Google Pixel Watch
With its combination of great design, fluid software and comprehensive fitness tracking, the Pixel Watch is a great first home-made option from Google.
The Google Pixel Watch was the company's first Wear OS smartwatch designed and built in-house. Having previously relied on third-party manufacturers to adopt its wearable software platform, Google changed the game in 2022, launching a stunning, seamless, stainless steel watch. However, This one is different from the rest: it has Fitbit onboard. So, as well as having a clean, fluid, customisable interface, the watch also has excellent fitness-tracking abilities and presents health data in a way that just makes sense. And now you can get it as cheap as it was for a limited time a few weeks ago.
As part of the major shopping event for the holiday season, you can find the original Google Pixel Watch back down at its lowest price. The watch was pretty expensive when it first launched, but you can now snag one at Amazon or Best Buy for just $200. That's a saving of around $80, taking the watch down to a much more affordable price point, and almost into 'impulse buy' territory for a product of this kind.
Why buy the Google Pixel Watch on Black Friday?
There were a few things that left a lasting impression on me after reviewing the first Pixel Watch when it first launched. Starting with the most obvious: design. Google managed to curve and round both the stainless steel casing and the custom Gorilla Glass surface to blend seamlessly into each other. In doing so, creating this sleek, pebble-like shape that's still unlike any other smartwatch on the market.
The software was another element that stuck because it felt like it was designed as part of the hardware design process. Watch faces were designed so you can't see where the screen ends and the bezel begins (which is a good thing, given how thick those bezels are). What's more, when you interact with the software, animations are really smooth and fluid, with the curves on the glass guiding your finger naturally along each swiping gesture.
Fitbit being onboard is the biggest selling point for this - and the subsequent Pixel Watch 2 - because it is, to my mind, the best fitness and health tracking platform available on any Wear OS watch. It tracks activities and daily movements, and when you open the app, the data is presented to you very user-friendly, making it so easy to understand. You don't have to look at numbers or dive into lots of hidden sports data like you might with a Garmin watch.
Of course, one caveat to all of this is battery life. If you're the type of person who uses their smartwatch a lot, wants all notifications to come through to your wrist all day, uses it for tracking GPS activities every day, and for frequent Google Maps navigation and music listening, you might want to look elsewhere. The Pixel Watch lasts about 24 hours on a full charge, which is achievable if you're a relatively light user, but if you're a heavy user, that battery life probably won't cut it and will leave you reaching for your charger frequently.
Still, if you can get used to the idea of charging your watch every day, what you get in return is a sleek, attractive watch with great software, fluid performance and useful fitness and health tracking.