The Apple Watch Finally Has a Real Competitor

As if four Pixel 10 phones (including one foldable) weren’t overwhelming for a single announcement at Google’s Pixel launch event, the tech giant also introduced the Pixel Watch 4. The new smartwatch is Google’s fourth-generation wearable, and it’s the best version yet. Well, technically, versions, since there are two sizes again.

What’s New on Pixel Watch 4

The Pixel Watch comes in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm—for small and big wrists. It’s got the same round, pebble-shaped design with a display that melts into the aluminum case. The improvements that Google has made to the Pixel Watch 4 are subtle and internal. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me at first, but the glass display is indeed domed. This curved top both makes the Pixel Watch 4 more watch-like, akin to some high-end mechanical watches, and makes Wear OS 6 (redesigned with Material 3 Expressive) literally pop. Swiping around the screen, it felt like the watch faces and widgets were trying to stretch out toward me. Maybe reflections were less visible, too. Either way, I like the domed screen quite a bit. I didn’t feel I needed to squint as much looking at it.

The screen is also marginally larger. Google slimmed down the bezels by 16% and increased the display size by 10%. Additionally, the screen is brighter at 3,000 nits, which, like any bump up in brightness, will mean better readability outdoors. People have been complaining about the thick bezels on Pixel Watches for years, and Google finally did something about it.

Other blink-and-you’ll-miss-them upgrades to the Pixel Watch 4 include a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 chip, 15% stronger haptics, and 25% longer battery life. These percentages are all Google’s, but I can confirm that in my brief time with the Pixel Watch 4, the vibrations do feel nicer. The Pixel Watch 4 also charges with a new side-mounted dock instead of the flat magnetic charger that always seemed to flop around on my desk. On the dock, the smartwatch can display the time and charging speed. The Pixel Watch 4 also charges much faster—from 0 to 50% in 15 minutes.

Smarter and More Accurate Health Tracking

Previewed at I/O back in May, Gemini on the Pixel Watch 4 is a major upgrade over the previous Google Assistant. You don’t need to raise your hand and say “Hey Google” before asking any questions. Now, you can just raise your Pixel Watch 4 and start talking. It’s hard to say how well hands-free Gemini works IRL, but at Google’s quiet NYC office, the AI chatbot seemed responsive enough. This time around, Gemini can also create personalized “Smart Replies” for messages that are actually based on the conversation you’re having, as opposed to canned responses. This should make text replies from your Pixel Watch 4 sound less generic. Gemini won’t be able to text like you if you’re that person who writes stuff like “how r u.” Sorry, spelling anarchists.

The Pixel Watch 4 is a smartwatch with a heart rate sensor for, you know, tracking your health and fitness, so Google has improved things in a few ways. Google says the heart rate sensor is the most accurate one it’s put into a smartwatch to date. Some stats and features Google rattled off to me: 18% more accurate sleep tracking, enhanced skin temperature tracking, more accurate route tracking for runs and hikes using dual-frequency GPS, real-time bike stats, personalized automatic tracking for workouts using AI to detect your activity, and new exercise modes like pickleball and basketball.

Google has also injected Gemini with the smarts to make it a personal health coach, with it able to provide workout suggestions and motivations based on your fitness and sleep data. At least, that’s what Google is telling everyone. I wasn’t able to work out or sleep at Google HQ, so this personalized health coach feature will be something I’ll need to test when I get a review unit. The feature is also launching as a “preview” in the U.S. in October for people who use “any Fitbit device or Pixel Watch” alongside a “completely redesigned Fitbit app,” so it doesn’t sound like it’s exclusive to the Pixel Watch 4.

Pixel Watch 4 Pricing and Pre-order and Release Dates

Smartwatches are in a bit of a lull right now. The Apple Watch is king, and Android users have few choices that are actually good beyond Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8, the OnePlus Watch 3, and now the Pixel Watch 4. Their small screens also seriously limit what you can do on them—they’re not replacing phones any time soon, that’s for sure. AI and smarter chatbots like Gemini seem ready to reboot smartwatches like the Pixel Watch 4 with hands-free input and personalization. Now, Google just needs to deliver on this wearable computing change.

Preorders for the Pixel Watch start today, Aug. 20, and availability is on Oct. 9. The 41mm Pixel Watch 4 starts at $349 for the Wi-Fi model and $449 for the cellular LTE version. The larger 45mm Pixel Watch 4 starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi version and $499 for the cellular LTE model.