Google pixel watch.
Sophia Pet
Three years after the acquisition of Fitbit, the alphabet It sells the first Google-branded watch with fitness tracking technology. It’s called the Pixel Watch, and consumers can find it on store shelves starting Thursday.
I’ve been testing out new Pixel products from Google for the past several days. In addition to the Pixel Watch, there are the new Pixel 7 and 7 Pro phones, which will go on sale at the same time.
Most of the Pixel 7 phone upgrades are minor compared to the last generation Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Last year’s phones were the first to launch Google’s self-designed Tensor processor and an all-new design. The $600 Pixel 7 and $900 Pixel 7 Pro run on Google’s new Tensor G2 chip and are the company’s latest effort to establish a foothold in the global smartphone market, which apple And the Samsung dominate.
The core of this review focuses on the Pixel Watch since it’s the first time we’ve seen how Google integrates the Fitbit app, which it bought in 2019 for About $2.1 billion.
The Pixel Watch starts at $350 for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and $400 for 4G LTE. For smartwatch users, there isn’t much new here. Heart rate tracking, fitness tracking, and sleep tracking have been available for years on products from Fitbit and other companies, notably Apple.
I was hoping that Google’s first Fitbit Link would bring some groundbreaking innovations to the wearable game, especially for the price. The new Apple Watch SE costs just $250 and has the same key features as the Pixel Watch. The same is true of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5, which costs $280.
Google’s Pixel Watch is the company’s premium watch, while the Apple Watch SE and Galaxy Watch 5 are the base models. But the features offered by each offer are pretty much the same.
The main benefit I can see for the Pixel watch is the beautiful, unobtrusive design. The round face and domed glass design make the Pixel Watch even more luxurious. It’s also made of stainless steel, which is more expensive than cheaper aluminum smartwatch base models.
Overall, it’s too little and too late for Google. There aren’t enough exciting features to justify the price, and all the important things are available in other cheaper smartwatches.
Here’s what you need to know before you buy the new Pixel Watch and what you’ve noticed about the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro phones.
Pixel Watch: What’s good?
The Pixel watch is lightweight and has a beautiful design. The watch face is only 41mm wide, and it simulates a water drop, making it look like a watch and not like a computer on your wrist.
I was worried that the smaller size would result in a less powerful battery. Google promises 24 hours of battery life, and I was able to get a full 24 hours out of the Pixel Watch, even though I didn’t use it to track my sleep.
During my first day testing the Pixel Watch, I did a workout, kept the screen on full power, checked email and controlled Google Home from my wrist without having to charge it until the next morning.
Seamless integration with other Google products is another bonus. I was able to use my Pixel Watch to broadcast a message on Google Home, and announce to my husband that I was on my way home. I was also able to turn the lights on and off and play music.
As a Google Calendar user, I also appreciate having these reminders on my watch.
Another benefit of the Pixel Watch is the high-frequency heart rate monitoring. Most watches only measure your heart rate frequently when you’re in the middle of a workout, so it doesn’t drain your battery. Google says the Pixel Watch constantly tracks your heart rate.
There is also a great feature for the camera. You can put your phone’s camera to take a picture and control the camera app with your watch. You can even see what the camera is capturing.
Google Pixel Watch allows you to control your phone’s camera remotely.
Sophia Pet
What’s so bad?
None of its attractive features allow the Pixel Watch to stand out from the smartwatches that have been on the market for a long time.
I was hoping that for Google’s first integration with Fitbit, there would be some new technology or the hardware would be affordable.
Also, fall detection will not be immediately available on the Pixel Watch. Google says it’s coming this winter. This is disappointing, given that it is already available on other smartwatches.
Pixel 7 & 7 Pro updates
Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones.
Sophia Pet
The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro both have some great updates, especially for the camera. The coolest feature is the photo blur, which, thanks to Google’s new Tensor 2 chip, allows you to take and erase any blurry photo. Even better, you can unblur any photo, not just the one you took with your Pixel phone. Tried it on a blurry picture of me and my husband. Here are the results:
Here is a picture of Sophia Peet and her husband before they used the “Unblur” technology for the new Pixel 7 image.
Sophia Pet
Here is a picture of Sophia Pitt and her husband after using the “Unblur” technology for the new Pixel 7 image.
Sophia Pet
Like unblur, most new Pixel phone updates are software related. When it comes to the camera, Google has updated the night scene, which means that night photos are much clearer. Once again, you have the new Tensor chip to thank for that. There is also cinematic blur on the videos, which makes the subject clear and background blur to give the videos a professional quality. There are improvements to the real degree so that photos of people of different races better represent their skin tone.
Google also makes our lives easier when we need to call 800. When you dial 1-800 on the Pixel 7, you no longer need to wait for “press 1 for help” or “press 2 to book.” The options only appear on your screen, saving you time so you can automatically call the department in question instead of talking to the bot.
The phone also transcribes voice messages, but only if they were sent from another Android device.
Overall, the camera is great on the new Pixel, but the updates aren’t enough to make me switch from iOS to Android.