Google Pixel Watch: These concept images might finally kill smartwatch design game

New concept images of the Google Pixel Watch have just emerged, and they are as playful as ever.

Google still hasn’t sent its horse in the smartwatch race, and Apple is very much unstoppable with its spearheading of the competition. Sure we’ve seen a purported Pixel Watch-themed patently recently, but its chances of getting unveiled soon are next to slim.

Nevertheless, this didn’t stop designer James Tsai from revealing his take on the Google Pixel Watch, courtesy of the phone’s first, definitive concept images.

Pixel Watch: Playful, colorful, and very Google

In them, Tsai rendered the smartwatch with a more playful design, right with complementing, Google-inspired color names such as Milk White, Sweet Papaya, and Boba Black.

The watch’s design also doesn’t veer away from the plastic feel made popularized by the early Withings fitness trackers. Still, Tsai donned it with an Always-On screen, instead of physical hands.

The Google Assistant on the watch is also situated front and center, with room for Wear OS’ key features such as Google Maps and Google Fit still in the mix.

Fluid experience

Tsai also went quite adamant on the sleekness and seamlessness of the Pixel Watch’s circular design. According to him, “The Pixel Watch features a circular display with a soft-touch area creating a smooth tactile finish.” He added that the variety of matte and glossy materials should at a fluid feel in it.

Upping the ante on gestures

In May 2020, the U.S. Patent Office awarded Google with rights to an in-watch system, suggesting that a homegrown Google watch was in the pipeline. The wearable would reportedly use an optical sensor to trace motion gestures made by the user’s arm, wrist, or fingers.

The patent also revealed that the gestures are registered based on which wrist the user will be wearing it on. Google’s motion sensors will then allow physical actions such as making a fist or lifting some fingers to launch select apps. These gestures can also activate Google Assistant.

Elusive

Despite these developments, the details surrounding the launching of the Google Pixel Watch are still elusive. Currently, it is still unknown whether the device will be announced alongside the Pixel 5. Recent leaks about Google’s next Pixel phone suggested that its in-house watch might very well be in the lab already.

In 2018, it was hinted that the Pixel Watch would be launched along with the Pixel 3. But we all know that didn’t happen. A year after, it was speculated that the watch would arrive in October. Again, that didn’t pan out.

For now, all we can hope is that Tsai’s route on the design of the Pixel Watch will soon be realized.

Images courtesy of NOMTECH/YouTube Screenshot