TL;DR Google’s next-generation Pixel Watch models could get a modest battery capacity increase.
The 41mm Pixel Watch 4 may arrive with a 327mAh battery, and the 45mm Watch 3 getting a 459mAh component.
Compared to Watch 3 models, that would represent a capacity increase of 7% and 9%, respectively.
What do you expect from a new generation of wearables? Samsung just introduced its Galaxy Watch 8 series, and the company’s move to embrace that squircle design across the entire lineup has proven controversial, to say the least. It remains to be seen how that impacts adoption, and we’ll be curious to see if somewhat more conservative smartwatch upgrades end up being more successful. That’s definitely a label we could apply to past Google Pixel Watch iterations, and now it’s looking like the Pixel Watch 4 could bring us more of the same.
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We hadn’t heard a lot in specific about Google’s plans for its next wearables over the past several months, but recently have been able to start putting together some expectations for the Pixel Watch 4 thanks to information from a Google source.
With the Pixel Watch 4, we’re not expecting Google to make major changes to the wearable, sticking with the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 SoC that powered the Watch 2 and Watch 3. And while we’re looking forward to the same 41mm and 45mm size options as last year, we’ve heard that Google might just manage to squeeze in some ever-so-slightly larger batteries.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Last time around, Google gave its 41mm Pixel Watch 3 a 307mAh battery, while the 45mm Watch 3 got a 420mAh component.
With the Pixel Watch 4 series, we’re expecting to see those cells grow, but just how much impact that might make on battery life is still unclear. Specifically, we’re looking for a 327mAh battery in the 41mm Watch 4, and a 459mAh battery in the 45mm model. Those represent capacity increases of 7% and 9%, respectively. We should also see faster charging speeds, but don’t yet have any numbers on what kind of improvements we might have there.
A sub-10-percent boost, especially when we’re not combining that with an upgrade to a new, more power efficient SoC, might feel a little underwhelming; we get that. But we also have to keep in mind that outside the introduction of the 45mm model, the Pixel Watch 3 didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, either, and we’ve been pretty happy with what Google managed to accomplish there. So while we’re probably not getting going to be getting too excited about what to expect from Pixel Watch 4 battery endurance, you can at least call us cautiously optimistic.
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