Customer Ratings & Reviews

TLDR: This is not the watch to get for anywhere close to retail price - unless you have a few very specific use cases for it. ***** STANDOUT FEATURES: The watch is fully smart-home, connected-device integrated, so finding your phone, turning on the lights, and locking your door are all a "Hey Google" away. Using your voice to check your calendar, alarms, reminders, the weather, etc. - all easy. The integrated GPS finds signal quickly and does a great job of keeping you. The heart rate monitor is also excellent. You can (theoretically) also set up Google Pay for using your watch as a wallet. ***** BUILD QUALITY: Build Quality on the Pixel Watch is high. Google owns Fitbit now, so who's surprised that the band feels like one from one of their watches? The clasp (while a bit awkward) feels and looks premium. The Gorilla Glass screen has smooth, rounded edges, reminiscent of older Galaxy phones (newer ones are sharper edged). The side dial feels like powder-coated steel. ***** SCREEN: 1.) The screen is small, though a solid DPI. 2.) The colors are muted. 3.) The bezels are substantial, so the advertised measurement may actually disappoint you. 4.) Touch responsiveness is excellent. ***** COMFORT: Your mileage may vary, but my medium-large sided wrist found the watch to be most comfortable when close to my hand. Due to the bowl-shaped bottom of the watch, it didn't cut into my hand when up there. When further back, that shape resulted in increased single-point pressure, making the watch feel taller and heavier than it actually is. With the included larger band, my fit was close to the end of the range. I don't think the standard band will be a good choice for bigger humans, since my average-sized frame is two links from maxing it out. ***** USER INTERFACE: The UI is logical for anybody used to an Android device, though the "crown" (side dial) is an unfamiliar touch, and not super easy to twist accurately (probably due to the small size and how close it is to your wrist). I found myself swiping and ignoring it mostly. ***** CHARGING: Because of the shape of the watch band, the charger doesn't connect firmly. The band has the watch pushing up off whatever surface you set it on and away from the charger, which is a problem when trying to update the firmware, as you can't do that on battery power alone. Seems unnecessary. ***** CALL QUALITY: Calls taken though the onboard speaker are pretty quiet unless you crank the volume (using the dial) - and when you do, it distorts. Using Bluetooth headphones is the way to go. Others report hearing my voice with high quality, though (so the mic is good). ***** EXERCISE OPTIONS: The Pixel Watch comes with a free 6-month subscription to Fitbit Premium, where you gain access to Sleep Tools, Guided Programs, Workouts, Advanced Insights, Challenges and the Health Metrics Dashboard. You can also use other fitness apps like Strava, should Fitbit not be your thing. HR and GPS data are excellent, and the LTE version affords you the ability to enjoy your favorite streaming audio while you go. Being an Android Wear device, you may be able to use even more connected exercise devices through third party apps. It isn't ANT+ compatible, though. Which brings us to the... ***** DEAL BREAKERS: 1.) At one point, Google's FAQ on the watch apparently had a reference to ocean swimming in it. Such a reference is not there today. That, along with no other explicitly stated support for it, leads be to believe salt water is a no-no. This is a huge problem for me, as my local pool primarily uses salt instead of chlorine. Not-being able to take this lap swimming is a deal breaker. 2.) Certain features appear to be half-baked or just missing for no good reason. I can't type to text anybody. I can't check my notifications. I couldn't get Google Pay to work - and there was no specific error message to help me sort it. When updating the watch, there was nothing to indicate progress level. I just had to click and hope it was working. 3.) Workouts don't auto-start, nor auto-stop. 4.) As mentioned, you can't pair an ANT+ device to the Watch. 5.) Battery life is only average for a smart watch in this price bracket. 6.) The band shape makes third-party charging connectors unreliable. 7.) This price bracket is high and very competitive. A watch of this price really must have top-tier abilities. Consumers shouldn't be beta testers. ***** EDGE USE CASES: 1.) You can set an emergency contact to be called with 5 presses of the side dial. This could be useful for multiple reasons, like creating a witness in a bad situation or getting somebody who knows you and your specific medical issues to call emergency services on your behalf, or come help you. 2.) Pixel phone owners can use the watch as a remote trigger and view screen for the phone's camera. You could set your phone on some landscape or a little selfie tripod, gather everybody, then take the photo with your watch. 3.) You could attach the watch to your phone to use as a rear screen for vlogging. ***** CONCLUSION: Google has some work to do developing features and modifying base behavior for the Pixel watch. If they stay committed, they could easily have a "fine wine" product on their hands, especially regarding tweaks to improve battery life, feature set and error feedback. It would be a great option if you already have a Pixel phone and are into running. Reliable GPS and HR data are extremely valuable.

The Google Pixel Watch is Google’s first leap into smart watches, and many Pixel/Android users have been waiting for years for this watch. I was excited to get it, as upon opening the box, the watch is pretty attractive, being a glossy black AMOLED display, round and dome shaped on the edges, and less “stand-outish” visually than some others out there. It’s available as a Bluetooth only model that connects to your phone wirelessly, or for a little more, a LTE version that works standalone but has an additional monthly charge via your mobile service. In the box, you get of course the watch, a standard and small watch strap, and a proprietary disk-shaped charger that charges the watch on the back via magnetic connection it’s a USB-C connection to a power plug if you have one. The watch itself has a crown you can use to scroll with, and a button used to go to apps you’ve had open, while a longer press on the crown opens Google assistant, where just like with an Android phone, you can make inquiries, commands, text, etc. Overall a similar-to-others layout that works to do what you need it to. One thing though… it’s small. At 41mm in size, it’s small compared to similar smart watches in that unlike others, Google does not offer a larger size – 41mm is it. Not bad on a child, many women, or some smaller men’s wrists, but if you have a large wrist, it does look a bit awkwardly small. A larger bezel around the watch screen also reduces the actual usable size of the screen itself, making it technically smaller than 41mm, and as such, REALLY small. The wrist band doesn’t fit wrists much larger than around 8 or so inches, and larger bands are not yet sold by Google or third party vendors, so there’s going to be a wait for comfort if you have a larger wrist. They are VERY tricky to slide on the watch, so patience is a virtue. It’s like a “slide and lift” action. In terms of the operating system, there’s a ton of workout activities you can keep track of and they look similar to Fitbit devices (Google now owns Fitbit) in the menu. You can pretty much keep track of anything fitness related and they work pretty accurately as far as watches go; of note though, the most advanced tracking options are part of a “Fitbit Premium” service that you get free only for six months with the watch – after that, you have to pay around $10 per month to keep using those (boo). The GPS seems accurate and stayed connected to my Pixel 5a via Bluetooth consistently. The heart rate monitor works well, though it seems to stay on ALL of the time (draining the battery a bit quicker). You can also take an ECG to possibly detect heart fibrillation issues. Sleep tracking is available to monitor your sleep quality, but it’s part of that premium package mentioned earlier. Google services like Assistant, Maps, Pay, Calendar, and Music are of course also in the OS. Scrolling or sliding your finger on the screen takes you through all of the apps, and is pretty standard and easy to do. The companion Pixel Watch phone app also allows you to more easily control the watch’s settings, watch faces, and options as well. A separate Fitbit app helps keep track of the fitness aspects, but unfortunately, you have to download yet another app to get the heart ECG readings. I was able to get and send texts with no issue using the watch, and receive calls though the 5a phone, though the volume wasn’t anything stellar even at max. Still usable, though. Battery life is so-so. If you don’t use the Always on display (AOD), fitness, sleep, or GPS features a lot you can make it through a full day, but when used reasonably heavy, the small watch body’s small battery just gives up and needs to be topped off. The Pixel Watch doesn't fail as a smart watch – what it does, it does pretty well, but to me (opinion), it definitely feels like a first generation device. If you are going to offer only one size, I think it should be around 43mm or so, not as small as this one. A smaller bezel is in order, better battery life, and a selection of larger wristbands out of the gate. Also, having so many separate apps is confusing and convoluted – it would be best if they consolidated all functions of the watch into one, centralized, app. It’s not a “bad” smart watch, and my 3 star rating isn’t meant to be bad. It’s good overall, but there’s enough irritants in this first version to not merit a higher rating (to me). I think Google will learn from this, and future generations will (or should) address these though. Plenty of people will still find use for this, especially if you own a Pixel phone – just be sure you know what you are and are not getting. Still recommended (but with reservations).

This watch has more features than it does diameters. TL;DR for my frequent readers and details below. Good: Display Clarity Touch screen functionality Samsung interoperability Ease of band changing Additional smaller band Meh: Proprietary magnetic charger Bad: Gets warm when charging Diameter / size USB-C with no wall Adapter Updates only when charging Unknown: Cellular use / activation So, to start - the watch came well packaged and included the proprietary wireless charger and an extra band; no wall adapter was included and all of my USB-C adapters are 35W+ which is overkill, so I had to reallocate one for this purpose (sorry Pixel Slate!). As always, I let the watch charge up before using it for the first time; why start with a low battery and then have to stop playing only to charge it when you could have done it in the first place, right? In not too long (45ish minutes), the watch was charged up and ready to configure. Once on my watch, I realized how small this watch face was and realized it was more of a Fitbit size and one that wasn’t going to work for “me” but maybe this would be better suited for my paddle boarding wife? If you like the G-SHOCK line, or even the mid-size Garmin Fenix devices, this may not work for you. Speaking of smaller wrists, the watch band swap out is so easy - like, super easy and they even give an extra “smaller” sized band in the even this is going to someone with a smaller wrist. Setup and configuration were a breeze, but be careful if you’re close to another Android device at the beginning because it pops up a pairing request to seemingly every phone that’s active. Get a comedian roommate or spouse and it may take you a little bit longer to set it up, should they steal the request. Once going, the setup was easy as pie and my only complaint was that I had to take the watch off and put it on the charger to update the software; even phones have a minimum battery requirement to do updates - Google should do the same here. Onto the usage. For me, no security PIN or swipe pattern, that’s silly. Other than that, use the App and get a nice watch face to configure with some of the widgets that suit your style and go for a walk, or ride, or whatever! Hopping on my Trek with my Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar on one arm and the Pixel Watch on the other, was a success. Without needing to pick an exercise (like Google Fit), it knew I went for a short ride around the neighborhood. When compared with my Garmin watch, the heartbeat seems pretty on point however it didn’t track my distance so /sadface. Once a bit pairing circle happens (speaker/phone/watch), controlling Bluetooth speakers is pretty simple, as are most functions of the watch. If you’re a bit far sighted, you may have issues with this watch face - just a heads up. Some overall thoughts: When hanging around, the notifications are haptic enough to know they happen, but not enough to ruin a conversation and I found this pleasant. The screen is nice enough to give you YouTube image updates that make sense (see pic). A responsive touch screen makes all the difference and this is very responsive. When it comes to compatibility, I didn’t use a Pixel device, I used both a Galaxy S22 & S22 Ultra, seamlessly; I literally had no complaints during use or any of the features that are thrown in my face regularly (notifications, alarms, etc.). After charging, it was warm to the touch where the top of my wrist is and I found it uncomfortable. I had to allocate fast charger wall adapters to this as all of the traditional chargers are USB-A. Finally, this is for the Cellular version, however I didn’t test cellular as I had originally wanted the WiFi version, but for an extra $50, it wasn’t a bad thing to have ‘just in case I changed my mind.’ From a battery perspective, I found that without Fitbit connected & always polling, battery life was much better. Here are some rough eyeball’d stats: Setup took around 4% of the battery (I did the setup a few times) 30 hours until it dies without Fitbit & great WiFi 24 hours until it dies with Fitbit Charge it every night and don't worry about a thing Do I recommend this? Sure, given the caveats (battery life, face size). Would I get another one for me? No. So, I guess that makes it a 4 star device because I’d recommend it to a certain demographic; one that’s smaller than I.

For many years I rocked both Android and iPhone because I loved tech and wanted to stay up-to-date with the latest handsets. There was even a time when I considered myself an Android guy before Apple got the hint that consumers wanted larger screens…reachability be damned. Ultimately, I found myself deeper and deeper in the ecosystem and my found myself not wanting to give up compatabilty features with all my devices that talked to each other. Recently, I realized that I was way behind with Android ‘know-how’ and leaped back in to Google’s world with a Pixel 6a. Now that I’ve dipped my toes, the only responsible thing to do is buy a Pixel Watch to go with it! First Impressions: The unboxing experience was similar to other recent Google product releases with a crisp white box and a clean presentation when you slide the cover off. Having the watch sit in the box with the band curved around a cardboard sleeve was a nice touch - almost like a real watch box. The Pixel watch itself is truly a nice combination of classy and sporty that I’m not sure its competitor quite reaches. The black stainless steel finish in the base unit was a nice touch as it’s a significant cost upcharge for Apple Watch. Beauty aside, it’s small. The size on my wrist looked and felt small compared to anything I’ve ever worn and I immediately wished it came in two sizes. I can’t say that I have a huge preference - square vs. round - they both have pro’s and cons, but 41mm is absolutely too small for a large man’s wrist. It would be interesting to understand the marketing background research done in the Pixel Watch’s target market. Maybe they realized that the most likely buyer would be a female fitness enthusiast, but not having a size option was a miss. Set-Up: Set-up was easy enough. I was able to power on the Pixel Watch and bring it near my Pixel 6a. I was required to download the Watch application which was fine because I was home on Wi-Fi, but I did find it inconvenient that it wasn’t preinstalled. Pairing felt similar to pairing any bluetooth device and I did have to re-try the entire process because a software update failed after the first set-up. For a first attempt at Pixel Watch pairing it was fine. That’s really the best way to describe it. Fine. Fitness: So I guess when you don’t want to invest in a platform of your own you partner with someone else? The set-up includes the ability to link to Fitbit Premium which was was a welcome surprise, but interesting. Fitbit Premium seems pretty blah to me. While it does seem to offer a well rounded selection of classes and exercises I would have much preferred better integration with Peloton. It’s like buying a TV and getting 6-months free of Paramount+ with ads. Sure it’s fine, but we’d much rather have Netflix. The one positive about partnering outside the Google ecosystem is that I’m sure people will be more comfortable providing their health information to FitBit vs. Google themselves. Advice: If you’re an Android user this is probably the best you’re going to get. The set-up, Google OS integration, style, finish features is pretty good for the price you’ll pay for this watch. Definitely impressed by the Pixel brand in that regard. If you’re coming from Apple Watch you’re going to be whemed. I don’t think that’s a word, but it’s going to feel familiar, but not fresh, it’s going to feel capable but limited, and you’ll be glad you have one but not excited when you put it on every day. It’s getting there. It’s a great step for the Wear OS platform, but not quite what you’d be used to.

I was interesting in the Pixel watch since it was announced, it was nice to see Google finally putting their personal spin on the smartwatch. Wear OS has been around for a while, however curious on what they bring with their first official watch, pairing with Fitbit now on the team. In the box, you get the watch, front and center when you open the packaging. Included are two sized bands (Large installed by default), charger and some documentation. The black stainless steel is very clean, the glass curves over the edges to meet the stainless steel body, to give you a glossy look across the whole top. The bottom houses the all of the sensors which tracks your heart rate, and wireless charging, the charger plugs into a USB-C port. Included was the active band, as mentioned the large band is installed by default, however you can switch to the included small band if needed. I swapped over to the small band to test, you press the button down on one side where the band meets the watch, sliding it towards the button, once it's out of the little locks it pops right of. You simply push the replacement band into the open slots, and slide it back, opposite way you slide to remove, to lock it in place. For watches, I am a pretty light user, I like to check notifications so I can keep up to date and not have to take my phone out, I use it constantly for calendar notifications while working. Other than that the usual time, step and occasional payments using the watch. You have the crown to scroll up and down, press the crown in to access apps, above the crown on the side of the watch is a button to bring up recent apps. You can also swipe across the face to interact with your watch, left and right to swipe between tiles you have set, swiping up from the bottom will bring up your notifications, swiping down from the top will bring up the settings. The battery life of the watch is roughly 24 hours, it does charge pretty quickly (About 50% in 30 minutes), which will allow you to wear the watch for sleep tracking. I don't personally use this feature, so this is mostly when I charge. The watch does not support reverse wireless charging, or any other Qi wireless charges, so you will need to use the provided wireless charger when needed. It did last me throughout the day in my experience. Having fitbit added into the Pixel watch was a nice touch, the watch is great for tracking while walking around work all day, plus whenever I am tracking walks or jogs. This pairing makes it great for getting up and being active again, which working remotely for some time I got out of the groove for a bit. I would like to see if a larger watch, or even a screen that takes up a little more of the edge away from the bezels. Most things are designed to fit, it is a little more visible when scrolling through menus. I have also been a fan of larger sized watches, especially smartwatches. I would also like to see what the Google Home app is like down the line. If you are looking for a nice watch to pair with your android phone, and would like this to feature fitbit to track your fitness journey, this watch is definitely for you. My mom loved her fitbit but has been living with the one she got some time ago, I feel this would make a great gift for her over the holidays. The main reason I knocked off one star at this time is size and software feels it can be fine tuned a little more. I am sure software will get much more, hopefully sooner rather than later. I am not sure how Google feels about watch sizes, but would love to upgrade to a larger watch down the line. I will however continue to use the watch and see what further upgrades bring. If it's anything like the Pixel phone, it will!

I've had a couple of previous Wear OS watches. LG Watch Urbane and Fossil Sport Smartwatch. This one is a little smaller than those, but the fit is still good, and it doesn't feel too small. I'm not a fan a of the curved faceplate glass, I would prefer a flat glass with metal bezel as it's way easier to get a screen protector on flat glass. I've tried a couple on this, and they start popping off after a week. I did find the adaptor lug for 20mm band and got that for it, I don't like silicon bands. Not sold on Fitbit Premium, but will use it while free. I do like the refresh rate on the heart rate indicator, way better than any of my previous watches. Battery life for my use is normally a little over 24 hours before it goes dead, so daily charging is needed.

I really like this watch. I like the software, the hardware, the fact that fitbit is running the fitness tracking. The only thing that drives me away from it is the size. I think it should have had two sizes at least but this size is way to smart to me.

I think Google did a really good job with this one. The user interface feels just like an Apple watch but with a circular screen. The battery life is good lasting little over a day with basic use. The link to the phone is great with live notifications and calls all coming through the watch. The band is firm and secure and doesn't hurt your skin. Overall I think the device is really good for pixel users know if only I could stand Android.

This is a great watch and works perfectly for my father. He loves to use tech but prefers simple use and design. this watch is prefect and sits very well on his thin wrist. The fact that most smart watches are square which doesn't look any more like a watch. the price is great and doesn't cost a arm and leg as other companies

Good watch, though with the curved screen, it looks super tiny. The battery is not always good; it won't even last a day.

Having bad pixel phones for the last few years, I was excited to finally get my hands on the pixel watch. In the past I have used Fossil watches with wearOS but there always seem to be some issues with capability, so I figured Google would have it figured out on their devices....well.... Let me start by saying the round face (although a little small) is sleak and looks great. You will not find a great screen protector as the screen dips in the center then curves out. The Zagg one is way to small so save your money there. The watch feels great on your wrist and the woven bands (although expensive) give it an even more comfortable feel. Here are the woahs. Google has not figured out the Fitbit integration and it's clunky to use. You cannot customize the touch points on the watch faces. I could do this on the Fossil for something as simple as touching the clock to bring up the alarms. The LTE is a huge problem. It will not activate and I spent 8 hours, yes 8, on phone and chat with Verizon who eventually told me the esim was bad and to return to the store I bought it from. Battery life is not great plus you have to use the charger it comes with only. Seems silly that you create a pixel watch that can't even be charged by a pixel phone. For the price, I think Google still has a lot to figure out and I will give it another year or two to see what the future generations hold.

Just a bit small has an ok battery life. Apps need work

Honestly I do like the watch. It looks sleek, has cool health tracking, and generally has all the features that I would want in a smart watch. That said, for $400, this watch shouldn't have gotten scratched up they way it has in less than a week of ownership. It also can't seem to hold a charge. Yes, I bought a screen protector, but they all have a long ship time at this point. I figured if I was VERY careful with this watch that I purchased for ALMOST HALF A GRAND, it could make it through a week without getting damaged until the screen protector got to me. Unfortunately, by day 7, the face has gotten scuffed and scratched up by what I presume to be dust, bed sheets, and the underside of my soft, long t-shirts. I am not exaggerating - there is no way a normal person could use this watch and not get its face scratched up. Even if I wanted to, there are no avenues to get this repaired. I wish there had been a warning about the extreme fragility of the screen. I would have waited for the screen protector had I known. Please heed my warning if you want your watch looking decent after more than a few hours - do not even take it out of the box without some sort of protection. In addition, this watch can't seem to make it through 24 hours without dying. Previous smart watches I used could go through 24 hours, charge while I shower, and be good to go. Now, the battery dies before I get to shower, and it doesn't charge to 100% by the time I'm ready to put it back on. It's clear Google didn't consider the fact that people would actually use these watches in real life. It's a beautiful concept, with a fragile and underwhelming execution. I would steer clear, as this largely really seems like another unsupported, money grab from Google.

The watch is beautiful, but huge. I have tiny wrists so it was constantly in the way. However, it flowed effortlessly.

After six years of wearing WearOS watches this has been the smoothest experience I've had with the platform. While Google says 24 Hours of battery you can get close to 30 if you have Always on Display off. My only complaint with the watch is the size as I wish Google made a larger one.

Frequently loosing connection with new pixel 7. The battery lasted all day from 6am to 8pm with basically no use of the watch. To small, specifically for a man. And to complete my experience! Best but charged me a 45 dollars restocking fee.

Love it, for a first outing from google is great, the size could be a little bit bigger since my hands are big it does look on the smaller side but the features and everything you can do with it, awesome

Screen is too small for precise touch (like when typing or choosing an on screen option) takes several tries before you can get it right. And for the price the watch should be able to use the oxygen sensor (it's disabled for some reason) Very slow when downloading or updating apps/software. Just an expensive Fitbit.

Many things I like, just a few things I dislike... Let's start with the good. I actually like the band. The clasp is very easy to use, stays latched, and is easier to take off than the tried and true traditional watch band design of "normal watches." But you don't buy a Pixel Watch because of the band, so let's move on. BATTERY LIFE This is my 3rd smart watch. My first would not stay charged for a full day with the features I wanted turned ON. I could get about 13 hours with that watch (circa 2019). My second smart watch was actually more attractive than the Pixel Watch but it was inconsistent with its battery life--also only making it about 15 hours with the features and alerts I wanted (circa 2021). The Google Pixel Watch, in my first week of use, is getting a full day from 7a-bedtime (i.e. 11p) and often has about 30-40% to spare which is good because if you want it to monitor your sleep, Google suggests that you have 30% left on the watch when you turn the lights off. [BTW, activate "sleeping mode" from the settings before you have it monitor your sleep.] Unfortunately, if you wear it overnight you are going to need to find about an hour to get it fully charged before you wear it all day again. Per Google, charging takes about 30 minutes to 50%, about 55 minutes to 80%, and about 80 minutes to 100%. BTW, the charger requires a USB-C input on your wall charger. A wall charger does not come with the watch. The charger "cradle" for the watch is magnetic and snaps to the watch well. STYLE As mentioned, I like the band. It is comfortable and easy to put on and take off. I am lukewarm on the watch face. The bezel is curved and blah. The single button ("crown") is simple and easy to manipulate. I kind of wish the watch had multiple "crowns" (?) that controlled different subsets of data. For example, one dedicated to messaging, another to settings, etc. Nonetheless, navigation is still fairly easy once you remember where everything is as you scroll up and down through menus. The face is, in my opinion, a bit small for the average male wrist, but probably a bit big for a female so I suppose it is just right for unisex. Illumination seems perfect out of the box. I have my watch set to only show the face when I prompt (wrist shake, touch, or push of crown) rather than always on. This is key to getting good battery life. Not sure if I will ever change the band on this watch but if I do, I probably won't remember how. Fortunately, the instruction book shows you and it isn't as difficult as it first seems. It is just different. SCREEN SIZE The screen size is tough to manage when it comes to entering the "unlock" code or typing a message. My "zig zag" unlock pattern often fails on first try. Texting with the on-watch keyboard is nearly impossible with my 50yr old hands and callused fingertips. Fortunately, you can pick auto responses or dictate your response to the watch as you would to a phone. Unlike a phone, you cannot pinch the screen to enlarge or reduce but fortunately the default font size, contrast and brightness is, at least for me, easily readable. APPS I prefer Google Fit over Fitbit and I am not sure how/if the two products are somehow becoming one, but Google wants you to use Fitbit on this watch, for sure. Tracking my heartrate, sleep, steps, activities, goals, etc. are all very nice but I am using this watch for more "professional" purposes: Messaging, Email, Reminders, Calendars, Calls...well, not so much for calls as will be explained shortly. There are a seemingly infinite number of app options. To discuss any of them in great detail is ridiculous. Let's just say the apps are equally as good on the watch as they would be on the phone--just much smaller in appearance. Google Assistant works well and vibrations to the watch for alerts (texts, calls, updates, etc.) are strong. Paying from your watch with Google Pay is nice as well. SETUP To set up the watch you need to pair it with your phone and download the "Watch" app which is apparently different than the "Wear OS" app used for my other smart Android watches. I am not sure why this is? Regardless, no issues with setup other than it takes a few minutes and there are some mandatory system and app updates which shouldn't catch you off guard in this day and age. Now the "not so good..." As mentioned, I am not currently using this watch for calls. When I initially paired the watch with my phone for setup, the phone was already paired with my earbuds...which I rely on for phone calls all day. Somehow that seems to have confused my devices for phone calls. While the watch was paired, the phone would ring but my earbuds would not pick up the audio or voice. My watch showed the phone call was active, but the phone was handling the communications. For the life of me, I could not force my earbuds to take priority on calls. The first day I was constantly apologizing to people who either could not hear me or who I would accidentally hang up on while trying to switch from phone to bluetooth earbuds. I am probably just doing something "wrong," but I am very tech savvy and this problem never occurred until after I started wearing the watch. I can't afford to have tech challenges answering phone calls. The other not so good is really just a tech limitation. I want a watch that will last at least 48hrs with messaging features and a "dimmed watch face" always on. That kind of battery tech for a smartwatch just does not exist. Nonetheless, this watch gets better life than my other two. In the end, this is a good smart watch, easy to set up, and has decent battery life assuming you keep things fairly simple.

As a Pixel phone owner for years, I was really looking forward to pairing it with an actual Pixel watch. When it finally arrived, I couldn’t wait to try it out. The watch is beautiful, the nicest looking smart watch I’ve seen. It comes with two different band sizes, some users with small wrists say they appreciate the smaller band because other similar watches have bands that are too big for them. The watch connected very easily to the Google Pixel Watch App. (You do not connect it to the generic ‘Wear OS’ app like other Android watches.) The Pixel watch app handles everything and soon you are up and running. If you’re familiar with the Android OS watches, you’ll be very comfortable with this Pixel, there won’t be a big learning curve. If you have a Fitbit account, it’ll be especially easy. I didn’t have one, but it was easy to download the app and set it up. It worked flawlessly with the watch. Things I weren’t thrilled with: The watch face is SMALL. Smaller than other smartwatches I’ve tried. To some, this may be a good thing, but to me, since you use the watch to get information as well as well as the time, the font is smaller, and you usually have to start scrolling to see most of the messages. Perhaps in the future, Google could create a Pixel watch and a larger “Pixel Pro” watch to satisfy people like me (I’m a fan of the Pixel Pro phone.) But the biggest problem by far was the horrible battery life compared to many other smartwatches. I did NOT have the “Always On” enabled and yet after 24 hours I’d have less than 15 percent life. This means that you must charge the watch once a day, the same as your phone. A problem with doing this is that unlike my phone which I charge overnight, I’d like to use the Pixel watch to analyze my sleep pattern, which it did quite nicely, so you can’t charge the watch while you sleep. You must pick a time of day to charge the watch and it takes over an hour to get it back to 100 percent. Since this is a common complaint with this watch, I’ll bet the smart people at Google will be able to improve battery life on future Pixel watches, but I’d hate to pay so much for THIS watch and then read about a NEW google watch coming out later with a much-improved battery life. Another watch brand which uses Wear OS gives you well over two days of battery life setting it up the same way I’m using this watch. Bottom line, the new Google Pixel watch is beautiful, looks less like a ‘computer’ than other smartwatches, and I’m sure you’d be proud to show it off, but from a practical standpoint, you might want to wait until the next generation of these watches.