Google’s In-House Smartwatch Might Launch in 2022, Compete With Apple Watch

Last Updated on December 3, 2021 by Nachiket Mhatre

Google’s in-house family of Pixel hardware devices might be getting a new member. This time around, the Android maker is set to introduce a smartwatch to the Pixel line-up, according to a report by the Insider. The smartwatch codenamed “Rohan” is rumoured to launch on a yet unspecified date in 2022.

The wearable device is said to be engineered by Google’s Pixel hardware group. However, the development might be separate from Google’s Fitbit operations, which the company had acquired in 2019 for a cool $2.1 billion. The Pixel watch is, nevertheless, rumoured to run a version of Wear OS with Fitbit features integrated in the form of health and fitness tracking.

It must be noted that Google itself hasn’t confirmed this rumour, but the Insider report states that the watch will work alongside Pixel phones, while serving the similar purpose of giving consumers and hardware partners a glimpse of what Google’s software platform is capable of with optimal hardware design.

Despite serving the same role as current Pixel smartphones, it is unclear if the rumoured smartwatch will be called “Pixel Watch”. Meanwhile, an unnamed source has informed The Verge that Google’s in-house smartwatch will be dearer than its Fitbit counterpart, and is instead poised to compete with the Apple Watch.

That most likely means Google might throw everything and the kitchen sink at the device, in terms of sensors, features, and hardware capabilities.

The report goes onto claim that Google’s smartwatch will incorporate basic fitness tracking capabilities, such as heart rate monitoring and step counting, by integrating a blend of Fitbit and Wear OS codenamed as Nightlight. Hopefully the final list of capabilities is more comprehensive than those specified in the reports.

In addition to Fitbit features, let’s not forget that Google’s Wear OS 3 also combines features from the Tizen platform through a partnership with Samsung. The new smartwatch OS is limited to Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4, however, it does away with a majority of Google specific features.

It will be interesting to see these features in the upcoming Pixel Watch, if the rumours turn out to be credible.