In the past year, news about Pixel Watch has been leaked in large quantities. Today, Google finally revealed the full details of its first ever smartwatch , without surprises, without much surprise, but the fact that Google actually launched a smartwatch marks a new chapter in Android wearables. While the tech giant was once a cold bystander for wearable devices, it is now an active player. The design of the Pixel Watch for $399.99 (USD 399.99 for cellular version) is not something we haven't seen before in Google I/O conferences or leaked renders. It basically looks like the Apple Watch when it has a circular display, with a digital crown and side buttons. That said, the official size of the Pixel Watch is much smaller than other high-end smartwatches launched this fall. The case is compact 41mm, relatively thin at 12.3mm. As a stainless steel watch, it also weighs very lightly, 32 grams, removes the strap. This brings it closer to the entry-level Galaxy Watch 5 and Apple Watch Series 8, rather than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or Apple Watch Ultra.
Pixel Watch won't have impressive battery life
The smaller size is good news for petite people on their wrists, but it also means the Pixel Watch won't have the most impressive battery life. Its battery capacity is 294mAh and it is estimated to last 24 hours on a single charge. It's not scary for a smartwatch that emphasizes intelligence over fitness, but there's a gap compared to the about two days of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Ultra.
Google spokesman Andrea Holin said that this estimate was derived with the always-on display turned off: 240 notifications; 280 time checks; 50 minutes of tethering navigation; 45 minutes of fitness, while connecting through LTE, tracking locations through GPS, and playing on locally stored YouTube music; and 5 minutes of LTE phone calls.
Battery life always depends heavily on personal use, and to relieve stress, Google adds fast charging to the watch via a USB-C cable. Get 50% of the battery in half an hour, while it takes about 80 minutes to fully charge.
in terms of durability, although it has 5ATM waterproof performance and the case is stainless steel, its display only has Corning Gorilla No. 5 glass. Since it is a dome display, the glass may be subjected to stress from all angles during daily use, which may cause some easy damage problems.
As for processing power, rumors have been proven to be true. Google confirmed that the watch runs on the previous generation Exynos 9110 chip of the Samsung , which was last used in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. However, the Pixel Watch has an additional Cortex M33 coprocessor to optimize battery life. This is also the same approach Qualcomm has taken to its wearable chips, which has achieved varying degrees of success. Google also increased the memory to 2GB, which has not been seen on Android smartwatch yet.
Pixel Watch has connectivity capabilities such as Bluetooth 5.0, LTE, Wi-Fi and NFC for contactless payments. It also has a compass, built-in GPS, an altimeter, a SpO2 sensor, a heart rate sensor, a "multi-purpose" electrical sensor, as well as motion sensors such as accelerometer and gyroscope, built-in microphone and speaker for Google Assistant and calling. Like Samsung and Apple , Google is also adding some security features such as emergency calls, international emergency calls, and fall detection updated later this winter.
Pixel Watch runs on Wear OS 3.5 system and its user interface is completely different from Samsung's Wear OS watch. You can swipe left and right to switch the function list, swipe up to access notifications, and swipe down to quickly switch settings. Google's version of Wear OS 3 also includes a watch interface unique to the Pixel Watch and customized complications.
The good news is that none of the features of the Pixel Watch will be unique to Pixel phones. This is a clear difference from Samsung's Galaxy watch, which requires many of the important features of the latter require a Samsung smartphone.
This watch will also be more obvious in integrating with Google's services.This includes Google Wallet for contactless payments, navigation for Google Maps, and calendar and Gmail notifications. There will also be a Find My device, Google Assistant, and Google Home App for Smart Home Control. When it comes to music, Google also gave each Pixel Watch three months of YouTube Music Premium.
At the same time, all health functions will be provided by Fitbit. Each watch also comes with a 6-month senior membership for Fitbit, which includes access to guided exercises, advanced sleep tracking, daily preparation scores and meditation classes.
Although Google recently announced that Fitbit users will need to log in with their Google accounts in the future, the company said it will continue to separate Fitbit health and wellness data from Google advertising data, a requirement from regulators around the world.
It is too early to say whether the Pixel Watch will succeed
It is too early to say whether the Pixel Watch will succeed. This depends heavily on the chip, battery life, and whether its version of Wear OS 3 is good enough, etc. Still, on paper, the Pixel Watch seems to be the first attempt to change the Google wearables argument, even if it still has a long way to go to catch up with Apple in the near term.
Pixel Watch is available for pre-order starting today and comes in black, silver and gold. The standard version costs $349.99, while the mobile version costs $399.99. The watch will be pre-ordered starting today (October 6) and is expected to be available on October 13.
