Google recently formalized its Pixel Watch. And this is very good for the market. But what does this new connected watch have to offer?
Google’s long-awaited Pixel Watch has finally been officially unveiled. After years of rumors, stolen prototypes, and the acquisition of Fitbit, Mountain View finally has its own smartwatch, perfectly integrated into its Pixel lineup. What elements make it stand out? What does it allow you to do? Here’s everything you need to know.
Pixel clock design
Google’s first foray into the wearable market appears to be successful. The watch itself looks very good: a round design, as opposed to the square one of the Apple Watch. The watch is made of stainless steel and is available in four different color combinations: champagne case and sage green sport strap, matt black case and volcanic black sport band, polished silver case and charcoal sport band and polished silver case and sports band from pebbles.
Google doesn’t reveal the dimensions of the round display or its resolution, but it’s a 320 ppi AMOLED display with up to 1,000 nits of brightness. The watch itself measures 41mm by 12.3mm and weighs 36 grams without the strap. Customers can look forward to 32GB eMMC flash with 2GB SDRAM.
As expected, the Pixel Watch supports a variety of wristbands, up to 20 Google solutions, and third-party solutions very quickly. Unlike other watches, the straps on the Pixel Watch are secured internally with a snap mechanism. To be honest, it looks really good.
What can you do with your Pixel Watch?
As you’d expect from a smartwatch, the Pixel Watch brings the convenience of a mini smartphone to your wrist. Google gave several examples such as setting the thermostat from the Home app, managing YouTube Music, viewing notifications, using Google Wallet, Google Maps directions, setting timers, and texting.
Among the apps that Google has highlighted are Strava, adidas Running, Line, Strava, and Spotify. Developers have what it takes to offer Wear OS versions of their Android apps, so the store needs to expand if the watch is a success.
The watch is based on Fitbit, which makes sense since the company is owned by Google. It uses machine learning and deep optimization to track your heart rate. And that’s during the day, no matter what you’re doing, offering “all-day autonomy.”The 294 mAh battery can be charged up to 50% in 30 minutes, up to 80% in 55 minutes and up to 100% in 80 minutes.
You can use the watch to track your sleep. With Fitbit Premium (6 months free) you can track all your activities and more. The app also informs you about your attitude to sports and can track active zone minutes to keep track of time spent in heart rate zones.
It can detect fibrillation by ECG and has a built-in emergency call function. Fall detection will appear during 2023.
How much does a Pixel watch cost?
The “standard”Pixel Watch is €379, while the 4G LTE model is €429. Added to that are six free months of Fitbit Premium, as well as three months of YouTube Music Premium. To use Pixel Watch, you need a device running Android 8.0 or later.
Therefore, the Pixel Watch seems ideal for fans of the Android ecosystem, and more specifically for those who use Fitbit solutions. It’s like a Fitbit Pro with all the Fitbit features you need and all the benefits of a Wear OS smartwatch. And of course, if you’re not a Fitbit user, the six months on offer allow you to test and, who knows, see.
Either way, it’s clear that the Pixel Watch represents a big step forward in the Android smartwatch market. The future will show us if there is success.