As long as I’ve been testing smartwatches, I’ve been waiting for one to bridge the watch gap designed for fitness and a true smartwatch that treats fitness as a secondary concern — something to check off the feature list. The Pixel Watch 2 may not strike the perfect balance… but it’s about as close as I could have hoped.
Sunday Runday
In his weekly column, our Wearables and Fitness Senior Editor Michael Hicks talks about the world of wearables, apps and fitness technology related to running and health, in his quest to get faster and fitter.
I’m not the only one looking for this mythical Goldilocks watch: I’ve heard from readers who tell me they’re tempted by Garmin watches, but can’t get past the stupid interface compared to Wear OS or Apple’s watchOS. At the same time, many athletes I know would never even consider a traditional smartwatch due to terrible battery life and superficial fitness tools.
The only exception so far could be the Apple Watch Ultra 2, with its smarts combined with a focus on fitness. But aside from the Ultra 2’s painfully high price, Apple just hasn’t reached the level where it can take your fitness and health data and provide useful recommendations like a Garmin or Fitbit watch.
That’s why I’m thrilled that Google has put a lot of effort into making the Pixel Watch 2 a true Fitbit smartwatch instead of a smartwatch that happens to have a Fitbit — which is how I experienced the original Pixel Watch.
The Pixel Watch 2 certainly doesn’t have the look of a typical rugged fitness watch. Its sleek, curved-edge screen looks fantastic live, but the lack of a raised bezel means you’re relying heavily on Gorilla Glass 5 protection — or a lackluster screen protector — in the event of drops or scratches.
Beneath the surface, the Pixel Watch 2 is essentially a smarter Fitbit Sense 2, with all the health sensors that give the Fitbit algorithm a holistic view of your health and sleep recovery — and none of the Sense 2 flaws.
Google’s revamped multitrack heart rate module lived up to expectations in our initial fitness tests.
The new Fitbit Body Response and skin temperature sensors bring the Watch 2’s health data on par with what the Galaxy Watch 6 offers, except for body composition readings, which I find too imprecise to rely on. Along with Fitbit Premium, the Pixel Watch 2 packages that data in a more useful way than what I found in Samsung Health. Google Assistant also makes that data more accessible now, letting you ask specific questions about your health data without having to search in the app.
In addition, the redesigned multiple heart rate module should deliver 40% more accurate heart rate readings during strenuous activities. I intend to do a proper review of this for myself, but for now I asked a colleague to test the Pixel Watch 2 against the Galaxy Watch 6 and the original Pixel Watch during separate quick workouts. Its preliminary results showed that the Watch 2 responds better to your heart rate when climbing than the other two. So far so good.
Rounding out the list of new fitness tricks, Google has added new automatic workout detection for seven activities, targeted heart zone workouts with visible data on your wrist, and “personal artificial intelligence” to answer fitness questions, similar to Amazfit’s Zepp AI trainer. I’m curious how reliable this Google Bard chatbot will be.
It’s clear that Google used Fitbit in the right way with this generation. Whether or not the Pixel Watch 2 properly joins the list of best fitness smartwatches depends on a few key factors in my opinion: battery life, GPS accuracy, and Fitbit’s software.
The new Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip is rated for 24 hours of battery life on the Pixel Watch 2 with AOD active, along with 8 to 10 hours of GPS tracking from a full charge.
I believe the first claim, but consider me skeptical that its 306mAh battery can last that long except in rare circumstances, just as I doubt the Apple Watch Series 9 can last its claimed 7 hours. Other than the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, I’ve yet to see a lifestyle watch battery that doesn’t fall apart under satellite data demands.
For casual fitness, you only need one or two hours of GPS tracking at a time, perhaps combined with streaming music; as long as the Pixel Watch 2 delivers on that, most people will be fine. If really can last longer, that’s something Fitbit fans will pay attention to since most Fitbits have around five hours of GPS tracking max.
Will Google use its map knowledge to make the Pixel Watch 2 more accurate?
The next pain point comes down to accuracy. I faulted Apple for not adding dual-frequency GPS tracking to its Series 9, and that same disappointment carries over to the Pixel Watch 2. We’ll see if Google can surprise us in this area.
It’s hard to trust GPS-only watches. Even if your heart rate data is correct, the algorithm combines it with incorrect distance data and then misjudges your level of effort and fitness. You need multiple satellite angles to ensure that nearby buildings, foliage, atmospheric errors and other obstacles don’t spoil your results.
What I find interesting is that Apple has its newer watches connected to Wi-Fi access points and cell tower locations while running to get a rough idea of your location outside of GPS data; it then uses Apple Maps data to correct inaccurate GPS data that wanders into inaccessible areas.
It’s a cool algorithmic trick and I can only think of one obvious company that could do it better: Google! There’s nothing to do propose that the Pixel Watch 2 uses Google Maps data, of course, but Google Maps is probably the most trusted mapping platform in the world, and Google can (and should) find a way to take advantage of that. Maps would give Fitbit a reputation for reliable tracking without battery-draining satellite data.
Rounding out my personal wish list for the Pixel Watch 2, its success depends on how well Fitbit as a brand can regain people’s trust, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. Even if this new watch shows off the strengths of the Google acquisition, longtime Fitbit fans have plenty of gripes about the lack of new features in recent years.
The redesigned Fitbit app is just the beginning as it just repackages what was already available. I hope Google uses its resources to give Fitbit a more substantial tweak with new professional workouts, more robust workout recommendations tied to daily fitness, and more.
Because when the six-month free trial for the Pixel Watch 2 ends, many people will let it expire unless they have a specific reason to keep a close eye on their health data. My hope is that Google will look to the success of Apple Fitness Plus, with its thousands of at-home workouts, and invest more to make the Fitbit brand more prominent — both for indoor and outdoor athletes.
We’ll see what Google plans to update the Pixel Watch 2 after it hits stores on October 12. But even if it doesn’t deliver in the areas I want, it’s probably okay. I’m looking at it from the perspective of a Garmin watch wearer who prioritizes fitness over smarts. For casual users who want a smartwatch first and foremost, it’s enough that Google makes fitness tools more accessible on a device that has nothing for everyday smarts.
The new Pixel Watch 2 has a full suite of health sensors, a beautiful edge-to-edge display, a powerful and efficient Snapdragon chip, and free Fitbit Premium access to tempt you.