarding its capabilities. Still, there is one, in particular, that may give the Pixel Watch an edge over the competition — Google Fi support. This possibility was discovered via an APK teardown of the Google Fi app (v69) completed by 9to5Google.
In this teardown, code was found several times referencing “Rohan,” which, as you may remember, is the codename Google uses internally for the Pixel Watch. This suggests that Google plans on adding Pixel Watch support to Google Fi, which at the time doesn’t have support for any smartwatches. Should this become a reality, Google Fi customers could potentially purchase the watch directly from Fi, which I would imagine will come with some perks.
Google extending support to Google Fi also makes it more likely that the Pixel Watch will also be available from other carriers. For example, I can’t imagine it being available on Google Fi but not on T-Mobile or AT&T. What remains unknown is whether this support will include the ability to make and receive phone calls without having the phone paired and with you at all times. Luckily, we won’t have to wait too long to find out, as October is just around the corner.
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