The Pixel Watch 3 is the primary Put on OS gadget I might use over an Apple Watch

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Pixel Watch 3

The Google Pixel Watch 3 builds on the earlier mannequin, introducing a brand new 45mm dimension together with the unique 41mm watch. Each choices characteristic a bigger show with double the brightness. It provides loads of runner-centric options together with extra connectivity with Google’s ecosystem. 

Professionals

• Nice-looking design
• Smoooth software program expertise
• Refined total expertise

Cons

• Put on OS 5 can generally be glitchy
• Pin-based charging will be finicky
• Software program design can look child-like generally

Value, availability, and specs

The Pixel Watch 3 begins at $350 ($450 for the LTE model) for the 41mm model and $400 ($500 for the LTE model) for the 45mm iteration. For the smaller mannequin, colours embody polished silver and a porcelain Lively Band, champagne gold with a hazel Lively Band, matte black with an obsidian Lively Band, and polished silver with a rose quartz Lively Band. However, the 45mm Pixel Watch 3 solely is available in polished silver with a porcelain Lively Band, matte black with an obsidian lively band, and matte hazel with a hazel lively band. You possibly can solely buy the Pixel Watch 3 with an Lively Band, with extra straps needing to be bought individually.

The Pixel Watch 3 includes a 320 PPI AMOLED show that is able to hitting 2,000 nits of brightness, Qualcomm’s W5 chip (the identical processor as final yr ) coupled with a brand new power-efficient Cortex-M33 co-processor that handles particular much less intensive duties to save lots of extra battery life. Different specs embody 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, IP68 (water-proof in recent water to a most depth of 1.5 meters for as much as half-hour, and dirt resistant), and as much as 35 hours of battery life with the brand new Battery Saver mode.

Pixel Watch 3 design

This yr Google’s smartwatch includes a barely sleeker look

The Pixel Watch line has at all times jogged my memory of Pebble’s Time Round. I imply that as a praise; the round model of that ill-fated smartwatch is one in all my favourite watches ever. The Pixel Watch 3’s curved show is elegant, and because of the 16 p.c smaller bezels, the general design evokes a extra fashionable look than the Pixel Watch and the Pixel Watch 2.

They’re nonetheless there, although. It will likely be fascinating to see how the Pixel Watch 3’s show compares to the Apple Watch Series 10’s expansive display screen. The aspect of the smartwatch options an Apple Watch Digital Crown-like spinning dial to navigate menus and a button that offers you fast entry to not too long ago used apps. The crown spins fluidly and feels nice, whereas the button has a satisfying tactile click on to it.

The 45mm Pixel Watch 3 includes a 40 p.c greater display screen when in comparison with the 41mm Pixel Watch 3. Whereas Google did not ship me a 45mm Pixel Watch to evaluation, within the temporary time I spent with the wearable at the company’s Pixel 9 launch event, my key takeaway was that it felt huge. Usually, the 45mm appears to be like slightly ridiculous on my skinny wrists, just like the 49mm Apple Watch Ultra, but when ample display screen area is what you are after, you may wish to go for the brand new greater model of Google’s smartwatch.

The roughly 2x brighter show makes viewing the Pixel Watch 3’s always-on display screen simpler beneath direct daylight. It impressively matches the Apple Watch Collection 10’s 2,000 nits of peak brightness (the Galaxy Watch 6 beats it at 3,000 nits, nevertheless). I might even go as far as to say I choose the look of the Pixel Watch 3 over the Apple Watch and Samsung’s chunky Galaxy Watch line. The rounded aesthetic appears to be like way more like an everyday watch than the squared Apple Watch.

Sticking with the show, the always-on display screen can now drop to only 1 nit in darkish environments and dynamically refreshes between 1 and 60Hz, relying on what you are doing with it. This protects battery life and leads to a smoother expertise in comparison with the Pixel Watch 2’s generally choppy-looking 30hz, notably when quickly scrolling by way of menus.

When it is not in your wrist, the Pixel Watch appears to be like slightly thick, however that disappears while you’re sporting it (it’s nonetheless a bit thicker than the Apple Watch). Nonetheless, when you have been hoping Google would shrink the Pixel Watch 3’s thickness, you may be dissatisfied with the brand new smartwatch’s design. Talking of the look, the again of the smartwatch is stainless-steel and the place its a number of sensors are positioned, whereas the entrance includes a sleek-looking brushed aluminum.

I am nonetheless not keen on how Pixel Watch’s band snaps into place. It’s important to slide the strap beneath the aspect with the button after which push it in firmly. As soon as you’ve got executed it as soon as, it is smart, nevertheless it took me about 10 minutes to determine the primary time, although I personal a Pixel Watch 2 (I by no means took the strap off after initially setting it up).

At this level, Google cannot change the clasp design, or it’s going to break backward compatibility with earlier Pixel Watches, however that does not change the truth that the mechanism is complicated in comparison with the Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch. The Lively Band jogs my memory of the Apple Watch’s Sport Band, which implies it is a first rate, sweat-resistant on a regular basis strap that is very sturdy however not tremendous comfy. In some unspecified time in the future, I am going to seemingly purchase a Woven Band for the Pixel Watch 3 since I discover material watch bands way more comfy.

My evaluation gadget is a matte black watch with an obsidian band — I am a giant fan of its understated coloration and design. It feels refined and glossy, however I am uncertain the way it’ll face up to scratches and scuffs.

Pixel Watch 3 sturdiness

Google’s newest smartwatch appears to be like prefer it might take a success

On the subject of smartwatches, sturdiness is essential. In spite of everything, you are theoretically almost at all times sporting a smartwatch no matter what you are doing. Over time, I’ve scratched almost each Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch I’ve ever owned, main me to typically use less-than-stellar display screen protectors. Whereas I am unable to communicate to the Pixel Watch 3’s show sturdiness given I’ve solely spent slightly over every week with the smartwatch, it feels prefer it might take a success. Nonetheless, just like the Apple Watch, I am apprehensive its curved show will simply scratch towards tough surfaces.

The Pixel Watch 3 options IP68 certification, which implies that it is waterproof at a most depth of roughly 5-feet (about 1.5 meters) for half-hour, and it is shielded from mud. Consequently, it may deal with dips within the water with confidence. General, the Pixel Watch 3 appears like a premium, very stable wearable that is a reduce above the Pixel Watch 2 and each Fitbit I’ve used, together with the Sense line. It does not fairly really feel as premium because the Galaxy Watch 6 or Apple Watch Collection 9 (I have not used the Collection 10 but), nevertheless it’s strikingly shut. It is nice to see how far the Pixel Watch line has are available in such a brief interval when it comes to total construct high quality.

Pixel Watch 3 software program options

Put on OS 5’s easy design can generally take issues too far

Look, I get it. Google’s tackle Android is playful, foolish, and easy. In reality, regardless of being a long-time Apple Watch and iPhone consumer, I acknowledged that I prefer the Pixel 9 Pro series’ version of Android 14 in my latest evaluation of the flagship smartphone. It is simply simpler to make use of and does not characteristic the abundance of pointless menus iOS has gathered over the previous few years. Whereas I do not thoughts the look of the Pixel Watch 3’s Put on OS 5 it may at instances look relatively infantile because of its vibrant, saturated colours and simplistic menu design. On the plus aspect, this makes it straightforward to navigate and perceive the way to use, so there are advantages to this stripped-back, unrefined method to a smartwatch consumer interface.

On one other be aware, there aren’t many watch faces I truly like. I discovered myself sticking with Traditional, On a regular basis, or Index as a result of they strike an honest stability between exhibiting problems with extra info, and truly letting me inform the time simply. The extra animated or sophisticated watch faces, like Digital Daring or Journey, for instance, simply aren’t my vibe.

The general Pixel Watch 3 software program expertise is fairly stable, and I have not encountered many situations of slowdown or lag. Nonetheless, I would not say it is as clean because the Apple Watch or a latest Galaxy Watch. I bumped into just a few stutters when utilizing the Strava Put on OS app, for instance, and when launching sure apps, together with even Google’s Fitbit ECG app. On the plus aspect, Put on OS third-party app help has come a great distance over the previous few years. Should you use a notable health app, there’s seemingly a Put on OS model.

It is price noting that updating apps with the Pixel Watch 3 or together with your related Android gadget is much from intuitive and requires digging by way of a number of menus. This is not a giant deal, nevertheless it’s noteworthy sufficient that it is price mentioning.

Pixel Watch 3 well being and health options

‘Goal Load’ appears surprisingly helpful if you do not know a lot about exercising

Diving deeper into the smartwatch’s {hardware}, the Pixel Watch 3 can monitor steps, energy, and train minutes like its predecessor, however now the wearable also can maintain tabs in your coronary heart fee, take an ECG, create customized exercises, and extra, bringing it as much as characteristic parity with different equally priced smartwatches. There’s additionally the brand new “Morning Temporary” that offers you a “Readiness” and sleep rating (which is now free for all customers) when you put on the Pixel Watch 3 in a single day for a number of days. Different new software program options embody a concentrate on two metrics: “Cardio Load,” which goals to trace how onerous your coronary heart is working all through the day, and “Goal Load,” which provides a advice about how a lot exercise you ought to be doing based mostly in your Cardio Load, different exercise and your Readiness rating. This consists of recommending particular exercises and suggesting relaxation days. This looks as if a pleasant change of tempo from the way in which health options sometimes at all times bug you to push more durable.

The latter characteristic makes use of an algorithm to make exercise suggestions to you, nevertheless it wants to collect knowledge for a number of days earlier than your rating and suggestions present up, so I have not had the possibility to attempt it out but (after I do, I am going to replace this evaluation). Given I am fairly clueless in terms of health, I’ve a sense this characteristic shall be very helpful because it provides tangible recommendation and metrics to work in the direction of. The important thing shall be if I keep it up. Different options like Every day Run suggestions and courses which might be behind Fitbit Premium’s paywall ($9.99/month or $79.99/yr), although you do get six months free with the Pixel Watch 3.

The above options aren’t actually for me given I primarily use smartwatches for notification triage and fundamental train monitoring, however for those who felt the Pixel Watch 2 fell behind the competitors when it got here to exercise customization, these are nice additions. Like with the Apple Watch, connecting the Fitbit app to Strava is a one-click, easy course of. That mentioned, I did not notice Google’s Match platform is within the strategy of being killed off, so I spent just a few days utilizing it with the Pixel Watch 3 and encountered just a few oddities, like the shortcoming to export a Match exercise to Strava (I finally switched to utilizing the Fitbit app completely).

Pixel Watch 3 battery life

All-day battery life after which some (relying on what you are doing)

Google says the Pixel Watch 3’s battery life is available in at about 24 hours. In my expertise, that quantity appears fairly correct, with the watch lasting all through the day and evening however requiring a cost within the morning. Nonetheless, I wanted to prime up battery life just a few instances within the night when doing lots of health monitoring. Whereas I did not attempt the 45mm Pixel Watch 3 myself, Google claims it may hit 36 hours with Battery Saver enabled, which is spectacular and pushes it into the Apple Watch Extremely 2’s vary. I solely briefly used Battery Saver with the 41mm model of the smartwatch when my battery was dangerously low, and it managed to push its life span properly over 24 hours and into the next day. On paper, Google says the 45mm Pixel Watch 3 includes a 35 p.c bigger battery when in comparison with the 41mm Pixel Watch 2.

On one other be aware, I discover it wild that the Pixel Watch 3 nonetheless includes a PIN charger in 2024 and never Qi or some type of proprietary wi-fi charging. The pins are troublesome to line up, and on a couple of event, the smartwatch simply did not cost in a single day as a result of it was barely off its magnetic dock. It is odd that Google has caught with this archaic charging fashion, and I hope the corporate modifications this with the Pixel Watch 4. On the plus aspect, each variations of the Pixel Watch 3 supply 20 p.c sooner charging total, amounting to getting from 0-100% in 60 minutes from for the 41mm 0-100% in 80 minutes from with the 45mm model.

Must you purchase the Pixel Watch 3?

Once I say the Pixel Watch 3 is the Apple Watch of the Android world, that is not hyperbole. It is no secret that I am primarily an iPhone consumer, and a part of that lock-in has been how a lot I just like the Apple Watch. I exploit it for just a few notifications, together with Ring Sensible Doorbell notifications, cellphone calls, and at-a-glance info just like the climate and monitoring the occasional bike experience or run. And, after all, I additionally use it to inform the time and recognize its easy design (positive, I might use a Galaxy Watch, however I’ve by no means been a fan of its chunky design).

Whereas the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 have been valiant efforts at providing an Android equal to the Apple Watch, each generations featured notable shortcomings. With the Pixel Watch 3, Google’s smartwatch has lastly hit a stage of polish and performance that carefully rivals the Apple Watch and a minimum of for my functions, surpasses Samsung’s Galaxy Watch line, each relating to design and performance.

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Pixel Watch 3