The Pixel Watch 3's UWB chip offers new features, but there's a catch

The Google Pixel Watch 3 is making a big splash as the first Wear OS smartwatch to feature an ultra-wideband (UWB) chip. This little addition unlocks some cool features, like accurate location tracking with Android's Find My Device and even the ability to unlock and start your car with the watch. Plus, UWB improves the Watch Unlock feature when paired with a compatible Pixel phone. But there's a catch: those UWB goodies won't work if your phone is in airplane mode. This was discovered during a disassembly of the latest Google Play Services beta, which revealed that Watch Unlock falls back to Bluetooth when airplane mode is enabled. It still works, but not as quickly or accurately. Once airplane mode is disabled, the watch automatically switches back to UWB, assuming you're in a country that supports it.

This is no surprise, as similar behavior is seen on Pixel and Galaxy phones with UWB chips. Airplane mode disables UWB radios to avoid interference, so other UWB features on the smartwatch are likely affected as well.

The same teardown also revealed that Watch Unlock with UWB will be optional on the PixelWatch 3. There will be switches in the watch settings that allow you to choose between using it with or without UWB, or even disable UWB completely to save battery.

PixelWatch 3The new UWB chip improves the Watch Unlock function | Image credit – Google

The PixelWatch 3 launches on September 10 and comes in 41mm and 45mm sizes, with both LTE and Wi-Fi options. Pricing starts at $349 and $399 for each size, respectively, with various pre-order offers on the table at the Google Store and other retailers.

While the UWB chip offers some exciting new capabilities, keep in mind the limitations of Airplane Mode. If you rely heavily on these UWB features, you may want to think twice before switching to this mode.