While not the best smartwatch around, the Google Pixel Watch 2 has been a reliable companion on my wrist since its launch in October 2023.
I use it to keep up with important notifications, track workouts, and quickly control smart home devices.
I had no intention of upgrading to the Pixel Watch 4 this year, but its practical upgrades have convinced me to make the switch.
A bigger and brighter screen
Smaller bezels all around
As much as I like the Pixel Watch 2, its 41mm size always felt too small for my larger wrist. Google fixed that with the Pixel Watch 3 by introducing a 44mm option, though it wasn’t a big enough reason to upgrade.
The Pixel Watch 4 comes in the same 41mm and 44mm case sizes. This time, the display is bigger, though. You get 10% more screen real estate and 15% slimmer bezels.
That might not seem like a big deal, but it will help give the Pixel Watch 4 a modern look, especially when compared to the sleek Apple Watch Series 10.
Google uses a Gorilla Glass-made Actua 360 domed display to achieve the edgeless look.
The panel is also a newer one, capable of hitting a peak brightness of 3,000 nits — a 200% jump over the Pixel Watch 2! While not mentioned, I hope the brightness improvement trickles down to the Always-on display as well.
I would have loved Google to use a stronger sapphire crystal cover glass for added durability, as seen on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Apple Watch lineup. I guess there’s always a next time.
Dual-frequency GPS
More accurate location data
I rely heavily on the Pixel Watch 2 and its Fitbit integration to track my workouts. Running and hiking are my main activities, and the watch usually does a decent job of logging them.
The problem, though, is its GPS accuracy.
On a clear day, it records fairly precise routes. However, things go downhill fast when the weather turns cloudy or I’m hiking under dense forest cover. The tracking can drift, cut corners, or even lose signal altogether, making the workout data far less reliable.
With dual-frequency GPS (L5 GNSS) support, the Pixel Watch 4 should fare a lot better in this department. It won’t lose GPS signals quickly in challenging conditions and should provide more accurate route tracking.
Longer battery life with faster charging
A practical everyday improvement
While not impressive, I’m fairly satisfied with the battery life of the Pixel Watch 2.
Even after almost two years, it can last through a day of use, including around an hour of workout tracking. That’s with always-on display and “Hey Google” detection disabled, since turning them on kills the battery.
I do miss having both features, but the trade-off in runtime just isn’t worth it.
I’ve also tweaked my charging habits, topping up the watch for 10 to 15 minutes before I go to bed and then again in the morning while I get ready for work. That’s enough to ensure I never get any low battery warnings from the watch in daily life.
The Pixel Watch 4 takes things up a notch, with Google promising up to 30 hours of runtime for the 41mm model and 40 hours for the 45mm variant. That’s even longer than the Pixel Watch 3.
Since I plan to upgrade to the larger 45mm Pixel Watch 4, the jump in battery life from the Pixel Watch 2 should feel massive. The extra runtime will give me the headroom to finally use the watch with always-on display and “Hey, Google” enabled.
As a bonus, Google gave the charging speeds on the Pixel Watch 4 a substantial boost as well.
You can charge the watch from empty to 50% in just 15 minutes. For comparison, my Pixel Watch 2 takes around 30 minutes to hit the 50% mark from an almost empty state.
This is not just a spec improvement on paper; it will make a big difference in daily use, especially when traveling. A few minutes on the charger will get me several more hours of runtime.
The Pixel Watch 4 also comes with a redesigned side-mounted charging dock. A welcome change, since I was never a fan of the Pixel Watch 2’s charging puck. I’m already on my third replacement.
The exposed pins mean the charger can easily get damaged. Hopefully, the side-mounted charging dock takes care of this problem.
This change does mean that my existing Pixel Watch 2 chargers won’t work with the Pixel Watch 4. However, that’s a small price that I’m ready to pay for faster charging speeds and better reliability.
Better speaker
Hear Gemini loud and clear
To put it mildly, the Pixel Watch 2’s speaker is practically useless. When I pick up calls on it, I can barely make out what the other person is saying.
The microphone isn’t much better either. People almost always complain that my voice sounds muffled. This shortness has become a major issue since Google rolled out Gemini for Wear OS.
The responses are barely audible, especially if you are out on the street or in an area with a lot of background activity.
I put up with the Pixel Watch 2’s subpar speaker for so long because I did not use Assistant much. But with Gemini being far better at handling commands, the weak speaker has become a bottleneck.
Google says the Pixel Watch 4 fixes this with a custom speaker designed to deliver much clearer audio.
The improved speaker should go well with the Pixel Watch 4’s new raise-to-talk feature, making interactions with Gemini more natural and seamless.
I can’t wait to upgrade to the Pixel Watch 4
Early Pixel Watch 4 leaks failed to impress me, since they pointed to the watch using the same Snapdragon chipset as the Pixel Watch 2. And while that’s still true, there are a lot of other factors here.
As much as I would have loved a faster SoC for better performance, Google’s newest smartwatch packs plenty of other improvements that make it a worthy upgrade. And that’s without even factoring in its new emergency satellite connectivity — a feature that could literally be a lifesaver.
- CPU
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Snapdragon W5 Gen 2
- RAM
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2GB
- Storage
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32GB
- Battery
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455 mAh
The Google Pixel Watch 4 packs all the right improvements you could ask for: a brighter display with smaller bezels, more AI features, longer battery life, and faster charging speeds. All this, and more for the same starting price of $399.
