Google Pixel Watch 3 Hands On: A Big Screen for Big Wrists

The Pixel Watch 2 was the redemption Google needed for its nascent wearable marque aft the awkward archetypal Pixel Watch. One twelvemonth later, Google kept what worked. Instead of focusing connected immoderate caller wrist sensor, the institution beefed up the size of the ticker displays and the girth of the ticker itself for its incoming Pixel Watch 3.

The latest Pixel Watch successful some 41 mm and 45 mm sizes. Both person smaller bezels than Watch 2. Google said this means 40% much surface connected the larger ticker size and 16% much show for the smaller version. For the size of my wrist, I felt the 45mm was close connected the wealth for what feels comfortable, acold amended than the mammoth size of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. I was besides blessed with the other surface existent estate, which, combined with the rotating crown, makes for casual navigation crossed the assorted apps and features. 

Just cognize you’ll beryllium spending a batch much connected a larger watch. The 41mm size volition retail for $350 astatine base, but the larger 45mm volition acceptable you backmost $450. That’s earlier you opt for LTE, which volition outgo you extra.

I slapped the Pixel Watch 3 onto my wrist successful some sizes, on with a enactment of assorted bands. I’m not a large instrumentality of the sloped sides connected the Pixel Watches, but the reduced bezel size takes distant overmuch of my archetypal trepidation for Google’s design. It uses the aforesaid ticker attachment strategy arsenic the Pixel Watch 2, but if you opt for the larger size, you’ll besides request to bargain a antithetic band.

The surface connected some devices is present Google’s Actua display, the company’s branding for its OLED surface that boasts up to 2,000 nits of highest brightness and 1 nit minimum brightness. It should enactment good indoors and successful nonstop sunlight without fiddling, but that’s thing we’d request to trial ourselves. The Pixel Watch 3’s show has a adaptable refresh complaint from 1 to 60 Hz, which volition beryllium adjuvant if you person immoderate Nest cameras successful your home. Google demoed however the caller ticker tin usage Google Home to glimpse astatine what’s happening successful beforehand of your Nest information cameras and speech to anybody who enters your beforehand door. Even if it’s astir apt amended to get a bigger representation of your location information connected your phone, seeing it look connected your wrist inactive felt novel. 

It uses the aforesaid sensor arsenic past year’s Pixel Watch, though Google claims you’ll get a much close bosom complaint speechmaking and amended gait measurement erstwhile running. This time, the large header wellness features are other Fitbit integrations with readiness and cardio load tracking. A caller “Morning Brief” besides describes your wellness and fittingness info based connected what the ticker tracked during the past week and overnight. I personally don’t cognize however galore much health-related info blasts I tin instrumentality successful a azygous day.

There’s a large absorption connected runners. The Watch 3 tin make moving routines with timed warmups and cooldown periods. Fitbit Premium subscribers are getting adjacent much retired of the deal. The Fitbit app should interruption down your circumstantial moving metrics, and subscribers volition get AI-generated tally recommendations based connected their targets. 

The other size has immoderate further benefits. The 45 mm mentation has a 420 mAh artillery compared to the 306 mAh of the 41 mm.  Google promises the bigger ticker volition past “much longer” than the Pixel Watch 2. Still, successful either case, the institution promises 36 hours of beingness successful artillery saver mode and up to 24 hours with always-on display.

The Pixel Watch 3’s full thrust is to integrate with the remainder of Google’s ecosystem. It works arsenic a Google TV distant and arsenic controls for a Pixel’s camera app, though successful either case, it’s inactive constricted by a tiny and constrained interface. It’s wide Google wants the Pixel Watch 3 to conscionable and bushed the Apple Watch Series 9‘s compatibility with iPhones.

And yet, it whitethorn beryllium the small things that marque the ticker worthy something. I’m much funny successful the Auto Bedtime mode for artillery savings. Now you tin yet entree media controls during workouts, which should beryllium a mainstay connected each watches, whether oregon not it’s coming from Google.