The Google Pixel Watch 4 made me love smartwatches again

For the past few years, I’ve worn either an analog watch or a Xiaomi Band 6 for basic step and time tracking. I didn’t opt ​​for an Apple Watch because I wasn’t constantly active, didn’t feel the need to check my notifications, and didn’t want to think about charging the watch every day.

This year I had the chance to test out the new Google Pixel Watch 4, which made me feel like I might start wearing smartwatches again.

I’ve always had a weakness for circular watches. One of the first smartwatches I owned was the Moto 360 and I loved its rounded design.

The Pixel Watch 4 features a curved dome Actua 360 display with thinner bezels than last year’s Watch. I have the 41mm watch as a review unit, but I would personally opt for the 45mm size for the battery and a larger screen. The screen is also brighter with a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, making it easier to use in daylight.

Battery life is excellent on the Pixel Watch 4, even with its smaller size. I’ve managed to use the watch for more than a day on days when I have lighter activities.

Although the Pixel Watch 4 has a proprietary charger where you can place the watch on the stand like a puck, the charging speed makes up for it.

Google says you can charge this watch from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes and from 0% to 100% in 45 minutes. Although the actual timing doesn’t match these numbers exactly, I have seen charging times close to these numbers. The benefit of this fast charging is that you can still charge your watch when you make a coffee or do a quick task at home, and get enough juice to see you through the day.

Fitness and software

I’ve been using the Google Pixel Watch 4 extensively to track my pickleball sessions and walking. Aside from calories burned, there was no specific information on sports-related movements. 15 days ago I started going to a gym, and apart from the treadmill and elliptical mode, there are no specialized modes for any particular gym equipment. Instead, you have to choose from options like core training, weights, or a general training mode, depending on the workout you’re doing.

The watch has more features for someone who runs – but that’s not possible in Delhi weather with a terrible AQI at the moment. It also detects cardio workouts after 15 minutes of continuous activity, but while walking these were hit or miss for me. Another metric that didn’t work for me is the number of floors. Some days I’ve walked to a cafe, seen a very high number of people for that, and some days when I’ve walked up to my patio several times, the number of floors climbed is incorrect.

I’m not someone who wore my watch or bracelet to sleep. With the Pixel Watch 4, I had to mentally train myself to keep the watch on in order to better understand sleep and readiness scores. After a few weeks of use, I regularly wore my watch to sleep. However, you don’t get additional or actionable information related to the sleep or readiness score on the watch in the daily summary. You get suggestions on the Fitbit app related to preparation, but that’s it. With fitness apps adding more AI to their apps, Google needs to step up its game.

Google’s new Material UI design for the watch is refreshing and matches the theme of my Pixel Fold. The weather application is very pleasant to consult for hourly and daily forecasts. My only complaint is that I wish the workout app allowed more than three workout types to be available via quick start. I could lift my watch to talk to Gemini, which is fine, but beyond starting timers, asking for the occasional sports update, and starting a workout, I haven’t needed Gemini to always be there for me.

I’m a fan of the recent Pixel Watch 4 update that lets me use the pinch gesture to dismiss notifications, play or pause videos or music, or even move my wrist to reject calls.

The complaints I had about the watch didn’t bother me in daily use. The screen is fantastic, the software and fitness experience are overall excellent, and the screen, along with the new design, is an upgrade over the last generation. However, what most attracted me to the watch and kept me staying with it was the combination of battery life and fast charging.

Overall, the Pixel Watch 4 is one of the best Android smartwatches on the market.