Google Pixel Watch – Long-Term Review
A Stunning Watch With a LOT of Potential!
I’ve been waiting for Google to release a Pixel Watch for a very long time and they finally released it in October last year.
I’m ashamed to admit that I was initially a bit sceptical about buying this watch and I actually ended up buying the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, which is still a pretty awesome watch.
In all fairness, the Google Pixel Watch does have an older chip and those bezels did look a bit big in the photos. On top of that, the battery life didn’t seem very appealing.
I’ve been daily driving the Google Pixel Watch since late December and I decided it was about time I write about my thoughts and experience with it.
So without any further ado, here’s what I think after daily driving the watch for 6 months…
The battery is actually quite good
One of my biggest concerns about the Pixel Watch was the battery life, having come from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, the battery seemed pretty small.
But the battery is actually quite good on the Pixel Watch, I wouldn’t say it’s impressive, but it’s good.
Many may disagree with me when I say this, but I can comfortably get 1 and a half days out of it with standard usage.
One thing I will say is that this can be very dependent on how and when you charge your watch.
I decided to include charging my watch in my morning routine. I wake up, put the watch on my charging stand and go about the rest of my morning routine.
This allows me to comfortably use my watch throughout the day and track my sleep during the night.
In terms of activity tracking, I tend to use the watch along with the Fitbit functionality to track longer walks as well as cycling trips, which prove to be a great break from the screens, especially when you work from home.
The battery percentage doesn’t seem to go down too much. The longest cycling trip I’ve taken the watch on was around 35 miles and the battery lasted me throughout the trip.
As I work on my fitness, I aim to try the watch on much longer trips, and I’ll be sure to tell you about it in the future!
Fitbit NEEDS improvement!
It’s been a while since I last used Fitbit before getting the Pixel Watch. My last Fitbit device was the Fitbit Blaze which was released back in 2016 and that was a while ago!
I remembered being very excited to hear that Google acquired Fitbit, I guess I knew what was coming, and I predicted it very well!
I like the fact that Google decided to build Fitbit into the watch, but I guess we started out on the wrong foot as one of the first experiences was the disappointing removal of the social features which I actually liked.
I feel that the cost of the premium subscription is a bit steep for what you are getting, especially when a lot of the features are free on competing smartwatches.
Other than that, I feel that the app is in need of an overhaul, it’s not bad but I would love for Google to introduce the Material You design to the app and improve its widgets as they seem incredibly dated.
I also feel that the Fitbit watch app needs a bit of an overhaul to show more information and to bring more functionality to the watch.
The watch is very stylish!
One of the things that left me feeling sceptical about the Pixel Watch was the bezels, especially when the first pictures and graphics started to emerge.
But once again I was wrong and it just goes to show that sometimes graphics and photos can be deceiving.
During daily use, I barely notice the bezels and I feel that the space is well used if we combine the interface.
I also think that the watch is incredibly stylish, I would go as far as saying that the Pixel Watch is one of the most stylish watches I ever used.
The best part is that you can get some awesome-looking accessories and straps for it too! I tend to use this stainless steel strap by Chofit which I picked up on Amazon for under £20 and it seems to work well.
For sports, I tend to go back to either the original straps or the Caseology Nano Pop, which is also a pretty good strap/case.
More mainstream apps need to support WearOS!
After moving from the Apple Watch SE to the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra a few years ago, one of the first things I noticed was that not many of the mainstream apps seem to support the WearOS platform.
Fast forward to today, and I still feel the same. I mean I am surprised to find that there isn’t a local Gmail app or even a better Google Calendar app on the platform. I think it would also be nice to see Google Tasks having a native app.
On the plus side, at least WhatsApp is bringing out a native WearOS app, which I’m currently testing and I have to say, so far I’m pretty impressed!
But as a whole, I feel that more of the mainstream apps need to support the WearOS platform.
Final Thoughts
To summarise my 6-month review, I think that the Google Pixel Watch is a fantastic watch which I can honestly see Google developing further into more versions.
While I do have a few dislikes, I feel that they are normal, especially since this is the very first version of the watch. I can only assume that future versions of the watch will be even better.
Put it this way, I seriously recommend this watch! It offers one of the best WearOS experiences I have ever experienced and best of all it performs! I very rarely supper any crashes or lag. In fact, in my 6-months of usage, I don’t think I suffered any system crash!
Overall, the Google Pixel Watch is a great watch to use as your daily driver, it’s stylish, and functional and there are some really cool straps available.