Google’s Pixel Watch 4 Could Ditch the Pins for Wireless Charging

Good for Google! It has found its Apple Watch equivalent. The Pixel Watch 4, which we expect later this year, is already trudging through the rumor mill. Google has purportedly made some nice tweaks to it. However, most of the changes are minimal. They remind me of how Apple updates the Apple Watch every year, but only a little bit. Most years aren’t worth the upgrade unless you’re due for it. But Pixel Watch moving to a more proper wireless charging would be a welcome tweak.

According to 91mobiles and OnLeaks, two rumor barons that have been on the mark with these things before, the charging pins are gone. Yes, the pins that previously helped funnel faster charging speeds to the Pixel Watch’s battery look to be headed for a de-proprietary upgrade. The Pixel Watch 2/3 currently relies specifically on having that magnetic pogo mount to charge, which is annoying when your watch is nearly dead and the charger is at home. It’s also been annoying trying to find a good three-in-one charge-it-all-up accessory for the Pixel devices. ZDNet likes this off-brand one, and there’s a popular one on Amazon, but they both only work with the last two Pixel Watch generations. Axing the pins means that, hopefully, Google will elect a standard Qi-charging pad to make it easier to charge with what’s available. However, even the elimination of pogo pins doesn’t guarantee that. For instance, the Apple Watch Series 10 is free of pins, but it’s still a proprietary charging standard.

The Verge suggests that the pogo pins are gone because WearOS will be more power efficient and won’t need the extra metal to charge so quickly. I’ve been enjoying my battery life with the larger Pixel Watch 3, so I didn’t consider this. Regardless, we won’t know anything until the Pixel Watch 4 exists. For now, we have this rumor, which includes a supposedly thicker 14.3 mm chassis for the regular Pixel Watch 4 compared to the 12.3 mm on the Pixel Watch 3. That may be due to a bigger battery or extra components added inside—maybe it’ll get depth sensing like the Apple Watch Series 10. There’s also some rumors around whether those are extra buttons on the other side of the Pixel Watch 4, where the speaker is usually housed, putting it at four input buttons if you count the push-button dial. Maybe that’s why the watch is bulkier?

Again, even though nothing here has been confirmed, these are all minor feature additions compared to past generations. From what I see, it’ll be hard to justify the Pixel Watch upgrade unless you’re needing whatever those two new buttons should do. Next month, we expect to learn more about what’s coming to WearOS at Google I/O.