Google Pixel Watch Polished Silver with Charcoal Active Band

The Google Pixel Watch is a gorgeous wearable smart device; aesthetically it is a home run. But despite being a jewel in appearance, there are some flaws in this diamond. This version is the LTE version, which can be configured with many different carriers to support its own LTE connection independent of your phone. It will also work just fine without it, just know you'll need your phone for fullest capability then. The watch is 41mm with an OLED screen. It's nice enough to be "dressy" and it's round form factor looks more watch-like than the squares of other smartwatches. The round screen does give a feeling of a "porthole" screen but I found it easier to deal with than I'd anticipated. A knock I have against it is that the default rubber watch band isn't the ... MoreThe Google Pixel Watch is a gorgeous wearable smart device; aesthetically it is a home run. But despite being a jewel in appearance, there are some flaws in this diamond. This version is the LTE version, which can be configured with many different carriers to support its own LTE connection independent of your phone. It will also work just fine without it, just know you'll need your phone for fullest capability then. The watch is 41mm with an OLED screen. It's nice enough to be "dressy" and it's round form factor looks more watch-like than the squares of other smartwatches. The round screen does give a feeling of a "porthole" screen but I found it easier to deal with than I'd anticipated. A knock I have against it is that the default rubber watch band isn't the nicest looking and it would be nice to be able to configure your desired watch band when ordering. Otherwise you end up with a band you may not like, and then have to buy one that you do. Setup wasn't too hard, but a little more complicated than a typical Google setup because of the Fitbit integration, so you have to sign into Google and Fitbit and get those apps. It seemed there was a lot of app updating to do. The Fitbit app I was familiar with from my old Fitbit Versa, while the Watch app was new. I greatly appreciated the Watch app as someone who now needs bifocals: every configuration of the watch--Tiles, watch faces, colors, configuration, etc.--can be done in the app on my phone. Much easier than on the watch screen and it all worked very well. Navigation around the phone is pretty easy. Swiping to the left/right takes through Tiles, which are customizable information screens like weather, heart rate monitoring, exercise tracker, sleep tracker, etc. Swipe down for the settings icons, which also includes the watch flashlight function. (I really liked that it included a red light option for preserving night vision!). Swiping up brings notifications. The crown on the side can be pressed to bring up apps, act as a back button, or can be rotated for navigation through notifications. It also serves as the ECG monitor, which worked fine in my testing (thankfully no Afib detected!). Above it lies a small button that if pushed brings up recently used items, while long pressing it brings up the Google Assistant, which also can be voice-activated. Google Wallet is supported so you can use it as a payment method, but it might be awkward to get your wrist placed on some terminals. (Just remember to enter your passcode first to keep the phone unlocked for this. The watch will remain in that unlocked state so long as you're wearing it.) Battery life is a little disappointing. This isn't a device that you're going to get multiple days of use out of on a single charge. I've gone more than a day without charging, but heavy users may well need to charge daily, which undermines its sleep tracking function. The included charging cable is a unique one for this device, with a Type-C connector on one end and a magnetic, rounded end that attaches to the bottom of the watch for charging. The Fitbit integration makes it feel familiar if you've used one previously--picking up from my previous FB settings it sets my step goal and reminds me to get up and move through my set active hours. The full set of exercise integration apps are still there as well. Overall, it's a good effort from Google to reestablish itself in the Android wearables market. I think the value proposition could stand to be improved, in particular with the bands. Despite using a relatively older Samsung SoC, it feels fluid and fast, but I wonder if a newer SoC might give better battery life. The aesthetics are impeccable, although with just the one size, those with beefy wrists may find the 41mm size diminutive on their arm, and the included rubber band is blah. But for most Android users, I think they'd overall be very happy to wear one. Recommended for Android users (Tested on a Samsung S20+ on Android 12/One UI 4.1).

The Google Pixel Watch is Google’s first leap into smart watches, and many Pixel/Android users have been waiting for years for this watch. I was excited to get it, as upon opening the box, the watch is pretty attractive, being a glossy black AMOLED display, round and dome shaped on the edges, and less “stand-outish” visually than some others out there. It’s available as a Bluetooth only model that connects to your phone wirelessly, or for a little more, a LTE version that works standalone but has an additional monthly charge via your mobile service. In the box, you get of course the watch, a standard and small watch strap, and a proprietary disk-shaped charger that charges the watch on the back via magnetic connection it’s a USB-C connection to a power plug if you ... MoreThe Google Pixel Watch is Google’s first leap into smart watches, and many Pixel/Android users have been waiting for years for this watch. I was excited to get it, as upon opening the box, the watch is pretty attractive, being a glossy black AMOLED display, round and dome shaped on the edges, and less “stand-outish” visually than some others out there. It’s available as a Bluetooth only model that connects to your phone wirelessly, or for a little more, a LTE version that works standalone but has an additional monthly charge via your mobile service. In the box, you get of course the watch, a standard and small watch strap, and a proprietary disk-shaped charger that charges the watch on the back via magnetic connection it’s a USB-C connection to a power plug if you have one. The watch itself has a crown you can use to scroll with, and a button used to go to apps you’ve had open, while a longer press on the crown opens Google assistant, where just like with an Android phone, you can make inquiries, commands, text, etc. Overall a similar-to-others layout that works to do what you need it to. One thing though… it’s small. At 41mm in size, it’s small compared to similar smart watches in that unlike others, Google does not offer a larger size – 41mm is it. Not bad on a child, many women, or some smaller men’s wrists, but if you have a large wrist, it does look a bit awkwardly small. A larger bezel around the watch screen also reduces the actual usable size of the screen itself, making it technically smaller than 41mm, and as such, REALLY small. The wrist band doesn’t fit wrists much larger than around 8 or so inches, and larger bands are not yet sold by Google or third party vendors, so there’s going to be a wait for comfort if you have a larger wrist. They are VERY tricky to slide on the watch, so patience is a virtue. It’s like a “slide and lift” action. In terms of the operating system, there’s a ton of workout activities you can keep track of and they look similar to Fitbit devices (Google now owns Fitbit) in the menu. You can pretty much keep track of anything fitness related and they work pretty accurately as far as watches go; of note though, the most advanced tracking options are part of a “Fitbit Premium” service that you get free only for six months with the watch – after that, you have to pay around $10 per month to keep using those (boo). The GPS seems accurate and stayed connected to my Pixel 5a via Bluetooth consistently. The heart rate monitor works well, though it seems to stay on ALL of the time (draining the battery a bit quicker). You can also take an ECG to possibly detect heart fibrillation issues. Sleep tracking is available to monitor your sleep quality, but it’s part of that premium package mentioned earlier. Google services like Assistant, Maps, Pay, Calendar, and Music are of course also in the OS. Scrolling or sliding your finger on the screen takes you through all of the apps, and is pretty standard and easy to do. The companion Pixel Watch phone app also allows you to more easily control the watch’s settings, watch faces, and options as well. A separate Fitbit app helps keep track of the fitness aspects, but unfortunately, you have to download yet another app to get the heart ECG readings. I was able to get and send texts with no issue using the watch, and receive calls though the 5a phone, though the volume wasn’t anything stellar even at max. Still usable, though. Battery life is so-so. If you don’t use the Always on display (AOD), fitness, sleep, or GPS features a lot you can make it through a full day, but when used reasonably heavy, the small watch body’s small battery just gives up and needs to be topped off. The Pixel Watch doesn't fail as a smart watch – what it does, it does pretty well, but to me (opinion), it definitely feels like a first generation device. If you are going to offer only one size, I think it should be around 43mm or so, not as small as this one. A smaller bezel is in order, better battery life, and a selection of larger wristbands out of the gate. Also, having so many separate apps is confusing and convoluted – it would be best if they consolidated all functions of the watch into one, centralized, app. It’s not a “bad” smart watch, and my 3 star rating isn’t meant to be bad. It’s good overall, but there’s enough irritants in this first version to not merit a higher rating (to me). I think Google will learn from this, and future generations will (or should) address these though. Plenty of people will still find use for this, especially if you own a Pixel phone – just be sure you know what you are and are not getting. Still recommended (but with reservations).

I was interesting in the Pixel watch since it was announced, it was nice to see Google finally putting their personal spin on the smartwatch. Wear OS has been around for a while, however curious on what they bring with their first official watch, pairing with Fitbit now on the team. In the box, you get the watch, front and center when you open the packaging. Included are two sized bands (Large installed by default), charger and some documentation. The black stainless steel is very clean, the glass curves over the edges to meet the stainless steel body, to give you a glossy look across the whole top. The bottom houses the all of the sensors which tracks your heart rate, and wireless charging, the charger plugs into a USB-C port. Included was the active band, as ... MoreI was interesting in the Pixel watch since it was announced, it was nice to see Google finally putting their personal spin on the smartwatch. Wear OS has been around for a while, however curious on what they bring with their first official watch, pairing with Fitbit now on the team. In the box, you get the watch, front and center when you open the packaging. Included are two sized bands (Large installed by default), charger and some documentation. The black stainless steel is very clean, the glass curves over the edges to meet the stainless steel body, to give you a glossy look across the whole top. The bottom houses the all of the sensors which tracks your heart rate, and wireless charging, the charger plugs into a USB-C port. Included was the active band, as mentioned the large band is installed by default, however you can switch to the included small band if needed. I swapped over to the small band to test, you press the button down on one side where the band meets the watch, sliding it towards the button, once it's out of the little locks it pops right of. You simply push the replacement band into the open slots, and slide it back, opposite way you slide to remove, to lock it in place. For watches, I am a pretty light user, I like to check notifications so I can keep up to date and not have to take my phone out, I use it constantly for calendar notifications while working. Other than that the usual time, step and occasional payments using the watch. You have the crown to scroll up and down, press the crown in to access apps, above the crown on the side of the watch is a button to bring up recent apps. You can also swipe across the face to interact with your watch, left and right to swipe between tiles you have set, swiping up from the bottom will bring up your notifications, swiping down from the top will bring up the settings. The battery life of the watch is roughly 24 hours, it does charge pretty quickly (About 50% in 30 minutes), which will allow you to wear the watch for sleep tracking. I don't personally use this feature, so this is mostly when I charge. The watch does not support reverse wireless charging, or any other Qi wireless charges, so you will need to use the provided wireless charger when needed. It did last me throughout the day in my experience. Having fitbit added into the Pixel watch was a nice touch, the watch is great for tracking while walking around work all day, plus whenever I am tracking walks or jogs. This pairing makes it great for getting up and being active again, which working remotely for some time I got out of the groove for a bit. I would like to see if a larger watch, or even a screen that takes up a little more of the edge away from the bezels. Most things are designed to fit, it is a little more visible when scrolling through menus. I have also been a fan of larger sized watches, especially smartwatches. I would also like to see what the Google Home app is like down the line. If you are looking for a nice watch to pair with your android phone, and would like this to feature fitbit to track your fitness journey, this watch is definitely for you. My mom loved her fitbit but has been living with the one she got some time ago, I feel this would make a great gift for her over the holidays. The main reason I knocked off one star at this time is size and software feels it can be fine tuned a little more. I am sure software will get much more, hopefully sooner rather than later. I am not sure how Google feels about watch sizes, but would love to upgrade to a larger watch down the line. I will however continue to use the watch and see what further upgrades bring. If it's anything like the Pixel phone, it will!