Pixel Watch, modern outside but old inside with a chip from 2018
What is the peak for a new smartwatch, in charge of relaunching the Wear OS landscape? Exynos 9110, which is an anachronistic processor. No, it’s not a joke, but the rumor launched by 9to5Google on Pixel Watch, the first Google smart watch that – net of the usual, very heavy leaks – we saw for the first time officially during the I/O 2022 this week, even if it was only a taste.
For now of Pixel Watch we know well only the design, while everything else (including integration with FitBit) we have to find out. Aesthetically Google does not miss a beat: its choices may or may not like it, but surely Mountain View knows how to give a very precise personality to its products, and Pixel Watch with its very curved glass is no exception, mixing a retro look with a futuristic one.
PIXEL WATCH WITH EXYNOS 9110, CHIP FROM FOUR YEARS AGO
The problem is that of “retro” there may be not only the look, but also the chip. According to 9to5Google, in fact, Pixel Watch could mount an Exynos 9110 processor, which is a solution introduced to the market by Samsung in August 2018 with the original Galaxy Watch. For heaven’s sake, this is the same chip that the Korean giant used until last year on its Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3. But then, with the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, he switched to the new Exynos W920.
The rumors of a Pixel Watch with a Samsung processor were already in circulation for a long time, but until today the most sensible hypothesis was the use of the Exynos W920 made with a 5-nanometer production process and capable of CPU performance 20% higher than the previous generation, as well as ten times as much graphics performance.
STILL NOTHING OFFICIAL
Mind you, at the moment there is nothing official: 9to5Google received the imbeccata from a source (not explicit) that it considers evidently reliable, and so it shared the information, but things could be different. While waiting for Google to let us know the hardware details of its watch, however, it is natural to wonder what a choice that really coincided with the Exynos 9110 could mean.
The main weakness of Wear OS, even in its latest incarnation, is energy efficiency: a chip of newer design in this sense could provide a decisive contribution, obviously combined with software optimization.
In general, if Google’s intention is to launch the “Apple Watch of the Android world”, that is, that device that all owners of a smartphone with a green robot can look at with interest, capable of bringing the Wear OS experience to another level, presenting yourself with an antiquated processor would not exactly be an inviting business card. At the moment the considerations stop here: the hands continue to run, and only time will tell if the rumors are founded or not.
