Fifty-five percent of Australians wear a smartwatch, according to 2016 report by PWC—and since then sales for the wearable technology surged 24 percent.
For many of these adopters, the draw may have been the device’s ability to track everything from steps and sleep quality to body composition. If you’re among them, smart move; it’s easier than ever to use the data collected by your watch to track progress and increase performance, whether you’re training for a marathon, ramping up your weight lifting, or simply prepping for a couch-to-5K.
The biggest challenge may be figuring out how to use all that info to your advantage, making the most of these features without getting bogged down by the data. And that’s exactly what Google have aimed to do with their new Google Pixel watch – the brand’s first-ever smartwatch.
Featuring a circular, domed design and new experience with Wear OS by Google, it offers all the best of Google’s helpfulness – all on your wrist: from heart rate tracking to sleep tracking, exercise stats, Emergency SOS and more. It also has all your basics like Google Assistant, Maps, Wallet, Calendar and Gmail, too.
Check out some of the main features below.
Google Features
Have another Google device? The feature you know and love are available in the Pixel Watch. Save time with Google Wallet for contactless payments, follow turn-by-turn directions using Maps, get notifications from Calendar and Gmail, just say “Hey Google” to get help anywhere you are, and set your favourite photos as your watch face with Google Photos.
Health and fitness by Fitbit
On the new watch, you can get insights into your health and fitness using continuous heart rate tracking, and understand your night’s rest quality with sleep tracking. And then there’s the fitness features: you can choose from 40 workout modes and get a Daily Readiness score so you know what your body can take on each day. From this, you can earn Active Zone Minutes when you get your heart rate up, so you know when to push yourself in real time. And with the ECG app, you can assess your heart rhythm for AFib on demand.
Heart rate tracking
The Google Pixel Watch features Fitbit’s most accurate heart rate tracking yet. Experts across Fitbit and Google Research and Machine Intelligence developed an innovative machine learning–based approach to heart rate tracking which informs key metrics from calories and Active Zone Minutes to Daily Readiness and sleep. The watch’s dual-processor architecture is optimised to give you accurate heart rate data while still maintaining an all-day battery life.
Sleep tracking
Fitbit delivers sleep tracking with the Google Pixel Watch:you can check your Sleep Score each morning and see your sleep stage breakdown for light, REM, and deep sleep. 2 With a Fitbit Premium subscription, you can also check the Fitbit app to see your long-term sleep trends.
Fitbit Premium
Fitbit Premium is pretty much what it sounds like: a bigger and better version of Fitbit. Once signed up to the Fitbit Premium membership, you can get deeper insights and guidance, along with access to 800+ workouts and 400+ mindfulness sessions. It also gathers data about your body and unique health patterns, which allows for actionable insights and recommendations to help you sleep better, reduce stress, and feel your best. Plus, get access to your Wellness Report and Health Metrics Dashboard, which includes wellness metrics like heart rate variability, breathing rate, and resting heart rate.
New Wear OS
The Google Pixel Watch is powered with Wear OS by Google. The new Wear OS experience is designed to feel fluid and easy to navigate, bringing you the information you need with a tap, swipe, or voice command. With a refreshed UI and rich notifications, you can keep connected with the apps you love, including your favourites from Google and others like Spotify, Strava, Bitmoji, Adidas Running, MyFitnessPal, and Calm, available for download from Google Play. The Google Pixel Watch’s dual-processor architecture and smart battery optimisations mean you can get up to 24 hours of battery life on a single charge. And if you need to top up, get up to 50% battery life in about 30 minutes.
Design
The Google Pixel Watch comes in 3 options that perfectly complement your Pixel 7: a Matte Black case with Obsidian Active band, Polished Silver case with Charcoal Active band, and Champagne Gold case with Hazel Active band. Made from recycled stainless steel and scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass, the circular, domed design nods to classic watches with a modern twist and features a tactile crown. You can change your watch face to match any occasion and adjust your intefaace to get relevant information at a glance. And you can add optional accessory bands in a wide range of materials and colours: Woven, Stretch, Active, Two-Tone Leather, and Crafted Leather.
Safety features
The Google Pixel Watch can easily alert contacts or emergency services with Emergency SOS when you’re feeling unsafe. And you don’t need to worry about splashes or scratches – it’s water resistant (5 ATM) and features
custom-moulded, scratch-resistant 3D Corning® Gorilla® Glass®.
Where and when can you buy the Google Pixel Watch?
Google Pixel Watch starts at $549 (Bluetooth®/ Wi-Fi) and is available at the Google Store, Officeworks and Harvey Norman. The 4G LTE version is available for $649 at the Google Store and Telstra. Accessory bands start from $69. Pre-order Pixel Watch from today or pick-up in store from October 13.
