Google Pixel Watch Ultra rumors begin — but a rugged Pixel Watch needs 3 fixes first

A Google Pixel Watch Ultra? Google is reportedly mulling over a sequel to its best Android watch of 2026, and the next iteration might be cut from the same cloth as the Apple Watch Ultra 4, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Garmin Fenix 9 Pro.

According to Gadgets & Wearables, Google is circulating a survey in its app to 'select users' regarding the future of Pixel Watches. We haven't managed to see the survey — if you do get a screenshot, please email it in to [email protected] — but G&W states that, among other questions, users were asked 'whether they would pay extra' for a rugged watch and 'what would make the Google Pixel Watch 5 feel more premium'.

That's a clear indication that Google is looking to launch, if not a Google Pixel Watch Ultra, then something along those lines. The use of the word 'rugged' is a dead giveaway: according to G&W, Google is looking at the successes of the Apple Watch Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra lines with envy, and is seeking to replicate them.

The only problem is, the Pixel Watch will need some changes before it enters into the Ultra watch arena. Here are three key design elements it needs to adopt, borrow or steal in order to be mentioned in the same breath as the Apple Watch Ultra 4 or Garmin Fenix 9 Pro.

Add a bezel, keep the dome?

The last couple of generations of Pixel watches have sported a domed display, which has become iconic in the world of wearable tech and unique to its Pixel pebble shape. The domed display provides improved glanceability, more surface area overall for its Materia 3 Expressive software design language, and looks the business from all angles.

What happens when we try to rugged-up the Pixel Watch by adding a titanium bezel to the mix? One of the principle functions of a raised bezel is to protect the screen, especially for adventure watches — but when the screen's a dome, the bezel will need to be strangely thick in order to protect the raised section.

Yet, you can't really have a rugged adventure watch, made for a beating, which is all glass — if they're going to get rugged, a bezel must be included.

The folks at Google are much cleverer than I am, and I'm sure they'll come up with a couple of ways to keep the dome and add the bezel. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the domed screen is quietly done away with for the Pixel Watch Ultra.

Improve battery life

One of the Pixel Watch's biggest failings is its lackluster battery life. While each model receives incremental improvements, the drive to also increase the watch's power means it never gets very far. Google will need to address this in order to compete in the Ultra stakes.

The Apple Watch Ultra, when launched in 2022, managed 36 hours of battery life, and since then has crept up to 50 hours with the Apple Watch 4. Samsung managed the get the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 up to 100 hours in low-power mode, although in practice most people will get around three days of use out of it. Meanwhile, Garmin, Coros, Suunto, and others dominate this space, frequently measuring their watch's battery lives in weeks — although their devices tend to be far more specialized and training-orientated than Apple, Samsung, and Google.

Google will have to make strides in this arena if it wants to compete with more expensive watches. It's likely a Google Pixel Watch Ultra would get battery life similar to Samsung's, around 3-4 days of use on paper.

But it will need to be able to hit those numbers in practice too, with long workouts using multi-band GPS and an always-on display enabled. Rugged smartwatch users do not want their tech to die in the middle of an ultramarathon.

Find space for more buttons

The Google Pixel watch is a perfect circular dome, interrupted only by a single digital crown. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra series was the first in Samsung's rangle to adopt the squircle titanium 'cushion', providing defined sides to the watch, and as such, logical places to put extra buttons. Where the hell do you place them on the watch pictured above?

The reason we need more buttons is that Ultra-style watches have to be able to be operated while wearing gloves during exercise, rather than touchscreen-only. It's why most Garmins have between two and five buttons to aid in interface navigation. A Google Pixel Watch Ultra will need at the very least a programmable Action button-style extra, and preferably more than one.

That redesigned bezel will also have to take button placement into account. If you're thickening up the watch's surrounding casing, you could create something akin to a Garmin Fenix or a Forerunner, which are round watches with thick cases, bezels, and protruding buttons.

But how do you do that while keeping the Pixel Watch's distinctive design language? I guess we might find out one day in the not-too-distant future.

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