Google Pixel Watch 3 only gets three years of software support

Google's software support window for the Pixel 8a, Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a whopping seven years. That's unsurpassed to this day in the mobile world, and so the company deserves to be commended for such a promise - we're willing to bet that most people would have changed their smartphones way before those seven years are up.

When it comes to smartwatches, however, Google is playing things very differently. Both the original Pixel Watch and the Pixel Watch 2 have had a three-year guaranteed software support window, and the Pixel Watch 3 is in exactly the same situation.

Of course, Google may decide to issue some updates to the Pixel Watch 3 even after October 2027 (which is weirdly the cutoff month even though the watch was announced in August), but it's not a given. So what we have here is an interesting disparity in how smartphones and smartwatches are treated from this point of view, even though these are all smart devices we're talking about.

Perhaps the expectation is that you'll replace your smartwatch more often than your phone, or maybe it's just a cynical calculation based on the selling price which is much lower. Whatever the case, do keep in mind that a Pixel Watch won't last as long as a Pixel phone, software-wise.

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