Google Pixel Watch 2 Critiques

It’s been a long time in the making, but Google’s first smartwatch is finally here. It’s a good-looking device that can do some of the best Wear OS features available, but it’s not perfect and falls short of greatness.

Performance

This is one of the best Wear OS devices I’ve ever tested, thanks to a smooth experience and some of the most responsive software I’ve seen. It also has the best hardware I’ve seen for this platform, running on a Samsung Exynos 9110 chip that savvy users will remember from the Galaxy Watch series 1.

Display

The Pixel Watch’s 1.2-inch AMOLED display is pretty good, with a color accuracy that matches what you see on a phone screen and good color reproduction. It’s not quite as sharp as the Apple Watch Series 8 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 displays, but it’s still a decent-enough image and a step up from the Moto 360’s display.

But a 1.2-inch display is a tiny one, and the Pixel Watch’s thick bezels make it hard to view the full screen. It’s easy to miss notifications and other information, so it’s a shame that Google didn’t go for smaller bezels with the Pixel Watch 2.

Looks (and feel)

If you want a premium-looking smartwatch, the Pixel Watch is an excellent choice, and one of the best-looking smartwatches I’ve seen. Its circular design makes it fit perfectly onto your wrist, and it’s a nice choice for anyone who prefers to wear watches that aren’t too bulky.

However, it’s important to remember that this is a first-gen device, so there are plenty of things that need improving. A better processor could give it an advantage over competitors, for example, and a faster screen refresh rate would help it stand out from the competition.

A big draw for the Pixel Watch, though, is its ability to seamlessly integrate with Google’s Android software. It runs the same Android apps that you use on your smartphone, and it also works with a wide range of Android phones, including the new Pixel 7 Pro. And, as with most other Android apps, you don’t need to install anything extra to get started using the watch.

Health and fitness tracking

The Pixel Watch’s reliance on Fitbit’s system means that it offers some of the most holistic health and fitness tracking I’ve ever seen. This includes a number of well-established wellness features, such as heart rate zone tracking, sleep tracking, and activity goals in the form of “Active Zone Minutes,” which are based on the World Health Organization’s guidelines for moderate or high-intensity exercise.

These zones are shown as progress arcs around your watch’s screen, and they’re displayed in a variety of colors. Depending on what zone you’re in, they’ll appear yellow, orange, or red, and will tell you how far you’ve gone in that region, as well as the total time spent in that zone and how many calories you burned in that period.