Pixel Watch Hands-On: Fitbit's Wear OS Debut Highlights Google's First Smartwatch
Starting at $350, Google's first smartwatch has a lot of potential.
Google's $350 (£339, AU$549) Pixel Watch is the first smartwatch to come directly from the company following years of developing the Wear OS operating system that powers other smartwatches. It's also the first Wear OS smartwatch to feature Fitbit's fitness tracking, which has been anticipated ever since Google acquired Fitbit. Making its debut at last week's Pixel fall event alongside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones, the watch features a rounded design and dark menus, and may possibly also point toward the future of Fitbit and Android wearables.
The announcement comes Google's tease of the Pixel Watch in May during its I/O developers conference. While Google previously revealed what the watch would look like and provided a preview of its software, it saved many of the core details around pricing, design and functionality for the October unveiling.
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Aside from making the Wear OS smartwatch software that's used by Samsung, Fossil and Michael Kors, Google has largely been absent from the smartwatch market. The Pixel Watch, however, is the first to be positioned as a Google device under its flagship Pixel brand. It comes as the company has been making a renewed push into hardware, establishing itself as a household name alongside Apple and Samsung in the mobile device market.
The Pixel Watch has an elegant design that separates it from most Android-compatible smartwatches available on the market. But coming seven years after the original Apple Watch's launch, it has a lot of catching up to do from an industry-wide perspective. Apple leads the smartwatch space with 29% of the global market as of the second quarter of 2022, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung is the leader when it comes to Android-compatible smartwatches with 9% of the market, a number that trails far behind Apple.
With its sharp looks and Fitbit health metrics, the Pixel Watch already seems 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's health tracking along with additional smartwatch features that Fitbit devices lack, such as optional LTE connectivity and Google Play Store apps.
The $300 Fitbit Sense 2, on the other hand, includes additional health and wellness capabilities such as skin temperature measurements and the ability to detect potential signs of stress. Whether the Pixel Watch becomes a hit could be an indicator of what consumers value most in a smartwatch. Google said in May it's positioning the Pixel Watch as a premium smartwatch, and that approach comes across in its aesthetic. The Pixel Watch has a domed, circular glass design with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and a stainless steel housing that makes it look more like a regular wristwatch than most smartwatches I've seen.
The watch is water resistant up 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 idle, just like Apple's flagship watches and Fitbit's smartwatches. It will be available in four finish options: matte black with an obsidian active band, polished silver with a charcoal active band, polished silver with a chalk active band or champagne gold with a hazel active band.
There will also be a variety of band styles to choose from, ranging from lightweight sports bands to breathable woven 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 ideal to wear to bed. It almost feels like wearing a scrunchie on my wrist.
Swapping out the bands is relatively simple; it requires pressing a button where the band connects to the housing and then sliding the band in the same direction. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of it, but it's easy once you get used to it.
At first glance, the Pixel Watch feels like the Apple Watch's closest competitor in terms of design -- except it's round rather than square. As a longtime Apple Watch wearer, the Pixel Watch's use of premium materials and the look and feel of its straps has given me some deja vu -- but in a good way. There's also a crown along the side of the watch that doubles as a button and a scroll wheel, much like the Apple Watch's digital crown. But the Pixel Watch's domed glass gives it a distinguished look that sets it apart from most wearables, even the Apple Watch and high-end hybrid watches such as the Withings ScanWatch Horizon.
2022-10-11 20:57:38
