Google Pixel Watch Review: First-Gen Problems

Last year, Google and Samsung teamed up to release an integrated version of Wear OS that is more powerful and sophisticated. It was exclusive to Samsung Watch devices for almost a year. Google Pixel Watch is considered the gold standard for Wear OS smartwatches, as very few smartwatches run Wear OS 3.5.

The Google Pixel Watch is Google's first-pixel wearable that promises a smooth, polished experience and hopes to be considered the "Apple Watch for Android." The Pixel Watch is also the future of Wear OS as a platform, and many are watching to see if it brings some evolution to the operating system.

The Pixel Watch introduces features found in Wear OS prior to Wear OS 3.5, but the operating system has been completely redesigned with more refinement and attention to detail in animations and sounds. This watch is designed to be comfortable to wear all day and looks comfortable and useful.

Design

For the Pixel Watch, Google chose an understated, minimalist look. The watch is round, with a domed layer of protective glass that elegantly wraps around the Pixel Watch. The watch case, on the other hand, is made of stainless steel with 80% recycled content.

The finish of the watch case varies depending on the colour scheme. Our unit is matte black with obsidian active bands and is the only combo that does not have a polished finish. Also available in champagne gold with hazel active bands and polished silver with charcoal or chalk active bands.

Pixel Watch uses a unique mechanism to attach and detach the strap. Google likened the action to inserting and removing the camera lens from the case.

Under the upper band, there is a pogo pin connector. Google is yet to disclose what is the function of these pogo pins but it seems like it is a service port. In future, Google may release smart accessories that will connect with the POGO connector. We’ll have to wait and see what Google has in store.

Display

The Pixel Watch uses a sharp and vibrant circular AMOLED display, protected by a 3D dome made of Gorilla Glass 5. It is 1.2 inches in diameter and has a resolution of 450 x 450 pixels. The pixel density will be approximately 320 ppi.

The Google Pixel Watch supports a brightness boost of up to 1000 nits and also supports the DCI-P3 colour space with deeper colours and higher contrast. The screen supports adaptive brightness. This screen is small but very bright and easy to read outdoors.

Performance

Google Pixel Watch is powered by Exynos 9110 based on a 10 nm process. This is the same chipset found in the Samsung Galaxy Watch, Watch Active, and Galaxy Watch 3. The Pixel Watch is paired with a Cortex M33 coprocessor to handle low-power tasks like always-on display updates and heart rate and other background functions. The Exynos 9110 is a dual-core chipset clocked at 1.15 GHz and uses the Cortex-A53 core. Graphics are handled by the Mali-T720. LTE modems support 150 Mbit/s downstream and 75 Mbit/s upstream. GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo are also supported.

This chipset is 4 years old at the moment and I wonder if Google was going to release the Pixel Watch sooner or cut back production to make up for the delays in its chain supply started in 2020.

Pixel watch app

Starting with wearables running Wear OS 3.5 or higher, each manufacturer is given the freedom to have its own companion app. For Pixel Watch, this is the Pixel Watch app.

The setup process isn't all that different. Still, this app is more comprehensive, including configuring your Pixel watch, customising watch faces, adding accounts, accessing the watch's Play Store, installing apps, and managing your Pixel features and options, eSIM on your watch. You can also manage your Google Assistant settings from the app, add a Google account, add cards to Google Wallet, and more.

Wear OS 3.5

Pixel Watch runs Wear OS 3.5. If you've used Wear OS smartwatches over the past few years, they'll all feel familiar. On the main watch face, you swipe up to get notifications and swipe down to reveal the quick settings panel, but Google Assistant no longer has a dedicated feed page. It wasn't necessary anyway. Swipe left or scroll the clock tile and right.

Pixel Watch's Wear OS 3.5 doesn't bring dramatic changes, but it does modernise its UI with an overhaul that's been needed for years.

Fitness and Health Tracking

At the launch event, Google pointed out that the Google Pixel has the most accurate and fastest heart rate monitoring system Fitbit has ever made. Heart rate can be calculated at a sampling rate of once per second. This means you don't have to wait for your heart rate to appear and there's no delay when your heart rate spikes during an activity.

Pixel Watch also comes equipped with ECG for people concerned with their heart health. Weirdly, even though the Pixel Watch has a Blood Oxygen sensor, there is no way to use it. This might be fixed in a future software update.

Battery

With a 294 mAh cell, battery life has never been stronger. Nighttime sleep monitoring consumes about 8% to 15% when the always-on display is off, and up to 30% when the always-on display is on. Fitness tracking uses a fair amount of battery, and even more if GPS is enabled for exercise. Most of the time, the Pixel Watch falls just short of its 24-hour mark.

Google claims the Pixel Watch can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes. In our test, on a standard charger, it managed to get 48% after 30 minutes on a fully discharged battery. A full charge took roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is the 80-minute or so mark advertised by Google. If the watch is completely discharged, it will automatically turn on again after charging up to 10%.

Google Pixel Watch Verdict

The Google Pixel Watch is a sleek, minimalist and attractive watch. Being the first generation device, the experience does not match the price tag. Google has put the Pixel Watch at a much higher starting price compared to the Apple Watch while using the Apple Watch SE was a much better experience.