Google Pixel Watch Review: An Eye-Catching Android Smartwatch That Only Needs Polish - Forbes

After years of rumors, Google has yet released its archetypal smartwatch. The highly anticipated Google Pixel Watch is here, and I’ve been investigating it since soon aft its announcement, putting it done its paces and checking retired each detail.

The Pixel Watch runs connected Google’s Wear OS3, and it is compatible with immoderate Android telephone moving Android 8.0 oregon later. While its sleek plan matches good with the caller Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones, you don’t request to person a Pixel telephone to instrumentality vantage of this watch’s capabilities. Only 1 diagnostic is exclusive to the Pixel phones, which is utilizing the ticker arsenic a distant power for the camera.

However, it isn’t astatine each compatible with iPhones. That’s not surprising, of course, since the Apple Watch doesn’t enactment with Android phones. The Pixel Watch stands arsenic Google’s reply to the Apple Watch for Android users, but is it a convincing choice? Let’s excavation successful and find out.

Google Pixel Watch: Technical Specifications

Price: $350 |Case size: 41 millimeters | Processor: Exynos 911010nm | Display: 450 x 450-pixel OLED, always-on screen, 1,000-nit maximum brightness | Connectivity: GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, 4G LTE cellular | Storage: 32GB | Battery: 24 hours successful mean usage | Weight: 1.3 ounces

Best for

• Cute, sleek design
• Integrates Fitbit for fittingness tracking
• Heart complaint sensor

Skip because

• Round surface limits text
• Big surface bezels detracts from wide design
• Battery suffers from always-on screen

Google Pixel Watch Design: The Best-Looking Android Watch

The Pixel Watch looks familiar. It has a circular face, the aforesaid arsenic favored by astir non-smart watches. The rounded plan makes cleanable sense: A clock’s hands determination circular a circle, aft all. The look really looks much similar a accepted ticker than Samsung’s circular Watch5 and Watch5 Pro, and it stands successful opposition to Apple Watch’s rectangular shape.

The agleam OLED show looks crisp and sits wrong a circular casing that’s someway neat, svelte and afloat of personality. It doesn’t person the large, level surface of immoderate smartwatches. Instead, it has a gentle dome connected apical and a matching 1 astatine the back. The 1 connected the backmost is determination to guarantee beardown interaction betwixt the bosom show sensor and your skin. The ticker looks sleek and attractive, but the rounded signifier has 1 downside: You can’t show arsenic overmuch substance arsenic you tin connected a rectangular show similar the Apple Watch, which makes it harder to work notifications.

The Pixel Watch’s tiny size doesn’t assistance successful this regard, either. Some on-screen interactions were much fiddly than I expected, similar tapping successful your four-digit passcode, for instance. Google pulls disconnected a neat ocular trick: Even though the bezels astir the show are rather thick—and marque for adjacent little surface existent estate—the ticker seldom shows the bezels acknowledgment to clever, edge-hiding ticker look designs. That effect is helped, perhaps, by the domed solid astatine the beforehand which disguises wherever show and bezel meet. Sometimes you announcement it, but mostly it looks great.

The Pixel Watch has a 41 millimeter case, the aforesaid arsenic the smaller Apple Watch Series 8. Apple besides makes a smaller Watch (the 40 millimeter Apple Watch SE) and 3 Watches that are bigger than the Pixel Watch (measuring 44 millimeters, 45 millimeters and 49 millimeters). This puts the Pixel Watch astatine the smaller extremity of the spectrum.

Like the Apple Watch, and millions of non-smart timepieces earlier it, Pixel Watch has a crown centered on the face’s close edge. I utilized the crown to activate menus and scroll done them with easiness arsenic I navigated among the Pixel Watch’s features. I had little luck with the wide, multi-purpose fastener conscionable supra the crown. You tin long-press the fastener to activate dependable commands if you don’t privation to accidental “Hey, Google”; or, double-tap the fastener to unfastened up caller apps. I recovered this fastener rather tricky to press, arsenic it sits flush to the watch’s casing, person to the wrist and the backmost fractional of the watch. My fingers ne'er acclimated to the position, adjacent aft a week of wearing it.

The lone different markings connected the casing are a microphone and speaker. The rear of the watch, arsenic is communal among smartwatches, has a bid of sensors designed to way your bosom rate, humor oxygen and ECG. As already mentioned, the backmost has a domed signifier which makes it easier for the sensor to marque interaction with your wrist.

The last portion of the plan jigsaw is the band, which appears to seamlessly connect to the watch’s casing. Google has respective set styles, and each of them link successful a unsocial way: You property the lug conscionable to the near of the strap and swipe the strap sideways to region it. Attach the adjacent strap by performing the process successful reverse.

The supplied strap is simply a made of silicone, akin to the Sport Band connected the Apple Watch. It adjacent has a akin pin and tuck mechanism. (Tip: Don’t tighten it excessively overmuch erstwhile you enactment the pin successful spot arsenic the process of the set needs to tuck in, which tightens things further) The strap attached securely and felt bully connected my wrist.

The ticker felt luxurious connected my wrist, too, with a smooth, stainless alloy finish. Where Apple has 3 metallic finishes (aluminum, stainless alloy and titanium), Google has conscionable the one, which helps Google bring the Pixel Watch successful astatine a little terms than the Apple Watch Series 8, which starts astatine $399. And if you privation to comparison stainless alloy models, past the Apple Watch (which has LTE cellular connectivity successful that configuration arsenic standard) costs $699, portion the Pixel starts astatine $350, oregon $400 with LTE connectivity. (For much perspective, the Pixel Watch’s closest Android rival, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5, starts astatine $280 for the 40 millimeter exemplary successful an aluminum case.)

Like the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra, the Pixel Watch has an enactment to acceptable the show to always-on, alternatively of waking erstwhile you rise your wrist. This diagnostic is handy, and 1 you whitethorn find hard to crook disconnected erstwhile you’re utilized to it. But beware: Keeping the show to always-on noticeably depletes the battery.

Google Pixel Watch Features: Fitbit Baked In

Google bought Fitbit successful 2019, and the Pixel Watch is the archetypal merchandise to integrate its wellness and fittingness features. With Fitbit baked in, it makes consciousness that Google includes a six-month subscription to Fitbit Premium truthful you tin get a sensation of the afloat package. It’s casual to enactment each of your fittingness information connected the ticker face, for instance. And you get the fantabulous accuracy of Fitbit devices wrong the Pixel Watch’s enclosure. While it is bully to spot Fitbit aboveground successful a Google device, the app looked dated.

The Pixel Watch’s bosom complaint show runs perpetually successful the background, truthful you tin spot your heartbeat with a speedy glance. This is precise cool, and thing the Apple Watch can’t match. On Apple’s timepiece, you request to pat the show to spot the latest figure. Accuracy seems near-identical crossed the Apple Watch and Pixel: When the 2 were sitting side-by-side connected my wrist, the readouts were wrong 1 bushed per minute.

The gesture-based Pixel Watch interface is straightforward, with swipes from the top, bottom, near and close delivering antithetic results. You tin entree the apps by pushing successful the crown and rotating it to scroll done a list. This is amended than connected the Apple Watch, wherever you’re initially faced with a prime of tiny circular app icons to determination astir oregon the (much better) database option.

One diagnostic connected the Pixel Watch works lone with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones: You tin usage the ticker arsenic a distant camera shutter, adjusting settings and triggering the shutter for your phone’s camera straight from your wrist. I recovered this a useful alternate to utilizing the camera’s timer function.

Google Pixel Watch Performance: Lagging Behind

The archetypal Apple Watch backmost successful 2015 was often precise dilatory to react. It was infuriating. Sadly, the Pixel Watch has a akin plight, with a dilatory effect blighting the wide experience.

For instance, I tapped the ticker look to unfastened the Settings app and experienced a agelong hold earlier thing happened—so agelong that I tapped again. The aforesaid happening happened erstwhile the app yet opened, and I tapped to prime an option.

These delays are annoying and distract from utilizing the watch. Apple solved this occupation with bundle updates connected the archetypal Apple Watch, truthful possibly implicit clip Google tin amended the responsiveness here. For now, though, it’s frustrating. Similarly, I recovered changing the ticker look complex, requiring an unintuitive bid of swipes and touches. The ticker faces look large erstwhile you yet get what you’re after.

Google Pixel Watch Battery Life: 24 Hours Of Fun

While immoderate fittingness trackers person artillery beingness that goes connected for weeks, smartwatches typically request recharging overmuch much often. The Pixel Watch requires a regular recharge, but I recovered it could get done astir 24 hours with mean use, and astir 2 days with the always-on show turned off.

Although the stated artillery beingness for this and the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 are similar, the Pixel Watch lasted a spot longer successful my tests. Additionally, the Pixel Watch lasted longer than the Apple Watch Series 8, and I recovered its artillery beardown capable to get you done portion of the time adjacent if I forgot to complaint it 1 night. It’s besides beardown capable to way your slumber done the nighttime (which takes astir 20% of the artillery portion you slumber).

Google Pixel Watch Verdict: Beautiful, But Green

The Google Pixel Watch is an charismatic instrumentality which looks large and is comfy to wear. Its deficiency of responsiveness and sluggish show tin occasionally grate, and surely makes you consciousness you’re utilizing a first-gen instrumentality (which is the lawsuit here). But the Pixel Watch’s 24/7 bosom complaint readouts are a standout feature, and its Fitbit integration, though not perfect, works precise well. Battery beingness takes a sound erstwhile the always-on surface is on, but adjacent so, the ticker has capable foodstuff to get you done a afloat time with ease.

The Google Pixel Watch is simply a amended worth than the Apple Watch, but a amended examination is with Android-friendly smartwatches similar the Samsung Galaxy Watch5. The Watch5 costs little and includes a humor unit show (not recovered connected Pixel Watch), and it has an aluminum casing vs. Pixel Watch’s stainless steel. Looking astatine those 2 models, artillery beingness is astir the aforesaid for both, but Google’s smartwatch adds well-managed Fitbit compatibility.

While Google lacks the slickness of Apple’s timepiece, the Pixel Watch is arguably the best-looking smartwatch, surely much charismatic than the Samsung alternatives. Overall, for Android users, it is acold up of the contention there.