The Google Pixel Watch price just leaked, and it doesn’t look good

Mere weeks ahead of Google’s October 6 hardware launch event, a key piece of information about the highly anticipated Pixel Watch has leaked — and it’s a “bad surprise” kind of leak. According to a 9to5Google report that cites a retail source, the non-cellular version of Google’s smartwatch will be priced at $350.

As for the LTE version, it will reportedly set buyers back by $400 when it hits the shelves next month. The case/strap color combinations on the table are as follows:

• Wi-Fi version: Black/Obsidian, Gold/Hazel, Silver/Chalk
• LTE version: Black/Obsidian, Gold/Hazel, Silver/Charcoal

In addition to the shades listed above, more trims will be on the buying deck as Google is reportedly prepping at least seven bands for the Pixel Watch. We’ve already seen the solid color silicone straps in the official introduction videos and leaked renders.

Bands with a woven steel mesh design and premium link bracelet style will also be sold with some sort of “Made by Google” branding. Google is also prepping two leather band styles as well as fabric and stretch bands, taking a page out of of Apple’s own design versatility books for its smartwatches.

A questionable value for your money

While the Pixel Watch looks clean and minimalist, the leaked asking price is a hard pill to swallow. For $350, the Pixel Watch will reportedly come equipped with the Exynos 9110 system on a chip (SoC), a chip for wearables that can be found ticking inside Samsung smartwatches from the 2018 season, back when they ran TizenOS.

Google’s debut smartwatch outing will reportedly pack 1.5GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, which is nothing above the 2022 standards. The battery capacity is said to be under 3,000 mAh and will last a full day, which is again quite typical of Wear OS smartwatches and not worth writing home about.

The sensing array includes a heart rate sensor, an SpO2 monitor, and ECG electrodes. Tight Fitbit integration has already been teased, and so is the camaraderie with core Google ecosystem apps such as Google Pay for facilitating contactless payments and the Google Home app for controlling smart home devices. Notably, the Pixel Watch will be able to unlock a paired phone and Chromebook as well.

It is quite evident that the Pixel Watch is focusing more on the software side of things instead of offering the latest and greatest hardware. But asking a minimum of $349 for a smartwatch — especially when acclaimed options like the Galaxy Watch 5 can already be purchased for about $100 less — doesn’t exactly sound like a sell-by-the-bucketloads strategy.

Pixel phones have had a bad rep in the past for their sky-high pricing, and it was only with the Pixel 6 series that Google got things right.

That 9to5Google report adds that the European pricing will be higher than what Google demands for the Pixel Watch in its home market. If proven true, that further dilutes the Pixel Watch’s appeal as a solid smartwatch, both inside the WearOS ecosystem and in the face of a formidable rival that is the Apple Watch.