The tech world just spent the past week fawning over Samsung’s latest phones and smartwatches, and soon, it’ll be Google’s time in the spotlight. Ahead of the company’s Made by Google event next month, prices for the Google Pixel Watch 3 just leaked. And, uh … it’s not good.
The leak comes from the French website Dealabs, which recently published European prices for the entire Pixel Watch 3 series — including the larger Pixel Watch 3 XL model. Here they are:
On their own, those prices seem pretty high, right? They only get worse once you compare them to other smartwatches. Take last year’s Pixel Watch 2, for example. The current-generation Pixel Watch had a launch price of 349 euros for the Wi-Fi model and went up to 399 euros for the LTE version. The Pixel Watch 3 represents an increase of 50 euros and 100 euros, respectively.
Things look even worse when you consider the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which starts at 319 euros for the Wi-Fi model and goes up to just 369 euros if you get the LTE version.
Although these are European prices that leaked and not the U.S. prices, it’s safe to assume we’ll see similar increases here in the States, assuming the reported prices are accurate. Currently, the Pixel Watch 2 costs $350 for the Wi-Fi variant and $400 for the LTE version. The Galaxy Watch 7 starts at $300 in the U.S. If the Pixel Watch 3 launches next month with a starting price of $400 and only goes up from there, that could be a tough pill to swallow.
Will the supposed higher price at least be worth it? That’s tough to say. Other than the larger XL model this year, we don’t anticipate any major design changes for the Pixel Watch 3. We expect some type of chipset upgrade, though the significance of it remains unknown. We should also see ultra-wideband (UWB) connectivity included for the first time.
Based on what we know right now, it’s difficult to see Google justifying a $50 price increase. It’s entirely possible the Pixel Watch 3 has other new features/upgrades we don’t yet know about that will make it worth it, but considering how good the new Galaxy Watch 7 appears to be, Google has an uphill battle ahead of itself.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 will likely be announced on August 13.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.