Google Pixel Watch 3 review: Bigger, smarter and better

The Pixel Watch 3 solutions two widespread complaints that even we had about its predecessor, a small display space, and brief battery life. Now, for the primary time, the watch is available in two sizes: 41- and 45mm fashions with the bigger possibility on take a look at right here.

Google’s smaller mannequin this yr prices from £349/$349.99 whereas choosing the larger measurement will set you again at the very least £399/$399.99. The query is, can it compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, Apple Watch Sequence 10 and OnePlus Watch 2.

Let’s discover out…

Similar look, however greater

The design is similar because the Pixel Watch 2, with a deliciously rounded glass floor on the high (which is customized 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5) and glossy chrome aluminium on the backside.

You get a cushty, versatile rubber strap and a barely curved underside that offers all of the sensors the precise contact on the wrist with out it being uncomfortable. It’s smooth, uncluttered and so sometimes Pixel-style.

The bigger dimensions sound like loads, however 45mm is the general diameter of the case, and the design, with no protruding element aside from a crown on the facet, nonetheless doesn’t make it really feel very huge.

After simply three days with it on my arm, together with sleeping, altering, coaching and showering, I’d virtually forgotten it’s there.

The Pixel Watch 3 continues to be IP68 and 5ATM rated for water resistance making it protected for issues like taking within the bathe and swimming.

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Brighter and longer lasting

The larger display makes for clearer watchface and interface, like typing with the on display keyboard.

Its crisp OLED display with over 300 pixels per inch decision means you may’t discern particular person pixels. And a peak brightness of a whopping 2,000 nits means there’s zero downside utilizing the Pixel Watch 3 in shiny daylight.

The opposite factor that bigger dimensions imply is that it might probably match a much bigger battery. There’s a 420mAh battery right here, in comparison with 307mAh within the smaller 41mm mannequin and 306mAh within the equally small Pixel Watch 2.

On the similar time, there’s power optimisation with the brand new Watch OS 5 and with an improved dual-chip answer that may cross extra duties to a low-power facet processor as an alternative of utilizing the quick Snapdragon W5. It’s not as superior because the OnePlus Watch 2 on this respect, however with the bigger mannequin I examined, the battery life continues to be comparatively good.

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Google nonetheless solely guarantees 24 hours, but it surely does a lot better than that. I get two days of use between prices with default settings – auto brightness and Wi-Fi when the Bluetooth connection to the telephone is dropped, however with out LTE connection.

If I time it proper, I can get two nights of sleep monitoring on a single cost.

What can hamper battery life are particular person third-party apps, and GPS throughout navigation or train classes.

The GPS is in any other case fast to attach, however sadly doesn’t have twin band performance as you may anticipate at this worth, so the precision can typically sway.

By default, the show is ready to always-on, with a dial that illuminates many OLED pixels. If I swap it off, the battery lasts for a day of frugal use. It’s clearly higher than different smartwatch rivals just like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, however not greatest in school.

The battery prices shortly with the included magnetic locked charger, taking about an hour and a half to succeed in 100%.

It’s the identical processor and the identical quantity of reminiscence and storage as within the Pixel Watch 2, so it’s not a leap up in efficiency. Nevertheless it was snappy earlier than, and retains up nicely even now; smartwatch apps aren’t typically that demanding.

Wide selection of capabilities

For communication, it’s probably the greatest smartwatches you may have in your arm, with glorious notification movement, telephone management, messaging and e mail with the choice to answer in a number of methods, and lots of watch-customised apps accessible for social media, e mail companies and way more.

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

You may simply management media gamers or music streaming in your telephone, or run a number of standalone ones with direct streaming, make voice and textual content notes with the principally dependable voice interpreter and preserve observe of your calendar, to-do record, Google Maps navigation, funds with Google Pockets, chat with Google Assistant (perhaps Gemini sooner or later) and different on a regular basis instruments.

Add to that improvements like UWB (Extremely-wideband) help, the power to grow to be a distant management for a Google TV, integration with Nest cameras and new offline mode for Google Maps, and the characteristic set is extra full than ever.

There are few smartwatches that I feel stay as much as the epithet “smartphone on the wrist” however the Pixel Watch 3 comes shut.

An important system with a small design flaw

Put on OS 5 doesn’t make a lot of a distinction when it comes to structure and navigation to earlier than. It’s comparatively easy, with customisable “card” widgets on facet swipes, and fast settings and notifications with up and down swipes.

You could have two buttons, one in all which is the digital crown that can be utilized to scroll by means of apps and messages and so forth.

The one downside is that Google doesn’t actually appear to care that its watch has a spherical display, so Put on OS sometimes feels prefer it was designed for a sq. one. Meaning a bit additional scrolling and pointing to see all the things in some conditions.

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Mattias Inghe

Like final yr’s mannequin, the Pixel Watch 3 has a big set of exercise and well being sensors, from compass, altimeter/barometer, gyro and accelerometer, to coronary heart price, blood oxygen and echo-meter, floor temperature sensor and ceda sensor to constantly measure physique reactions.

Health monitoring

Well being monitoring and train are dealt with by a separate Fitbit app in your cell phone and as soon as put in, arrange with an account, paired and synced with the watch, you get a extra built-in Fitbit expertise in your wrist.

Separate Fitbit watches have now been relegated to the second tier, subordinate to the Pixel Watch, and Google can construct on the service providing.

It’s nonetheless targeted on well being and on a regular basis train, with glorious detailed sleep evaluation, step and coronary heart exercise logging. Nevertheless it’s getting higher as an lively coaching software for numerous focused actions. There aren’t an enormous variety of coaching programmes, however there are actually sufficient so that you can discover one which fits you.

AI-generated operating programmes that adapt to your each day health and progress curve, and in addition clarify intimately why it recommends a specific exercise, make it straightforward to inspire your self to do extra and higher train.

Train classes are logged precisely and the watch is sweet at supplying you with a tempo and maintaining it. As quickly as I slack (and I slack usually) I get a ping from my wrist about it.

Previously, some options of Fitbit have been locked behind a Fitbit Premium pay subscription. That’s nonetheless the case, however one of the vital vital options has now grow to be free for Pixel Watch 3 homeowners and Fitbit customers, the Each day Readiness rating. It gathers a variety of completely different well being information, sleep, stress, coronary heart, and provides you an general rating that sums up how prepared you appear to be to tackle a exercise on a given morning.

I’m grateful for that, as I’ve zero management over my physique and might decide prematurely what it might probably deal with. Someway Fitbit is aware of that.

Worth & Availability

The 45mm model of the Pixel Watch 3 isn’t low-cost, you need to pay £399/$399.99 or much more if you’d like LTE cellular information through eSIM.

Go for the cheaper 41mm mannequin and it’ll value from £349/$349.99. You should purchase it from Google and numerous retailers together with Amazon, Currys and John Lewis. Head to the likes of BestBuy or Walmart.

That’s a hefty sum, but it surely’s additionally a really full watch, with high quality, performance, type and luxury on the high. You get Fitbit Premium for six months, so you’ve loads of time to attempt it out if it’s value it.

Try our record of one of the best smartwatches.

Specs

• Mannequin examined: Pixel Watch 3 45 mm LTE
• Communication: 4G (elective), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, gps, Galilieo, NFC, UWB
• Show: 1.5-inch spherical oled, 480×480 pixels
• Navigation: Crown with button 1 button, contact display
• Dimension: 45 x 45 x 14.3mm
• Weight (with commonplace wristband): 68g
• Sensors: Coronary heart price monitor with SPo2 and ekg, accelerometer, gyro, compass, barometer/altimeter, mild meter, cEDA, pores and skin temperature
• Different: Microphone, speaker
• Working system: Put on OS 5.0
• System circuit: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 gen 1 / Cortex M33 co-processor
• Reminiscence: 2GB
• Storage: 32GB
• Battery: 420mAh, about 2-3 days battery life
• Sturdiness: IP68, 5ATM
• Compatibility: Cell with Android 10.0 and above and Google Cell Providers