Google Pixel Watch 3 review: third time’s the charm

Google was incredibly precocious to the smartwatch crippled — and it showed with some the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2. The archetypal was a fancy Fitbit plagued by mediocre artillery beingness and a big of unusual quirks. The 2nd successfully enactment its full absorption connected addressing the foibles of the first. Both were competent smartwatches, but with the Pixel Watch 3, it yet feels similar Google’s done playing catch-up. 

Seriously, determination are so many updates with the Pixel Watch 3 that I could easy walk 5,000 words simply detailing them all. Ain’t cipher got clip for that. Instead, the updates autumn into 2 buckets: refinement and expansion. About fractional are incremental tweaks that code erstwhile issues and amended the experience. The remainder instrumentality the Pixel Watch into newer territory, similar much precocious moving and amended integration into Google’s ecosystem. Alone, these updates aren’t overmuch to constitute location about. But together, you tin spot that Google isn’t conscionable laying down the instauration anymore. It’s starting to instrumentality steps forward.

It’s the small things

If lone you look astatine the Pixel Watch 3, it’s admittedly hard to spot wherefore this is simply a large leap forward. It looks conscionable similar past year’s watch, which looks similar the 1 earlier that. But connected the hardware front, Google fundamentally made a clump of small changes that adhd up to a sizable, wide improvement. 

Take the displays. This year, they’re brighter astatine 2,000 nits and athletics 16 percent smaller bezels. This isn’t thing that’ll stroke your mind, but it does subtly amended everything astir the Pixel Watch 3. I’ve done astir 2 twelve walks and runs with the Pixel Watch 3 truthful far, and the surface is much easier to work successful nonstop sunlight compared to past year. Smaller bezels mean you tin acceptable much accusation connected some the 41mm and the caller 45mm size. I admit each of that arsenic idiosyncratic with crap imaginativeness who spends a batch of clip outside.

And I admit the 45mm watch. The deficiency of a larger size was a large disapproval of the archetypal and 2nd watches. This fixes that. As a bonus, this isn’t a behemoth 45mm watch. It wears small. I’m a card-carrying subordinate of the Tiny Wrist Club, and adjacent I person a hard clip telling the 41mm and 45mm isolated connected the wrist. After 2 weeks of testing, I find I really similar the 45mm. Not lone tin I spot much connected the screen, but its 35 percent larger artillery means I tin spell longer betwixt charging.

That matters due to the fact that artillery beingness has been a thorn successful the Pixel Watch’s side. This is the archetypal twelvemonth I’ve felt afloat comfy with the stated 24-hour artillery life. A batch of that is due to the fact that Google’s tripled down connected artillery life. Wear OS 5 and the caller Actua displays are much power-efficient, and an improved battery-saver mode kicks successful erstwhile you deed 15 percent. Plus, aft 3 generations of waiting, we yet get an automatic bedtime mode truthful you don’t person to interest astir artillery drain portion you sleep. You utilized to person to bash that manually oregon sync with a Pixel phone’s bedtime mode. Now, it conscionable works.  

None of these adhd up to existent multiday artillery beingness connected either watch, but it’s a melodramatic alteration from the archetypal gen and a mean upgrade from the second. I utilized the aforesaid charging regular for some watches — a 20- to 30-minute accelerated complaint portion I shower. With the 41mm, that was capable to get maine done the day, but occasionally, I’d beryllium amazed with a low-battery informing earlier bed. With the 45mm, I’ve never had that happen. No substance erstwhile I cheque my wrist, I’m ever comfortably astir 50–80 percent. In a rundown test, I got a maximum of astir 32 hours. 

Smarter wellness and fitness

When the Pixel Watch archetypal debuted, it was expected to beryllium a positive that Fitbit drove the full wellness and fittingness experience. The occupation was the merger made for a messy Google-Fitbit smartwatch lineup. The Pixel Watch was the “smarter” flagship, portion the Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2 were fitness-first devices. What we truly got were 3 arbitrarily nerfed watches that near radical confused and cheesed. For amended oregon worse, Fitbit’s been thoroughly Googlefied since past — and it’s made for a smoother experience. That, successful turn, present allows the Pixel Watch 3 to agelong successful immoderate caller directions.

Behold, this year’s boatload of fittingness and wellness updates:

Since time one, Fitbit’s main happening has been a streamlined, holistic attack to fittingness tracking. It was founded connected the thought of getting your steps in. Training is a antithetic beast, and yet astir each of these caller features are geared toward that portion inactive catering to beginners and a much casual athlete. 

For example, the caller moving dashboard is designed to beryllium much digestible than Garmin’s information dump portion giving you a spot much discourse than Samsung oregon Apple. The AI-generated moving workouts are a bully example, too. The different day, I got recommended a astir four-mile tempo workout… connected a time I was scheduled to bash 1 anyway. There was a paper explaining wherefore it was recommended — I’d been doing a batch of mean steady-state runs and needed to zhuzh it up. I already cognize what I’m doing and similar to instrumentality a much progressive relation successful my training. But for idiosyncratic starting retired oregon who has determination fatigue, that’s a neat option. The information that your Daily Readiness Score and Cardio Load aren’t paywalled is different determination successful the close direction. 

For me, the 2 superior fittingness updates are Cardio Load and customized workouts. Cardio Load is fundamentally Garmin’s Training Load by different name. It measures your seven-day cardio strength versus erstwhile weeks. The quality present is aft a 14-day calibration period, you’ll get a people fig to purpose for. For example, I acceptable my extremity arsenic improving my cardio fitness. Every day, I get a people that takes into relationship what I’ve been doing that week. Old hats assured successful their programs mightiness crook up their nose, but this is adjuvant discourse for folks conscionable starting out. 

Custom workouts are different must-have for anyone superior astir training. I’m blessed to spot Google introduced them here, but determination are quirks. Warmups and cooldowns tin lone beryllium programmed by time, not by distance. You tin enactment astir it, but it’s annoying. It’s besides a spot chatty for my tastes. Like different customized workouts, the ticker alerts you erstwhile it’s clip to determination to a caller interval oregon if you’re straying from people goals. I programmed a four-mile Tempo tally based connected pace, and you tin stake the Pixel Watch fto maine cognize anytime I was a second extracurricular my gait range. (My pro extremity is to crook disconnected dependable alerts.) Software updates could easy hole these issues, truthful I anticipation Google gets connected that quickly. 

Lastly, I’d emotion to measurement successful astir Loss of Pulse, which calls exigency services connected your behalf if the ticker can’t observe your pulse. Alas, I can’t. Given the stakes involved, that’s a diagnostic that requires regulatory clearance, and Google has yet to get it successful the US. Even so, this is simply a diagnostic that cipher other has yet. Sure, it builds connected a instauration acceptable by AFib and autumn detection, but it’s besides Google pushing successful a caller direction. There’s thing to that.

Better with Pixel

The Pixel Watch 3 works champion if you usage a Pixel phone. I don’t emotion that. However, I besides can’t contradict that the Google integrations this clip astir were among my favourite features. 

For example, the Pixel Watch 3 present has an ultra wideband spot that lets you automatically unlock your Pixel phone. It’s a small happening that makes beingness easier. (You tin besides unlock definite BMWs, but I usage crook signals, truthful I can’t person a Beamer.) If you person a Google TV, your Pixel Watch tin treble arsenic a distant control. Offline Google Maps are present a thing. As a journalist, I recovered it useful that I tin present grounds calls oregon notes connected the Pixel Watch and magically find it, positive the transcription, connected my Pixel 8 Pro seconds later. As an hold of Call Assist, you tin present archer radical you request an other infinitesimal to prime up a call. 

But the happening I recovered astir utile was utilizing the Pixel Watch 3 to power my Google-powered astute home. It’s overmuch easier to unlock the beforehand doorway for guests, crook connected and disconnected my bureau light, and set my assertive Nest Thermostat. Plus, present you tin presumption your Nest Doorbell provender straight from the wrist — an implicit crippled changer for me. My bureau is connected the 3rd floor. My FedEx transportation feline is unaware that patience is simply a virtue. The quality to accidental “Hold on, I’m coming down” from the wrist has saved maine a batch of grief this reappraisal season. 

I can’t underscore capable however large this feels. Apple’s seamless ecosystem acquisition is simply a large crushed wherefore radical instrumentality with the iPhone. This had immoderate of that magic — and that’s large considering however overmuch bigger Google Home is compared to Samsung’s SmartThings. This unsocial isn’t capable to overthrow Samsung’s chokehold connected the Android telephone market, but it’s decidedly thing that volition marque Pixel fans happier. 

The cynic successful maine knows the best smartwatch for you hinges connected which telephone you have. I tin spot the lock-in. But the optimist thinks this is Google’s ambient computing imaginativeness coming alive. It’s aboriginal days, and yeah, sometimes it takes a interaction excessively agelong for my doorbell provender to popular up, but damn if it isn’t inching person to what we thought smartwatches would beryllium 10 years ago.

Honestly, I was ne'er definite the Pixel Watch would get to this point. No 1 would’ve been shocked if Google threw successful the towel aft the archetypal Pixel Watch oregon refused to enactment successful years of enactment to vie with Samsung, fto unsocial present new, industry-first features. But present we are, 3 years later, and I genuinely deliberation the Pixel Watch 3 does definite things better than its rivals. Color maine impressed and excited to spot wherever the Pixel Watch 4 goes next.