Google released its first-ever smartwatch last year and while it was promising, it had some flaws. Time for take two – here is the new Google Pixel Watch 2. It looks the same, but that goes for the new Pixel 8 series too. And it’s actually more accurate to say that the hardware looks the same because the new Wear OS 4 brings major visual upgrades.
The original Pixel Watch launched with an old Exynos 9110. While this 10nm chip kept the UI snappy enough, it was not exactly efficient. The second gen watch replaces it with the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1, once again paired with 2GB of RAM (which is plenty for a watch).
This 4nm chip that should address the short battery endurance of the original. The battery of the new watch isn’t any bigger at 306mAh (a negligible increase from 294mAh). Google promises 24 hour battery life even with Always On Display enabled.
Like we mentioned, the exterior is large identical to last year’s model. Google is sticking with the decision to have only one size available and it is a small 41mm size at that.
The display is a circular 1.2” OLED with 384 x 384px resolution – a downgrade from the 450 x 450 of the original watch, but if it helps draw less power we’re all for it. Anyway, the new watch faces offer a lot of variety and allow you to balance legibility with information density.
There are four categories: Accessible, Arc, Gold Digital and Analog Bold. The first is all about legibility, simple and easy to read. The Bold faces are similar with their chunky digits. Arc has “arcs” that are really progress bars for various bits of data that the watch tracks throughout the day. The Arc faces also have complications so you can add as much or as little data on the homescreen as you wish.
Like its predecessor, the Pixel Watch 2 is equipped with optical heart rate and blood-oxygen sensors. The watch will also track your stress levels and give you a detailed report on your sleep quality. Google has not jumped on the ECG bandwagon yet, however, unlike rivals like Apple and Samsung.
The watch is once again rated 5ATM/IP68 so it is dust tight and is suitable for swimming in pools. A new addition this year is UWB, which should allow the watch to track other UWB-enabled devices (and the watch itself to be tracked) more accurately than Bluetooth and with direction indication to boot. Google hasn’t launched its own tracking tags just yet, but it is building out an Android-native Find My Device network.
The watch has a plain, smooth glass front – a blank canvas for your watch face of choice. Further customization is possible with the interchangeable wist straps, here are some of the first-party options.
The perforated Active Sport Band is durable and breathable and costs $50. Then there’s the Woven Band for $60 and a steel link bracelet too.
Pixel Watch 2: stock band, Active Sport Band, Woven Band and Steel bracelet
Google also released a new charger, $30.
The new Pixel Watch 2 charger
The Google Pixel Watch 2 will be available soon starting at $350 for the Bluetooth model (same price as the original). There will be an LTE option too for $400. Note that there is a separate launch event for India tomorrow.