- Someone has allegedly found a Google Pixel Watch 5 prototype in the sea
- It was shared in an X post by Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford
- The device looks the same as its predecessor, but has ‘Pixel Watch 5’ printed on the back
Tech leaks are more common than they used to be, but this unannounced Google smartwatch has just taken first prize for the weirdest tech leak ever — the Pixel Watch 5 has been found at the bottom of the ocean.
Founder of video game company Gearbox, Randy Pitchford, came across a post on his X account from someone who claimed that a friend found the unreleased Pixel Watch 5 while scuba diving near the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean (see below). The Pixel Watch 5 is projected to launch later this year.
In the X post, Pitchford included two close-up images of what appears to be a Pixel Watch 5 prototype. Pitchford also shared that despite having an empty battery, the watch had enough reserve power to display the correct time. Additionally, the embeddings on the back of the watch heavily suggest that the device is, in fact, a model of the Pixel Watch 5.
A friend of mine found this watch a few days ago ~underwater~ when he was scuba diving near the island of St. Martin. He noted that the reverse of the watch indicates that it is a Google Pixel 5, which has not yet been announced, let alone released. It seems to be fine. The face… pic.twitter.com/Mnenov1sFEMay 31, 2026
Pitchford’s images show clear readings on the back of the device that say ‘Google’ and ‘Pixel Watch 5’, as well as readings listing the device’s health-tracking and monitoring tools.
As per the image, the device has several labels, including ‘SpO2’ (Blood Oxygen Level), ‘EDA’ (Electrodermal Activity), ‘Skin Temperature’, ‘Heart Rate Sensor’, ‘Pulse Sensor’, and ‘UWB’ (Ultra-Wideband). Additionally, the smartwatch has IP68 water and dust resistance.
Design-wise, the device looks pretty much the same as the Pixel Watch 4 — it has a similar round watch face, and the inscriptions on the back are also identical to its predecessor, but it doesn’t mention any new health tracking tools.
This makes sense, as the Pixel Watch 4 was only released in October 2025 and came with a major design upgrade and advanced features, including a skin temperature sensor and an AI health coach.
As you can imagine, the reactions to this story have been hysterical, garnering hundreds of reposts and comments from users. “This is maybe the most Google thing to ever happen,” one user commented, while another described it as “an underwater time portal”.
This is by far one of the whackiest tech leaks we’ve seen since an Apple software engineer left a prototype of the iPhone 4 in a California bar in 2010 — it’s hard to top finding a smartwatch at the bottom of the ocean like Kate Winslet’s ‘Heart of the Sea’ diamond necklace from Titanic.
But despite the absurdity of this discovery, it has left people scratching their heads and questioning the leak’s legitimacy.
Just five hours after Pitchford’s original post, he shared another post to say the watch had been reunited with its owner “thanks to the magic of the internet” — but he didn’t disclose who the prototype belongs to and where they managed to get their hands on one.
Not only that, other outlets that have reported on this have flagged Pitchford’s history of boosting engagement metrics with shock-factor posts, or “engagement farming,” as Tech Advisor describes it. There’s also the question about whether a tech company as large as Google would imprint health tracking information on the device this early in the development process.
Since Pitchford hasn’t shared anything about the prototype’s owner and given Google’s silence on the matter, it’s best to view this with skepticism, as there are more questions than answers. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s one of the funniest and most unhinged tech leaks ever.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
