Google Pixel Watch Review: What you Need to Know
Google Pixel Watch is a highly anticipated smartwatch that promised to rival the Apple Watch. It might not be the perfect smartwatch, but good looks, smart software, and Fitbit’s fitness tracking make it a strong sport for a first-generation smartwatch.
It is probably a rough start for Pixel Watch, I guess. So, does it live up to the expectations we all are hoping for?
Let’s Inspect!
Overview
In a hurry, read this short overview stating the pros and cons of the Google Pixel Watch.
Pros
- Great fitness tracking
- Beautiful design and durable construction
- Great sleep tracking
- Precise GPS
- Bright and crisp AMOLED display
- Excellent smartphone apps
Cons
- LTE and ECG are not available in most parts of the world
- Poor battery performance
- No unified smartphone app
- Subscription for fitness tracking app
- Ghost display issue
Google Pixel Watch – Price
Google Pixel Watch is a proper WearOS smartwatch that works only on Android smartphones. It starts at 349$ for non-LTE and 399$ for the LTE version. The watch directly competes against the mighty Apple Watch. Moreover, Galaxy Watch, Ticwatch, and Fossil made models are also considered close competitors.
Google Pixel Watch – Unboxing
The pack definitely looks excellent, with nice construction and a unique design compared to popular smartwatches like Galaxy and Apple Watch. Overall, the feel of the box is good; it has good construction and feels premium.
Upon opening, we have the beautiful smartwatch. Feels great in hand; then we have the paperwork, charging cable, and a smaller strap if you have a thin wrist.
Appearance and Build Quality
Google Pixel is genuinely a pleasing watch. At first sight, it seems like a piece of art. The beautiful round display with curved glass on top is accompanied by a solid crown and a button. The bottom side also looks great; it also has a fine mirror finish with sensors stacked in the center.
Unique Strap Mechanism
The watch has a unique strap design; instead of lugs or pins, it uses a fitting mechanism that holds the strap in place. It looks half inspired by the Apple Watch, but it is an excellent inclusion as it keeps the dust and bacteria from building up in the lugs. Moreover, it is far more durable than a typical mechanism.
The build quality of the Google Pixel Watch is exceptional; it has Gorilla Glass 5 screen and a stainless-steel frame. The combo gives it some solid strength and ensures a visually appealing finish all around.
Turning on the watch will give you a tutorial on how to use the watch. Like, swipe down for quick settings, swipe right to go back, and swiping while the watch face is on will take you to the main tiles. Then we have the crown button acting as the home and app launcher button, and the top button opens the recent apps. The top button is customizable; you can also add double-press and long-press functionalities.
Technical Specifications
- Chipset: Exynos 9110 Dual Core 1.15GHz processor
- OS: Android WearOS 3.5
- Display: 1.2inches, 450×450 pixels, 100nits peak brightness
- Body: Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with Stainless Steel Frame
- Weight: 36 grams
- Memory: 32GB memory, 2GB RAM
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Monitor, Altimeter, Compass and SpO2
- Battery: 294mAh
- LTE: Yes, eSim
- NFC: Yes
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0
- GPS: Yes, GLONASS, GPS, GALILEO, BDS
- Speaker: Yes
- Waterproof: 5ATM
Google Pixel Watch – Features
Google Pixel Watch is among the most awaited smartwatches of 2022. It runs the latest Wear OS 3.5 on a fine Samsung Exynos chipset paired with a Cortex M33 co-processor to take care low power tasks.
One of the key features of the Google Pixel Watch is the LTE. The Samsung processor has the ability to run LTE, and I have heard good remarks about its LTE. But I could not test it as it is still unavailable in my region. Google has made it quite challenging to integrate eSim you have to get a subscription from the supported carrier, and currently, none of the carriers have been granted the feature.
Play Store Option in Google Pixel App
The snappy and smooth OS is something that makes Pixel Watch an excellent contender. It has Exynos 9110 processor and 2GB RAM that keeps processes buttery smooth. Adding apps has been made straightforward by Google by adding the option in the Smartphone App.
It supports almost all the apps available for Wear OS, including YouTube Music and Spotify. Google Pixel Watch has taken the Apple way of implementing music playback. You can only listen to YouTube music through the watch’s speaker and Spotify through the external device.
Google fitness tracking is powered by Fitbit, which means you can only expect good things. It is among the most reliable fitness systems, and the results are here quite the same—more in the fitness tracking section.
Fitness Tracking
Google has opted to go with the Fitbit ecosystem instead of its own Google Fit. So, there is a lot more positive tracking. GPS is great, sleep tracking is exceptional, precise steps tracking, and the best heart rate monitoring, but some things need improvement.
The watch has 40 workouts and can track all the usual workouts like steps, cycling, running, and much more. Pixel Watch has the best heart rate monitor under the hood. It tracks very accurately, and the watch constantly updates the reading on watch faces.
The sleep tracking is excellent. It detected every time I was awake at night during the time I had a fever.
The GPS tracking is also exceptional, identical to the results of the Apple Watch. It is very precise and has great outdoor activities. But it does drain some extra charges of the battery.
Pixel Watch can also track ECG and SpO2. It has the sensor, but for some reason, Google has only enabled the features in only 28 countries. This is absurd because why would you put a sensor when you are not enabling the feature to most of the world?
Smartphone Apps
Google Pixel Watch needs two smartphone apps to work properly. To control the smartwatch, you will need the Google Pixel App. It is nice but has something different. The app has more functions and a broader scope of controlling the watch as compared to other Wear OS apps.
The second app is Fitbit for health tracking details. It needs a monthly subscription fee, although the watch comes with a 6-month premium subscription. But after paying 400$, I would expect to receive full health information, but Google is here asking you to pay a monthly subscription to access my health tracking data.
Besides that, the app is quite good; the charts are very detailed and have analysis and trend based on our daily habits and workouts.
Google Pixel Watch – Battery
The battery performance is not up to the mark. It barely lasts over a day with always on display and hand gestures off, which is terrible because we are not even using LTE and GPS right now. Even with the latest Wear OS, the battery endurance is still pretty low, considering similar devices easily go as high as 1 ½ or even days.
Moreover, the battery is also made by Samsung so you can use Samsung’s charging plate to charge your Google Pixel Watch.
Drawbacks
- Ghost Display issue
- Poor Battery life
- Minor bugs in the software
- LTE only available in a few regions
- Storage access remarks
- No unified phone app
Bottom Line
Despite all these problems, it is an excellent companion for Android smartphones. It has features like LTE, sports tracking, Fitbit health tracking, etc. However, if you want longer battery life, there are many good alternatives.
Google Pixel Watch is slightly more expensive than Galaxy Watch and does not have blood pressure measuring. Galaxy also has a better Samsung UI. Compared to Ticwatch, it has lower battery life but a better Wear OS.
Google Pixel Watch has a different style, but it is still far behind Apple Watch. It was the first generation, and we can expect exciting upgrades in the next generations.
Where to Buy?
Get your now from the link below and learn more about the watch in our YouTube video.
