Google has unveiled its latest smartwatch, the Google Pixel Watch 2. At first glance, it appears similar to its predecessor, continuing the trend of Google devices maintaining a familiar design language, much like the Pixel 8 series compared to the Pixel 7 series.
However, beneath the surface, the Pixel Watch 2 boasts significant upgrades. It features an enhanced processor, improved battery life even with the always-on display, new safety features, and advanced health and fitness sensors.
All-Day Comfort and Redesigned Build
The Pixel Watch 2 prioritizes comfort, even during nighttime wear, thanks to its redesigned build. Constructed from 100% recycled aluminum, this material choice makes the watch 10% lighter than its predecessor, ensuring a comfortable sleeping experience.
Further enhancing user comfort, Google has enlarged and refined the watch’s crown, making it easier to navigate the user interface.
New Processor and Enhanced Battery Performance
Under the hood, the Pixel Watch 2 houses a new quad-core CPU paired with a low-power co-processor. This robust system-on-chip, the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1, replaces the older Exynos 9110 chipset, delivering smoother performance and improved efficiency. The watch’s battery capacity has also increased slightly to 306mAh, complementing the efficient chipset and offering 24 hours of battery life, even with the always-on display active. Rapid charging capabilities allow the watch to reach 50% battery capacity in just 30 minutes.
Accurate Health Insights with Advanced Sensors
The Pixel Watch 2 features three new sensors designed to provide more comprehensive health insights. These sensors, combined with an improved AI heart rate algorithm, enhance the watch’s accuracy in tracking heart rate, especially during vigorous activities. This improved sensor accuracy extends to other health metrics like calorie burn, Daily Readiness Score, sleep tracking, and Active Zone Minutes.
The addition of a continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor powers the Body Response feature, offering insights into stress levels. It utilizes machine learning algorithms to detect signs of stress based on factors like heart rate variability, heart rate, and skin temperature, providing timely notifications to help users manage stress.
A skin temperature sensor also monitors night-time temperature, offering detailed sleep insights and tracking overall wellness.
Enhanced Fitness Tools
The Pixel Watch 2 includes Pace Training features and Heart Rate Zone Coaching, aiding users in achieving their fitness and workout goals. These features provide real-time alerts during workouts, such as HIIT sessions, when heart rate zones change.
Moreover, the watch retains Fitbit features from its predecessor, including Sleep Score, Sleep Profile, Daily Readiness score, and 40 different workout modes.
Wear OS 4 and New Security Features
The Pixel Watch 2 comes with Wear OS 4, offering customizable options, improved notifications, accessibility enhancements, and new apps.
In terms of security and safety, the watch introduces features like Emergency SOS, fall detection, Medical ID, Safety Check, and Emergency Sharing, providing users with peace of mind and quick access to assistance when needed.
Pricing Information
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is available with a starting price of $350 for the Bluetooth model, with an LTE version priced at $400.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Genz Flash journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.