Preview: Google Takes on the Apple Watch With the Pixel Watch 3

The theme of this Pixel event has been Google looking across the white picket fence at Apple and asking, “how can we bring that feel to Android but make it better and our own?” That approach has been very successful with their fantastic Pixel 8 line, which is simply better than the iPhone 15 line, and now they’re trying that with their chic, round Pixel Watch 3, aimed straight at the Apple Watch. It looks promising.The improvements to the Watch 3 can be broken into three main categories: screen, running routines, and style.Google Pixel Watch 3. Courtesy of GoogleThe new Actua screen is better in every way with 16 percent smaller bezels, twice the brightness at 2,000 nits peak, and also gets down far lower for night with a 1 nit always-on display. This is also variable refresh, going from 1 Hz to 60 Hz, meaning it should be snappy on prompts while also saving battery. That battery lasts apparently 24 hours and charges faster than ever before, meaning you should be able to keep all health and sleep tracking features active with the always-on display and just let it charge while you’re having a shower and a meal.The running features are Google’s first aggressive integration of sports features after their Fitbit acquisition, and these seem great, letting you better plan runs and learn from them. You can set routines with timed warm-ups and cooldowns, set target pace, heart rate, times, and distances, and set up intervals. It will tell you if you’re off pace, over heart rate, or when it’s time to bolt or cool down through a buzz on the wrist. It also has an onboard “Loss of Pulse Detection” feature, calling emergency services if you have a heart attack or worse.It can also apparently use AI and its onboard sensors to provide a “detailed breakdown of your cadence, stride length, vertical oscillation, and more to help improve your run performance.” I’m skeptical of how good this will be, but we’ll see. The Watch 3 will also help set up more general workout routines based on a new personalized “readiness score” and “cardio load,” but I doubt this will be as good as learning how to do this yourself or getting guidance from a dedicated exercise app like RP Hypertrophy. Oddly, Google still has separate Google Fit and Fitbit apps, and this will be in the latter. Fittingly, the Pixel Watch 3 also comes with 6 months of complimentary Fitbit Premium.Pixel Watch Range: 45mm on the left, 41mm on the right. Courtesy of GoogleStyle is the least significant improvement but a meaningful one as something you’ll have on your wrist every day. Its round pebble shape has always made it one of the most stylish smartwatches, but it’s now available in ‘matte hazel aluminum’ exclusively for the 45mm size or ‘champagne gold’ and a standard ‘hazel’ for the 41mm, along with the standard ‘matte black aluminum’ or ‘polished silver aluminum’ on both sizes. It also comes with a bigger range of bands in leather, metal links, and rubber.I’m not a smartwatch fan, so I’m not that interested personally — I just don’t like having another buzzing screen on my wrist — but part of that is my skepticism. I have tried many AI-assisted training tools, and they have all been bad and inaccurate, so I don’t see how this would be different. The watch is available for pre-order starting at $349.99 for the Wifi-only 41mm version, and $449.99 for LTE version; and a $50 bump on both versions for the 45mm sizes, at $399.99 for the Wifi-only version, and $499.99 for the LTE model.

Preview: Google Takes on the Apple Watch With the Pixel Watch 3

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