Google Pixel Watch Review: Tech Behemoth’s First Watch That Makes Wearable Technology Look Good
Let’s be realistic for a second: most smart watch feel bored when looking directly. Even within the remarkably strict standards of “real” homosexuality – where the 50-year-old man AP Royal Oak still considered a watch hype – it took half a decade for most new wearables to come together on the same aesthetic. You know one thing: all black, well built, won’t die in it other than a marathon. So while Google’s Pixel Watch may not be a perfect smartwatch, it deserves a lot of credit when it comes to looks as well as functionality.
Just following the story of the Pixel Watch? Well, this new watch represents Google’s first smartwatch and follows the tech giant’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit. In theory, it’s meant to do what the company’s Pixel phones have done for smartphones and show that it’s not only Apple and Samsung, who can innovate in form. So unlike many of its rivals, what this device really enjoys is a personality, and that counts a lot with something you’re meant to wear almost 24/7. That alone would make this an attractive proposition for those who don’t own an iPhone. Especially since it borrows a bit of Apple Watch engineering for itself.
Looks partially
Okay. For the avoidance of doubt, there are some aspects of the Pixel Watch that could be better. Especially its battery life, lack of automatic activity tracking, and overall poorer performance. If this device is up to it, it’s the work that Google’s industrial designers did to make it luxurious and desirable. While many smartwatches fall into the trap of trying to look like “real” watches with built-in features like rotating bezels or chronograph pushers — check out Samsung’s Galaxy Watch or Huawei’s own effort — The Pixel Watch is not intended to fall into this uncanny valley.
With a button-shaped aesthetic crafted from recycled stainless steel and really striking in the yellow line, it has the uncanny charm of a classic Casio, Swatch or G-Shock watch. In other words, the Pixel Watch says something about you as the person wearing it. There’s something odd and delightfully tactile about its 41mm round face and crown — it doesn’t dominate your wrist or draw too much attention to itself with sheer physical lift.
Better still, there are a surprisingly comprehensive range of customization options for this wearable. While not all of its bands are available for purchase right now, seven have been announced that range from sport-friendly polymer bracelets to metal mesh and metal link options — all attached to the Watch via a DSLR-style click mechanism. In essence, you can suit Reach for things without feeling like you’re reducing your health. Now, the obvious hit to this approach – as well as the rotating crown – is that it has clearly been lifted away from the Apple Watch, which is still a long way from the smartwatch MVP. To lean on Steve Jobs’ favorite quote for a second, “Great artists copy, great artists steal.” So who really cares if it works?
