The Pixel Watch is Google’s first smartwatch. At an event on Thursday we should get him. The watch has a round face and is packed with Fitbit tracking features. Google unveiled the Pixel Watch alongside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones at its annual developer conference in May. But we didn’t get to see them in person until this week.
The announcement comes after Google teased the Pixel Watch in May during its I/O developer conference. While Google previously revealed what the watch will look like and provided a preview of its software, it kept many of the key details around pricing, design and functionality to Thursday’s unveiling.
Aside from creating the Wear OS smartwatch software used by Samsung, Fossil and Michael Kors, Google has been largely absent from the smartwatch market. The company also owns Fitbit, which it acquired in 2021. However, the $350 (£339, AU$549) Pixel Watch is the first smartwatch positioned as a Google device under the flagship Pixel brand. It comes at a time when the company is making a renewed push into hardware to establish itself as a household name alongside Apple and Samsung in the mobile market.
Go straight to the source for your Google Pixel Watch pre-order. Prices start at $350 and the devices will begin shipping on October 13.
Read our Pixel Watch first.
The Pixel Watch has a sleek design that sets it apart from most Android-compatible smartwatches available in the market. But coming seven years after the launch of the original Apple Watch, it has a lot of catching up to do from an industry-wide perspective. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple leads the smartwatch world with 29% of the global market as of the second quarter of 2022. Samsung is the leader when it comes to Android-compatible smartwatches with 9% of the market, a number that lags far behind Apple .
With its sharp looks and Fitbit-like health metrics, the Pixel Watch already looks like a promising choice for Android device owners. But I could also see how the Pixel Watch could complicate how Fitbit’s own smartwatches fit into Google’s product lineup. The company says the Pixel Watch is for those who want Fitbit health tracking along with additional smartwatch features that Fitbit devices lack, such as LTE connectivity option and Google Play Store apps.
The $300 Fitbit Sense 2, on the other hand, includes additional health and wellness features like skin temperature measurement and the ability to detect potential signs of stress. Whether the Pixel Watch becomes a hit may be an indicator of what consumers value most in a smartwatch.
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The Pixel Watch might be the best-looking smartwatch yet
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Google said in May that it was positioning the Pixel Watch as a premium smartwatch, and that approach shows in its aesthetic. The Pixel Watch has a domed, round glass design with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and a stainless steel body, making it look more like a regular wristwatch than most smartwatches I’ve seen.
The watch is water resistant to 5 ATM, which means it should be able to withstand pressure equal to a depth of 50 meters. It also features an always-on display that can show the time and other information when the screen is inactive, just like Apple’s flagship watches and Fitbit smartwatches. It will be available in four finishes: matte black with obsidian active band, polished silver with charcoal active band, polished silver with chalk active band, or champagne gold with hazelnut active band.
There will also be a variety of strap styles to choose from, ranging from lightweight sports bands to breathable fabric bands designed for sleep tracking, to more formal leather and metal mesh options. The stretch band is surprisingly light and soft and I could see how it would be perfect for wearing to bed. It almost feels like I’m wearing scrunchies on my wrist.
Changing lanes is relatively simple; requires pressing a button where the band connects to the housing and then sliding the band in the same direction. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it.
At first glance, the Pixel Watch looks like the Apple Watch’s closest competitor in terms of design — except it’s round, not square. As a longtime Apple Watch wearer, the Pixel Watch’s use of premium materials and the look and feel of its bands gave me a bit of deja vu — but in a good way. There’s also a crown on the side of the watch that doubles as a button and scroll wheel, similar to the digital crown on the Apple Watch. But the Pixel Watch’s domed glass gives it a premium look that sets it apart from most wearables, even the Apple Watch and high-end hybrid watches like the Withings ScanWatch Horizon.
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However, I also noticed that the bezels framing the display are a bit wide, although they blend in seamlessly with the rest of the watch. The watch itself is also quite wide, but I’ll need to spend more time with it before I can tell if these factors affect the overall experience.
The Pixel Watch software is a combination of Google and Fitbit
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The Pixel Watch runs Google’s Wear OS 3.5 software and inherits some of Fitbit’s health features. In the short time I got to see the Pixel Watch in person, the software looks a lot like the new redesigned interface on Fitbit Sense 2. It also feels fast and snappy. Compared to the Sense 2, I felt like I was gliding through the OS, while there was sometimes a pause before apps launched on the Fitbit Sense 2.
Like Sense 2, the Pixel Watch has tiles to display activity data, heart rate, time, exercise shortcuts and other information. Pressing the crown on the Pixel Watch will take you to your apps, similar to how pressing the side button on the Sense 2 pulls up your app list. You’ll also get Fitbit-specific metrics like Active Zone Minutes, which give you more credits based on how high your heart rate is while exercising, and a daily readiness score.
But the software doesn’t seem to be exactly the same. Google is positioning the Pixel Watch as more of a full-featured smartwatch, so it includes some goodies like smart home controls, access to the Google Play Store from your wrist, and optional LTE connectivity (though the cellular version of the watch will cost a bit more at $400 ). Emergency SOS, international emergency calls and mobile payments via Google Wallet will also be available, and the watch also includes a compass for navigation. From what I’ve seen, the Pixel Watch’s performance also seems faster than the Sense 2’s, though I’ll have to spend time with the Pixel Watch to know for sure.
Watch faces also seem like a much bigger deal for the Pixel Watch; there are 18 styles that Google says can be highly customized. For example, you can change the color of the face and dials and add complications. Again, this should all sound familiar to anyone who has used an Apple Watch.
The Pixel Watch has Fitbit health tracking
From a health tracking perspective, you could almost think of the Pixel Watch as a really good-looking Fitbit smartwatch. All of your health data will live in the Fitbit app (although Google says it will continue to support Google Fit as well). You’ll be able to add the Pixel Watch to your Fitbit app just like any other Fitbit device. This means that in addition to your workout and activity tracking, you’ll get Fitbit-specific metrics like your alertness score and sleep score. The Pixel Watch will also come with six months of free Fitbit Premium, Fitbit’s $10 monthly subscription that provides access to additional health metrics and exercise programs.
Google claims the Pixel Watch will offer the company the most…
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