The biggest mistake Google made with the Pixel 9 and Pixel Watch 3

I’m impressed with Google’s new Pixel 9 phones. Like, really impressed. Last year, Google caught my attention with the excellent Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The Pixel Fold — while not perfect — was a very interesting first foldable from Google. I even really enjoyed my time with the Pixel Watch 2.

The entire Pixel 9 series looks like a well-deserved upgrade. The new designs are lovely, the spec upgrades are promising, and some of the new software features are really cool. The Pixel Watch 3 also has the potential to be the best Pixel Watch yet. There’s a lot to get excited about, but it’s also met with an unexpected and looming issue that I can’t quite get over.

Confusing and complicated release dates

Google announced all of its new Pixel hardware during its August 13 Made by Google event, and everything went up for preorder on that same day. That’s the right way to do a launch event. So far, so good. However, things start to get messy once we look at the actual release dates for these preorders.

It starts with the Google Pixel 9 and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. Regular sales for both of these phones begin on August 22 — a little over a week after they were announced. That’s pretty standard for a major smartphone launch and about what I had expected. However, of all of the new Pixel devices announced, those are the only two releasing/shipping on August 22.

If you preorder a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold or the smaller Google Pixel 9 Pro, you’ll have to wait until September 4 for regular sales and shipments — almost two weeks later than the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro XL release date. You could argue that a folding phone is more challenging to ship and needs more time. That’s fair, but it’s still not ideal.

But we’re not done yet. What about the Google Pixel Watch 3? Google won’t ship its newest smartwatch until September 10, another week later. And don’t forget about the new earbuds, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2. Seriously, you’re going to have to really try not to forget about them because they don’t launch until September 26 — over a month after they’re announced.

Hey, Google, this is a mistake

Dragging out release dates like this is never good, as it makes the entire launch cycle unnecessarily complicated. But it feels especially confusing when Google is announcing all of these new gadgets at once and then staggering everything out throughout August and September.

Someone looking to buy a Pixel 9 will likely also consider getting a Pixel Watch 3 or a pair of Pixel Buds Pro 2. They were all announced at the same time and are being promoted together, yet they’ll get their phone weeks before their watch or earbuds are ready. It’s not a good buying experience, no matter how you look at it.

There’s another problem for Google, and its name is Apple. Although Apple has not officially announced its next hardware event, the company is widely expected to announce the iPhone 16 and Apple Watch Series 10 in early or mid-September — right around the time Google will still be rolling out the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Buds Pro 2. Google is a big company, and its Pixel phones draw a fair amount of buzz, but trying to compete with Apple for headlines and attention is a losing battle — especially when Apple is announcing new iPhones and Apple Watches.

What makes this all the more frustrating is the fact that this whole situation could have been avoided. For the last several years, Google has launched new Pixel phones in early October. When Google announced its August 13 event, it caught everyone by surprise. Why did Google move up its launch event by two months earlier than we thought it would happen? That’s what I wanted to know.

Now that the event has come and gone, I’m still not sure what Google was thinking. It’s obvious that much of the company’s lineup isn’t ready to ship, hence the delayed release times. But if that’s the case, why not hold an October event like normal and launch everything together in a clean and organized manner? Why rush to hold an August event and then put customers through delayed shipping times?

The upside for Google is that everything in its new lineup of Pixel hardware looks legitimately great, and delayed release timing or not, I’m still eager to get my hands on everything. It’s just frustrating that what looks like such a promising launch is burdened with a bad shipping/release strategy that didn’t have to happen.