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2024 might well be Google's year—at least for its Pixel-branded products. The firm is poised to introduce the Pixel Watch 3 after first stunning us with the Pixel 9 phones. spoiler alert: It follows the trend of Pixel hardware this year feeling more developed and ready to face the competition than ever. The Pixel Watch 3 feels like a smartwatch deserving of the Fitbit and Google relationship with the arrival of a new bigger size and significant battery life enhancements. Though there are still some oddities the firm has to work on, for now the Pixel Watch 3 feels like the last development of a Pokémon ready to fight the major creatures from Samsung and Apple.
Editor's note: Apple had just started its "It's Glowtime" event at the time this review was published, when it's expected to reveal fresh iterations of its wristwatch. We evaluated the Pixel Watch 3 mostly in line with the Series 9, the most recent model, and also graded as such. We might change this later on to reflect Apple's newest hardware as well as extra Pixel Watch 3 testing.
Design Of The Pixel Watch 3: A New Size
The Pixel Watch 3 marks one of the most significant changes because Google has at last added a bigger size. For those who always felt the original was just a little too delicate, the former 41mm size lives on but is now joined by a 45mm one. On the larger screen, you will also be able to see more; but the 41mm edition also has a little more real estate since Google managed to cut the bezels down a tad (16 percent, to be exact).
Pixel Watch 3 Google
The Pixel Watch 3 is a real smartwatch ready for the competition thanks to strong battery life and a complete and easy-to-use array of health-tracking tools.
When my colleague Sam Rutherford tested the 45mm model for us, his precise words were, "It's SOOO much nicer to have the big one." Sam says this is "the size I wanted all along," and it's good to see my bigger-wristed friends given some thought at last.
Those who enjoy a more traditional-looking watch will value the Pixel Watch's circular face, which is just as it always has been. This year's smartwatch looks not especially different from the Pixel Watch 2. Its borders are glossy, and with the correct lighting the crown on the right side sparkles.
As part of their designer-decked ensemble, some of my more fashionable reviewing pals matched their Pixel Watch 3 with a stainless steel mesh band, which looks right at home. I loved the basic silicon athletic band that came with my review sample as this year's pink hue complements some new jeans and bags I recently bought. I still love Google's soft elastic loop straps, which let putting the watch on quite simple. This year, they are available in more hues and patterns—always great. Sam goes so far as to label this "the best-looking mainstream smartwatch," and, depending on our definition of "mainstream," I would have to agree.
The Pixel Watch 3’s Display: Bigger, Brighter, Dimmer And Slower
When discussing displays that are merely 41mm and 45mm—the screens themselves are actually 32.2mm and 36.2mm respectively—every quarter of an inch likewise feels outsized. By contrast, the panel of the Pixel Watch 2 measured just 30.5mm. Though I didn't feel like I gained a ton comparing my 41mm Pixel Watch 3 to its predecessor, I definitely saw a lot more on the 45mm model's screen. Some of that is clear-cut; a bigger display allows more space for material or larger fonts. But the gains in readability are impossible to overestimate, particularly for anyone who required something more legible.
Google improved rather than just stretched the Pixel Watch's displays. These watches may be as bright as 2,000 nits or as low as 1 nit as the company's Actua displays, which debuted on the Pixel 8 phones last year, are found in them.
That latter really changed things when I was in a theater seeing Alien: Romulus. The Pixel Watch 3 automatically went to the lowest brightness and stayed readable without irritating me or fellow viewers while I had to put on Theater mode on my Apple Watch Series 9 to prevent its screen from scorching my retina throughout the play.
When, say, you're viewing the live feed from your Nest camera, the Pixel Watch 3's screen may also vary in refresh rate between 1Hz and 60Hz, hence enabling seamless animations. On the other hand, the system can descend to a battery-friendlier 1Hz while you are not active. Though I wouldn't particularly notice this in my regular usage, I'll tease right now that it most likely affects battery life.
The Pixel Watch 3 As A Health And Fitness Tracker
As a health and fitness tracker, the Pixel Watch 3 most definitely caught my eye. Like rival products like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, it does a variety of things including automatically identify some workouts, signal you to move if you have been inactive for too long, and track your pulse and calorie burn as you are working out. Crucially, though, it accomplishes some of those things far better than its rivals.
Tracking every single stroll I go on, regardless of distance, I found the Pixel Watch 3 to be a dream. It kept catching on that I had been walking, usually leading me to log an exercise after I reached the ten-minute threshold. This also worked great on the several Citi bike rides I grudgingly went on in New York City and the GPS tracking of the Pixel Watch 3 matched the record of the Lyft app every time. The Apple Watch Series 9 I was also wearing recorded these events only twice in over a dozen walks and bike rides, most likely because it has a higher threshold of roughly 20 minutes of activity to hit before it would report anything.
Of course, the Galaxy Ring was the finest at this; even if it was just a quarter-mile walk that took five to seven minutes, it logged every small stroll I did. I won't mention it much further in this article, though, since that's a quite different device with a different use.
I could choose for the sprint sections targets for pace, heart rate, distance or time. Even for just one minute, it was obvious I had overestimated my capacity to attain an 8-minute mile speed when I finally entered those windows while on the treadmill. Still getting reminders from the Pixel Watch 3 to hurry it up, I had pushed the treadmill to the 8 mph speed setting. I could hardly figure out what number I should be at to satisfy the mark the watch kindly showed on a spectrum on the left of the screen.
Newbies would be better served with some of the Fitbit Premium (or Couch To 5K) coaching tools, hence this is definitely not a tool for them. This would be a helpful tool, though, for runners with cadence and speed goals or those who only want to run fast enough to be in a fat-burning heart rate zone. While generally as a casual runner I was less thrilled and more fascinated by its potential, I appreciated allowing the watch tell me when to run for my life and when I could recover my breath. Examining the statistics was interesting and enjoyable; if I wanted to get better, I know generally what I might do differently.
In my F45 HIIT, cardio and weight-training classes, I wore both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Pixel Watch 3 returning to my regularly planned training routine. Regarding information like my heart rate, cardio zone, and calories burned, both watches were never more than a beat or two from each other throughout the exercise. Both smartphones showed summaries on my results at the end of every workout, and I somewhat like Apple's information layout. Although Google thanks and motivates me for finishing a workout, their small celebratory image at the top only takes up space. The slightly simpler reading of Apple's interface's phrases also appeals to me. You may also read this: Best Ipad Covers For 2024
The Pixel Watch 3’s Battery Life: Huge Improvement
Arguably, the Pixel Watch 3's strongest selling feature is its battery life. Presumably by doing a few things, Google was able to extend its running life by rather a lot. First, the Actua shows that it can dip to 1Hz when a high refresh rate is not required, thus helping to save some power. Given the dual-chip architecture of the watch, Wear OS 5 may also be more power-efficient and yield some improvements. Throw in the new auto bedtime mode that turns off notifications and the Always On Display when you’s asleep, and you have a watch that finally lasts long into the morning following a full day and night.
Sam claims that his auto bedtime setting works well and that "the screen has stayed off for me regularly every night." To be clear, the Pixel Watch 3 will track your sleep even in auto bedtime mode, thus you are not compromising valuable data in return for battery life. Not having to worry about plugging the gadget on its charger the second you wake up also helps.
Sam and I discovered that our review sessions usually lasted at least a day and a half; the 45mm version stayed around a few hours longer generally. After a day out, my 41mm model was neck and neck with my Apple Watch Series 9; both wearables hit roughly 15 percent at roughly 11pm. Of course, your active Pixel Watch 3 usage will determine this figure as well. A day with several Citi bike rides documented later, my unit was down to 30 percent the next morning, and although the Apple Watch had a little more energy that same period, it hardly recorded any activity.
Conclusion
Three generations was all it needed. But for the first time, the Pixel Watch feels prepared to replace Galaxy Watch as the top smartwatch for non-Apple consumers. While those with iPhones will most likely find it simpler to remain in their ecosystems, the Pixel Watch 3 might be the Android equivalent of the Apple Watch should you be seeking an Android solution. Naturally, those who own Samsung smartphones will probably gain from the Galaxy phone integrations. Therefore, much of the success of the Pixel Watch here depends on people's already-buying into Google's brand.
This leads me to what this implies regarding Google's larger hardware intentions. The flawless vertical integration of the former has been one of the key causes of difficulty leaving Apple for Android. Features like AirDrop and AirPlay enable inter-device interaction so simple that no good replacement exists anywhere. Then there is the RCS vs iMessage, green-bubble-blue-bubble stigma that locks people into iPhones, so preventing them from switching.