Google has launched its new Pixel Watch 2, which is available for pre-order now and will be shipped starting with October 12th 2023. The watch comes in three different case colors: matte black, polished silver, and champagne gold, and will retail for $349 for the Bluetooth and WiFi-only model and $399 for the LTE model. The watch is available in only one size, 41mm.
The Pixel Watch 2 has a whole host of new features. It has a longer battery life of 24 hours even with an always-on display enabled, which is a real treat as the original Pixel Watch’s battery life was notoriously short. It’s packing a faster quad-core Qualcomm SW5100 processor and a new multi-path heart rate sensor, which is said to be up to 40% more accurate during vigorous exercise than the original Google Pixel Watch. This new sensor array will also help with stress management: the Body Detection feature will monitor wearers for stress over time, to help them manage stress levels and suggest ways to incorporate relaxation into their days.
The watch also has a safety-oriented location sharing system called Safety Check feature. It shares the same design ethos as its predecessor, but it’s 5g lighter at a slender 31g and the domed glass used to make up its screen is thinner, although it’s said this doesn’t impact durability.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 makes solid upgrades in terms of health tracking and safety tools, offering new features that might persuade the first-gen holdouts. That said, it skips out on some improvements we hoped to see. The watch oddly switches to non-wireless charging. They display bezels are still pretty chunky, and I really wish the Pixel Watch 2 came in a second size option, too.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is an good smartwatch that looks great and performs well but still lacks the battery durability that we are all hoping for from the long awaited first version. It serves as a alternative to the Galaxy Watch 6 ($299.99), But the Samsung watch outperforms on battery life, features, a brighter display and a few extra health tools for $50 less for the samw watch size.
Well Google you can do better next time on the new Pixel Watch 3.
