Google introduces its first-ever pixel smartwatch with a half-priced metallic wristband.

Introducing Google Pixel Watch

Google's first smartwatch, the "Google Pixel Watch," was unveiled on October 6, 2022. It was a bold new design that combined Google's helpful and practical features with Fitbit's best health and fitness features. The eagerly anticipated wearable was unveiled at an event in Brooklyn, New York, and is a natural extension of the tech giant's Pixel series, which includes earbuds, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

Design with a rounded dome made of recycled steel

Google claims that the Pixel Watch was made to be durable and comfortable. The wearable has a bold, rounded, domed case that is 41mm wide, 12.3mm deep, and weighs 36g. It is available in a single size. It is available in a variety of color combinations and is made of recycled stainless steel: champagne gold with a Hazel active band that matches the Hazel Pixel 7 Pro smartphone, silver with a gray or silver active band, or matte black with a black active band.

The wearable has a "tactile" rotating crown and a discrete button just above it for menu navigation. The tactile crown, modeled after a classic watch, controls on-screen scrolling, opens shortcuts, and launches the app tray to provide you with the necessary information. Yours most recently used apps are open with a subtle side button above the crown, so favorites are just a click away. Google elaborates. The well-known technology company claims that the battery can last up to 24 hours; however, it is unclear whether this is true with or without the always-on display setting enabled.

Metallic Wristbands Available in 2023

The smartwatch is compatible with a variety of Google wristbands, including woven and leather options. In the meantime, the tech giant has added a mesh bracelet and a metallic link bracelet to its online store for its smartwatch. The prices for the two wristband options are known even though they won't be available until next year. The mesh wristband, which will be offered in gold, black, and silver to match the Pixel Watch's case colors, will cost $129.On the other hand, the traditional bracelet with metal links will cost much more: It runs you $199.The wristband has a standard butterfly clasp and can be adjusted to fit wrists with circumferences ranging from 137 to 203 millimeters.

Help by Google, Health by Fitbit

The Google Pixel Watch, which is powered by Wear OS, provides the information immediately and makes it easier to complete tasks. Interaction is smooth, responsive, and simple thanks to the design. Information can be delivered in a way that is unique to each user with customizable tiles and watches faces. Obviously, the watch has Google Assistant built-in, so you can get quick, hands-free help anywhere. In addition, the Google Home app makes it simple for users to control their smart home devices. They can also simply say "Hey, Google" to their watch to control the thermostat, turn on or off the lights, and be notified when someone is at the door.

The smartwatch takes advantage of Fitbit's expertise to provide leading health and fitness features, such as what Google describes as "the most accurate heart rate measurement yet."It provides an accurate measurement of heart rate that is continuously captured at one frequency per second through the utilization of on-device machine learning and deep optimization down to the processor level. Active Zone Minutes and steps, distance, and built-in GPS can be tracked in 40 workout modes to help users achieve more during their workouts and throughout the day. You can also use the Sleep Score and Sleep Stages features of Google's first smartwatch to get a better understanding of your sleep and monitor your health with an ECG app.

For $349 for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and $399 for 4G LTE, the Google Pixel Watch comes with six months of Fitbit Premium. The cost of accessory bands ranges from $49 to $199.

The Fitbit Pixel

Google did not just make a new investment in smartwatches by purchasing Fitbit. It agreed to spend $40 million on some of Fossil's smartwatch technology and its R&D team a few months prior to that acquisition. It persuaded Samsung to combine its Tizen wearable OS with Wear OS in 2021. Under Osterloh, the company had clearly reaffirmed its belief in the value of wearable technology.

However, Google's plans were truly unlocked by the Fitbit deal. The Pixel Watch's software and hardware integration began immediately after the acquisition was completed. According to Osterloh, the work progressed "rapidly."There were a surprising number of ways the two teams complemented one another: While Google's AI research teams have been working on ways to error-correct and improve the signals coming from the same kinds of sensors, Fitbit has spent years developing its technology for interpreting signals from light sensors in its devices.

Osterloh says, "And so one of the things we did in the development of this product combined a lot of work in our Google AI research team with the algorithm work from Fitbit to develop a heart-tracking baseline that’s super close to what you get out of a chest strap," which is typically the best source of on-body biometric data. "And so one of the things we did in the development of this product," Osterloh says. Osterloh, who claims to be a Fitbit user for a decade, has been testing the sensors himself while simultaneously wearing a Pixel Watch and a chest strap. The level of accuracy is extremely high.

The dual-processor configuration of the Pixel Watch is also designed with health tracking in mind and draws inspiration from Fitbit. According to Seang Chau, a vice president on the Android team, "we have an MCU (short for microcontroller unit), similar to Fitbit, that allows us to do one-second heart rate readings, always." We also have the main SoC that runs Android. The Fitbits, including the Pixel Watch, measure heart rate practically continuously, whereas the Apple Watch does so every five minutes on average. Because heart rate is the fundamental component of all of the fitness data we are extracting from, this enables us to really concentrate on the health aspects.