Examining the Wear OS 5 Developer Preview in detail shows a few interesting features that will be included in upcoming smartwatches. With an unveiling planned for August, the Google Pixel Watch 3 is said to be the first to include them.

UWB and Bluetooth LE Audio are the two most prominent characteristics in question. Previous rumors have mentioned a UWB connection, enabling more precise location monitoring for both the watch and the phone and safe phone unlocking. Naturally, this is assuming that the phone is also UWB-compatible.

Another function that isn't commonly found on smartwatches is Bluetooth LE Audio, which the Pixel Watch 3 may be the first to provide. It is a Bluetooth protocol that was first created for Internet of Things devices that needed a Bluetooth connection but didn't want to use up a lot of battery life. Ultimately, IoT gadgets and smart wearables are powered by small batteries. Smartwatches use Bluetooth LE only to connect to your phone because it is incapable of carrying audio data on its own.


The wearables can stream music and connect to your headphones thanks to Bluetooth LE Audio compatibility. Additionally, the protocol may broadcast music and establish multiple connections to devices at once. In essence, the BT LE Audio protocol will be quite helpful to those who use their smartwatches for music streaming on the move because it will prolong battery life.

A few earbuds and headphones enable BT LE transmission, even though we haven't seen any timepieces that support the protocol yet. Right now, we only need the smartwatches.