Google offers a sneak peak of its upcoming hardware – Pixel 7, Pixel Watch, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel AR Glasses

Various Google hardware devices have been rumoured over and over again and today at Google I/O 2022 Google decided to get in front of most of those rumours to give us a sneak peak of some upcoming devices.  They unveiled quick looks at the upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, the Pixel Watch, a Pixel Tablet and some AR Glasses.

Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro

The build of the Pixel 7 is extremely similar to that on the Pixel 6 with a similar camera bar on the rear – this time a polished aluminium.  The camera bar will include a triple rear camera on the Pixel 7 Pro but only a dual on the Pixel 7.  

The Pixel 7 phones will feature the next generation of Google’s Tensor SoC which will encompass an even greater AI focus with even more “helpful personalised experiences, across speech, photography, video and security.”

As you would expect the Pixel 7 smartphones will ship with Android 13 onboard later this Spring.  To sign up for updates from Google on their next flagship smartphone head on over to its Google Store page.

Pixel Watch

Google’s Wear OS has had a troubled life and surprisingly Google has never developed their own smartwatch to pair with it.  Finally they are going to release one – later this year in Spring alongside the Pixel 7.

The much-awaited Pixel Watch builds on its purchase of Fossil’s smartwatch technology and of Fitbit itself in previous years to deliver a sleek smartwatch built inside and out by Google themselves.  It will feature a tactile crown on a “bold, circular design” with customisable bands that will seamlessly attach to the watch, which is built on a recycled stainless-steel frame.

The display looks to be curved although at this stage details are sparse but it will feature Google Assistant and deep integration with Fitbit to allow you to see active zone minutes while working out.  It will be interesting to see just which Fitbit technologies make it to the final version of the watch, including their new atrial fibrillation (AF) detection. Other features include a 4G LTE version, Google Wallet support for contactless payments, smart home controls and Find My Device.

The Pixel Watch will have “premium pricing” so we expect it to cost around the $600 mark but if you want to be kept abreast of any details as they come to hand head on over to its Google Store page and sign up for updates.

Pixel Tablet

This year Google has signalled a renewed focus on the bigger display form factor, the tablet, with new updates on over 20 of their own apps to be more tablet-friendly.  A surprise at Google I/O this morning was their very early sneak peak into the Pixel Tablet – coming in 2023.

The Pixel Tablet will feature Google’s Tensor SoC, likely to be the same as that arriving on the Pixel 7 later this year.  Looking very Samsung-esque, the Pixel Tablet will feature front and rear cameras and will include some cool new tablet user experiences.  

Details are sparse at this stage but it’s good to know that Google are not abandoning tablets just yet – although the product is yet to make it into production or market so nothing is guaranteed at this stage.

Google AR Glasses

Following on from the early sneak peak of the Pixel Tablet, Google showed off an even earlier sneak peak of the capabilities of their AR Glasses – supposedly on the way but when no one knows (2024?).  The basic example of their use showed real time translation – in both imagery (while looking at a menu) and voice to text.  The voice to text example was pretty cool, giving real world, real time sub-titles but considering your Pixel smartphone can already do this it will want to do a lot more to make it truly useful.

Keep an eye out for more details as Google drip feed them out in the coming months (and year?).