When Google took the wraps off of the latest iteration of the Nest Learning Thermostat, there was something very familiar about it. After a few minutes of pondering, I finally figured it out — it’s a blown-up Pixel Watch on the wall. Well, it’s missing the crown, but instead, it adopts a rotating dial around the display, something the Pixel Watch team could adopt from the Nest team.
Based on the leaks, Google is already aiming to solve one of my complaints about the Pixel Watch, as we’re now hopefully going to see a larger model released. Now, I’m hoping Google will adopt this Nest Thermostat design feature to future Pixel Watch models.
I’m no engineer, so I don’t know if it would actually be feasible, but I would love to see a Pixel Watch with the ability to navigate the menus by swiping your finger around the outer casing.
This is basically the premise of navigating menus or adjusting the temperature on the thermostat. After spending a few minutes playing around with the 4th Gen Nest Thermostat, this kind of interaction makes much more sense than smudging up the screen. I can’t help but wonder why Google hasn’t done this with the Watch, especially when it’s obvious that there’s a bit of “one hand washes the other” going on internally.
Ultimately, I’d love it if we saw some type of physical rotating bezel akin to the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but that’s unlikely. I can’t imagine Google making a watch large or bulky enough for something like that to even be implemented.
Speaking of Samsung, it has used a touch-sensitive bezel in different Galaxy Watch models over the years. We’ve also seen physical rotating bezels on the likes of the Galaxy Watch 3 Classic, Watch 4 Classic, and Watch 6 Classic. Rather disappointingly, Samsung opted against bringing it back with its Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Admittedly, I’ve found that the touch bezel solution is very hit or miss, seemingly only working when it wants to. But since there isn’t a digital crown on any Galaxy Watch besides the Ultra, the only other way to interact with your watch is to swipe up, down, and around on the screen.
It’s really not that big of a deal unless you’re someone like me who has sausage links for fingers. My fat fingers get in the way of being able to see everything, and it’s frankly just a frustrating experience, especially when dealing with such small crowns like the one on the Pixel Watch 2.
Perhaps that’s the reason why we have yet to see anything like what the Nest Thermostat offers being integrated into Google’s wearable. Samsung and Google have supposedly been working closely together on the platform ever since the partnership was announced alongside Wear OS 3. Because of that, I can only assume that Google has some kind of idea about the benefits and pain points of the touch bezel.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting anything drastically different from the Pixel Watch 3 series. Hell, I’m just happy that all signs point to Google releasing a larger version, almost as excited as I am about a new Pixel Fold (odd name notwithstanding).
I also don’t want to go so far as to presume that this is something that Google has in the cards for a future Pixel Watch model. Who’s to say that the company “gives up the hardware goose” after this year and just lets Samsung become the only real choice if you want an Android smartwatch? It’s not outside the realm of possibility, especially if Google ends up needing to find more projects to send to the graveyard.
No matter what, seeing the similarities between the 4th Gen Nest Thermostat and Pixel Watch has me a little excited. Instead of “the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” it feels like there’s some cross-pollination happening. If you need any additional evidence of this, just check out the design of the different screens on the Thermostat. You can’t tell me that they don’t look like Pixel Watch faces.
Hopefully, this will become a trend with Google devices, as long as it makes sense and is not done just for the sake of it.