Review: Google Pixel Watch 2

I had a lot of gripes about the first-ever Pixel Watch. It launched with a lot of missing functionality you'd expect for a $350 wearable. Over the past year, Google has kept its promise to improve the product by periodically adding new features to the smartwatch. Now, with the release of the new Pixel Watch 2, I get a watch that actually comes with everything I wish the original did out of the box. Hooray!

The number one thing I did not want to see was a change to the design. In a sea of smartwatches that look, well, kind of boring, the Pixel Watch and its successor are the most elegant smartwatches to date. I love the smooth pebble domed-glass design. There are also finally more strap options to choose from, though they're all stupid expensive.

It's super comfy to wear, not that the original Pixel Watch wasn't as well. However, Google claims the change from last year's stainless steel case to this year's recycled aluminum case makes the Pixel Watch 2 around 10 percent lighter and even nicer to wear. I didn't notice much of a difference; I'd have preferred the durability of stainless steel, to be honest, or at least a price drop. Maybe the addition of sapphire crystal to protect the screen? Or do what Apple does and give people a choice between different materials.

I also wouldn't mind two or more size options like almost every other smartwatch manufacturer offers. Don't get me wrong, the Pixel Watch's 41-mm case is nice, but I'd take a slightly bigger case if it meant an improvement in battery life.

Photograph: Google

After a year of periodically wearing the OG Pixel Watch, the only damage I see is a few micro scratches on the glass, and I can really only see them if I look very closely. I trust the Pixel Watch 2 will be just as durable. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this smartwatch's biggest flaw: It's not repairable. If you have a problem with the hardware, you'll have to talk to Google support. If they can't fix it and you're still within the one-year warranty period, you have to get a replacement.

I am not sure I understand how Google can announce seven years of support—not only for software but hardware too, thanks to some new repairability laws in the US—for its Pixel smartphones, yet leave its smartwatch customers with a measly three years and few repair options. At least the Pixel Watch 2 gets an official IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating along with the 5 ATM rating, meaning it can survive dive depths of up to 50 meters. Just cross your fingers nothing drastic happens to your watch after the one-year mark.

One of my favorite improvements in the latest model is the processor. Google has gone with Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset, which is noticeably snappier than the Samsung chip in the older model. I have yet to see any kind of stutter or lag at all on this watch, which is honestly fairly rare for a Wear OS smartwatch. Finally.

The Pixel Watch 2 also ships with Wear 4, the latest version of Google's mobile operating system for wearables which debuted on the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 this past summer. The best addition here is support for backups and the ability to switch phones without resetting the watch—seriously, I switch phones every few weeks and this is a godsend. No need to completely set up the watch every single time! In fact, I switched between the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro as I was testing them and had no issues.

Wear 4 also adds Gmail and Google Calendar to the list of native Wear apps. This is great news, as Wear desperately needs more apps. However, Gmail doesn't support the work profile on Wear OS, so while I can see my work emails coming in and promptly delete them (sorry), I can't actually open the Gmail app and scroll through recent emails—I can only do this for my personal email inbox. You also can't create a calendar event with the new Calendar app; you can only look at what's on your schedule. Technically, you can use Google Assistant to add calendar events, but it's weird to not have the option to do so in the app.

I like to use smartwatches to see and respond to notifications when I'm away from my phone and to track basic health metrics. That's pretty much it. The Pixel Watch 2 handles these simpler tasks with ease. I frequently respond to text messages using my voice. I lift my wrist close to my face to ask Google Assistant for a weather report as I'm getting dressed. I glance down when I'm out walking the dog to see how close I am to my daily step goal.

Photograph: Google

Want to monitor sleep? The Pixel Watch 2 will do it with great accuracy, and even does a fair job of tracking naps—like the ones I had to take due to the weird work hours I kept during our coverage of Amazon Prime Day. Paired with the lovely Fitbit app redesign (which last year I called “dated”), it's actually easy to digest the sleep data. The rest of the metrics are easy to follow in the app, though I still wish you didn't have to pay for Fitbit Premium to get the deeper sleep insights and the Daily Readiness feature, which tells you how much exercise your body can take for the day. (Yes! I should not exercise when I'm on three hours of sleep!)

I also like that when I put my Pixel phone on the Pixel Stand wireless charger, it automatically triggers Bedtime Mode on my handset and the smartwatch—both the phone and watch screens black out, and it turns on Do Not Disturb automatically. I had a terrible habit of forgetting to turn off Bedtime Mode on the original Pixel Watch when I woke up in the morning, but now it automatically comes off it when I take my phone off the charger. Putting the smart in smartwatch.

The health metrics—electrocardiogram readings, sleep tracking, heart rate readings, and blood-oxygen measurements—all closely resembled the results from the Apple Watch Series 9 I wore on my other wrist. I like Google's new workout tracking screen, especially the heart rate zone meter on the left side of the watch face, which makes it easy to see whether I can push myself into the next zone during a workout. It also does a great job of automatically detecting my walks and gives me the option to start recording them. However, I noticed it takes a minute or two longer than the Galaxy Watch6 and Apple Watch to automatically end the activity tracking when I stop moving.

Photograph: Google

One of the new features in the Pixel Watch 2 is called Body Response. It uses a continuous electrodermal activity sensor (cEDA) along with the new skin temperature and heart rate sensor to tell you when it detects potential stress events. (It notices both good and bad stress!) If you are indeed in a period of stress, it gives you some options to center yourself, like a guided breathing session or a suggestion that you take a walk. There's a short delay from when the stress is recorded to when the watch gives you the notification. It's always nice to be told that you're stressed when you're in the middle of something serious.

I received several of these notifications over the past week. Some of them were genuinely correct in recording stressful moments during my day, and I followed a guided breathing session that helped me relax. Other notifications seemed to line up with events that were the good kind of stress. There were a few that puzzled me because I was just sitting still and not really feeling a particular way, something I had to consider when the app asked me to log my current mood at the time of each alert. I like reflecting on the moment and logging my mood, but I can see how someone could find this feature annoying and useless. It's the kind of thing you have to really engage with to see some benefit. Just remember that you need to toggle this feature on since it's not enabled by default.

Another new addition is Safety Check. Basically, if you are walking home from a night out, it gives you an easy way to alert your emergency contacts if you don't check in after a set period of time. There's an additional component to this called Safety Signal, which will allow you to share your location and still use these features without cell connectivity, even if your phone isn't connected to the watch. Great! It worked perfectly after I turned off my phone's networking. However, Safety Signal is only available on the cellular model of the Pixel Watch 2 (which costs more), and it requires a $10 per month Fitbit Premium subscription. I appreciate the intent behind the feature, but these monetary requirements sort of defeat the purpose, right? Everyone should be able to use their technology to feel safer.

Battery life is the biggest failure point of this smartwatch. Despite other reviewers seemingly hitting Google's claimed 24-hour battery life with the always-on display, the 306-mAh battery in my Pixel Watch 2 never lasted that long while tracking daily activities. It was closer to 18 or 20 hours. With the always-on display turned off, I was able to hit a little more than a day. I really wish I could charge this thing every other day instead of every day.

That brings me to my next gripe. Google has designed another proprietary charger for the Pixel Watch 2. Yes, this means last year's Pixel Watch charger is not compatible with the new watch. Sure, the new charger recharges the watch faster (you can get around 80 percent battery in 43 minutes), but the sacrifice is you have to place the watch on it in a specific direction. Unlike the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch6, you have to be more precise when setting the watch down to charge. I don't want to have to think about this! Google also seriously needs to build more charging accessories. There are countless 3-in-1 wireless chargers that will juice up an Apple phone, smartwatch, and earbuds all at the same time, but there are hardly any options like this from Google or its hardware partners.

The thing that keeps me coming back to the Pixel Watch is how it looks. It's not just a functional tool for my wrist but also a stylish one that I just plain like wearing. When I actively decide not to wear one of my analog watches, I don't feel like I'm missing out on wearing something pretty. To do this and still deliver nearly everything I want in a way that works well is impressive. Here's hoping we get more ways to charge and repair it within the next year.