We’ve heard about Google releasing a Pixel Watch for years now. There’s been plenty of hype round Google wading into the smartwatch waters, and rightfully so. Right now, Android customers are left with only a few viable choices, particularly from Samsung’s Galaxy Watch lineup.
Google made good on that promise by delivering the $349 Pixel Watch alongside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. For the previous week, I’ve been utilizing Google’s first Pixel Watch — a tool that many hope will lastly give Android customers their model of the Apple Watch — for a few week.
While it’s removed from an Apple Watch caliber, there’s rather a lot to love, some to dislike, and loads of potential left over for Google’s first smartwatch.
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A Traditional Design With a Modern Spin
I’ll get this out of the best way now — I really like the design of the Pixel Watch. The strong black face of the watch that blends the bezels and the show right into a seamless floor seems nice, even in direct daylight or at nighttime. The housing is fabricated from chrome steel and is available in matte black, polished silver or champagne gold coloration choices.
The show, and for that matter your complete watch housing, isn’t very huge. And that’s my largest criticism in regards to the design. It’s simply too small. The whole watch has a diameter of 41-millimeters, with the show being smaller than that, measuring 30.48mm — or 1.2-inches.
The Pixel Watch seems like a standard watch because of its spherical housing and a crown that rotates or acts as a button to navigate the interface. There is a aspect button, simply above the crown, that’s considerably hidden that provides one other navigation choice, on prime of the touchscreen show, after all.
There are a number of totally different band choices, a lot of which look similar to Apple’s personal Apple Watch bands — nevertheless it’s laborious to get mad at that. Google developed a considerably distinctive method of attaching the bands to the Pixel Watch housing, and it takes some follow to get the cling of. Google likens the attachment technique to how fancy digital camera lenses are related to a digital camera physique, with it sliding and locking into place.
Removing the band is straightforward; you press a button on the fitting aspect of the band after which slide it to the fitting. Putting a band on, nevertheless, is a bit of trickier. The key’s to press and maintain the button in, then place the sting of the band over it and slide it to the left. I’m unsure that is smart now that I learn it myself. Rest assured, Google reveals a quick animation shortly after establishing the watch that walks you thru the method.
On the underside of the Pixel Watch is the place you’ll discover all the customary well being sensors that are actually commonplace in any smartwatch. There’s a coronary heart price monitor, Sp02 sensor for blood oxygen ranges, and you may take an ECG utilizing a mix of the underside sensors and by inserting your finger on the aspect of the crown — which is strictly the way it works on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch.
The backside of the watch can also be the place you place the included magnetic charger, much like how Samsung’s Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch cost. Google claims you possibly can cost the Pixel Watch to 50% in half-hour, or a full cost in about 80 minutes. That kind of matches my expertise.
An Android Watch From Someone Other Than Samsung
As I discussed earlier, there’s plenty of strain on Google to ship a WearOS expertise that ideally surpasses or at a naked minimal places strain on Samsung to develop a greater Android watch. Don’t get me fallacious, the Galaxy Watch 5 is a unbelievable smartwatch, nevertheless it depends closely on Samsung’s software program and companies, and when you don’t have a Samsung telephone, that may be irritating.
The Pixel Watch runs WearOS 3.5 out of the field, and is stuffed with varied Google apps and companies. And you’ll have to pair it with an Android smartphone working Android 8 or newer. Shortly after establishing the Pixel Watch, I used Google Maps on my wrist to navigate to an area restaurant in Brooklyn — one thing I usually do when touring so I’m not always gazing my telephone as I stroll round. You may even management your Google Home units immediately in your wrist, or summon Google Assistant with an extended press of the aspect button to set an alarm, play music, or get instructions.
Google Wallet, too, is offered on the Pixel Watch. I did use Google Wallet to purchase a cup of espresso with faucet to pay at one level, however I used to be dissatisfied to see that my boarding passes didn’t switch to the watch. Hopefully that’s a characteristic that’s added sooner or later. To be honest, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch doesn’t have boarding passes both; I simply hoped Google would deliver that characteristic to the Pixel Watch.
I’ve loved utilizing Samsung’s Galaxy Watch choices for the previous couple of years, however after every week with the Pixel Watch and its streamlined WearOS expertise, I feel I’ve been transformed.
As for battery life, effectively, you’ll have to get within the behavior of charging the Pixel Watch daily. It has simply sufficient juice to trace your actions, put notifications in your wrist and even maintain tabs in your sleep habits, however when you get up, you’ll should put it on the charger. I usually awakened within the morning with lower than 10% of a cost remaining, and at its lowest, I awakened with simply 2% battery life left.
That’s with the always-on show enabled, one thing Google warns will zap the battery. Recharging the battery doesn’t take very lengthy, although, in order that’s a plus. I used to be capable of put it on the charger whereas I obtained prepared for the day, take my children to high school and are available again to a totally charged watch in below an hour.
The interface of the Pixel Watch is straightforward to make use of and intuitive. If you swipe left or proper throughout the watch face, you’ll see one in all your varied tiles to view data comparable to the present climate, Google Maps shortcuts to residence or work, or begin at Fitbit train. A swipe down on the watch face reveals all the fast settings and that is additionally the place I found the bedtime mode button is positioned. When enabled it turns off the Pixel Watch show whilst you sleep, serving to to avoid wasting battery life and get rid of a vivid display waking you up at night time within the course of.
To view and work together with notifications you swipe up on the display, or flip the crown up, the place you possibly can then faucet on the alert to open it, and work together with it if the app helps it.
A Fitbit however by Another Name
Google’s acquisition of Fitbit solely elevated the strain and Pixel Watch expectations. Fitbit got here into Google with a revered observe document of making excellent health trackers, however with a blended historical past of making smartwatches.
With the Pixel Watch, there are many Fitbit options constructed into it. It, after all, tracks your steps, coronary heart price, sleep, and exercises. You can take an ECG to test for an irregular coronary heart rhythm as effectively.
All of the health-related options which might be at the moment out there on the Pixel Watch work as you’d anticipate. You begin a exercise, the watch tracks it, after which data it to the Fitbit app the place you possibly can see your stats and progress.
However, the Pixel Watch launched with out among the staple Fitbit options that customers have come to anticipate. For occasion, though it’s geared up with a blood oxygen sensor, you possibly can’t take a studying proper now. The Pixel Watch additionally has fall detection that may name for assist ought to it detect you’ve fallen, however that’s additionally lacking from the present capabilities. For comparability, the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch already help each of those.
Another characteristic that’s lacking within the conventional sense is automated exercise detection. Instead of figuring out while you’ve forgotten to start out a exercise and prompting you when you’d wish to document it, the Pixel Watch will as an alternative document the exercise after the very fact, with out ever alerting you.
For instance, when you go on an extended stroll and overlook to start out the out of doors stroll exercise on the watch, there’s an opportunity you’ll see the stroll recorded within the Fitbit app after you’ve completed. However, there’s no assure that it’s being tracked, as a result of the watch is in search of indicators comparable to an elevated coronary heart price and different elements to passively document the exercise.
The means to routinely begin, cease or pause exercises is a serious promoting level of Fitbit units. Is the dearth of help on the Pixel Watch a deal breaker? Most probably not. You’ll simply have to get within the behavior of manually beginning your exercises, or trusting the watch sufficient to trace exercises within the background.
My largest gripe in regards to the Pixel Watch and its well being options is a reasonably easy characteristic — use my sleep objectives to create an alarm on the watch that lightly wakes me up within the morning. Right now, there’s an choice within the Fitbit app for a bedtime reminder, nevertheless, you possibly can’t set an alarm. It looks like such an apparent characteristic that Fitbit units, thoughts you, at the moment have. Why it’s not included within the Pixel Watch doesn’t make sense to me.
To get essentially the most out of Fitbit integration you’ll probably need to enroll in Fitbit Premium, a service that unlocks exercises and dietary monitoring for $80 a 12 months. However, Google is together with 6-months of Fitbit Premium with every Pixel Watch.
Bottom Line: Is The Pixel Watch Worth it?
Google’s Pixel Watch may be very a lot a first-generation product. There are plenty of options that Google and the WearOS crew delivered on, comparable to Google Maps or Google Home integration, however then there’s stuff that’s lacking that makes you scratch your head — comparable to the dearth of airline boarding passes within the Wallet app. Maybe the display is simply too small to precisely show the QR code for airline scanners? Who is aware of.
Then there’s the tight integration with Fitbit and the well being options, that are filled with promise, however the lack of key capabilities like Sp02 at launch makes you second-guess Google’s decision-making.
With any first-generation product, there’s a bent for press and customers alike to present a partial go on errors, chalking it as much as classes realized and hoping that the second iteration will appropriate the course. With the Pixel Watch, exterior of battery life and total dimension, a lot of the points I’ve with the expertise are software program associated. With that in thoughts, the Pixel Watch has loads of room to develop into the watch I, and I’m positive many others have been hoping it’d be on launch day. But, right here’s the rub: I’ve by no means advocated that you can purchase a product based mostly on what it might be, however what it’s immediately.
With that in thoughts, when you’re in search of an Android smartwatch to accompany your Android telephone, no matter who made it, and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch lineup isn’t interesting — the Pixel Watch delivers on its WearOS promise. If you’re in search of a fitness-focused smartwatch that additionally occurs to work with Android, then maybe the Galaxy Watch 5 and even the most recent Garmin is a better option for you. For now.
Prices are correct and objects in inventory at time of publishing.
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