Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have always heard that Pixel phones took the best pictures from people who owned one. I had not tried one out until a couple of months ago and decided I needed to get a Pixel Watch 5 which is the 41mm Wi-Fi - Satin Pyrite Case - Olive Band - (2026). I generally upgrade different mobile brands for the phone and smartwatch each year or less frequently, but so many are tied to one operating system and not able to work on other platforms. I have noticed that Google Pixel devices are more compatible with the other brands and like experimenting with them. I read up about the new Pixel 5 and since it stated that it worked with Google Health premium, I was immediately convinced to get the watch since I had other tracking bands and watches that were synching with Google Health to give me a good idea of how my health truly was measuring up by syncing a couple of sources. I then used only the Pixel 5 watch and was pleased with how it measured my heart rate data, steps, sleep stages, naps, short exercise sessions along with longer ones in the gym. I have been using it for a good amount of time now that I am pleased to allow it to monitor my sleep sounds and wake me up with my morning alarm for waking up for me work from home job. I had negative issues with another brand which made me late for work a couple of times so Google Pixel made me feel more secure. I quickly learned that I needed to adjust my settings for how long the watch would show the screen display because you can run low on power some days. According to Google’s data on the watch “The battery life for the 41mm Model: Up to 30 hours of normal use.” I would say that is an accurate max battery life setting. The best option I found by reading through the instructions and data, and I found that the charger that came with my Pixel 5 was a Fast Charger. They say that it can get the watch up to 50% battery in around 10 to 15 minutes. Then they declare that adds 15 hours of extra battery for the day. I can honestly say that I have used the process many times and especially prior to bed if I see the charge level is around 20%. My Pixel 11 Pro usually warns me when my watch is too low and alerts me to use the charger to make sure I have enough power for the night. Regarding the Google Health app they have a 90-day free trial of premium features such as individual coaching plans and a library of exercises you can do at home or in the gym. I use some of the features but am mainly more concerned with my heart, blood pressure reading, my variable heart rate when sleeping, and the breaths per minute while I sleep. I am so glad that I have been able to use the Pixel as my main go to watch now instead of using my other two smart watches because the pixel has a beautiful display and has a great assortment of watch faces with plenty of options to utilize on the watch faces you decide to try. I have to say that I am now a big Pixel Fan and love being able to use Gemini on it which helps me handle various tasks as they come up during the day. I will be recommending the watch, phone, and Pixel Buds to my friends and family.

The Pixel Watch 5 is a very nicely made smart watch with a few rough edges in software. I got the 41mm for my fairly large wrists primarily because I felt it might hinder exercises a bit less than my larger watches - but still offer better insight in the moment than my Fitbit air, which I love for it’s comfort. Normally for a tall man like myself, I feel the 45mm is the right choice for the best aesthetics (and for the larger screen) but I still find the smaller model fitting for my needs. __ Design __ The green color and titanium look of the new Pyrite metal color drew me to this model. Pixel watches are already shiny enough with their glossy black top glass, so the satin metal helps balance the look a bit. Not much else has changed since the Pixel Watch 4, but it does sport a faster processing architecture for better Gemini use, and a very generous 64gb of internal storage. Perhaps it’s for a future need, or for Gemini itself, as I’ve never come close to needing that much storage on a watch, but hey, I’m not complaining. The sport strap is nicely flexible - more-so than the last version (as I’ve read.) It’s supportive but flexible with a feel very similar to silicone, but without attracting dust and dirt. The screen is very vibrant, bright, and sports a very high pixel density which makes everything look very clean and smooth. While the overall, super rounded form factor wasn’t my immediate favorite aspect of its design, the software itself has a playful feel that fits it well. The only aspect that feel slightly out of place are the side dial, which feels a bit delicate or tacked on. In use, however, the dial is the right size to keep out of the way of my wrist during exercises - which was my goal in going the small route with this watch. And in terms of hardware, my only real gripe with with the speaker - which for a device that wants to encourage Gemini use, is way too tinny and unbalanced, even when compared to my much older smart watches. __ Software __ This watch’s software feels like it’s hitting both a nice level of refinement, but with a few rough edges that throw off a usually straightforward usability. For instance, onboarding onto the watch was easy, even while requiring a compatible android phone to pair with it. Google Health will nicely live along your ‘connections’ when viewing from a non-android device, but it will only sync its data through this compatible device. My initial onboarding and syncing to the watch was quite easy. Navigating its screens feel familiar and easy enough to figure out. I never feel lost, but I’m often not trying to do anything that complicated on a smart watch anyway. By choosing this watch, I get to continue using Gemini’s actually-helpful AI Coach here, just as I do on my Fitbit Air. Not everyone would need one, but if you need motivation or helpful information that feel truly tailored to your goals, it’s hard to beat at the moment. Similarly, I’ve enjoyed deeper sleep insights on this watch, just as I do on the Fitbit. This is where Google is able to stand out. At the same time, some rough usability moments occurred during my first week with this watch. I changed my Google password and the watch seemed to lose its connections and didn’t communicate this fact. It stopped syncing my health data and had me reboot the watch and sent me to the watch app on my phone where it described in very small text the steps I needed to do within that very app. - No buttons or links... it wasn’t very user friendly. I had to remember where to go and which place to unlink my account from in order to re-pair the watch and sync Google Health again. It felt like a run-around. Also, while the OS feels clean and has a nice minimal design throughout… it feels a bit basic at times too. The workout app makes it very easy to start an exercise, which I love - but your active metrics are presented as a very simple list of metrics in a fairly small font (at least when scaled to the smaller 41mm version). While it’s a balanced appearance, just lacks hierarchy and much of anything interesting. Same is true to for the workout summary - it’s a scrollable view of small text and basic info. On a whole this simplicity is good for a watch, and some of the watch faces are interesting… but they also seem to fall behind the competition a bit in terms to how polished and interesting they can be. I’ve enjoyed their new sporty, simple default watch face and it’s been perfect for me. I don’t need a lot of options and I was able to find a few I like for various uses. __ Overall __ Is this a good smart watch? - Yes, absolutely, even with its current (relatively minor) quirks. For most people it will be awesome. If you’re an Android user, it’s undoubtedly one of your best options and you won’t be disappointed. It’s a very nice package, especially if you’ve been enjoying some of Gemini’s best features (Fitness coach and sleep tracking) and would like to have that better integrated into your life. I still prefer my Fitbit Air for sleep tracking comfort, but I enjoy this watch for workouts and an easier to keep-clean design overall. The onboard speaker, however, is just bad. If I were to buy one as my primarily watch, I would choose the 45mm model and benefit from the larger screen and slightly better proportions to my larger wrists. While this 41mm watch keeps it light, looks fine on my wrist, and stays out of the way during my workouts… I come away feeling like the 45mm model is probably the way to go for anyone over 6ft tall.

After 4 years with the original Google Pixel watch, it was time for an upgrade. Unboxing has remained much the same through the years. In the box, there’s the watch (of course), a disc-shaped charger, and an extra half of a band, a thoughtful touch that Google has been doing since the start. The charger has changed since the first iteration. Previous versions required the watch to be lying on its back with the watch face pointed upward. This new version cradles the side of the watch (like the Pixel Watch 4), allowing it to “stand” on edge and function like a clock on your nightstand. There’s even the ability to use night-friendly colors and fonts so that you don’t have light blaring through your eyelids. Those who had version 4 were already used to these, but I appreciate these changes. Setup was easy, but I dove right into setup and failed to look for an easy watch transfer, which is included. Manual setup really wasn’t bad, but I could have saved myself some time by using the auto transfer. I had to update or add a few apps, which is to be expected after 4 years. It was simple and easy to migrate from the old health apps to the new Google Health app. Now I can get an up to the minute health report giving me metrics such as steps, heart rate, blood oxygen level and more. While I’m not a fitness buff, this version has really upped its game for fitness tracking. I’m kinda blown away by the blood pressure tracking, and would love to know the science behind it. Nonetheless, the Pixel Watch 5 has an amazing set of health and safety features built in. When the FDA eventually approves it, there will also be a breathing emergency detection feature, similar to the way that loss of pulse detection works. It’s crazy how much insight a watch can provide into your health. Like everything these days, the Pixel Watch 5 has some improved AI features. Gemini is available straight from the watch, but I found the “raise to talk” gesture to be a little annoying. I eventually turned it off, because I got tired of being interrupted by Gemini when I didn’t actually mean to summon it. There’s an AI watch face generator that works with voice descriptions of what you want, but it basically only has one style, and my prompts mainly only changed the font used for the digits. This seems to be more of a beta feature, and I hope it will become genuinely useful. Similar to version 4, the Pixel Watch 5 is rated for 30 hours of battery life, up from the 24 that I had on version 1. Given that my original watch is now 4 years old, I wasn’t getting anywhere near that much and often got to the end of the day with only 30-40% remaining, and sleeping with it on wasn’t really an option if I wanted to be able to get up and use it. Version 5 can go a full 8-10 hours longer and still have 49% remaining, meaning that I’m finally able to sleep with it on and take advantage of all the sleep metrics. Each morning I’m greeted with a sleep report, and while I don’t have anything to compare it to, I’m enjoying the metrics and seeing how they trend over time. Charging the watch is a lot quicker too, which is very welcome. It will go from almost dead to 100% in just under an hour. Google says the watch face is much brighter. Comparing it to the original Pixel Watch, I could definitely see that the latest version looks a bit sharper and more vivid, and yes, it is brighter, but it’s not a night and day comparison. Maybe that just shows that, even with their first attempt, the Pixel Watch was a good product. Google also says the watch is much faster, but I honestly don’t notice much difference. Again, this is a testament to the original, but I think the way I use the watch just doesn’t require much in the way of speed. I’m never waiting for something to happen in response to a swipe or a gesture, it just works. I’m not sure how many versions have had gestures, but I just discovered them, and they’re awesome! Double-pinch the fingers on the hand wearing the watch to answer the phone, end calls, play or pause music, snooze or dismiss alarms, stop or pause timers and stopwatches, and take photos by triggering my Pixel phone's camera shutter remotely. These are wonderful features that make ordinary tasks easy and frictionless. Lastly, turning the watch face away to dismiss a call is just a natural gesture that makes sense. What about the cost? My model (the 41mm version) costs $399, or $50 more than the original. Sure, I wish it didn’t cost so much, but it’s comparable to its competitors and a $50 increase over 4 years is really not bad, especially with all the new features they’ve packed in. Integration with my Pixel phone and Pixel Buds was seamless and super easy. The Pixel Watch 5 is a great update to the series, and I feel like there’s still a lot to explore. Google has shown a commitment to the watch series, and I appreciate knowing they’re serious about staying competitive. Should you upgrade if you’ve got version 4? Based on the list of upgrades, it seems like you could sit this one out, but for me, coming from the original, I’m really enjoying learning about all the new features and capabilities. The icing on the cake was the understated Olive color for the band with the case rocking the “satin pyrite” color!