The Pixel Watch launched in October of 2022 with better specs over the competition in some key areas. A prototype has now emerged that shows how Google started the Pixel Watch development process with something less capable.

One Redditor purchased an “open box” Pixel Watch from eBay that ended up being a prototype. Upon entering Fastboot Mode, they discovered that the Hardware Revision was PVT0.1 (production validation test), or pretty early in the process.

Source: u/br33_111

We see there’s only 1GB of RAM compared to the 2GB that the first-gen Pixel Watch launched with in 2022. That became apparent when a “Less than intended RAM” screen appeared after resetting and attempting to pair. There’s also only 8GB of storage instead of 32GB, which was double the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

This prototype Pixel Watch is said to have “a lot of screen burn-in,” slow performance, and battery charging issues. But besides that, the hardware design is unchanged from what ended up launching.

Google coming to market with these specs before the fall of 2022 would have certainly hampered performance even before factoring the 2018-era Exynos 9110. The original Pixel Watch beat the 1.5GB used by Samsung’s wearable.

Meanwhile that amount of storage would have really limited offline downloads for media apps like YouTube Music. Both specs let Google continue to sell it in 2024 as the cheaper model.

More on Pixel Watch:

Google offering out of warranty Pixel Watch replacements at discounted price

Check out the new Wear OS app grid on Pixel Watch – or try it yourself [Gallery]

Pixel Watch February 2024 update rolling out

Add 9to5Google to your Google News feed.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.