Pixel Watch, officially announced. It’s more expensive than the competition, comes with old processor

The Pixel Watch has been officially unveiled, and some of the biggest concerns about the device have been confirmed. Despite the fact that Google is coming to market with a watch that integrates outdated hardware inside and doesn’t promise improvements over the competition in terms of battery life, its price is one in the premium zone, even higher than Apple or Samsung’s alternatives.

Pixel Watch is exactly as it was described in the leaks

The new Pixel Watch comes in a single, 41mm variant with a 1.2″ screen and very thick bezels, and is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 9110 chipset built on 10nm lithography. This is the same chip found in the original Galaxy Watch with Tizen OS. Inside, it has a 294 mAh battery, which should provide a day’s worth of battery life. With 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, NFC, GPS and Wi-Fi 4, this watch seems to be somewhere between new and old.

At least the sensors are a bit more modern: Pixel Watch integrates pulse sensor, pulse oximeter and ECG sensor. And the 5 ATM water resistance should be in line with the rest of its direct competitors in the market.

Google announced two variants, with Wi-Fi or with Wi-Fi + 4G modem. The basic variant costs $350, and the one with modem comes in at $400. In comparison, Apple and Samsung have slightly cheaper basic watches on offer, equipped with newer, more efficient processors. The Apple Watch SE integrates the same top-of-the-line processor from the Series 8, while the Galaxy Watch5 comes with a modern Exynos W920 processor. Apple’s model costs $250, while Samsung’s starts at $280.

Google includes a few free months of subscriptions in the watch package

Given that Samsung runs the same OS, WearOS, but with the OneUI interface, it’s not clear why you’d choose the Google Watch over it. The only advantage would be if you’re already in the Fitbit ecosystem and want to continue monitoring using that platform. Google has apparently started integrating Fitbit more “deeply” into its products, and the Pixel Watch is the first non-Fitbit product that uses the wearables maker’s software platform, however. Included in the Pixel Watch package is a six-month Fitbit Premium subscription. After that, the subscription costs $10 a month. YouTube Music Premium is also included for three months when you activate the Watch.

Pixel Watch requires Android phones with version 8.0 or newer. Google does not allow iPhone connection. Also, the watch, like the phones, will only get three years of system updates. This is another area where Apple can offer more software support.

The Pixel Watch will be available starting October 13, just like the Pixel 7 phones.