Well here it is, in all its glory; the Google Pixel Watch 2. Well, it might be difficult to visually discern the difference between the OG Pixel Watch and the Pixel Watch 2; but there is a bit to talk about. The biggest increases that were pushed at the event very early this morning, were the increased battery life and the feature additions.
There is some good news and some great news for users thinking about upgrading from the first generation, or those looking to get the Pixel Watch 2 as their first Pixel Watch. The housing is now 100% recycled aluminium, and the bands are interchangeable with the first generation watch bands; so if you bought a few, they’re still viable.
Physically, the Pixel Watch 2 is near identical in size to the first generation with a 41mm diameter, 12.3mm height and 31g (5g lighter than last year) in weight. It has multiple connectivity options including 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and Wi-Fi 802.11n technology as well as GPS capabilities, which are in place for navigation and fitness activities.
Google says it will work on most phones running Android 9 or higher. I would argue if you’re going to spend this much on a watch and your phone isn’t running at least Android 12, perhaps upgrade your phone first. That aside, there’s a number of great choices in hardware that will give you confidence of longevity. The Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and IP68 rating mean it will take the bumps and knocks of daily life without any major drama.
Under that Gorilla Glass 5, you’ve got a display that runs 320 PPI and up to 1000 nits for easy reading, even in the great outdoors. One of the biggest — addressing the major feedback item from the first generation — changes is the battery life, now offering all day battery on a single charge, with always on display turned on. That’s all from the 306mAh battery, and with the USB-C fast charging you can get 80% charge in under 45 mins.
Out of the box you’ve got Wear OS 4.0 on your wrist and a reasonable amount (32GB eMMC) of storage onboard for apps, and a bit of music storage if you choose to do so. Like its predecessor, there’s a huge amount of sensors and capabilities, improved with Sp02, cEDA and skin temp sensors this year; opening a new range of potential monitoring opportunities.
The Pixel Watch 2 is available in multiple colour variants:
- Matte Black Aluminium Case with an Obsidian Black active band
- Polished Silver Aluminium Case with either a Bay or Porcelain active band
- Champagne Gold Aluminium Case with Hazel active band
Pre-orders open today with the Pixel Watch 2 costing AU$549.00 for the Wi-Fi version, and AU$649.00 for the LTE option. Sales begin next week on the 12th of October.
Telstra and Optus are giving the watch 2 LTE away with Pixel 8 preorders so jump on that if you want a free watch. The charger is also changed so now my 1st gen chargers are useless and I’ll need to buy the pin-based ones.