- Good battery life
- Wide range of fitness features
- Bright and clear display
- Media controls are limited
- No iPhone support
- Can't sync with some work accounts
The Pixel Watch 3 is does most things well, but has some seemingly small issues that can crop up often, depending on your digital habits and needs. It takes a more futuristic approach to aesthetics than its competition, but in doing so adds a certain level of chonk to its profile. It only works with Android phones (no iPhones), which is a shame at this stage in the game. But it's not like Apple plays nice in that regard, so we won't hold Google to different standards.
If size is a concern, it's available as 41mm and 45mm versions. Both can come as WiFi + Bluetooth only or with eSIM support, the latter of which provides the option of leaving your phone at home. The 41mm version is $579 for the WiFi + Bluetooth, while the 4G eSIM model is $749. The 45mm version starts at $669 for the base model, and jumps to $839 if you want 4G.
Ours was the 45mm eSIM variant, but we didn't test it via eSIM because, well, my current provider doesn't support it.
Your fitness friend
Google has been leaning heavily into its Fitbit partnership with the Pixel Watch series, and this latest entrant is no different. During the setup process, you might be forgiven for thinking you’d bought a Fitbit-branded accessory, instead of something from the company behind Android.
As such, the Pixel Watch 3 is kitted out with a plethora of sensors, many of which are best utilised via the Fitbit app (and, of course, a Fitbit account). Given the overwhelming amount of data collected, you could be tempted to take a shortcut and turn on everything, but I’d advise you take a minute to scroll through the list and untick anything that catches your eye.
In terms of the basics, the Pixel Watch 3 can track your heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, location and speed, altitude, 3-axis movement (via an accelerometer), sweat (via electrodermal activity) and skin temperature.
It’s even got a built-in compass for if you decide to take it into the great unknown. This suite of sensors can combine to create a cornucopia of data, ranging from cardio load to energy burned and even, well, you know.
That said, the Fitbit ECG (Electrocardiogram) app only displayed inconclusive results for us, and the watch will only use calories to calculate energy output, even if you have your phone's Fitbit app set to kilojoules.
None of this is ground breaking – you can get a similar experience from a cheaper Fitbit wristband. But if you want a premium smartwatch that doubles as a fitness aid, you don’t have to look much further than this.
Shiny and round
More than most devices, smartwatch design comes down to personal taste. But there are a few standard points you want to hit: shape and feel, customisation, materials, size, and durability.
Shape and feel: The Pixel Watch 3 feels well made, with smooth curves, no obvious bezel, and a clickable crown boasting world-class scroll smoothness. It’s comfortable to wear and the rounded screen creates the illusion of a wrap-around display, effectively hiding any bezels.
It really is a pleasure to use. The lack of metal bezel gives a constant reminder that this is a premium piece of kit on your wrist, but is minimalist enough to keep shy of gaudiness. The rounded edges also help remove the idea that this is a little computer strapped to your wrist, and lets it simply become another aspect of your digital life.
I personally prefer this design to the rectangular Apple Watch or the I-am-a-regular-watch-nothing-to-see-here Galaxy Watch line, but I'm sure opinions will differ.
Size: The Pixel Watch 3 is available in 45mm and 41mm versions, the measurements of which indicate the full diameter of the watch face – not just the screen size.
What might not be obvious is the height of these tall boys. Google claims 12.3mm for both sizes, but we measured around 1.4mm. It’s enough to make the Pixel Watch 3 very obvious under a jumper sleeve, and to make putting on a backpack awkward if you try to do your watch hand’s strap last.
Customisation: The Watch 3 is available in three colours for the bottom half of the watch face, depending on which model you buy. And the colour band you get is dependent on the watch face you choose.
The 41mm Watch 3 comes in Matte Black, Polished Silver, and Champagne Gold. Matte Black is paired with the Obsidian (black) band, Polished Silver can come with the Porcelain or Rose Quartz (pink) bands, and Champagne Gold has a Hazel strap.
The 45mm watch faces come in Matte Black (Obsidian band), Polished Silver (Porcelain band), and Matte Hazel (Hazel band). All options come with both a large and small strap in the box, which should fit just about anybody.
The real moral of the story here is: if you want a little gold in your bling, the 41mm is your only option. The same goes for the Matte Hazel watch face of the 45mm model.
Perhaps worse, Google's Active Bands ($69) aren't interchangeable between the two watch faces, so you can't grab a 45mm watch face and strap on a hot pink band – which is the only colour not featured for both sizes.
There are third-party bands available, but we haven't tested any of them out so won't guarantee they'll slot into Google's proprietary connection.
Materials: While the design is sturdy and attractive, the materials aren’t what you might consider “premium” for a watch. The watch face housings are made of aluminium and the screen is Corning Gorilla Glass 5. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but if you’re after brush stainless or a sapphire display, you’re in the wrong place. The included wrist bands are a soft-touch rubbery material and are pretty comfortable, but won’t appeal to everyone.
Display and durability
The display is bright, smooth and crisp. Ranging from 1 to 2000 nits, the brightness range is similar to many high-end smartphones, making it clearly visible on a bright day. The screen’s glass is made from Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which can shrug off scratches from day-to-day use, but isn’t nearly as resistant as the sapphire crystal of a high-end traditional timepiece or an Apple Watch.
The IP68 water and dust rating means it can be submersed in 1.5m of water for up to half an hour, and shouldn’t be damaged in dusty environments. It also has an ATM 50 rating for withstanding water pressure up to 50m.
User interface
Some of the built-in watch faces let you pick between apps and data summaries.
The default face in particular can display the time plus nine additional apps and features – or you can pare it back to just the time, if you’d prefer. Some watch face app shortcuts display a snippet of info, like the date or how many steps you've taken, while others just provide easy access to said app.
It's pretty straightforward to learn. Swipe up to see notifications, down to access quick settings, and click the crown to go back to home. From the home screen, clicking the crown opens the app drawer, and swiping left or right takes you through various quick-access features and apps, which you can customise to your own liking – this is especially useful if you prefer a minimalist watch face.
And when you're using certain apps on your phone, like navigation or media, an icon appears at the bottom of the home screen. Tapping it will take you to the app in question, though we found it didn't always work if you had multiple apps running simultaneously, for example navigation, exercise tracking and media.
The digital crown provides smooth scrolling and has a satisfying click, but Google missed a trick by not letting you map a double click to anything you want – it's limited to launching Google Pay, which you can (understandably) only use if you apply a screen lock to your watch.
Don’t worry, there’s no Gemini (yet)
Given the recently released Google Pixel 9 lineup heavily pushed the company’s new (and unfinished) Gemini AI assistant, you might be fearing the Watch 3 has suffered the same fate. Thankfully, the familiar and functional Google Assistant still handles all your digital assistant needs… for now.
Media playback is inconsistent
In theory, media playback controls from a smartphone should pretty much the same experience you get from your phone’s lock screen. Sometimes this is the case for the Pixel Watch 3, but sometimes not.
If your app supports wearOS, make sure it’s installed on your Pixel Watch and you should have full playback controls. If it doesn’t, you might be limited to play/pause, volume, and maybe skip forward/back. But you likely won’t have more granular control, like the 15 or 30-second skip options that are pretty much a requirement for podcasts and audiobooks.
This is a pain for some apps. For example, Netflix doesn’t have a wearOS app. If you enjoy propping your phone up and working through some comfort TV while doing chores, you can only jump ahead a full episode – you can’t even skip back, let alone do it in short jumps within an episode.
But even if a media app can be directly installed on the Pixel Watch 3, it doesn't guarantee a seamless experience. Many apps will only treat your watch and phone as entirely separate devices – podcast apps in particular. You get full playback controls if you only open and use the app via your watch (which also means your headphones or speakers need to be paired with the watch directly), but there's no additional support for using the watch to control playback on your phone.
In contrast, the Apple Watch gives you full playback options for most apps we've tried, whether they can be installed on the watch or not.
Actual timekeeping
Hey, it’s a watch. It keeps time pretty well. Like most smartwatches, barring Apple’s latest suite of Apple Watches, the Pixel Watch 3 limits its always-on updates to once per minute, unless you wake it up by checking it. This makes analogue watch faces in particular a bit less fun, but it’s standard across the smartwatch category.
The timer and alarm features are easy to access and use, though the alarm does have the odd omission of hiding alarm names. When one goes off, it just says “Alarm”. And when you open the Alarms app to view or edit them, there are no names to be found. If you’re a habitual alarm user like myself, this is pretty inconvenient.
Notifications and messaging
One of the reasons you'd opt for a smartwatch over a fitness band is the ability to handle notifications, messages and calls straight from your wrist.
The Pixel Watch 3 handles all of this smoothly. Even typing on the tiny on-screen keyboard is surprisingly easy if you use the swipe function, but you'd be better served just speaking into the mic. Unfortunately, you can't view any media messages – no images, videos, or even GIFs. Emojis work, but that's about it.
You can also choose for your phone to go into silent mode whenever you're wearing the watch, relying on your handy timepiece for all your notification needs. You can also disable or enable different notifications on your watch vs. your phone, though we only tested this on a Pixel 9. But you can't get too granular with it.
For example, you can't limit Slack notifications to only pop up on your watch if they're direct messages – either you exactly mirror your phone's Slack notification settings or you disable them on the watch.
But it's still worth doing if you don't want your tiny watch screen filling up with unreads.
Battery and charging
Both models have the same stated battery life, though we only got our hands on the 45mm version with eSIM. And we were pleasantly surprised.
Google claims 24 hours with the watch display set to always-on, which is frankly the bare minimum you'd want because any interaction with the watch burns through it faster. But even with moderate usage, we found ours lasted closer to the 36-hour mark. After that, battery saver mode would automatically engage and it would make it to bed time with ten to fifteen percent remaining.
Its charging cable has a proprietary mount to charge the phone. It's at least a fast charging cable... but doesn't come with a fast charger, so you'll need one capable of at least 30 watts to get the full effect.
We managed to get close to Google's stated charging speeds for the 45mm, which are: about 28 minutes to 50, 50 minutes to 80%, and 80 minutes to 100%. The specs for the 41mm claim about 24 minutes to 50%, 35 minutes to 80, and 60 minutes to 100%.
No-go for workplace Calendar
One thing the Pixel Watch 3 isn’t great for is your work calendar. If your workplace uses Google Workspace or Work Profile, you won’t be able to sync your work account’s Google Calendar to your watch. The same goes for if your workplace has turned on Device Management – which it probably has, if it’s anything beyond a medium-sized business – or if it uses a non-Google single sign-on.
This is because Google requires you to sync your Google account with wearOS, as opposed to just mirroring your phone’s Calendar app on the Pixel Watch 3. It’s a frustrating limitation, and one that doesn’t seem necessary, given you won’t run into this problem viewing your work Google Calendar on an Apple Watch.
You will, however, still get calendar notifications from your work calendar, you just can't open them on the watch.
Other stuff you might care about
Fall detection: Yep. Did we test it? No. I’m fast approaching middle aged and haven’t historically been kind to my body.
Storage: 32GB. Is this good? Yeah, it’s fine. What are you going to store on there, anyway?
Built-in speaker: Yep. It’s fine for phone calls, but your phone’s speaker will be louder and better.
Built-in microphone: Yep. It works well and filters out background noise by virtue of being very short range, but we couldn’t test it in windy conditions.
Google Home integration: Yep. You can turn your smart lights on and off straight from your wrist! Also trigger automations, control Chromecast devices while they’re streaming, and of course use Google Assistant, among other things. What a world we live in.
Google Pixel Watch 3 review – the verdict
As far as smartwatches go, the Pixel Watch 3 is worth considering if you’re in the market for a high-end smartwatch – particularly if you're tossing up between a watch and a fitness band.
It’s smooth, has good watch face variety, can track an impressive amount of data, has almost two-days of battery with an always-on screen, and Fitbit integration is great for anyone from fitness enthusiasts to couch potatoes who just want an extra incentive to touch grass on occasion. That said, if fitness tracking or encouragement is all you want, you might save a few hundred and go with a Fitbit tracker instead.
It’s easy to check notifications, respond to messages (assuming they don’t contain images), and set alarms or timers. If you stick to supported apps, media controls are fine, but the inconsistent implementation can be annoying if yours isn’t on the list. I'd also like to see the name of an alarm when it goes off.
Virtues aside, if you’re among the subset of people who’s hoping to add their workplace Google Calendar events to their smartwatch, this isn’t the timepiece for you.
But if you want a premium smartwatch that moves entirely away from traditional watch design, the Pixel Watch 3 manages it with style – aside from its less-than-slender profile, that is.
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