Google may move away from Qualcomm for Pixel Watch processors from 2026, according to a new report.
Google may use its Tensor processors for the Pixel Watch 5 according to a new report by Android Authority.
Google may look to bring its processor platform in-house, and away from Qualcomm, according to leaked docs from the company’s gChips division.
This shift could enhance device performance and battery life, especially important given Google’s prior challenges with watch battery efficiency.
Read more: Google Pixel Watch 3 review
Additionally, health tracking updates, like improved sleep monitoring and potential blood pressure measurement, aim to bring Google’s smartwatches closer to the feature sets of established competitors, such as Apple and Garmin.
Google currently uses the excellent Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 platform, which has delivered battery improvements over the Pixel Watch. But it’s now used the platform for the last two generations of Pixel Watch, and we haven’t heard rumblings of any new Qualcomm updates to date.
But we’ve seen rival companies make even bigger battery gains on Android smartwatches using the same W5 chipset — and we feel that Google could do more to help Wear OS utilize the power savings of co-processors, paired with the W5 platform. That was the opinion of former Fossil CTO, who criticized Google in a Wareable interview back in 2022.
Regardless, it’s good to see Google is actively looking to make improvements, after glacial progress on Wear OS over the last decade.
Source: Android Authority
