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The First-Ever Pixel Watch: Google’s New Smartwatch Features Wear OS and Fitbit Built-in

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2022 has been the year of new smartwatches, from the Apple Watch Series 8 to the release of a slew of new Fitbit watches. One of the most notable drops of the year though had to be the Pixel Watch — Google’s first smartwatch that combines both elegance and the power of Fitbit.

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After spending a few weeks with the Pixel Watch on my wrist, here’s what I thought about the design, health and fitness features and overall usability.

pixel watch
pixel watch

Pixel Watch

Price: $349.99+

Buy Now

Pixel Watch: Availability, Design

The Pixel Watch is available to buy now in three stainless steel finishes, including Champagne Gold, Matte Black and Polished Silver. You can nab the LTE version or the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi version, starting at $349.99.

On first glance, the rounded design and polished, clean finish almost make this smartwatch look like a regular watch — until the display comes on. This automatically makes this a great smartwatch for anyone who likes the idea of having all their information on their wrist, but hates the clunky design of most smartwatches on the market.

The ridged crown is a nice touch and really stood out for me on the gold finish. Plus, the wide array of customizable bands means you can personalize your smartwatch to your style. I personally liked the muted silicone band that came with the watch and found it incredibly comfortable for all-day wear.

Pixel Watch: Bezels Could Use a Bit of Work

Google has taken a different route compared to its competitors, giving users thicker bezels on this watch instead of fully utilizing the screen real estate.

This won’t be an issue if you’re using a darker watch face that blends into the background but you will notice how bulky the bezels are once you switch over to the app menu. While this isn’t a deal breaker, it will be interesting to see if Google moves to thinner bezels on their next iteration of the Pixel Watch, or if the tech giant will keep the thicker bezels as time goes on.

Pixel Watch: How helpful is Fitbit?

Moving past the design, Google has packed a good number of features on its starter smartwatch, most importantly, the integration of Fitbit. Of course, since Google owns Fitbit, this was a no-brainer for the brand, but it was interesting to see just how useful Fitbit could be — especially for me since I haven’t used Fitbit in a while.

There are two apps on your Pixel Watch that access Fitbit: Fitbit Today and Fitbit Excercise (there’s also Fitbit ECG). Fitbit Today gives you a quick daily overview of the number of steps you’ve taken, your heart rate, calories burned and active zone minutes (this varies according to your resting heart rate and age), and a couple of other metrics.

Fitbit Excercise lets you track more than 40 different exercises, including biking, running, dancing, and HIIT. The Pixel Watch can’t automatically delete your workouts though, although I did see my watch record walks I took later in the app.

Fitbit on the Pixel Watch also lets you take an ECG reading and if you pay for Fitbit Premium ($9.99 a month), you can get advanced sleep tracking and a daily readiness score on your watch – plus, workouts and guided meditations through the app on your Pixel smartphone.

pixel watch
pixel watch

Pixel Watch

Price: $349.99+

Buy Now

I loved the daily readiness score feature, where the watch would take into amount my sleep score, exercise levels throughout the week, and heart rate data to let me know just how active I could be on a certain day. Since I was recovering from Long Covid while I was testing this watch, it was great to see when my body was ready for a moderate workout, or when it needed a rest. It definitely gave me peace of mind on days I was feeling particularly tired and my readiness score was low.

Advanced sleep tracking works similarly to the Apple Watch, with the Pixel Watch listing out how much REM sleep, deep sleep or light sleep you achieved. At the end of the night, you’d be given a sleep score, depending on how much rest you got. Some of these features are available to non-premium users but if you want sleep patterns over time as well as a dedicated sleep profile (and an animal that matches your sleep style) you’ll want to go premium.

The good part though is that with every purchase of the Pixel Watch, users are automatically given six months free of Fitbit Premium, which will let you access sleep profiles and gain insight into your long-term health trends for free.

The only downside to health and fitness tracking? The Pixel Watch comes enabled with Blood Oxygen sensors but this feature has yet to be activated by Google.

Pixel Watch: Usability and Software

The Wear OS software has a few kinks but is overall decent. I sometimes faced lags on my watch as I switched between apps but I never had to deal with it freezing completely.

You can access Google Assistant with a long press on the side crown and receiving texts and calls on my smartwatch was as easy as ever. I could also ping my phone if I couldn’t find it, and of course, take pictures remotely through the Google Photos app which delighted me to no end.

pixel watch
pixel watch

I could even put my favorite apps as ’tiles’ on my home screen allowing me to access them with an easy swipe. GPS worked well too, and I could easily navigate with Google Maps. Of course, a slightly more intuitive interface including automatic workout tracking or being able to customize the app layout could be great, but it might be something we’ll see in the future.

Battery life was decent too, although if you want it to live up to Google’s 24-hour battery life claim, you’ll have to barely use it, including staying away from any fitness tracking and turning off the always-on display.

If you charged your watch the night before, you’d be able to get through a decent chunk of your day without springing for a recharge. That said, if you did use it for workout tracking, be prepared to lose at least 15% of your battery per workout.

Pixel Watch: Our Verdict

For design alone, the Pixel Watch is a great pick. The rounded front and myriad of available bands, give this watch an almost vintage-looking chronograph feel. It’s also designed with Pixel users in mind, as you can easily receive notifications and track your Fitbit activity straight on your smartwatch.

That said, there are a few things Google could improve on with the display, and maybe offer the smartwatch in a larger size for bigger wrists. It would also be nice to see Google activates the SpO2 sensor for more health metrics.

All in all though, for an entry smartwatch, Google did a really good job and Pixel fans will be happy if they get their hands on one.

pixel watch
pixel watch

Pixel Watch

Price: $349.99+

Buy Now

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