Many of us were hoping for a huge upgrade on the Watch 3 this year. However, recent confirmation from Android Headlines tells us otherwise. It’s quite a bummer that the wearable will use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 5100 chipset and Cortex M33 co-processor as the Pixel Watch 2.
The only major difference this time is a slightly larger battery and the 60Hz refresh rate on the display. The Pixel 2 had a 30Hz display. Also, Google says that the Watch 3 can now achieve a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, and you can dim it to one nit for night use. Despite these updates, the core components and performance are largely similar to those of its predecessor.
Pixel Watch 3 has a smoother display but no big changes
Google isn’t introducing any serious hardware changes with the Pixel Watch 3 as expected. It looks like it’ll have the same processor and storage as the Pixel Watch 2. That is 2GB RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage.
The main upgrades are in the display refresh rate and a slight increase in battery capacity. This might seem underwhelming if you were expecting more substantial innovations or new features. It won’t be if you haven’t owned any Pixel Watch since you need prior experience to compare it to.
The good news is that Google has upgraded the Watch 3 from the sluggish 30Hz display on the Watch 2 to 60Hz. Now, the transitions and scrolls are smoother. It adjusts from 1Hz while running the Always-On Display for battery saving to 60Hz when actively using it. Plus, there are rumors of two models.
The 41mm model’s battery sees a minimal increase from 306mAh to 307mAh, but it’s so small that it won’t even be noticeable. In contrast, the speculated 45mm model has a 420 mAh battery.
Fresh Watch 3 faces, improved battery, and new metrics
Previous leaks of the Pixel Watch 3 confirm that it will use Wear OS 5, which is based on Android 14 and should bring revamped watch face options and show more information. Wear OS 5 will improve battery life by up to 20% when using GPS and introduce new running metrics like Ground Contact Time and Stride Length.
The Watch Face Format that was introduced in Wear OS 4 will include new “Flavors” that let you personalize watch faces even more. For example, you can customize a sports-themed watch face with different colors and complications. One new complication, “Goal progress,” will show your percentage completion towards a goal, like tracking how close you are to your daily step target.
Starting in early 2025, Google will switch to the new XML Watch Face Format (WFF) as the default for Wear OS 5, and old formats like AndroidX will no longer be supported. Your current watch faces will still work and get updates, but they won’t be able to use the new complications available with the new format.
The Pixel Watch 3 will launch alongside the Pixel 9 phone series on August 13 during the next Made by Google event.
