Google Pixel Watch 5 detailed: Twice the storage but no battery life improvements

Google is geared to release the Pixel Watch 5 next week alongside the Pixel 11 series. The Watch 5 has leaked in the past, with promo images also surfacing recently; its most important specifications have also been revealed ahead of its debut.

As shared by Billbil_kun, the Pixel Watch 5 looks set to be a mostly incremental upgrade on the Watch 4 (buy on Amazon US curr. $399.99). No notable changes are expected on the display side, with the Watch 5 also expected to be powered by the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 processor, although possibly in a slightly improved guise.

It's unclear if the Pixel Watch 5 gets a memory upgrade from the 2 GB its predecessor shipped with, but considering current memory prices, that appears unlikely. The Watch 5 gets double the storage, however, as it's said to offer 64 GB of eMMC storage versus the 32 GB on last year's model. 

Battery life is reportedly the same as on the Pixel Watch 4: between 30 and 40 hours for the 41mm model, and 48 and 72 hours for the 45mm variant. Actual battery capacities are effectively unchanged as well.  The Watch 5 will also run Wear OS 7.0 with Gemini Intelligence, compared to the Watch 4 and Wear OS 6.0.

Finally, the Google Pixel Watch 5's strap appears to built differently from the Watch 4's. It reportedly trades in its predecessor's fluoroelastomer-based strap for a Hydrogenated Nitrile-Butadiene Rubber (HNBR) one. HNBR is considered cheaper but offers better tensile strength and resistance to wear and tear, albeit at the cost of worse long-term durability to the elements.