Pixel Watch is one of our favorite smartwatches. After years of rumors and leaks, Google has given us a smartwatch. Not only does it look great, it works incredibly well with Wear OS and even pairs it with a Fitbit. As Google’s first smartwatch, it’s very impressive.
However, the Pixel Watch is far from the best Android smartwatch on the market, and there’s a lot Google can learn from its first year of proprietary smartwatch hardware. The company is likely to unveil his Pixel Watch successor later this year, so if it does, there are a few ways Google could improve his Pixel Watch 2 experience.
Improved battery life
The Pixel Watch is a great smartwatch, but Wear OS isn’t exactly known for its low battery consumption. In our experience, the watch lasts about a day on a single charge, or a day and a half if you’re lucky. It’s not exactly known for its longevity, so it’s not a good first smartwatch from Google.
With Google’s next-gen Pixel Watch, the company should set the bar for battery life. The battery life on Pixel phones is so good that the watch should match.
Of course, it might help if Google had a more modern chipset. The company appears to be using his Exynos 9110 chip built on the 10nm process. Performance is very good, but not as efficient as Samsung’s new Exynos W920 chip used in the Galaxy Watch 5 series. Perhaps using a newer chip with a dedicated coprocessor would improve battery life.
refine the design
It’s not at all unusual for a smartwatch to have a crown. For watches that don’t have capacitive or rotating bezels like the Galaxy Watch, this is a nice addition that makes navigating menus a little easier. However, crown placement can be an issue.
One complaint Fossil smartwatch owners have is that the crown can get in the way when working out, as hand positions often change when performing certain workouts or exercises. Unnecessary button presses can occur, and the watch can accidentally power off if your hand is held long enough. Trying to track workouts with the watch can be a bit of a hassle.
Not centered as Google may consider moving the crown. Just like Samsung and Mobvoi put his two buttons at the top and bottom and freed up the middle button, Google could leave the multitasking button in its place and put the crown at the bottom (which is obviously different for left-handed users). He wears a watch on his right arm.) This keeps the crown from digging into your hand during your workout.
As for the button, Google should consider making it not overlap the chassis too much and repositioning it so that it protrudes slightly from the side of the watch instead of from underneath. That way it will be a little easier to push.
Bigger screens and more sizes
Many of the best Wear OS watches are available in multiple case sizes. For some reason, though, Google opted for a one-size-fits-all smartwatch. Unfortunately, the 41mm case size is on the small side for a smartwatch.
Google should introduce a second larger size for the Pixel Watch 2, around 43mm or 44mm. It should also come with a larger display for both models. 1.2 inches is pretty small. Even the smaller Fossil Gen 6 models have displays closer to 1.3 inches. A smartwatch isn’t really a go-to place for content, but notifications and reading things are much easier with a larger display.
In that regard, Google needs to do something about these bezels. This is a nice touch.
More (Cheap) 3rd Party Bands
One of the attractions of the Pixel Watch is that, like the Apple Watch, Google has adopted its own connector for the Pixel Watch band. However, while it may look great, it may limit your choice of third-party bands, in contrast to his other Android smartwatches such as the Fossil Gen 6.
One of the Android Central staff’s biggest complaints about the Pixel Watch is the need for more official third-party band choices. Not only are there fewer third-party band options today, but many of them look cheap, have loose connections, or drop out entirely.
It doesn’t help that Google’s first-party bands are so expensive. The company would have to partner with a third-party accessory maker, allowing it to offer more bands at more affordable prices.
Qi wireless charging
One of the biggest problems with wearables is their proprietary charging solution. No two wearables have the same charger, which can be very frustrating for those of us with multiple smartwatches and wearables. And while legislation has been passed to make USB-C the standard for smartphones and larger devices, there are no such rules for smartwatches.
Some smartwatches, like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch line, have some form of wireless charging, but lack support for Qi charging, which has become standard in smartphones and is compatible with many wireless earbuds. It said it didn’t include Qi in its Gen 6 smartwatch. Because Qi is slow and makes the watch thicker. However, the convenience of wireless charging might outweigh these complaints, especially if you want a relatively quick charge and don’t have a watch charger with you.
Last year, there was a lot of hype about officially unsupported Pixel Watch wireless charging. However, it’s a feature we’d like to see in the next version, even if the device is a little thicker.
Other features
Google has been slowly adding features to the Pixel Watch. This is great. However, there are some features the company would like to see included in its next watch launch.
First, we need the option to customize the button. Pixel Watch users are currently at the mercy of what Google has assigned to crowns and buttons, and there is no way to change this. Fossil smartwatches also allow users to customize the crown double press. And while the button’s app-switching feature is very useful, Google should offer some customization to the button.
Other features we’d like to see include ringtone customization, Google’s more “classic” style watch face, and the option to customize the quick settings menu. The watch also needs to sync the mode with your phone, so when your Pixel goes into bedtime mode, the watch should sync with your phone without having to manually turn it on. This also applies to good night mode and alarms.
