For the last few years, I wore either an analog watch or Xiaomi Band 6 for basic step tracking and time. I didn’t opt for an Apple Watch because I wasn’t constantly active, I didn’t feel the need to check my notifications, and I didn’t want to think about charging the watch every day.
This year, I got a chance to test the new Google Pixel Watch 4, which made me feel like I might start wearing smartwatches again.
I have always had a soft spot for circular watches. One of the first smartwatches I owned was the Moto 360, and I loved its rounded design.
The Pixel Watch 4 has a curved domed Actua 360 display with thinner bezels as compared to last year’s watch. I have the 41 mm watch as the test unit, but I would personally opt for the 45mm size for battery and a bigger display. The display is also brighter with 3,000 nits of peak brightness, and that makes it easier to use in daylight.
The battery life is great on the Pixel Watch 4, even with the smaller size. I have managed to get more than a day’s use out of the watch on those days when I have lighter activities.
Though the Pixel Watch 4 has a proprietary charger where you can place the watch on the cradle like a puck, the charging speed makes up for it.
Google advertises that you can charge this watch from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes and from 0% to 100% in 45 minutes. While the real-life timing doesn’t exactly match these numbers, I saw charging times that came close to these figures. The advantage of this rapid charging is that you can always put your watch to charge when you are making a coffee or doing a quick chore within the house, and get enough juice to last you throughout the day.
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Fitness and software
I largely used the Google Pixel Watch 4 to track my pickleball sessions and walking. Apart from calorie burns, there were no particular insights into sports-related movement. For the last 15 days, I started going to a gym, and apart from the treadmill and elliptical mode, there aren’t any specialized modes for particular gym equipment. Instead, you have to select from options for things like core training, weights, or a general workout mode, based on the workout you are doing.
The watch does have more features for someone who runs — but that’s not possible in Delhi weather with terrible AQI right now. It also detects cardio workouts after 15 minutes of continuous activities, but while walking, these have been hit or miss for me. Another measure that has been off for me has been floor count. On days, I’ve walked to a cafe, I’ve seen a very high count for that, and on days I have gone up to my terrace multiple times, the number of floors climbed is incorrect.
I am not someone who used to wear my watch or band to sleep. With the Pixel Watch 4, I had to mentally train myself to keep the watch on so I could get a better understanding of sleep and readiness scores. After a few weeks of usage, I regularly wore my watch to sleep. However, you don’t get additional or actionable insights related to sleep or readiness score on the watch in the daily summary. You do get suggestions on the Fitbit app related to readiness, but that’s about it. With fitness apps adding more AI to their apps, Google needs to step up its game.
Google’s new Material UI design for the watch is refreshing and matches the theme on my Pixel Fold. The weather app is very nice to look at for both hourly and day forecasts. My one gripe is that I wish the exercise app allowed for more than three kinds of workouts to be available through quick start. I could raise my watch to talk to Gemini, which is neat, but beyond starting timers, asking for occasional sports updates, and starting a workout, I have not needed Gemini to be ever-present for me.
I have been a fan of the recent Pixel Watch 4 update that lets me use the pinch gesture to dismiss notifications, play or pause videos or music, or even move my wrist to dismiss calls.
The gripes I had about the watch didn’t bother me in daily usage. The display is fantastic, the software and fitness experience overall are great, and the display, along with the new design, is an upgrade from the last generation. However, the thing that drew me the most to the watch and made me stick to it is the combo of battery life and fast charging.
All in all, the Pixel Watch 4 is one of the best Android smartwatches around.
