Google's first foray into the smartwatch market doesn't check all the boxes, but the Pixel Watch packs enough of the right stuff into a sleek package to put it in contention for the Android-based wearable crown.
It took Google long enough after first announcing their wearable-specific OS, Google Wear, a few years ago to come out with their own Pixel-branded smartwatch. Well, it took time and the acquisition of FitBit. The result is the Pixel Watch and it’s essentially as if Fitbit and Google’s Wear OS merged into one sharp-looking wrist adornment.
Google did pick up one annoying habit from Apple with the Pixel Watch: the bands are proprietary. They slip on and off pretty intuitively, and Google is offering a variety of choices of varying prices , but it still limits the ability to customize on the fly in a cost-effective manner. Thankfully, we’re already seeing off-brand options on Amazon and the replacement bands Google sent with the watch were sturdy and comfortable.
In terms of what the Pixel Watch does, well, it does what people expect smartwatches to do, but heavily centered on Google’s and Fitbit’s tools. One thing Google hasn’t done with their Google Watch and FitBit apps is integrate the functionality of the two. They’re still separate apps, which means you’re installing and using two different apps for the watch. While it’s not a huge deal, more simplification in the overall phone interface might be a good future step.
There’s a ton of content for Wear OS already on Google’s Play store, especially a stunning array of different watch faces, but also apps for all kinds of other things: health, smart home connectivity, weather, etc. For work out buffs, it has all the functionality we expect from FitBit combined with the power and flexibility of Wear OS devices.
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