Pixel Watch launched — Google smartwatch meets Fitbit
Google unveiled its first-ever full-featured premium smartwatch — the Pixel Watch — during Thursday’s Made by Google event.
The company said the smartwatch was made with durability and comfort in mind.
“The Google Pixel Watch is sophisticated for a night out or a business meeting, can endure your activities and workouts, and is pleasant to sleep in,” Google stated.
The Pixel Watch features a circular domed glass design with significant curves on the sides and stainless steel body.
It sports a tactile crown on the side for on-screen scrolling, using shortcuts, and launching the app tray. There is also a side button above the crown to open recently-used apps.
This design should come as no surprise to those familiar with the leak that happened in April 2022 after an employee supposedly left a prototype of the smartwatch in a bar.
Google said the Pixel Watch was scratch-resistant and water-resistant up to 50 metres.
For the smartwatch’s band, Google says it designed a new attaching mechanism that makes it easy to change bands and transform the watch’s overall look.
It will offer 20 different bands in woven, stretch, active, and leather styles, with metal launching next year.
Back of the Pixel Watch case
The Pixel Watch can be paired with any smartphone running Android 8.0 or newer.
It comes with Wear OS by Google version 3.5, which also runs on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 and is in beta for the Galaxy Watch 4.
At launch, owners can choose from one of 19 customisable watch faces with adjustable colours and layouts, effectively providing thousands of options.
As expected, Google Assistant comes built-in to allow fast, hands-free voice commands to control smart home devices.
That includes changing the thermostat temperature, turning lights on or off, and interacting with a Google Nest doorbell.
Other features are much the same as what’s available on many other smartwatches.
Users can receive and respond to notifications for emails and calendar events, make NFC-based contactless payments with Google Wallet, use Google Maps navigation, and listen to YouTube Music with songs stored directly on the device.
Customers will get a three-month subscription to YouTube Music Premium for free.
Other popular supported apps include Strava, Spotify, Adidas Running, Calm, and MyFitnessPal. Users can download additional apps through the Google Play Store.
Google said it has deeply integrated the Pixel Watch with Fitbit, which it acquired in early 2021, for leading health and fitness features.
That includes its “most accurate heart rate tracking yet”.
“With on-device machine learning and deep optimisation down to the processor level, it gives you an accurate measurement of your heart rate continuously tracking at once per second,” Google said.
The smartwatch also offers 40 exercise modes to track workouts and all-day activities, packs built-in GPS, and an ECG app for detecting signs of atrial fibrillation.
Sleep, breathing rate, and heart rate variability tracking are also supported.
Availability and pricing
The Pixel Watch is offered in two main configurations — one with built-in 4G or a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-only version.
The 4G-enabled version is $399 (R7,153, excl. VAT) in the US, while the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi-only variant costs $349 (R6,257).
For reference, the 41mm entry-level version of the Apple Watch Series 8 also starts at $399 but does not feature cellular connectivity.
Band prices for the Pixel Watch range between $49 and $199 (R878-R3,568).
Google has launched Pixel Watch pre-orders and said it would be available from 13 October 2022 in the US and eight other countries, but not South Africa.
Google has not officially offered its smartphones or other devices in South Africa, but they are often imported by third-party online tech stores like GeeWiz, Connected Devices, and Cellucity.
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