Google Pixel Watch 3 initial review: Stronger than ever

On paper, the Google Pixel Watch 3 isn't all that different from the Pixel Watch 2. You shouldn't expect a major performance boost or new health sensors. But I can't stress enough how significant those few changes feel, particularly the new 45mm size and enlarged displays. They feel like two of the final puzzle pieces to make the Pixel Watch 3 an A-tier device.

This Google Pixel Watch 3 review is more of a collaborative effort than usual. Android Central's Senior Phones Editor Nick Sutrich and Managing Editor Derrek Lee both received their own Pixel Watch 3s, to pair with their Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 review units, respectively. So I grilled both on their Pixel Watch 3 perspectives, and I'm including their thoughts alongside my own.

Even though we've each only had a couple of weeks with the Watch 3, our collective impression is pretty consistent: This is a fantastic Wear OS watch that looks as stylish as ever, and the new software perks are a welcome addition. Other Wear OS watches do much better for battery life, but Google's spec sheet significantly undersells how long the Pixel Watch 3 lasts.

Did Google do enough to dethrone the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 as the best Android watch of the year? Honestly, it's much more subjective than you might think.

Google Pixel Watch 3: Price and availability

The Google Pixel Watch 3 ships tomorrow, September 10. The Pixel Watch 3 41mm costs $349 / £349 / €399 / CA$479 / AU$579, or $449 / £449 / €499 / CA$599 / AU$749 with LTE support. 

The Pixel Watch 3 45mm costs $399 / £399 / €449 / CA$549 / AU$669, or $499 / £499 / €549 / CA$669 / AU$839. Generally speaking, rivals like Apple or Samsung will charge $30 for a larger display or $50 for LTE support, making Google's upcharges a bit pricier.

Google sells the Pixel Watch 3 in 32 countries or territories, compared to 21 countries for the Pixel Watch 2; you can see the supported list at Google Support. Of this list, some countries can only buy the Wi-Fi version, including India. 

With the Pixel Watch 3 4G/LTE version, you get two years of complimentary data, but only up to 500MB before data speeds are capped to 256KB/s until the 1GB max. You'll need to add the Watch 3 to your carrier to enable standalone voice calling and unlimited music streaming. Google Fi lets you do so for free, while most other carriers will charge a monthly fee before you can add your phone number to it. That same Google Support link shows a list of compatible carriers.

Google Pixel Watch 3: What you'll love

As I said, the Pixel Watch 3 vs. 2 isn't all that different, but it fixed minor drawbacks that made the Pixel Watch 2 feel last-gen, like updating from Bluetooth 5.0 to 5.3 for better efficiency, adding Wi-Fi 5GHz for faster downloads, speeding up the charging speed a bit, and expanding the thick-bordered display. 

Beyond that, the Pixel Watch 2 earned its 4.5/5 review score, and positives like its fast performance and unique, stylish design still hold true a year later. Google didn't need to make drastic changes to satisfy us, merely to show that they were paying attention to the details. 

So, what's new and significant that we love about the Pixel Watch 3?

Both Google Pixel Watch 3 sizes look and feel fantastic

Google designed Wear OS 3+ to mask the Pixel Watch's ultra-thick display border with black-bordered tiles and watch faces. Now, both Pixel Watch 3 sizes stretch near the rounded edge, and not only does it look fantastic, but it fits significantly more information. Not to mention it doubled the display brightness and refresh rate.

Although Google doesn't explain this on its Pixel Watch 3 store page for some reason, the 41mm watch display adds an extra 1.7mm in diameter for a subtle but noticeable visual boost. The 45mm Pixel Watch 3 measures 4mm wider (1.43 inches total), and the shift from the old 384x384 resolution to 456x456 is stark.

Most of the Android Central staff prefers the 45mm size. Andrew Myrick called the 41mm "too dainty" in his Pixel Watch 3 hands-on, while Derrek Lee called the 45mm "a massive improvement" because of how much more data it can fit on screen. But Nick Sutrich specifically asked for the 41mm because he grew accustomed to a smaller size, and he feels the 1.27-inch model has more than enough space while saving money.

Though I've grown accustomed to my Galaxy Watch Ultra's vivid 3,000-nit brightness, the Pixel Watch 3 is perfectly serviceable at 2,000 nits. I know I couldn't have adapted easily to the 41mm Pixel Watch 3, but the 45mm model matches my needs. Wear OS 5 auto-adjusts to the larger display size and squeezes more info into it, which is a nice touch.

Whichever you pick, the Pixel Watch 3 has a natural comfort to it. The bottom sensor doesn't jut into my skin, and the 69g/ 2.43oz weight is pretty standard for a proper smartwatch, if not exactly "light." The default Active band has a comfortable fluoroelastomer material; the snap-and-tuck design can tug at your arm hair a bit, but once it's secured, there's no worry about wobbling.

Battery life is better than expected

There aren't many Wear OS brands left, but Mobvoi, OnePlus, and Samsung all sell watches that last at least three days per charge. So when Google's Pixel Watch 3 spec sheet promised the same 24 hours with AOD active, that felt insufficient!

It turns out Google may be selling itself short. Even with AOD active, my 45mm Pixel Watch 3 has made it for two days, including 2–3 hours of GPS tracking and two nights of sleep tracking with all sensors active. And whenever the battery runs low, I can bring it back up to 50% in less than 30 minutes, enough for another active day.

I'll have a more definitive answer on battery life in a month with my full Pixel Watch 3 review, with more testing time. For now, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Both Nick and Derrek, who wore the Pixel Watch 2 consistently, claim the Pixel Watch 3 is better for battery life, even though the 41mm capacity is unchanged. I suspect this is thanks in part to the new Wear OS 5 efficiency updates, particularly the new XML watch face format and the new Hybrid Interface using less energy for tracking health and workout data.

Of course, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro and OnePlus Watch 2R both cost less, have the same 1.43-inch display size, and last a day or two longer than the Pixel Watch 3; I personally prefer Garmin watches that last weeks at a time. So "long battery life" is relative, and Google's still behind the pack. But it's not as bad as I feared, and so far it's about on par with the Galaxy Watch 7's 40-to-48 hours of capacity.

Still an industry leader for health and sleep data

I'm still frustrated that Google has essentially killed Fitbit as a hardware brand, making the Pixel Watch 3 its only future smartwatch option instead of offering longer-lasting Fitbit Sense or Versa models. But I'll admit that it was smart of Google to steal Fitbit's sensors and software for its lineup, because it leaves every other brand struggling to close the gap for health insights.

With my usual disclaimer that I hate wearing a smartwatch at night, I've managed to wear the Pixel Watch 3 enough to get a sense of its sleep-tracking accuracy. Its sleep stages and awake periods match my actual sleep patterns, and its health metrics like breathing rate, HRV, SpO2, and skin temperature focus more on averages and variation than on trying to shame or stress you out with "abnormal" data compared to other people.

The body response and stress management data seems much more responsive to actual stress and agitation than most watches relying solely on HRV. And while I have no signs of AFib issues, I like that it automatically and passively tests for irregular rhythm and high/low HR data, without restricting the results like Samsung does with its Galaxy-only Health Monitor app. The same applies to the Loss of Pulse feature, which will auto-dial emergency services in response to cardiac arrest; while other brands have fall detection, this is a welcome bit of reassurance for elderly buyers.

Add in Cardio Load and workout recommendations for athletes, and Fitbit is a tempting option, especially since most of its insights don't require Premium once the 6-month free trial ends.

Cool new app tools and tricks

Google added some intriguing new software tools to the Pixel Watch 3. Covering each would be an article in itself, so I'll simply summarize the list and then highlight my favorites.

New Pixel Watch 3 software features: Morning Brief, Google TV remote controls, Nest Camera controls, Google Home tile, offline Google Maps, Call Assist holds, Ultra Wideband watch unlock, Pixel Recorder tile, Submersion detection, Loss of Pulse, Auto Bedtime mode.

Of these, several require other Google or smart home devices, like a Nest Doorbell or Chromecast with Google TV. In particular, the UWB unlock feature only works with the Pixel 7/8/9 Pro models, the Pixel Recorder app saves on the watch but can only upload recordings to Pixels, and the Hold for Me feature is Pixel-exclusive, too.

Our Pixel Watch 2 reviewer specifically praised that "Google didn't hold back certain features if you have a non-Pixel phone," so he might find this shift disappointing. Even though I use a Samsung phone and couldn't test some of these tools, I didn't necessarily mind because I liked what I could test or see.

I don't have a Nest Cam, but Nick Sutrich tested the feature for me, finding it almost as responsive as checking the livestreams on his phone (Bluetooth adds a slight delay). He loves the ease of checking who's there at any time, in case his phone isn't on hand.

Morning Brief is very similar to the Garmin Morning Report I'm used to. It starts out pretty simple with sleep insights, weather, exercise progress, and warnings about out-of-range health metrics. With enough sleep tracking, you'll start to see daily readiness, target load, and a recommended workout. It's all quite useful and well summarized, and I only wish you could recheck your brief later — but it vanishes once you're done.

I don't have much of a smart home, but I do find I'm more apt to play with my smart lights now that I can access them quickly in the Google Home tile instead of pulling out my phone. As for Google TV, it's less convenient than simply using your remote control, but does come in handy in case you lose it.

Google Pixel Watch 3: Fitness test and cardio load

Google claims the Pixel Watch 3 has the "most accurate heart rate for running" compared to past Pixel Watches. Unfortunately, Google didn't add dual-band GPS to it, as Samsung did with the Galaxy Watch 7. Some GPS-only watches are more accurate than others, but with Google emphasizing its new Fitbit running tools, I had to put both metrics to the test.

In my limited timeframe, I took the Pixel Watch 3 out for one normal 10K run, one track workout, and two rucks (aka hiking with weights). Here's what I learned, starting with heart rate. 

For a normal run, the Google Pixel Watch 3 does pretty well for a wrist-based optical HR sensor. It stayed within 1 beat per minute (bpm) of my COROS arm band at most points. Most wrist-based sensors struggle with light artifacts and have difficulty with sudden HR changes, but Google's algorithm has it step-for-step. Still, its 158 bpm average was one short of both COROS and my Polar Vantage V3, which became a trend.

Across my 10-mile ruck with plenty of hills and valleys, it showed similar responsiveness, immediately catching my heart rate changes. At the same time, the final bpm average was three short of COROS (134 vs. 131); a few days prior, I did a 6-mile ruck and there was a similar HR average gap between COROS and Google (135 vs. 132).

The Pixel Watch 3 continues tracking HR when you pause, whereas other brands tend to freeze the reading until you restart. That's why the Pixel Watch 3 workout is slightly longer in the charts above: I didn't realize I was still "working out." That may be one contributing factor to the HR average being lower.

Finally, my track workout was a bit of a mixed bag. For each hard lap, Google stayed on track up to about 180 bpm, only to lag behind the COROS band by about 3–5 bpm for 30-second stretches before it started to catch up. For what it's worth, most mainstream watches I've tested struggle with anaerobic tracking, including the Galaxy Watch Ultra, so this isn't a specific Pixel Watch 3 problem.

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Google's GPS-only accuracy was a bit of a mess, which I feared but expected. You can see in the screenshots above how Google (orange) throws my position all over the place, especially in the wild first example. Most commonly, it's parallel to Garmin's dual-band GPS, but significantly off to the side, which leads to losing or gaining distance artificially on turns. After a 10K, it lost about eight-hundredths of a mile, pretty standard for a GPS-only watch.

For hiking, the wobbly tracking led to massive overestimates on how far I'd hiked. The line itself wasn't that far off, but on my route a stray line suggests I'm climbing off-trail up hills or down steep cliffs. Where Garmin matched my AllTrails route, the Pixel Watch 3 added an extra 0.25mi and 0.4mi to my 6-mile and 10-mile hikes, respectively.

Overall, I'd give the Pixel Watch 3 a B for heart rate accuracy — good enough for general calorie and training load data, but not for serious athletes — and a C average for GPS data. It's a shame, because the new Fitbit running software is a fantastic pivot (if not quite "A" worthy).

Creating running workouts is very easy once you get the hang of it, with criteria like distance or calories burned. My personal favorite is the Time Trial workout where you set a distance and time to finish it, which adds a sense of urgency. You can make workouts on the watch in a pinch, but adding targets like pace or heart rate zone — or deleting intervals — is far easier in the mobile Fitbit app.

Fitbit provides a decent amount of post-run data, including running form analysis, heart rate zones, and elevation gain. It doesn't have some popular tools like running power, aerobic/anaerobic training effect, or sweat loss, but it's more than enough for casual runners.

I'm also a fan of the new Fitbit Cardio Load system, which puts more emphasis on weekly and monthly progress than trying to hit Active Zone Minutes every day (especially when you're burned out from a hard workout). It's particularly cool how it'll track your training load from any task where your heart rate is elevated or you get steps, not just tracked workouts.

Comparing its training load against other brands' training load, Fitbit puts more stock on a workout's length than its intensity. I only got 37 cardio load for six hard laps at the track at a 170 bpm average, then 30 for my 30-minute walk home; Garmin gave me over 200 for the track workout, but maybe 10 load for the walk. For my ten-mile hike with 2,300 feet climbed and 20lb. on my back, Google tracked 230 cardio load when Garmin gave me a paltry 110.

In other words, I'd say that Cardio Load, despite its name, is actually a better indicator of my muscular soreness than Garmin, while Garmin puts more stock on peak/ anaerobic effort and scoffs at low-intensity workouts. You can decide which works better for you!

Fitbit's other big innovation is "Target Load," suggesting how much Cardio Load you should get on a given day based on your daily readiness and past workouts. Because you need 7–14 days of consistent sleep data before Fitbit will start making a target, I couldn't test this just yet. I'll have more to say with the full review, though I will note that other brands will just default to assuming you slept normally and recommend workouts anyway. I personally would prefer that, even if it's not as "smart" of a recommendation.

Google Pixel Watch 3: What you won't love

Having polled the Android Central team, we have very few major complaints about the Google Pixel Watch 3. We'd like it to last longer, but that was a longshot with the same CPU and design, since you'd need extra battery capacity. It's a shame to see more Pixel-exclusive features, but that's a trend that applies to Apple and Samsung watches, too.

I got conflicting feedback from Nick and Derrek about the crown. Derrek said the crown haptics "are not as...satisfying, like they've been downgraded," while Nick praised the crown as being subtly better than the Watch 2's. As the tiebreaker, I'll say that I like using it instead of a Galaxy Watch's digital bezel, but agree that there are times that it feels a little more unresponsive than I'd like.

Most of our Pixel Watch 3 complaints pertain to missing features we'd like to see in future Pixel Watch hardware or Wear OS software updates, since it's essentially the flagship for testing new Android wearable hardware. Here's what we'd want fixed or improved in future models.

Go further for fitness

Based on all of the data above, my requests for the Pixel Watch 4 are fairly predictable: It needs to have dual-band GPS, extra LEDs to add better HR hardware on top of the excellent algorithm, and a continued focus on fitness data.

Specifically, since Wear OS 5 added offline maps for casual navigation, the next step is for Wear OS 6 to allow for people to make and share GPX courses via Google Maps that you can download to your watch for offline navigation. That would be an amazing trick that would intrude directly on Garmin's territory as the watch hikers rely on for maps and trailheads.

Google could also move beyond runners — as much as I appreciate the pandering — and add more dedicated workout-building tools for strength training and cycling. At the moment, both Nick and Derrek have said the new running tools don't affect them much, since they're not runners, but both are regular gym-goers and would appreciate more focus on tracking reps, muscle maps for exercises, and so on.

Durability, repairability, and longevity

As long as Google keeps its edge-to-edge design, the Pixel Watch series may never achieve the same military-grade durability rating as the Galaxy Watch series or other rugged watches. But at the very least, I'd hoped the Pixel Watch 3 would have sapphire glass, like so many other modern smartwatches; its Gorilla Glass 5 layer is fine for basic scratches, but you'll want a screen protector.

Digital Trends reported that the Pixel Watch 3 is essentially unrepairable and can't be reassembled if you take it apart. If you pay $4/month or $89 for the Pixel Preferred Care program — which isn't available in every country — you can get it repaired, but Google won't actually repair it, just send you a new one.

Even though Google is taking right-to-repair seriously for its new phones, that doesn't apply yet to its smartwatches. And if we're going to call smart rings "disposable tech" because they can't be repaired, then that applies to this watch, too. Google should make the Pixel Watch 4 repairable, as the Apple and Galaxy Watches are.

Lastly, Google has confirmed that the Pixel Watch 3 will receive three years of timely Wear OS and security updates. That's certainly better than Mobvoi or OnePlus offer, but Samsung's promise of four Wear OS updates has Google beat, and the Galaxy Watch series costs less. It's a shame that the Google Pixel Watch 3 will lose support in late 2027 when the Pixel 9 will last until fall 2031.

Competition

The immediate, obvious Pixel Watch 3 competitor is the Galaxy Watch 7. We have a full Pixel Watch 3 vs. Galaxy Watch 7 guide that exhaustively covers every difference, but here are the main points:

• The Galaxy Watch 7 displays are slightly bigger and have sapphire glass, plus the same brightness and refresh rate.
• Samsung relies on its touch bezel instead of a dedicated crown, which works well enough but isn't quite as precise.
• Samsung has a newer 3nm Exynos chip that's clocked lower but has five cores instead of four; performance is pretty comparable, honestly, but Samsung has a slight efficiency edge, so you'll get more hours out of it.
• The Galaxy Watch 7 has dual-band GPS tracking for better accuracy.
• Both run Wear OS 5, but Samsung offers four years of updates instead of three.

Of the other Android watches to consider, we'll point you to the OnePlus Watch 2 if you're especially concerned about battery life. It's rated to last three or four days per charge and will get a couple of Wear OS updates, though fewer than Google offers. The software isn't quite as polished as Google's, especially for health and fitness, but it's more efficient; it's more classically stylish, as well as much heavier.

If you're considering the Pixel Watch 3 for its health or running features, you could always consider the cheaper Fitbit Sense 2, which has the same health sensors and will get the same cardio load tracking. It's not nearly as smart of a watch, but it lasts six days instead of one-ish and does have a couple of Google apps. Otherwise, runners can look at the Garmin Forerunner 265, another fitness watch with weeks of battery life that lacks sophisticated apps but has in-depth training load and suggested workouts without needing a subscription.

Google Pixel Watch 3: Should you buy it?

You should buy the Google Pixel Watch 3 if...

• You like your Pixel Watch 1/2 but really want a better or larger display.
• You have a Pixel phone and want the best smartwatch integration for features like call screening.
• You're an athlete excited by the combination of health tracking, workout building, and cardio load.
• You're a Wear OS person who cares more about style than durability.

You shouldn't buy the Google Pixel Watch 3 if...

• You need a smartwatch that consistently lasts more than a couple of days.
• You need dual-band GPS for more dependable results.

The first Pixel Watch took years to arrive, and it showed with its dated CPU and limited feature set. It fixed a ton with the Pixel Watch 2 by adding a Snapdragon chip and a ton of Fitbit sensors, but the display still felt like the achilles' heel. 

The Google Pixel Watch 3 is Google's strongest wearable entry yet. It's certainly not perfect, and the company has a ways to go still in key areas. I personally have a hard time getting past the simple fact that they didn't add dual-band GPS for a watch with so much emphasis on running software. But none of its flaws are deal-breakers.

While the Galaxy Watch 7 has an objective edge over the Pixel Watch 3 in a few ways, no one can deny that Google's design just looks better. Style matters for a smartwatch, and I could see plenty of Android fans picking the Pixel Watch 3 for that reason alone.