Google Pixel Watch 4 review: Big design changes make for a great smart companion

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Google Pixel Watch 4 review: Big design changes make for a great smart companion

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Google Pixel Watch 4: One-minute review

(Image credit: Blue Pixl Media)

Google is also mostly sticking with the same prices as last year (there’s a small increase for the 45mm version in Australia). And despite the outward similarities there are some significant upgrades here, including a healthy dose of AI smarts powered by some new silicon, a forthcoming AI coach that’s part of a larger Fitbit rollout, replaceable parts, a refreshed user interface, and a new domed display that’s physically raised to the touch.

It’s a slick piece of kit, and one we really like using for the most part. It looked great, although it was thick on the wrist it was comfortable, and the Material 3 Expressive software design is a joy to use. Fast charging works as described, and the battery on our 45mm unit stands up to its 40-hour claim with moderate use. The Fitbit app, which got a redesigned this year, is intuitive and works very well, although it’s irritating that some features are locked behind the Premium paywall.

Testing the PW’s heart rate against a chest strap during a workout showed a small amount of inaccuracy: not enough to bother those who just want an estimate of how well they’re doing during the day, but enough to make serious athletes looking for pinpoint accuracy slightly wary of trusting the Pixel Watch 4 in the same way they do Apple or Garmin when looking at heart-based metrics.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Specifications

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Component	Google Pixel Watch 4
Price	Starting at $399 / £349 / AU$579
Dimensions	41 x 41 x 12.3mm / 45 x 45 x 12.3mm
Weight	31g / 36.7g without straps
Caze/bezel	Recycled aluminum
Display	320ppi always-on display AMOLED with up to 3,000 nits brightness
Operating System	Wear OS 6.0
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 processor with an ML coprocessor
Memory	2GB of RAM
Storage	32GB
GPS	GPS (Dual-Frequency), Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS
Battery life	Up to 72 hours with battery saver enabled or up to 40 hours with always-on display enabled
Connection	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE
Water resistance	WR50, IP68

Google Pixel Watch 4: Price and Availability

From $349 / £349 / AU$579 for the 41mm
From $399 / £399 / AU$669 for the 45mm
Cellular connectivity costs extra as usual

If you’re looking to upgrade from, say, a Pixel Watch 2 or 3, maybe another Android smartwatch, or even getting your first one, there is a wait for when you’ll actually receive a new Pixel Watch.

Unlike other gadgets that have seen price hikes year over year, the Pixel Watch 4 sticks with the same price as the Pixel Watch 3. Meaning it’s priced at $349 / £349 / AU$579 for the 41mm Pixel Watch 4 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, or $449 / £449 / AU$749 for cellular connectivity. The larger, 45mm Pixel Watch 4 is $399 / £399 / AU$669 for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, or $499 / £499 / AU$839 for connectivity.

Beyond accessing the internet with the cellular connectivity model, you’ll also need to spend more to get emergency satellite functionality on the Pixel Watch 4. There isn’t an extra monthly or annual cost – at least for two years, that’s what Google provides out of the box – but it needs to make use of the bands found in the cellular version of the watch. That could be a reason alone to get it right there.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Watch our video review below

Google Pixel Watch 4 review: an outstanding Wear OS smartwatch – YouTube

Watch On

Google Pixel Watch 4: Design

Domed display
New Material 3 Expressive software look
Redesigned charger

The first thing I noticed during my hands-on time with the Pixel Watch 4 was that the display itself is not flat like on the Pixel Watch 3. Sure, we’ve seen smartwatches on which the display slopes down the sides towards the watch case, such as the Apple Watch Series 10, but the glass display here is actually domed to the point where, as you swipe across the screen, you’ll feel the surface rise or lower.

This makes the sides of the display and the graphics appearing on the edges even more sloped, a feature the new Material 3 Expressive interface uses in its animations. However, it also noticeably increases the thickness on your wrist. The domed 360 Actua display still looked rich and vibrant with crisp text or numbers, and it got considerably brighter in the demo room, which wasn’t brightly lit. Google says it can hit up to 3,000 nits, a jump of 1,000 nits compared to the Pixel Watch 3.

The third-generation Pixel Watch got a larger display than its predecessor, and the fourth-gen model goes bigger again, with 16% smaller bezels and 10% larger active display area, which Google says is made possible by the domed display.

Google Pixel Watch 4 hands-on

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

We think the physical touch and interaction with the watch might take some time to get used to, but the new design delivers a theoretically more durable surface – as is the case with some dome shapes – and more space to hit touchpoints or see items presented on your wrist is certainly a win. It enhances what we described in our Pixel Watch 3 review last year as the ‘polished pebble’ effect of the Pixel Watch’s looks.

The Pixel Watch 4 still boasts Corning Gorilla Glass to protect against drops or scratches, and the rest of the build here is aerospace-grade aluminum. It’s also water-resistant up to 50 meters. Another major change this year is a redesigned back, which has resulted in the moving of the charging ports in order to make this smartwatch repairable and serviceable.

Yes, you’ll notice several screws, which allow the battery to be replaced for a more sustainable design. This isn’t something that’s common for major smartwatch brands, as most devices are sealed units, so it’s a welcome step in the right direction from Google.

Google Pixel Watch 4 hands-on

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

This also means a pretty significant change in charger design, as you’ll no longer place this on a proprietary puck with prongs as you would the Galaxy Watch, Apple Watch, or any Pixel Watch before this. The Pixel Watch 4 charges on its side in a dock, and if you’re charging it on a nightstand this should make it easier to use the smartwatch as a small alarm clock – it’s even perfectly positioned so that you can tap the crown to snooze.

Google is also taking advantage of these charger and design changes to speed up refueling. You can now charge the Pixel Watch 4 from 0% to 50% in just 15 minutes, and Google is promising longer battery life for both sizes – up to 30 hours for the 41mm and up to 40 hours for the 45mm. Your mileage will, of course, vary depending on usage, but it’s a good step beyond the Pixel Watch 3.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Features

Google Pixel Watch 4 hands-on

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

On-wrist Gemini
Usual suite of health and fitness features
Tons of third party apps

Gemini powers a ton of new features. Google’s new Smart Replies feature looks like a welcome innovation, especially if you’re tired of suggested replies that often lack context and are unsuited to the conversation. The Pixel Watch 4’s silicon can power an on-device large language model to generate appropriate suggested replies based on what a message says.

We’ve already seen Gemini arrive on-wrist courtesy of the Galaxy Watch 8, but Google is serving up something special for its watch, and that’s a ‘raise to talk to the AI assistant’ functionality. Simply raise your wrist, and a glowing bar appears at the bottom of the display, which indicates that Gemini is listening and that you can start your request. You don’t need to say ‘Hey Gemini’ – Google has us pretty well trained in that department – and it worked well in practice, quickly pulling up the weather.

Google Pixel Watch 4 hands-on

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Google’s shipping the Pixel Watch 4 with a familiar suite that includes general activity, heart-rate, blood oxygen (SpO2), and sleep tracking. You can also take an ECG or Electrocardiogram, and there’s an improved Skin Temperature sensor for more accurate readings. You can also track over 40 workouts with the Pixel Watch 4.

The real big potential leap, though, is a promised ‘personal AI health coach’ that’s powered by Gemini and set to arrive at some point in October as a preview in the United States at first. It should go beyond ‘Workout Buddy’ on the Apple Watch and some AI features on the Galaxy Watch, but we don’t know exactly what it entails just yet. Google is promising it to be a coach of sorts that bases recommendations on your health data and that you can chat with, maybe something similar to that of Oura Advisor.

While the Pixel Watch 4 doesn’t usher in a tremendously radical redesign, it’s mostly about polishing and the addition of a healthy dose of AI functionality – something that Google is a big fan of. It’s likely that you don’t need to rush out for it if you already have a Pixel Watch 3, as you’ll get many of the same features and the same smorgasbord of third-party app availability there.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Performance

Google Pixel Watch 4

(Image credit: Amanda Westberg)

Zippy and fast day-to-day
Battery charges fast and lasts as described
Heart rate accuracy fine, but not as accurate as an Apple Watch Ultra 3 or Garmin Venu 4

The Pixel Watch 4 felt like a modern-day smartwatch that was responsive and zippy fast. Under the hood it’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 Wearable Platform and a next-gen ML CoProcessor, both of which ensure that the new Material 3 Expressive interface design runs well here. It was easy enough to swipe between tiles, and we especially liked the more vibrant nature of the colors, which you can, of course, customize. Overall, this watch feels speedy compared to previous years.

We tested Gemini with a message that referenced delays on my local train service, and the Pixel Watch 4 delivered an appropriate response. It took a few seconds, but it’s much better than the list found on previous Pixel Watches, the Galaxy Watch, or the Apple Watch. However, we also had a couple of mishaps: it once directed me to a disused train station, not the closest operating one.

We tested the heart rate tracking against an accurate chest-mounted heart rate monitor, the Polar H10, during a four-mile run. The Google Pixel Watch 4 had an average heart rate difference of around 13bpm during our tracked test. Not awful, but the Garmin Venu 4 had a 5bpm difference, while the Apple Watch Ultra 3 had just 1bpm difference to the chest strap.

It’s more accurate than the Garmin Instinct 3, which had 18bpm difference, but worth understanding that during our test, the Pixel Watch 4 was more in ‘ballpark’ territory rather than ‘pinpoint accuracy’, and perhaps best used as a guideline for activity-based metrics rather than gospel.

However, the watch was extremely comfortable to wear despite its thickness, very useful day-to-day, easy to navigate and a joy to use. Battery performed as described, and charging was very fast. I loved the redesigned charger, especially as the watch feels like it now has a nightstand place.

Scorecard

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Category	Comment	Score
Value	Same price as last year, a win!	4.5/5
Design	Iterates on the iconic pebble with smart choices, like the domed screen & new charger.	5/5
Features	All the third party apps you want, workout tracking and AI.	4/5
Performance	Some early glitches & accuracy quibbles, but generally a joy to use.	4/5

Google Pixel Watch 4: Should I buy?

A close up of the Pixel Watch 4 being unscrewed for repairs

(Image credit: iFixit)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

OnePlus Watch 3 on wrist with rotating digital crown

(Image credit: Future)

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Component	Google Pixel Watch 4 (41mm)	OnePlus Watch 3 (43mm)	Garmin Venu 4 (41mm)
Price	From $399 / £349 / AU$579	From $499 / £269.99 / AU$TBC	From $549.99 / £469.99 / AU$949
Dimensions	41 x 41 x 12.3mm	43.2 x 43.2 x 11mm	41 x 41 x 12 mm
Weight	31g without straps	37.8 without straps	46g with band
Caze/bezel	Recycled aluminum	Stainless steel	Stainless steel/Polymer
Display	320ppi always-on display AMOLED	466 x 466px 1.3-in AMOLED display	390 x 390px 1.2-in AMOLED display
Operating System	Wear OS	Wear OS	Garmin OS
GPS	GPS (Dual-Frequency), Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS	Beidou, GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS	GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS, SatIQ
Battery life	Up to 72 hours with battery saver enabled or up to 40 hours with always-on display enabled	Up to 60 hours, 7 days in power saver	Up to 10 days
Connection	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
Water resistance	WR50, IP68	5ATM	5ATM

How we tested

We wore the Pixel Watch 3 for days, tracking our sleep, performing ECG tests and working out with a chest-mounted heart rate monitor. We also tested AI systems like smart replies and on-device Gemini searches. We loaded our favorite third-party apps onto the watch, like Strava and Spotify, drained the battery down and examined the speed of its fast charging.