Pixel Watch 3 heads towards launch with shocking connectivity

Google’s lineup of devices stopped by the FCC tonight, and we’ll just assume they’re the Pixel Watch 3 in a variety of flavors and sizes. There are hints that these could be nothing more than smartwatches, and there are a few surprises that should get you excited.

Under Google’s FCC ID, we have 4 devices, all described as “wireless devices”. We’ve seen smartwatches described as “smart wearables” and these don’t say that, but looking at the connectivity, I’m not sure what else they could be, especially with 4 versions here. There’s also a reference to the FCC testing 5 different straps for RF exposure testing. What else uses a strap and has the connectivity we’ll talk about, other than a smartwatch?

The four Google devices have model numbers GBDU9, GRY0E, GG3HH, and GGE4J. Two of them have LTE connectivity, while the rest are WiFi/Bluetooth models.

We’re still digging into those FCC documents on Sunday evening, but the first thing that stands out is the addition of UWB to all four models. We also see 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi, which we don’t see often in watches. For the LTE models, the FCC suggests it’s 802.11ax, so at least WiFi 6.

Below you can see the full connectivity of the GBDU9 and GRY0E models, which will be LTE and WiFi models. UWB is here, hopefully unlocking all our fancy cars, as is NFC for payments. Here you also see 802.11ax WiFi, the correct LTE bands for the major US networks, and a note that “band 1/2 performed a full RF exposure assessment, the other bands 3/4/5 performed a worst-case sampling of the band and configuration.”

Then we have the GG3HH and GGE4J, which will be WiFi and Bluetooth models. They also have 802.11ax WiFi, as well as UWB and NFC. So moving from an LTE model to a WiFi-only model doesn’t mean giving up any technology. That’s a lot.

We’re still trying to figure out which versions are the large and which are the small models, as we expect Google to release 41mm and 45mm Pixel Watch 3 sizes. We’ll let you know if we find out.

August 13th is getting very close.

// FCC (2)