Google's first smartwatch uses Exynos 9110 processor from Samsung (System LSI), a 10nm chip that was launched nearly five years ago and debuted with the Galaxy Watch. So, it's no wonder that the Pixel Watch has terrible battery life compared to most modern smartwatches. However, this situation could change later this year as the Pixel Watch 2 will reportedly kiss goodbye to Exynos chips.
Pixel Watch 2 specs include a 4nm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip
According to a report from 9To5Google, the Pixel Watch 2 will come equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor. It is a much newer chip made using a 4nm fabrication process, which could result in a much longer battery life compared to the Exynos 9110. It features four Cortex-A53 CPU cores clocked at 1.7GHz, a Cortex-M55 co-processor, and the Adreno A702 GPU clocked at 1GHz. Qualcomm hasn't specified if the chip is made using Samsung Foundry's or TSMC's 4nm process.
Many were expecting Google's next smartwatch to use the Exynos W920 chip that is used in the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 5 series. However, the company seems to have surprised everyone by switching to a Qualcomm chip. This change is reportedly allowing the Pixel Watch 2 to last well over 24 hours with AoD turned on and over two days in conservative battery mode. The current Pixel Watch lasts around 24 hours with AoD turned off.
Pixel Watch 2 could be faster and more efficient than Galaxy Watch 6
In comparison, the Galaxy Watch 6 is expected to feature the Exynos W980 chip, which is a minor improvement over the Exynos W920. So, the Pixel Watch 2 could be a lot more powerful and efficient than Samsung's next-generation smartwatch due to a more power-efficient chip (with two more CPU cores) and Wear OS 4 optimizations.
The report also claims that the Pixel Watch 2 uses the same set of health sensors as the Fitbit Sense 2. It could feature an accelerometer, barometer, compass, ECG, GPS, gyro, heart-rate monitor, skin temperature sensor, sleep tracking, SpO2 sensor, and stress tracking (all day). It is expected to launch alongside the Pixel 8 lineup later this year.
