Pixel Watch vs. Apple Watch Series 8 | digital trends

The Apple Watch Series 8 has a new rival: the Google Pixel Watch. Announced as part of October’s Made by Google event, it brings Google’s streamlined design and software chops to the now-familiar smartwatch. It comes in a sleek, round stainless steel case; runs on Google’s own Wear OS 3.5; offers health and fitness tracking software in partnership with Fitbit; and offers a helpful emergency SOS function.

At $350, it’s in direct competition with the Apple Watch Series 8, which starts at $399. Despite the Google name behind it, how good is it as a smartwatch and how does it compare to Apple’s latest wearable? We find out in this comparison test, which deals with specs, designs, displays, software and special features of the individual devices.

specifications

design and presentation

Google has given the Pixel Watch a characteristically minimalist and clean design, with the device housed in a circular frame made from 80% recycled stainless steel with a side button. It’s available in three colors – matte black, polished silver, and champagne gold – each of which comes with its own strap design.

While one could argue that it doesn’t take any design risks, its compact size and uncluttered styling help set it apart from the established design of the Apple Watch Series 8, which doesn’t really deviate from the squircle shape of the Apple Watch 7. That is , you have a choice of two sizes (41mm and 45mm, as opposed to 41mm only on the Pixel Watch), a choice of different materials (aluminum and stainless steel) and a wide range of straps. Again, nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary here, but this design has worked well for Apple so far, so it’s understandable that it hasn’t strayed from it just yet.

The Apple Watch Series 8 features an always-on LTPO Retina OLED display, with the 41mm version having a resolution of 352 x 430 pixels, compared to the 45mm model which offers 396 x 484 pixels. In contrast, the Pixel Watch houses a 1.2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 450 x 450 pixels. Both offer a maximum brightness of around 1,000 nits, but some may be put off by the fact that the Pixel Watch’s screen is significantly smaller than the 41mm Apple Watch 8, which comes with a 1.69-inch display Is provided. That means the Pixel has significantly larger bezels than Apple’s device, which might detract from its appeal for some.

Still, the display itself offers a similar pixel-per-inch density to the Apple Watch’s display, and since it’s a relatively new design overall, that offsets the large bezels.

Winner: Tie

Performance, battery life and charging

The Google Pixel Watch is powered by an Exynos 9110 chip and a Cortex M33 co-processor. The 9110 is constructed using a 10nm manufacturing process, which compares inferiorly to the 7nm process used with Apple’s S8 chip (a smaller number means you can fit more transistors in the same space) . As such, the Apple Watch Series 8 is likely to perform slightly smoother and faster than the Pixel Watch, with Apple claiming that it’s 20% faster than the Apple Watch 7.

Turning to the battery talk, the Apple Watch Series 8 lasts around 18 hours on a single charge. This was backed up by our review, which revealed that the device ended most days with around 30% to 40% of its charge remaining, even with constant use. As for the Pixel, Google promises that its 294mAh battery will typically last around 24 hours (note: the Apple Watch 8 has a 282mAh battery). While we haven’t tested it enough to confirm this, the Pixel’s smaller screen size should actually help it last a full day for most users.

In terms of charging, Google claims you can get the Pixel to 50% in 30 minutes and 100% in 80 minutes. With the Apple Watch, our test found that it can go from dead to 80% in 45 minutes, so it has a slight edge here. Combined with a faster processor, this is the win.

Winner: Apple Watch Series 8

Fitness and health tracking features

Matching its uncluttered design, the Google Pixel Watch offers the core array of sensors you’d expect from a smartwatch in 2022, without trying to be as comprehensive as the Apple Watch Series 8. Namely, it comes with a blood oxygen sensor, an electrical sensor, and an optical heart rate sensor (in addition to very standard things like a compass, altimeter, and accelerometer). Along with a Fitbit Premium subscription, which is offered free for six months, you can track everything from the quality of your sleep to your heart rate.

That’s good, but somewhat overshadowed by the sheer plethora of options the Apple Watch Series 8 offers. Unlike its predecessor, it adds a new skin temperature sensor, said to detect very subtle drops in body temperature, as well as an under-display sensor to track temperature changes during your sleep, both aimed at early detection of diseases and ovulation monitoring support. In addition, it stores ECG, SpO2, heart rate monitor and other sensors from previous generations, making it very powerful as a fitness and health monitoring device.

Winner: Apple Watch Series 8

software and updates

As mentioned above, the Pixel Watch uses Wear OS 3.5 out of the box. These include additions like an update to the user interface for improved at-a-glance fitness information, a redesigned weather app, more smart device integration options, and more workouts and customizability for third-party fitness apps. It all makes for a clean and user-friendly operating system, which is more or less exactly the same thing that can be said about watchOS 9, which uses the Apple Watch Series 8. This brings four new watch faces, as well as multiple workout app updates, improved sleep tracking, atrial fibrillation (AFib) history, and a new medication app.

In terms of updates, it’s likely that the Apple Watch will be supported for longer with core updates. That said, Google hasn’t clarified how long it will be supporting the Pixel Watch, and having upped its smartphone update game in recent years, we’re keeping this round a tie for now.

Winner: Tie

Special features

There’s not much in it in terms of special features as both offer largely the same benefits. For example, each has an always-on display, emergency SOS functionality, fall detection, and the ability to pay in stores (via Google Pay and Apple Pay, respectively).

That said, each has a few features that are a little unique. For example, the Apple Watch also includes accident detection, which uses a combination of the watch’s sensors and artificial intelligence to detect car accidents and automatically call 911 for help while providing your location and alerting your emergency contacts (only if you don’t respond) . to a notification within 10 seconds). The Pixel Watch is IP68 and 5ATM certified, while the Apple Watch is only IP6X certified, although Apple confirms it’s water-resistant to 50 meters, just like the Pixel.

Winner: Tie

price and availability

The Pixel Watch is available to pre-order now from Google, starting at $350 for the base model with GPS. There’s also an option to have it with cellular LTE connectivity, which costs an extra $50.

The Apple Watch Series 8 is available in the US and over 40 countries. The base model with GPS connectivity and a 41mm body size costs $399, while models with cellular connectivity start at $499. The 45mm model starts at $429, while its cellular sibling costs $529.

Overall Winner: Apple Watch Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 8 might not have added all that much compared to the Apple Watch Series 7, but it wins against the Pixel Watch overall. Its superior performance and more extensive health-tracking capabilities give it the edge, though the Pixel Watch certainly has an attractive design, easy-to-use software, a decent range of fitness options, and some welcome special features. Of course, if you own a Google Pixel smartphone (rather than an iPhone) it makes more sense to have a Pixel Watch with it (and vice versa), and you certainly won’t be disappointed if you do.

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