The Pixel Watch is proof that Wear OS isn’t bad, it just needs a lot of work

For a very long time, the overall consensus amongst Put on OS watch customers was that the platform wasn’t all that good. Stutters, slowness, bizarre bugs, frequent disconnects from the telephone, and the absence of a properly-integrated health and well being service had been among the many chief causes for that considering. To not point out Google’s on-again-off-again relationship with the platform, with updates in the future and neglect the subsequent.

Then the Google-Samsung partnership and the Galaxy Watch 4 occurred, signaling Google’s long-term dedication to Put on OS on an summary degree and the platform’s not-so-suckiness on a concrete degree. It was one of many first examples that watches working Google’s software program may truly be {smooth}, responsive, and aggressive in opposition to the very best of the very best smartwatches.

One yr later, the Galaxy Watch 5 has solidified that impression, however it’s definitely the Pixel Watch that has cemented it. Even with out Samsung’s bells and whistles, Put on OS feels extra mature and secure than it’s ever been. The Pixel Watch is the primary time I’ve truly loved utilizing an Android-based smartwatch, and I can lastly see loads of promise in Put on OS. The issue is that each facet of it wants somewhat one thing additional — some kind of apparent enchancment or function addition that ought to’ve been there already.

In my eight years of utilizing totally different Put on OS watches, the Pixel Watch is my first time experiencing a stutter-free expertise. The Galaxy Watch 4 bought shut, however nonetheless lagged in some locations. In distinction, Google’s new watch is quick, buttery-smooth, and has but to point out me one hiccup or janky second in over a month of use. The primary interface is straightforward to get used to with easy swipes, one button, and an intuitive rotating crown. Even Google Assistant is quick and correct — so long as you’re related to the telephone (extra on that in a bit).

The built-in Fitbit exercise monitoring is spot on, too, with steps, stairs, sleep, coronary heart fee, and totally different workout routines all tracked with out me lifting a finger.

Google has additionally made positive the Pixel Watch integrates properly inside its personal ecosystem. The Digicam shutter controller is beneficial for remotely snapping some photos with my Pixel 7 Professional, the Google Pixel Buds Professional join instantly to the watch as a result of they’re already paired with my telephone, and a few apps (like Google Maps and Citymapper) robotically switch my navigation instructions from my telephone’s display screen to the watch’s display screen. Notification sounds additionally sync up fairly properly between telephone and watch. After I’m carrying the watch, it vibrates whereas the telephone stays silent; once I’m not carrying it, the telephone begins pinging as a substitute.

Normally, the expertise appears stable, however that’s about it. There’s nothing new-new with Put on OS 3.5, and there hasn’t been something actually new with Put on OS for years now. Whereas opponents like Samsung and Apple are busy including options and enhancing the ecosystem integration between their smartwatches and telephones, Google is giving us a strong basis that lacks 1,000,000 additional items.

Every time I exploit an app or function on my Pixel Watch, I’m aggravated by one thing that’s lacking. Take Google Maps, for instance: The Put on OS app doesn’t assist transit instructions and you’ll’t even get transit notifications from the telephone app to point out up in your watch. Or should you open a Google Calendar occasion with an assigned location in your watch, you may’t faucet on that location to navigate to it — no matter navigation technique.

Messaging apps just like the default Google Messages or WhatsApp lack GIF and voice be aware assist. Should you and your mates/household use these lots, you must attain out to your telephone fairly regularly to hold out a dialog, negating the advantages of messaging on a watch. (In my private commentary, voice be aware utilization is fairly excessive amongst individuals who chat in languages aside from English, significantly languages with non-Latin alphabets.)

Different built-in apps additionally lack easy options. Google Pockets can’t present loyalty playing cards or reward playing cards. The Google Dwelling app doesn’t allow you to arrange sensible gadgets or pin essentially the most used ones to the highest. Google Assistant can do diddly squat with out a connection to the telephone — even when the watch itself has a Wi-Fi connection, you may’t set a easy timer with voice.

Even the Fitbit options, which I might’ve anticipated to be top-of-the-line given Google’s buy of Fitbit, depart lots to be desired. There’s no energetic train recognition whilst you’re in the course of an exercise, no interval monitoring, and loads of stats are phone-bound for now. For instance, the day by day readiness rating, stress administration, respiratory charges, water and meals logging, and extra are merely absent from the wrist app.

On the ecosystem facet, Google’s integrations really feel like a one-step ahead, two-steps again deal. There’s no cross-device unlocking in your Android telephone or Chromebook along with your watch. Don’t disturb settings can’t be synchronized between telephone and watch, nor the bedtime mode. You don’t get a pleasant nudge to open the digicam controller in your wrist once you launch the digicam in your telephone. Any Google Solid controls on your private home’s sensible audio system don’t present up on the watch for straightforward controls.

Lastly, Google’s personal Put on OS implementation remains to be fairly weak on the customization entrance. We must always have extra watch face kinds and designs, extra colours, and extra app tiles. (I’d like to see one for reminders, a world clock, Citymapper, and Todoist for instance.) I additionally want choices to pin my most-used apps within the app checklist, and customized button shortcuts for shortly launching my favourite apps.

The Pixel Watch has left me with loads of conflicting emotions, however the obvious one is that this conflict between my awe at how good the Put on OS expertise might be when it really works and my annoyance at all the pieces that’s nonetheless lacking. There’s a stable basis right here, however it must be exploited as quickly as doable.

A part of me desires to forgive Google as a result of that is its first smartwatch, whereas the opposite can’t merely overlook the truth that we’re under no circumstances within the early days of Put on OS. The platform launched eight years in the past and we’re already at model 3.5; the truth that we’re glad that it’s lastly in a usable state and that we now have a stable basis is, frankly, unhappy. Within the meantime, the competitors has moved miles forward too.

Since we are able to’t take into account this Google’s first rodeo, the corporate has to catch up and catch up quick. We’ve been promised yearly Put on OS updates, even quarterly Pixel phone-like function drops for the Watch, so it stays to be seen whether or not Google is ready to capitalize on these updates to place its smartwatch platform on par with Samsung and Apple.