The New Google Pixel watch: why is it such a flop?

Google one of the top technology giants has released its long awaited Pixel Watch smartwatch to accompany its great Pixel 7 phone series! Google had a very serious task at hand because this new product would easily become a bestseller if done right and a big mistake if done wrong, in this blog we’ll look at different aspects of the watch and determine whether it’s a good buy or not.

Design

The Pixel Watch has a circular case, a crown on the side, and a strap to secure it to your wrist.

It’s design is simple smooth and sleek. It’s all very minimalist, but not in a very good way. By not including anything that can give each person an individual character like feature, Google has made the Pixel Watch too simple.

Google has only made one size, and it’s not the best decision. The Apple Watch Series 8 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 come in two sizes, making them suitable for different wrist sizes and personal preferences. You can only get a 41mm Pixel Watch, and it’s small for a smartwatch.

However, the case is smooth, ergonomic, and comfortable. It’s light enough at 64 grams with the strap to be worn 24 hours a day. The stainless steel case comes in the Polished Silver color, a Matte Black and Champagne Gold style. and there are two sizes included in the box.

Watch screen

There’s a big, black bezel around the Pixel Watch’s screen, and that the viewing area is quite small because of it. But The 1.2-inch AMOLED screen suits the 41mm case size.

The always-on screen is deactivated by default, but it can be turned and the ambient modes look great. There’s also an adaptive brightness option. The Pixel Watch’s screen is sharp and colorful, with some very well-designed watch faces. 

Health and fitness tracking

The Pixel Watch has an optical heart rate sensor on the back and can take an electrocardiogram too, and while there is a blood oxygen sensor available, it has not been activated yet.

There’s no temperature sensor as you get on the Apple Watch, and no body composition reading like the Galaxy Watch 5. It’s a relatively simple fitness tracker in terms of sensors. There is an automatic workout recognition mode, but Instead of starting in 10 minutes into a workout like the Apple Watch, it observes silently and then will apply the entire session to your daily activity.

To see all your data, you use Fitbit’s app, where a selection of features require you to pay a subscription to use and that includes in-depth sleep tracking and a daily readiness score. You get six months free, but after that, some features will go away until you pay.

By default, the Pixel Watch uses steps to provide insight into your daily activity, rather than an easy, more motivational system like Apple’s Rings or Samsung’s heart.

Software and everyday use

The Pixel Watch has Google’s Wear OS 3.5 software installed. You swipe through different Tiles to see information like your heart rate, daily steps, weather, and agenda.

Press the crown to enter the main menu, and swipe up on the watch face to see your notifications. A Samsung Exynos 9110 processor with 2GB of RAM powers the smartwatch.

Wear OS 3.5 is reliable, but it’s not full of features or imagination. The Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 have far more comprehensive feature sets and apps, but if you just want the basics like maps, mobile payments, health tracking, smart home control, and alarms the Pixel Watch is perfectly acceptable.

The speaker is loud and the microphone is said to be excellent whether you’re on a call or speaking to the Google Assistant.

Watch battery and charging

The Pixel Watch hasn’t impressed many at this point, and it can’t be called a failure, it needs a big feature somewhere to justify the high price. Unfortunately, battery life does not help at all.

Sleep tracking seems to be power-hungry compared to other wearables, with between 15% and 20% disappearing overnight. While some smartwatches use little power when they’re not doing much, the Pixel Watch eats up all the available energy to the point where only minutes can pass, and a few percent disappear from the battery meter.

This is so noticeable because it’s doing this badly while still only offering a very few of the features provided by other smartwatches.

To show how poorly it is compared to other models let’s look at this review. “I wore the Pixel Watch alongside the Apple Watch Series 8 for a day starting at about 9 a.m., then tracked a single GPS workout and used them for the rest of the day connected to a Pixel 7 and iPhone 14 Pro respectively. At 11 p.m., the Apple Watch’s battery was at 55%, while the Pixel Watch sat at 22%. To track sleep, I’d have to charge the Pixel Watch”

A USB Type-C charging magnetic base is included in the box, and Google claims a 50% charge comes up in 30 minutes, and it’ll be full after 80 minutes.

Price and availability

The Wi-Fi version of the Pixel Watch costs $350, while the 4G LTE model costs $399. It’s an expensive smartwatch, but for no good reason. The 44mm version of the Samsung galaxy watch 5 (which is bigger) is $310 and it has more features and better battery.

For a first-try product, the Pixel Watch should be given a break, Google hasn’t made a smartwatch before and first-generation mistakes are to be expected.

However, There’s no excuse for the Pixel Watch’s many downsides. This watch has been in the works for years and Google makes the top Android-based software for wearables, it has worked with multiple companies on smartwatches from Samsung and LG and many more from before smartwatches became popular.

Overall pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
• Very comfortable to wear	• Short battery life
• paired with a comprehensive Fitbit app	• Only one size
	• missing a lot of health tracking features

In conclusion, The Pixel Watch isn’t a bad product, it performs the functions Google says it will and is well made. But it’s far from good value, lacks a unique design and choice of sizes, and can’t compete with products that cost a lot less in terms of features. Google will likely get better as they release more models but at the moment this one hasn’t faired well.