Google Pixel Watch

[MattyP]

Well finally relented and joined the smart watch tribe the other day.

Picked up a Pixel Watch mainly because I have a Pixel phone and from my experience you are probably less likely to have issues when using the same manufacturer everything just seems to work.

Impressed so far. Means I can leave my phone alone for a bit now which is great getting the odd notification and looking when needed. Its 4G so acts as an independent device to the phone so all I need to take out with me is the watch now when I want to nip out to the local cafe etc. Feels kind of liberating!

Also Google bought FitBit a while back its also essentially a FitBit too and i've been using those for years really like the devices and the service.

It has really nice build quality and feels more like a premium watch than a bit of tech which is great - integration as expected is great and it all just works. Like the simplicity of the device and interface etc. Not too many bells and whistles but enough useful things on there that work well.

Feels kind of space age to pay for things in a shop with a thing on my wrist.. Or even take a phone call.

Battery life well TBH not amazing and needs a daily charge but given its 4G etc and a small device kind of expected to a degree. Glad I held off getting a smart watch for a while TBH as I'm generally really impressed with this. Like a groovy futuristic swatch watch!

[Deckard]

I got mine primarily so I could swim at my beach and then go and have a coffee at the beach cafe without needing cash so I pay for it on Apple Pay which has now blossomed into never carrying a card or cash for this last year.

The silent haptic alarm has never failed to get me up at 530am in three years now and has the added bonus of never waking hubby either.

I never had any watch before this one but next gen I might be tempted to go cellular and not take out my phone at all - I know some find Siri divisive but I havent literally typed anything all year -I dictate every especially now she does punctuation.

I always feel smug when my watch used to ask about my resting heart rate being 55 and my sleep rate 51

[Cloudane]

I think this is about the Google watch though

Curious how it compares to the Apple watch, however. I've had a few WearOS devices and they've always felt a bit slow and half hearted, but they weren't from Google themselves.

[MattyP]

Think the above applies to smart watches in general though everything mentioned about the Apple Watch applies to the Pixel Watch. I expect Apple will have nailed the user experience a bit more than Google but I guess they have complete control of the end to end experience. The Pixel watch will work on any Android device version 8 and over.

Never played about with an Apple Watch though however this does feel quick and responsive enough. One of the things that I liked about it was the FitBit integration and it's been done really well. Almost feels like my old FitBit Blaze but looks more like a watch and more functionality.

It feels liberating to just take the watch out and nothing else it's great to almost get a bit of digital detox from the phone screen.

Had it on holiday with me this week and it's been a nice addition. Sometimes just left the phone in the room (although I use that for mainly taking photos these days anyway).

[Deckard]

My apple watch 7 has zero lag and next one I buy will be a cellular version as it can replace my phone for 95% of my use. (Taking photos would be the 5%)

I havent typed anything in at least a year - Siri dictate all the way for texts, emails, reminders etc.

A few people at the gym have Samsung ones and seem pretty happy about them so I think they are all coming along nicely.

A few days I have left it on charger and headed to work and I am surprised how much I miss it.

[zip accident]

A few days I have left it on charger and headed to work and I am surprised how much I miss it.

I remember when you could buy self winding watches, how has that not transferred over?