Google Pixel Watch leak hints at the most stunning smartwatch yet

Fossil Sport
The Google Pixel Watch could have a round watch face with a physical crown like the Fossil Sport (pictured). (Image credit: Future)

The Google Pixel Watch may indeed be a round smartwatch with a crown, if a new batch of leaked renders are to be believed – and it could come out in October. 

The images come courtesy of render maker Ian Zelbo via leaker Jon Prosser – which include enlarged versions of the cropped photo the latter released yesterday. The big news then was that the Pixel Watch could have a physical crown, a feature typically found on analog watches (and very upscale digital ones like the Montblanc Summit 2). 

But this new series of Pixel Watch renders (created based on info and press images a source passed along to Prosser) show a lot more of the smartwatch design, as well as information on the Pixel Watch detailed in Prosser’s video:

While Prosser didn’t have any specs info to share, the renders show our first real look at what the Pixel Watch could be – and depict a circular watch with a bezel-less display, no buttons, and a single physical crown on the right side (which is small and cute, really, compared to chunky crowns on other smartwatches like the Summit 2). 

As Prosser notes, the renders do show a very sleek watch without the bulbous thickness of other circular watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. The renders also recreate the suggested interface, including a watch face with radial time markers, giving it an analog timepiece look. The apps look very simple – one just says ‘Heart Rate’ with a large number and a cute heart, suggesting Google could be going for a more elegant minimalist design. 

Prosser also notes that his information points to a Google Pixel Watch release date in October, though that’s not a certainty. It would line up with the company’s usual release window for its flagship phones – the Pixel 5 came out on October 15, 2020, for instance.

Google Pixel Watch: more certain?

Rumors percolated over the years to suggest the Google Pixel Watch would launch alongside products like the Google Pixel 4, but that didn’t end up happening, and the last news we heard was in May 2020. This series of Prosser leaks suggests the Pixel Watch could be far enough in development to be nearing a real release date.

That could mean a launch at Google IO 2021, which will be happening online-only in late May 2021. That event may need a new device to reveal given the one we expected to headline the event, the Google Pixel 5a, may have been canceled outright due to global chipset shortages. 

David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.