**A Comparative Analysis of the Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit Sense 2**
In this article, we will delve into the world of smartwatches and compare two popular devices: the Google Pixel Watch and the Fitbit Sense 2. As an avid user of both devices, I will share my personal experience with each watch, highlighting their similarities and differences.
**Software Experience - A Mashup of Two Worlds**
I was using the Fitbit Sense 2 just before I switched to the pixel watch. The sense 2 has a similar interface to that of other Android Wear smartwatches, where you can swipe down to get your quick settings up to see notifications and left or right to see tiles. These tiles show bits of information kind of like smartphone widgets. One major difference between the Pixel Watch software and the Sense 2 is that you can download Google Play Store apps since it runs on Google's Wear OS software, which means you can get apps like Spotify, the productivity app Todoist, and Map My Ride on your wrist just like you can on other Wear OS-powered watches such as the Samsung Galaxy watch.
On the other hand, there's already plenty of functionality from Fitbit baked right into the software without having to download any apps. You get around 40 workout options on your wrist and the Fitbit Exercise app along with Fitbit's Today app which shows data points like calories burned, active Zone minutes, heart rate, and more. As for Google-powered features, you get the Google Assistant of course as well as Google Maps and Google's Home app for managing smart home devices. You can summon the Google Assistant by pushing the side button or by saying the Wake word, but it usually took me a few tries to get the Pixel Watch to detect the Wake word so I've been using the button.
**Navigation and Features**
The software is easy to navigate overall, and the Pixel Watch has most of the features I'm looking for in terms of Smartwatch functionality like the ability to make mobile payments and respond to texts from your wrist. The health and fitness tracking experience should feel very similar to anyone who has ever used a Fitbit device in the past. You can set up the Pixel Watch just like any other Fitbit device in the app, and your metrics carry over automatically, all of my recent workout data from the Sense 2 was right in my feed along with data from my Pixel Watch but you can also use Google Fit which seems like an odd choice considering how much Google is really pushing the Fitbit experience on this watch for example, Pixel Watch buyers will get six months of Fitbit Premium for free which usually costs $10 per month.
**Hardware and Performance**
The Pixel Watch has all of the major health features and sensors you'd expect from a smartwatch at this price that includes the ability to measure heart rate and take an ECG from the wrist, it also has a built-in compass and GPS for navigation. Features like blood oxygen saturation and fall detection are coming in the future but Google is really promoting the heart rate sensor saying it's the most accurate one, it's shipped yet even counting Fitbit devices in my experience the heart rate sensor seems to live up to those expectations so far but I'll need to spend more time with the Pixel Watch to know for sure.
**Performance and Battery Life**
When comparing the Pixel Watch Apple Watch Series 8 and Fitbit Sense 2 to a chest strap heart rate monitor, the Pixel Watch seemed to catch up to the strap the quickest during some light cardio. The watch runs on an Exynos 9110 processor with a Cortex M33 coprocessor it's a different approach than Google has taken with its recent Pixel phones which now run on Google's own custom-made Tensor processor. Performance felt smooth when scrolling around the operating system or launching apps and it does feel a little faster than the Sense 2 but while the Pixel Watch has a lot of things in common with Fitbit devices unfortunately battery life is not one of them.
The Pixel Watch lasted for about 15 hours with the always-on display activated on a day when I went on a 22-minute outdoor run, but that improved significantly when you turn the always-on display off without it, I got around 28 hours of battery life. However, this was also because I didn't go on an outdoor run that day which is important because GPS tracking is known to be a battery drainer.
**Conclusion**
The Pixel Watch feels like a mashup between Fitbit and the Apple watch, which is ultimately a good thing. I love the Pixel Watch's elegant design, wide variety of exercise types, accurate heart rate monitor, and attractive watch faces but the battery life isn't as long as I would like it to be especially with the always-on display active and the black bezels framing the screen will seem noticeable if you try to use a watch face that doesn't have a solid black background. The Pixel Watch doesn't really bring anything new to the world of smartwatches but it is filling a hole in the market for Android device owners, which is enough for now.
**Rating - A Solid Choice**
Overall, I would give the Google Pixel Watch 4 out of 5 stars. It's an excellent choice for those looking for a smartwatch with a wide range of features and compatibility with other Google services. While its battery life could be improved, it's still a solid option in the market.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe pixel watch is the Apple watch of Android smart watches but it doesn't get everything right just yet let me explain what I mean by that well there are plenty of smart watches many of which that work across Android and iOS there aren't many that have been specifically designed with Android users in mind many of these other cross-platform smart watches like those made by Fitbit Michael Kors Garmin and fossil tend to specialize in Fitness or fashion and struggle to provide a good balance of the two the Apple watch manages to do this well for the most part but of course it's only for iPhone owners now Google is trying to fill that Gap in the Android market with the pixel watch the pixel watch starts at 350 dollars for the Standard Version and costs 400 for the LTE version it launches on October 13th and pre-order started on October 6th with its focus on design and fitness the pixel watch is essentially a hybrid between Fitbit and the Apple watch and I mean that quite literally when it comes to Fitbit since Fitbit is now part of Google many of fitbit's core stats and features are built into the watch overall I think the pixel watch is one of the best if not the best options out there for Android users looking for a new smartwatch but it's relatively short battery life and a few other quirks hold it back from being as good as it can be I have to admit the pixel watch is a lot nicer looking than I expected it has domed glass edges that curve around the sides giving it a more unique look that definitely sets it apart from a lot of other watches the pixel watch comes in matte black polished silver or champagne gold finishes I've been using the Silver version paired with a charcoal active watch band think of the active band as Google's answer to the Apple watches Sports band there's also a crown similar to the Apple watch's digital Crown which serves as a button and a scroll wheel however the pixel watch only comes in 141 millimeter size option I personally don't mind that since I have a small wrist but it might be a drawback for those who prefer larger watches if you've been reading about the pixel watch lately you've probably heard some of the criticism about the pixel watches large bezels there's good news and bad news the bad news is that yes these bezels do exist but on the bright side they're not very noticeable most of the time many of the pixel watches clock faces and other software elements have a black background making it hard to tell where the screen ends and the bezel begins but you can definitely see how small the pixel watches screen is compared to the rest of the watch when using the photos watch face speaking of watch faces the pixel watch comes with a variety of different styles and you can swap out faces on the watch itself or on the accompanying app on your phone like the Apple watch you can add complications to the watch face that show bits of information like your battery level the weather alarms or an app shortcut I really like the clean look of Google's watch faces but the Apple watch has more variety in terms of design most pixel watch faces are some variation of a clock in either analog or digital form with some complications the Apple watch has more variety when it comes to style with options ranging from animated Flowers and Butterflies to astronomy and Mickey Mouse themed faces the pixel watch feels like a really nice looking Fitbit watch there's a lot of Fitbit sprinkled throughout the whole software experience not only do you get fitbit's core activity metrics like Steps sleep tracking and calories burned but you also get specific Fitbit features like active Zone minutes which gives you more exercise credit the harder you work in fact the pixel watches software feels a lot like the sense 2 which I was using in the days just before I switched to the pixel watch just like the sense 2 if you swipe down to get your quick settings up to see notifications and left or right to see tiles these tiles show bits of information kind of like smartphone widgets the biggest difference between the pixel watches software and the sense 2s is that you can download Google Play store apps since it runs on Google's Ware OS software that means you can get apps like Spotify the productivity app todoist and map my ride on your wrist just like you can on other wear OS powered watches such as the Samsung Galaxy watch live but there's already plenty of functionality from Fitbit and Google baked right into the software without having to download any apps you get around 40 workout options on your wrist and the Fitbit Exercise app along with fitbit's Today app which shows data points like calories burned active Zone minutes heart rate and more as for Google powered features you get the Google Assistant of course as well as Google Maps and Google's home app for managing smart home devices you can summon the Google Assistant by pushing the side button or by saying the Wake word however it usually took me a few tries to get the pixel watch to detect the Wake word so I've been using the button the software is easy to navigate overall and the pixel watch has most of the features I'm looking for in terms of Smartwatch functionality like the ability to make mobile payments and respond to texts from your wrist the health and fitness tracking experience should feel very similar to anyone who has ever used a Fitbit device in the past you can set up the pixel watch just like any other Fitbit device in the app and your metrics carry over automatically all of my recent workout data from the sense 2 was right in my feed along with data from my pixel watch but you can also use Google Fit which seems like an odd Choice considering how much Google is really pushing the Fitbit experience on this watch for example pixel watch buyers will get six months of Fitbit premium for free which usually costs ten dollars per month the pixel watch has all of the major health features and sensors you'd expect from a smartwatch at this price that includes the ability to measure heart rate and take an ECG from the wrist it also has a built-in compass and GPS for navigation and features like blood oxygen saturation and fall detection are coming in the future but Google is really promoting the heart rate sensor saying it's the most accurate one it's shipped yet even counting Fitbit devices in my experience the heart rate sensor seems to live up to those expectations so far but I'll need to spend more time with the pixel watch to know for sure when I compared the pixel watch Apple Watch series 8 and Fitbit sense 2 to a chest strap heart rate monitor the pixel watch seemed to catch up to the strap the quickest during some light cardio the watch runs on an exynos 9110 processor with a cortex m33 coprocessor it's a different approach than Google has taken with its recent pixel phones which now run on Google's own custom made tensor processor performance felt smooth when scrolling around the operating system or launching apps and it does feel a little faster than the sense too but while the pixel watch has a lot of things in common with Fitbit devices unfortunately battery life is not one of them the pixel watch lasted for about 15 hours with the always-on display activated on a day when I went on a 22 minute outdoor run but that improved significantly when you turn the always-on display off without it I got around 28 hours of battery life but I also didn't go on an outdoor run that day that's important because GPS tracking is known to be a battery drainer the pixel watches battery life might be fine if you plan to charge it every night but it does make it challenging to use as a sleep tracker I'm a little disappointed by the pixel watches battery life because I really enjoy using the always-on display the pixel watch feels like a mashup between Fitbit and the Apple watch which is ultimately a good thing I love the pixel watches elegant design wide variety of exercise types accurate heart rate monitor and attractive watch faces but the battery life isn't as long as I would like it to be especially with the always-on display active and the black bezels framing the screen will seem noticeable if you try to use a watch face that doesn't have a solid black background the pixel watch doesn't really bring anything new to the world of smart watches but it is filling a hole in the market for Android device owners and that's enough for now but I'm excited to see where Google and Fitbit take the pixel watch in the future so what do you think of the pixel watch let us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more smart watch coverage thanks for watching and I'll see you next time foreignthe pixel watch is the Apple watch of Android smart watches but it doesn't get everything right just yet let me explain what I mean by that well there are plenty of smart watches many of which that work across Android and iOS there aren't many that have been specifically designed with Android users in mind many of these other cross-platform smart watches like those made by Fitbit Michael Kors Garmin and fossil tend to specialize in Fitness or fashion and struggle to provide a good balance of the two the Apple watch manages to do this well for the most part but of course it's only for iPhone owners now Google is trying to fill that Gap in the Android market with the pixel watch the pixel watch starts at 350 dollars for the Standard Version and costs 400 for the LTE version it launches on October 13th and pre-order started on October 6th with its focus on design and fitness the pixel watch is essentially a hybrid between Fitbit and the Apple watch and I mean that quite literally when it comes to Fitbit since Fitbit is now part of Google many of fitbit's core stats and features are built into the watch overall I think the pixel watch is one of the best if not the best options out there for Android users looking for a new smartwatch but it's relatively short battery life and a few other quirks hold it back from being as good as it can be I have to admit the pixel watch is a lot nicer looking than I expected it has domed glass edges that curve around the sides giving it a more unique look that definitely sets it apart from a lot of other watches the pixel watch comes in matte black polished silver or champagne gold finishes I've been using the Silver version paired with a charcoal active watch band think of the active band as Google's answer to the Apple watches Sports band there's also a crown similar to the Apple watch's digital Crown which serves as a button and a scroll wheel however the pixel watch only comes in 141 millimeter size option I personally don't mind that since I have a small wrist but it might be a drawback for those who prefer larger watches if you've been reading about the pixel watch lately you've probably heard some of the criticism about the pixel watches large bezels there's good news and bad news the bad news is that yes these bezels do exist but on the bright side they're not very noticeable most of the time many of the pixel watches clock faces and other software elements have a black background making it hard to tell where the screen ends and the bezel begins but you can definitely see how small the pixel watches screen is compared to the rest of the watch when using the photos watch face speaking of watch faces the pixel watch comes with a variety of different styles and you can swap out faces on the watch itself or on the accompanying app on your phone like the Apple watch you can add complications to the watch face that show bits of information like your battery level the weather alarms or an app shortcut I really like the clean look of Google's watch faces but the Apple watch has more variety in terms of design most pixel watch faces are some variation of a clock in either analog or digital form with some complications the Apple watch has more variety when it comes to style with options ranging from animated Flowers and Butterflies to astronomy and Mickey Mouse themed faces the pixel watch feels like a really nice looking Fitbit watch there's a lot of Fitbit sprinkled throughout the whole software experience not only do you get fitbit's core activity metrics like Steps sleep tracking and calories burned but you also get specific Fitbit features like active Zone minutes which gives you more exercise credit the harder you work in fact the pixel watches software feels a lot like the sense 2 which I was using in the days just before I switched to the pixel watch just like the sense 2 if you swipe down to get your quick settings up to see notifications and left or right to see tiles these tiles show bits of information kind of like smartphone widgets the biggest difference between the pixel watches software and the sense 2s is that you can download Google Play store apps since it runs on Google's Ware OS software that means you can get apps like Spotify the productivity app todoist and map my ride on your wrist just like you can on other wear OS powered watches such as the Samsung Galaxy watch live but there's already plenty of functionality from Fitbit and Google baked right into the software without having to download any apps you get around 40 workout options on your wrist and the Fitbit Exercise app along with fitbit's Today app which shows data points like calories burned active Zone minutes heart rate and more as for Google powered features you get the Google Assistant of course as well as Google Maps and Google's home app for managing smart home devices you can summon the Google Assistant by pushing the side button or by saying the Wake word however it usually took me a few tries to get the pixel watch to detect the Wake word so I've been using the button the software is easy to navigate overall and the pixel watch has most of the features I'm looking for in terms of Smartwatch functionality like the ability to make mobile payments and respond to texts from your wrist the health and fitness tracking experience should feel very similar to anyone who has ever used a Fitbit device in the past you can set up the pixel watch just like any other Fitbit device in the app and your metrics carry over automatically all of my recent workout data from the sense 2 was right in my feed along with data from my pixel watch but you can also use Google Fit which seems like an odd Choice considering how much Google is really pushing the Fitbit experience on this watch for example pixel watch buyers will get six months of Fitbit premium for free which usually costs ten dollars per month the pixel watch has all of the major health features and sensors you'd expect from a smartwatch at this price that includes the ability to measure heart rate and take an ECG from the wrist it also has a built-in compass and GPS for navigation and features like blood oxygen saturation and fall detection are coming in the future but Google is really promoting the heart rate sensor saying it's the most accurate one it's shipped yet even counting Fitbit devices in my experience the heart rate sensor seems to live up to those expectations so far but I'll need to spend more time with the pixel watch to know for sure when I compared the pixel watch Apple Watch series 8 and Fitbit sense 2 to a chest strap heart rate monitor the pixel watch seemed to catch up to the strap the quickest during some light cardio the watch runs on an exynos 9110 processor with a cortex m33 coprocessor it's a different approach than Google has taken with its recent pixel phones which now run on Google's own custom made tensor processor performance felt smooth when scrolling around the operating system or launching apps and it does feel a little faster than the sense too but while the pixel watch has a lot of things in common with Fitbit devices unfortunately battery life is not one of them the pixel watch lasted for about 15 hours with the always-on display activated on a day when I went on a 22 minute outdoor run but that improved significantly when you turn the always-on display off without it I got around 28 hours of battery life but I also didn't go on an outdoor run that day that's important because GPS tracking is known to be a battery drainer the pixel watches battery life might be fine if you plan to charge it every night but it does make it challenging to use as a sleep tracker I'm a little disappointed by the pixel watches battery life because I really enjoy using the always-on display the pixel watch feels like a mashup between Fitbit and the Apple watch which is ultimately a good thing I love the pixel watches elegant design wide variety of exercise types accurate heart rate monitor and attractive watch faces but the battery life isn't as long as I would like it to be especially with the always-on display active and the black bezels framing the screen will seem noticeable if you try to use a watch face that doesn't have a solid black background the pixel watch doesn't really bring anything new to the world of smart watches but it is filling a hole in the market for Android device owners and that's enough for now but I'm excited to see where Google and Fitbit take the pixel watch in the future so what do you think of the pixel watch let us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more smart watch coverage thanks for watching and I'll see you next time foreign\n"
