Google’s Pixel Watch has been in the works for years, and Google was very happy to give some hints as to what it’s up to. (Granted, having an employee leave a prototype at a restaurant will also help take some of the wind out of any surprises you might have been planning.) Today, however, is the first time that Google has really lifted the sailing on its new portable flagship. , and the first time we can see if he can make up for so many false starts in the watch race.
The Pixel Watch comes in one size, featuring a 41mm case with domed, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 5 crystal. At first glance, the watch looks comically over-inflated, but the advantage is that it hides the bezel when looking at it from your wrist. Underneath, users will be looking at an always-on 320ppi AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. It’s powered by a 294mAh battery that Google says will last 24 hours on a charge, but can charge up to 50% after 30 minutes on its magnetic charging pad.
There are two versions: WiFi/Bluetooth, or one with its own LTE modem, which only costs $50 more. Both rock an Exynos 9110 SoC, originally released in 2018 and found in Samsung’s Galaxy Watch through Watch 3, paired with a Cortex M33 co-processor, 32GB of storage and 2GB of RAM. That says a lot that Google opted out of using Qualcomm’s own wearable SoC, which is found in just about every other non-Samsung Wear OS watch these days, and which is several years old. this stage. Both versions run Wear OS 3.5.
Rather than describing it as a Google Watch, he’s checked out the Fitbit name multiple times, and many of its features are Fitbit-branded. This includes activity, heart rate and sleep tracking, although Google said its own machine learning expertise has improved accuracy here. One of the standout features is Lifetime Heart Rate, which will measure your vital signs down to the second. There’s also a built-in ECG and integrations with Fitbit Premium both for additional insights and guided workouts.
Potential Pixel Watch buyers can also count on the usual six-month free trial of Fitbit Premium, as well as three months of YouTube Music Premium. This will allow you to store many songs on your wrist to accompany the application. integrations including Adidas Running, MyFitnessPal and Strava, plus Spotify and Calm.
Aside from the Gorilla Glass crystal, the only other durability promise is that it will be water resistant up to (or down to) depths of 5 ATM. Oh, and Google says that by 2023 the Watch will be able to detect drops and, if you have the LTE version and don’t respond, it will call emergency services on your behalf.
It’s worth remembering that Google beat Apple by a full year in the wearables space, partnering with Motorola, Samsung, ASUS and LG. But the balkanized strategy employed and the general lack of sparkle of these initial versions of Android Wear gave Apple much of the impetus. Since then, the Apple Watch alone has sold out to every other major wearable device player pretty much every quarter since. It wasn’t until Samsung teamed up with Google to rework Wear OS that Google’s platform hit double-digit sales percentages again.
And, just like Pixel phones, it’s likely that Google will be happy to sell a limited amount of devices to a small portion of the market. Especially since it must protect both the sales of Samsung, its partner, and Fitbit, its new 100% subsidiary. Although given that Samsung and Fitbit already cover pretty much every part of the wearables market between them, it’s unclear which specific group Google might be targeting here.
Analyst Ben Wood of CCS Insight agrees, saying “the Pixel Watch poses no threat to the Apple Watch” and that its existence is more to “educate Android smartphone owners about smartwatches and smartwatches.” encourage more of these people to consider buying a laptop.” For this to work, however, the Pixel Watch needs to become instantly desirable, especially given Google’s short patience with products that don’t instantly click with audiences.
The Google Pixel Watch is available in the stainless steel colors “Matte Black”, “Polished Silver” or “Champagne Gold”. They are complemented by a variety of watch straps, which do not fasten with lugs, but with a camera lens.ish internal locking system which should make switching faster. The watches will come with an “active” fluoroelastomer strap, but Google says there will be 20 choices available in the future. These include modern, woven and leather styles, with metal bands slated to land in Spring 2023.
It’s available for pre-order now, with the WiFi/Bluetooth model priced at $349.99, while the LTE model will set you back $399.99, both should start shipping on October 13.
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