The first time we saw the Google Pixel Watch appeared to be under strange circumstances: Someone reportedly spotted a prototype of it at a restaurant and sent photos of it to Android Central on the condition of anonymity. Images of the device are said to match what we’ve seen from previously leaked renders, including a round dial, a rotating crown, and a nearly bezel-less design.
As shown, a physical crown sits between two buttons on the side of the watch. If it’s similar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the two buttons can be used to turn the watch on or off, return to the home screen, and even serve as a shortcut to bring up recently used apps. Meanwhile, the small hole next to the crown could be a microphone or an altimeter sensor for tracking stair climbs.as Android Central Note that the four pins on the side of the watch may be used for testing purposes and may not be present on the final model.
The watch appears to have a physical crown positioned between two buttons.Image: Android Center
The bottom of the watch has a black frame with an oval-shaped health-tracking sensor in the center. Android CentralThe source also said the bottom of the watch has a smooth feel, noting that it “looks like metal but feels like it’s coated in glass,” similar to the glass backing on the Apple Watch.
Unfortunately, android central source can’t fully start the watch to see what the UI looks like. When they tried to open it, a white Google logo appeared and nothing happened after that.The watch also does not leave a charger, but as Android Central Note that the watch can be charged inside its case, just like the Apple Watch and Google-owned Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense smartwatches. While there aren’t any pictures of the strap actually attached to the watch, it appears to have a proper way to snap into the strap, which itself is similar to the straps on Fitbit’s line of smartwatches.You can view the full leaked images at Android Central‘s website.
What appeared to be a sensor was found on the bottom of the watch.Image: Android Center
Almost more interesting than the watch itself is the story behind it.It’s similar to how the iPhone 4 leaked in 2010 – someone found an iPhone prototype in a restaurant, then got caught gizmo (all photos mysteriously taken from gizmowebsite, by the way). It turned out to be a software engineer who left the prototype there, so obviously this has happened and could happen.
But the strange thing about this lost and found case is that Google doesn’t seem to be even looking for the device (unlike Apple when it called to retrieve its prototype iPhone). Of course, it’s always possible that this was an elaborate ruse by Google to get more hype for its upcoming Watch, since it’s all reminiscent of when the Pixel 3 XL was spotted in the back seat of Lyft (you think we’ve Forgot, Google?).
There are a lot of unanswered questions here, and while the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the watch may never be figured out, at least what the actual watch will do will. So far, we know Google will call this device the Pixel Watch (which surprised us), and we’ll probably find out more details at Google I/O next month.
