What do you want from a smartwatch today, in 2023?
And what do we want?
We asked ourselves this during the test Google Pixel Watch 2the first smartphone from the American giant to arrive in Italy.
In fact, over the years we have started to want different things. An evolution that concerns us as much as technology.
In short, we are now far from “I want all the notifications that I also have on my smartphone”.
Indeed, today we expect the smartwatch to come first a useful tool for monitoring health and well-being. And here – we anticipate it – Pixel Watch 2 really does an excellent job.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 review
In 2021 Google bought Fitbit in a 2.1 billion dollar operation and this product is a clear fruit of this acquisition.
Why should you care? Because Fitbit has created some of the most popular smartwatches and fitness bands in the industry, focusing first and foremost on the quality and accuracy of the sensors used and the data acquired.
We find all this in Google Pixel Watch 2.
Health and well-being first of all
On board the Big G smartwatch we find a lot of sensors that measure everythingfrom oxygen saturation to heart rate, through skin conductance.
This translates into useful information for you. For example, Pixel Watch 2 understands when you are in an altered state, stressed or agitated, it signals it to you and suggests you take action. And it seems trivial but if you are working – badly because you are agitated -, a short break can help you calm down and put everything back into perspective.
We also have excellent sleep monitoring, which allows you to understand how much you slept and how you slept, complete with scores and graphs available both on the watch and on the Fitbit app. The latter is predictably more exhaustive and complete but you also have a lot of information on the dial, without necessarily having to pick up the phone and check.
Even on the sports front, Google Pixel Watch 2 performs well, with a fast and accurate GPSthe ability to recognize 7 types of training on your ownsuch as running or walking, e the integrated “Fitbit Workout” app which allows you to select a host of other sporting activities, from dancing to golf, from rowing to kickboxing. And no, it’s not afraid of water. On the contrary, it is resistant to water and dust according to the IP68 standard therefore it is not afraid of water sports.
Do you need to be guided and motivated? In the Fitbit app you can find the Coach section with exercises of all kinds and related videos. You can take yoga classes, do cardio or start practicing mindfulness with just a few clicks.
However, keep in mind that this it is a Premium feature, i.e. for a fee. But know that By purchasing Pixel Watch 2 you get 6 months of free subscription so you can try everything and then decide whether to continue using these features or not.
In the plural because Fitbit Premium actually also includes your sleep score, recipes and wellness reports with monthly health trends.
This is probably the thing we liked least about the Pixel Watch 2.
It undoubtedly makes sense to charge users for the guided exercises and recipes part, also because we are talking about services that require additional expenses for Fitbit, but the sleep score and the reports arise from data that the smartwatch acquires from us, all the days.
Let’s also keep in mind that Apple Watch, for example, integrates all this information into the Health app.
There is another thing, on the health and well-being front, that we have seen on the Apple smartwatch and therefore is missing: drugs.
To keep track of the ones we take, we had to download another app on our smartphone and set up notifications. We would have loved to have everything together.
Google Pixel Watch 2 cares about you
We particularly appreciated the safety and emergency management part.
The watch can share useful information and location in case of problems. You can quickly press the crown at least five times to call for help. You can set a timer and when it expires, if you don’t confirm that you are well, Pixel Watch 2 calls 112 for you. There’s fall detection, emergency contacts… In short, we want to keep you safe.
However, all these things can be found in another app, the one dedicated to the Pixel Watch.
So yes, there are two apps: that of the Pixel Watch and that of Fitbit.
It would undoubtedly be more convenient to have everything in a single application, it is clear, but we cannot consider it a real flaw, not to mention that it is not the only one to adopt this approach. Even the Apple Watch has three: the Watch app, Health and finally Fitness.
Google Pixel Watch 2 review: what else does it do?
Let’s not forget all the other functions of this smartwatch.
You have the option to install apps from the Play Store.
We have excellent notification management.
You can reply to messages using emojis, voice dictation or a mini keyboard for typing which, no, is not the most comfortable option but nothing stops you from using it.
You can navigate between the various screens with the touch but also using the small side crown and a flush button, positioned just above.
You can too answer phone calls, connect Bluetooth headphones to listen to music directly from the Spotify app, pay with NFC or use Stocard to recover supermarket cards or that of your favorite clothing store.
There are Google apps that are optimized for the Pixel Watchsuch as Google Assistant, Gmail, Calendar or Maps, which can guide you step by step along the way without taking out your watch.
You even manage your smart home from your wrist.
As did?
The hardware behind it allows it to do all this super smoothly: we have the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 5100 processor with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, as well as Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, speaker and microphone.
The display is a 1.2-inch AMOLED with peak brightness of 1000 nits and an excellent sensor for automatic brightness, so it adjusts itself, quickly and promptly; supports always-on and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5.
The only flaw is that the frames are beautifully pronounced. You don’t notice it right away because cleverly all the screens have a black background but, even just opening the notifications or putting a watch face with a colored background, you will see that several millimeters are removed from the display.
It’s not a real flaw, not for us. In the end everything is read well, we have all the information we need but the competition has long since reduced the edges in favor of the screen.
We have a single cut: 41 millimeters.
This makes it very comfortable but it is understandable that some might want a larger case, or at least the possibility to choose.
Speaking of cash, it’s in recycled aluminium and, without the strap, the Pixel Watch 2 weighs only 31 grams. It is very light and It doesn’t bother you at all, not even while you sleep.
The fluoroelastomer strap is the same comfortable, soft, with a fastening system that does not bother you under any circumstanceseven during sporting activity.
All in all the design is rather simple but quite recognizablevery Pixel.
And yes, there are other colors besides the one we tested, which is black with a black strap.
There is the polished silver aluminum case with a light blue strap, the champagne gold one with a gray-green strap and the polished silver aluminum case with a clay gray sports strap.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 review: conclusions
Google Pixel Watch 2 it is available in only one version: 41 mm and Wi-Fi only, on sale for €399.
They are not few.
Probably price will be the biggest obstacle to the diffusion of Pixel Watch 2 because It’s a very nice smartwatch in itself: it works well, it does everything, it’s very beautiful, very comfortable… Of course, the battery life is a day, a maximum of a day and a half, but we are in line with the competition. However, the competition on the Android side is positioned lower.
During the launch period of the Pixel 8, you could also take home the Watch for €170 and there it was an unprecedented must buy, to be taken with your eyes closed. At €399 things obviously become more difficult. It’s worth it, let’s be clear, but it’s the first Google watch on our market and it has to face very ruthless competition. It will not be easy.