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The Pixel Watch 3 could get ultra wideband and a brighter screen

The Pixel Watch 3 could get ultra wideband and a brighter screen

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A fresh leak suggests smaller bezels for Google’s next smartwatch, too.

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Pixel Watch 2 on its charger
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google’s Pixel Watch 3 may have a brighter 2,000-nit display with smaller bezels and an ultra wideband (UWB) chip, according to a new report from Android Authority. And it won’t just be a new display and chip — the Pixel Watch could be getting a battery boost, too. The rumored 45mm Pixel Watch will have a 420mAh battery, up from the 306mAh of last year’s watches, while the 41mm model will only get a 310mAh battery.

Over the weekend, an FCC filing appeared to confirm a UWB chip for the Pixel Watch 3. (FCC documents shut down the notion for the Pixel Watch 2 last year.) UWB chips, which use short, high-frequency wireless bursts for pinpoint-accurate location sensing, mean the Watch 3 could be more easily findable on Google’s recently upgraded Find My Device network. The tech is also showing up in other devices like smart locks and in cars, letting them react to you when you’re nearby if you have a UWB device linked to them.

If the rumor is true, it suggests another marked improvement for the Pixel Watch series, after the Pixel Watch 2 got better health tracking and a bigger battery than the first version. But there was only one size, it wasn’t as light as it seemed like it should be, and The Verge’s Victoria Song questioned its durability after it took on mysterious scratches just two days into her review of it. It’s unclear if all of those issues will be resolved with the Watch 3 — but if you want to be optimistic, this all sounds like great news.