The Exynos 9110 is back in action for a second time.
The Google Pixel Watch has been officially announced by Google, although we don’t have many specifics just yet. Latest leak reveals that the wearable will come with a four-year-old CPU, according to rumour mill speculations.
A Samsung Exynos 9110 chipset, first introduced in 2018, is rumoured to power the smartwatch, according to 9to5Google’s sources. When Samsung’s first Galaxy Watch was released, it ran on the same chipset and was driven by Tizen OS.
It was previously reported that the smartwatch would be powered by Samsung’s Exynos W920 processor, which powers the Galaxy Watch 4.
Tried and trusted
However, the Pixel Watch has been under development for so long that it may have something to do with the choice of components and why they were chosen.
The decision to use the Exynos 9110 was probably taken a long time ago. In spite of the availability of newer chipsets, it’s possible that incorporating them to the Pixel Watch would have delayed its release even more.
Because of its smaller die size and lower power consumption, the 10nm Exynos 9110 chipset is comparable in performance to the larger 12nm Snapdragon 4100+ processor. W920 boasts roughly a 20% boost in performance and higher graphics performance than its predecessor.
Analysis: Google is wooing developers
This early reveal of the Pixel Watch is part of Google’s strategy to entice developers: the more buzz about the wearable and developers working on its apps, the better. It’s likely that Google wanted to put an end to all the rumours around the device.
Google’s decision to show us a glimpse of the device at Google IO 2022 was a positive step for the company, conveying a message that Google is hard at work on a product worthy of competing with the Apple Watch.
A Pixel Device Pro or Plus with a newer processor and improved battery life (after all, we didn’t get much information about the watch at the launch) may be in the works if the wristwatch does indeed ship with the older Exynos chipset.
Specs or features of the smartwatch were not shown at the event. As far as I know, there are still some surprises to be had.