Google has just pulled off one of its largest product launches of the year with Made by Google, but now ads around its latest Pixel lineup have people wondering if there’s a product it forgot to tell everyone about.
Ads for its latest releases have popped up on YouTube and in them is a wearable that we’ve never seen before. Reddit users posted ads that are labeled as being from Google Australia that show flatlays of the latest Pixel lineup, including a pair of Pixel 11s, the Pixel Buds Pro 2, and the Pixel Watch 5, with a Fitbit-like smartwatch in the mix.
A sort of familiar shape
The fitness tracker appears in both the Olive and Fog colorways and bears a slight resemblance to the Fitbit Charge 6. It shares its stretched vertical shape, but is much rounder than the Charge 6.
Its appearance has led to a lot of speculation that ranges from whether this is an unannounced Fitbit Charge 7 or a Pixel Watch A series that is either being teased or was accidentally featured in an ad to the possibility that the ad is AI-generated and that Nano Banana dreamt the wearable up.
Missed Made by Google
As someone who went hands-on with all of Google’s latest devices days before Made by Google and attended the event and accompanying demo, this is especially perplexing.
There was no indication that Google was intent on releasing a new Fitbit, and to introduce one now without the benefit of the audience it attracted with a livestream hosted by Trevor Noah and featuring a lineup of celebrities seems strange.
That said, the stir the sight of the wearable has caused shows that there is a market hungry for another Fitbit with a screen. The Fitbit Charge 6 was released three years ago and though the Fitbit Air has taken off amongst the clamor for screenless trackers, there are still devotees of the traditional Fitbit style out there.
And there’s certainly a contingent of people who could be won over to the Pixel Watch if the price was more wallet-friendly, as would be the case with an A series.
I’ve reached out to contacts at Google and Google Australia for an answer. Should I get one, I will update this story. Until then, I’ll be wondering as much as everyone else about just what we’re looking at here.
