We look at the new the new Google Pixel Watch 4. See more about the details of the watch here.
Here comes the new Google Pixel Watch 4, reviewed
We aimed to give the Pixel Watch 4, from here on, pixel watch, a good and thorough testing. First up, in a no brainer, but still helpful way, it is straight forward to configure for lefthanded wear – kinda obvious perhaps, but still good for those 20% out there who are not part of the majority in terms of handedness. The look and feel are pretty good, it feels smooth, elegant, while also seemingly durable too. In the product specs it lists sustainability aspects in regards to the materials used. This is a good thing, perhaps to be expected, but you at least want to have clear information about it. 100% recycled aluminium is mentioned, but of course we have no way to verify that within the scope of a product review. The packaging also seems to follow this ethos and quickly went into the compost.
We wondered about the strap. It does work, and yet, was hard to find a setting that was not too tight, nor, Goldilocks-like, too loose. You loop over and then tuck it under itself. This makes it secure, but not super comfortable. At looser settings it then slightly dangles and shifts, not ideal either. This is all the more relevant when, or rather perhaps, if you are also planning to sleep with it. We are not sure about you, but we generally take off our normal (and looking slightly hang-dog at the moment, while the new toy is in town) watch when we go to sleep. If you want to get all the sleep tracking and good stuff, then you will however need to keep this watch on of course. It does give interesting information, REM sleep, awake, light sleep, deep sleep. Rating your sleep out of a 100 is perhaps taking the gamification a little too far. How do I, can I, improve my sleep score when you might have a baby, toddler, or older child coming into your bed? That said, using it for any nights was interesting and informative. One colleague said that, by sleeping with a similar watch on, it spotted irregular heart activity, which prompted him to visit the hospital and he ended up spending a week there to recover. Therefore, there could be clear benefits to devices like this, give or take the degree of their physical impact.
We spoke to one fitness enthusiast, and we are talking hardcore, they are planning to run the Marathon Des Sables (250kms in 6 days across the Sahara!…). Their wise words of advice were, what do you want to track, what do you really need to know, this will guide how good a fit or otherwise any smart watch will be for you. The Pixel Watch delivers well on a few key areas. It is relatively unobtrusive, it is not heavy or chunky to wear. It charges pretty darn fast, as some of our testers opined, the challenge with earlier watches was the amount of time needed, off-wrist to get it charged up again. You will get a rapid reboot of charging from the charger for this watch, enabling you to keep it on for the rest of the day to get all the valuable data. Which is of course another pro/con, in terms of how connected you want, need to be, and the trade off in term of your personal health data. What is it being used for, by whom, how often? You can dial down some of this, and, as always, it is a transactional trade off, where it delivers interesting information about ourselves, to ourselves!
You get used to moving around the screen fairly quickly, and soon you start to work out what your most desired places to go are. It still does somethings that we are not completely sure why, and talking to you, while you are still running, and have not stopped the run tracking yet, is a bit irksome. Maybe it was noting two miles hit, but it seemed a bit arbitrary. With all these things, the more you use it, the more you will work out these minor things. There are good user guides as always too. So far it is fun, and also definitely habit nudging. This is the area where it has the greatest potential for good, to encourage, support and help you if you want to be healthier and live a healthier lifestyle.
More about the Pixel Watch 4
Wear it to workout
Proprietary + Confidential
Take it to the next level with advanced run
tracking and dual-frequency GPS or stay active
with 50+ exercises and retroactive activity
tracking.
Materials and finishes
Housing: 100% recycled aluminium
Active Band: Fluoroelastomer with soft-touch coating
Housing: 100% recycled aluminium
Active Band: Fluoroelastomer with soft-touch coating
Dimensions and weight
Diameter: 41 mm
Height: 12.3 mm
Weight: 31 g (without band)
Diameter: 45 mm
Height: 12.3 mm
Weight: 36.7 g (without band)
Display
Actua 360 display
Custom 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glas
320 ppi AMOLED LTPO display with DCI-P3 colour
Up to 3,000 nits (peak brightness)
1 nit minimum brightness (AOD)
Responsive display (1–60 Hz)
Always-on display
Actua 360 display
Custom 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass
320 ppi AMOLED LTPO display with DCI-P3 colour
Up to 3,000 nits (peak brightness)
1 nit minimum brightness (AOD)
Responsive display (1–60 Hz)
Always-on display
Ultra-wideband
Satellite SOS communication20
GPS
Dual-frequency GPS: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS
Dual-frequency GPS: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS
Compatibility
Works with most phones running on Android 11.0 or newer5
Requires a Google Account and the Google Pixel Watch app. For more help or information on compatibility, visit g.co/pixelwatch/setup
Works with most phones running on Android 11.0 or newer5
Requires a Google Account and the Google Pixel Watch app. For more help or information on compatibility, visit g.co/pixelwatch/setup
Band size
Active Band: Small and large band sizes included
• Small fits wrists 130–175 mm around
• Large fits wrists 165–210 mm around
Active Band: Small and large band sizes included
• Small fits wrists 150–185 mm around
• Large fits wrists 165–215 mm around
Power (battery and charging)
325 mAh (typical)
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Up to 30 hours with always-on display
Up to 48 hours with Battery Saver mode
Quick Charge Dock
Charging speed
• About 15 minutes to 50%8
• About 25 minutes to 80%8
• About 45 minutes to 100%8
Quick Charge Dock
Charging speed
• About 15 minutes to 50%8
• About 30 minutes to 80%8
• About 60 minutes to 100%8
Chip
Qualcomm Snapdragon® W5 Gen 2
Cortex-M55 co-processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon® W5 Gen 2
Cortex-M55 co-processor
Sensors
Compass
Altimeter
Red and infrared sensors for oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring
Multipurpose electrical sensors compatible with ECG app
Multi-path optical heart rate sensor
3-axis accelerometer
Gyroscope
Ambient light sensor
Electrical sensor to measure skin conductance (cEDA) for body response tracking
Far-field skin temperature sensor
Barometer
Magnetometer
Compass
Altimeter
Red and infrared sensors for oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring
Multipurpose electrical sensors compatible with ECG app
Multi-path optical heart rate sensor
3-axis accelerometer
Gyroscope
Ambient light sensor
Electrical sensor to measure skin conductance (cEDA) for body response tracking
Far-field skin temperature sensor
Barometer
Magnetometer
Interaction
Side button
Audio
Built-in microphone
Built-in speaker
Built-in microphone
Built-in speaker
Durability and water resistance
Custom 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
5 ATM15
IP6815
Custom 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
5 ATM15
IP6815
What’s in the box
Google Pixel Watch 4 (41 mm)
Active Band (small and large bands)
Google Pixel Watch Quick Charge Dock
Quick start guide
Google Pixel Watch 4 (45 mm)
Active Band (small and large wristbands)
Google Pixel Watch Quick Charge Dock
Quick start guide
Sustainability
Materials:
• Pixel Watch 4 is made with recycled plastic, cobalt, aluminium, steel, glass, tin, tungsten, gold, copper and rare earth elements16
• Housing is 100% recycled aluminium2
• Pixel Watch 4 uses 100% recycled tin in the solder paste of multiple printed circuit boards, including the main logic board
• Packaging for the Google Pixel Watch 4 uses 100% plastic-free materials
Materials:
• Pixel Watch 4 is made with recycled plastic, cobalt, aluminium, steel, glass, tin, tungsten, gold, copper and rare earth elements
• Housing is 100% recycled aluminium
• Pixel Watch 4 uses 100% recycled tin in the solder paste of multiple printed circuit boards, including the main logic board
• Packaging for the Google Pixel Watch 4 uses 100% plastic-free materials
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