There have been quite a few leaks lately that’ve detailed the new Nexus phones coming later this year. Turns out that those aren’t the only new devices that Google is working on for this year.
A new report from Android Police claims that Google is prepping two Android Wear smartwatches that’ll be released after the new HTC Nexus phones. Both will reportedly have round displays — and no, it’s not expected that they’ll have the “flat tire” look associated with Motorola’s round smartwatches — but there will be some feature differences between the two.
First up is the watch codenamed Angelfish. The design of the watch is said to include visible lugs and three buttons on its side, with one larger crown button in the middle and two others on the top and bottom. Angelfish is said to be 14mm thick with a diameter of 43.5mm. Inside of that case is said to be GPS, LTE, and a heart-rate monitor, which means that you ought to be able to use all of its features without a connected smartwatch. One feature that it may not have, though, is support for Google’s MODE watch bands.
The other Google smartwatch is said to be codenamed Swordfish. (Google likes its marine life codenames.) Swordfish is said to be shaped like the Pebble Time Round, but with a much smaller screen bezel, and it’s got a single button centered on the side of its case. The Swordfish will reportedly be smaller than Angelfish, sporting a diameter of 42mm and a thickness of 10.6mm, likely due to the fact that it lacks Angelfish’s LTE and GPS. It’s unclear whether or not it’ll have a heart rate monitor.
Both Angelfish and Swordfish are expected to feature support for Google Assistant, and they could also offer new watch faces that offer much faster access to your notifications, media controls, and so on.
It’s unclear exactly when Angelfish and Swordfish might launch or how much they might cost when they do. Whenever they launch, though, these smartwatches could serve as a sort of Nexus version of Android Wear, giving Google reference devices that show both consumers and manufacturers exactly what the best of Android Wear looks like. Plus, it would give Google some flagship Android Wear smartwatches to go head-to-head with Apple and Samsung’s wearables in the second half of 2016.
Would you be interested in Android Wear smartwatches from Google?
