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 to the now-familiar smartwatch. It comes in a sleek, circular 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 useful SOS emergency function.
At $350, its price puts it in direct competition with the Apple Watch Series 8, which starts at $399. However, even though it has Google’s name on the back, 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 looks at the specifications, designs, screens, software and special features of each device.
Specifications
Apple Watch Series 8 Google Pixel Watch Screen size 41mm: 1.53 inches
45mm: 1.78 inches
1.2 inches Body size 41mm
45mm
41 mm Pixel resolution 41 mm: 352 x 430
45mm: 396×484
450 x 450 41mm touchscreen: LTPO OLED Retina, always-on display
45mm: LTPO OLED Retina, always-on display
AMOLED
Always on screen
Storage 32 GB 32 GB Wireless Interface Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC, LTE Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC, LTE Depth 0.41 inches / 10.5 mm 0.42 inch / 10.7 mm Blood sensor
Yeah yeah
accelerometer
Yeah yeah
gyroscope
Yes Yes Ambient light sensor Yes Yes Heart rate sensor Yes Yes Barometer Yes Yes GPS Yes Yes Compass Yes Yes
Water/dust resistant
IP6X IP68 Battery life Up to 18 hours (36 hours in low power mode) Up to 24 hours
price
From $399 From $350 Availability Apple Google DT Review 4.5 out of 5 stars Practical
Design and exhibition
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Google has given the Pixel Watch a signature minimalist and clean design, with the device housed in a circular 80% recycled stainless steel frame with a side button. It comes in three colors: matte black, polished silver and champagne gold, each of which has its own strap design.
While it could be argued that it doesn’t really take any design risks, its compact size and neat sculpt help distinguish it from the established design offered by the Apple Watch Series 8, which doesn’t really stray from form Apple Squirrel. Watch 7. This means you can choose between two sizes (41mm and 45mm, as opposed to 41mm only for the Pixel Watch), a choice of different materials (aluminum and stainless steel), and a wide variety of straps. Again, nothing spectacular or outlandish, but this design has worked well for Apple so far, so it’s understandable that it’s not going away just yet.
The Apple Watch Series 8 features an always-on OLED LTPO Retina display, with the 41mm version offering a resolution of 352 x 430 pixels, versus the 45mm model, which offers 396 x 484 pixels. By contrast, the Pixel Watch houses a 1.2-inch AMOLED screen, with a resolution of 450 x 450 pixels. Both offer a peak brightness of around 1,000 nits, but some may be put off by the fact that the Pixel Watch’s display is noticeably smaller even than the 41mm Apple Watch 8, which features a 1.69 inches. This means the Pixel has noticeably larger bezels than Apple’s device, which may detract from its appeal to some.
Still, the screen itself offers similar pixel density to the Apple Watch screen, and given that it’s a relatively new design overall, this balances out the large bezels.
Winner: Tie
Performance, battery life and charging
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The Google Pixel Watch is powered by an Exynos 9110 chip, as well as a Cortex M33 co-processor. The 9110 is built using a 10nm manufacturing process, which is worse compared to the 7nm process used with Apple’s S8 chip (a smaller number means you can pack more transistors into the same space). As such, the Apple Watch Series 8 is likely to run a bit smoother and faster than the Pixel Watch, and Apple claims it’s 20% faster than the Apple Watch 7.
Moving on to the battery talk, the Apple Watch Series 8 lasts around 18 hours on a single charge. This was borne out by our review, which found that the device finished most days with around 30% to 40% of its charge remaining, even when using it consistently. 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, the Pixel’s smaller screen size should help it last a full day for most users.
As for charging, Google claims you can get the Pixel to 50% in 30 minutes and 100% in 80. With the Apple Watch, our review found it can go from empty to 80% in 45 minutes, so it has a slight edge here. Combined with a faster processor, this gives it the win.
Winner: Apple Watch Series 8
Health and fitness tracking features
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends
In keeping with its neat design, the Google Pixel Watch offers the basic array of sensors you’d expect from a smartwatch in 2022 without trying to be as full-featured as the Apple Watch Series 8. That is, it comes with a blood oxygen, an electrical sensor, and an optical heart rate sensor (plus pretty standard stuff like a compass, altimeter, and accelerometer). Along with a Fitbit Premium subscription, which comes free for six months, it lets you track everything from your sleep quality to your heart rate.
That’s good, but it’s somewhat overshadowed by the sheer wealth of options offered by the Apple Watch Series 8. Unlike its predecessor, it adds a new skin temperature sensor designed to detect very subtle drops in body temperature , as well as a sensor. below the screen to track temperamental changes during sleep, both aimed at detecting illness early and helping with ovulation control. In addition to this, it retains the ECG, SpO2, heart rate monitor and other sensors from previous generations, making it very powerful as a health and fitness tracker.
Winner: Apple Watch Series 8
Software and updates
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As noted above, the Pixel Watch runs Wear OS 3.5 out of the box. This includes additions such as a user interface update for improved at-a-glance fitness information, a revamped weather app, more smart device integration options, as well as more workouts and customization for to third-party fitness apps. It all makes for a clean and easy-to-use operating system, which is pretty much exactly the same thing you can say about watchOS 9, which runs on the Apple Watch Series 8. That includes four new watch faces, as well as several updates of workout apps, improved sleep tracking, atrial fibrillation (AFib) history, and a new medication app.
As for updates, the Apple Watch is likely to support core updates for longer. That said, Google still hasn’t clarified how long it will support the Pixel Watch, and given that it’s upped its smartphone update game in the last couple of years, we’re leaving this round as a tie, for now.
Winner: Tie
Special features
apple
There isn’t much in the way of special features, both with equal benefits. For example, each has an always-on display, emergency SOS functionality, fall detection and the ability to pay for things in stores (via Google Pay and Apple Pay, respectively).
That said, each has a couple of features that are a bit unique. The Apple Watch, for example, also features crash 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 alert your emergency contacts (only if you don’t answer). to a notification within 10 seconds). As for the Pixel Watch, it’s IP68 and 5ATM certified, while the Apple Watch is only IP6X certified, although Apple claims it’s also water resistant up to 50 meters, like the Pixel.
Winner: Tie
Price and availability
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends
The Pixel Watch is now available for pre-order from Google, starting at $350 for its base model with GPS. There’s also the option to have it with cellular LTE connectivity, which will cost an additional $50.
Apple Watch Series 8 is available in the US and more than 40 countries. The base model with GPS connectivity and 41mm case size costs $399, while models with cellular connectivity start at $499. The 45mm model starts at $429, while its mobile sibling costs $529.
Overall winner: Apple Watch Series 8
The Apple Watch Series 8 may not have added much compared to the Apple Watch Series 7, but it wins against the Pixel Watch overall. Its superior performance and more expansive health-tracking features give it the edge, even if the Pixel Watch has an attractive design, easy-to-use software, a good range of fitness options, and some welcome special features to boot Of course, if you own a Google Pixel smartphone (rather than an iPhone), it makes more sense to have a Pixel Watch to go with it (and vice versa), and you certainly won’t be disappointed if you do.
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