Pixel Watch 3 Might Just Tempt Me Away From Apple

Made by Google is the company's annual hardware launch event, and this year it's coming at the end of summer rather than the beginning of fall. Google launched a slate of new hardware including its new Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL smartphones, new earbuds, and two new watches. This is a welcome change over the previous generations that only launched in one small size — 41mm. This year, Google still has a 41mm model, but it's joined by a larger 45mm sibling that's great for people with bigger wrists, those who want better battery life, or both.

Google is also using the dual processor technology it developed with OnePlus most recently seen in the OnePlus Watch 2R, which should make the watch perform even better than its predecessor regardless of size. Google is also moving some features out from behind the Fitbit Premium paywall so you can access more health features without the monthly subscription. I got to spend some time with the watches at the event, and I have to say, they're very compelling.

As mentioned, the Pixel Watch 3 comes in two sizes, and both of those watches benefit from smaller bezels — Google says it reduced them by 16% compared to the Pixel Watch 2, resulting in about 10% more screen on the 41mm Pixel Watch 3, plus there's a 40% increase in size for the 45mm Pixel Watch 3. That makes the display easier to read when navigating with Maps or doing a workout. The display itself is also brighter at up to 2,000 nits peak brightness, which should make things easier to read during the day. Finally, the screen has a dynamic refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 60Hz for further battery savings.

According to Google, you should get 24 hours of battery life, and I really hope that's a conservative estimate. I clocked the Pixel Watch 2 at roughly 26 hours with the Always-On Display (AOD) enabled, but also synced with sleep mode on my phone at night. With the larger size — and the dual-chip architecture — I would hope for more battery life out of the newest model, but that will remain to be seen when we do our official testing.

Two new features coming to the Pixel Watch seem very similar to features Garmin has offered for a while: readiness score and Fitbit morning brief. These are designed to give you a better idea of what your day's activities might look like in light of your health metrics.

The readiness score and cardio-load tracking take into account your latest workouts, your sleep, your overall stress levels and combine those into metrics that can tell you how hard you can work out on a given day or whether you should take a day off. This can be valuable to make sure you're not under-working — or, more importantly — overworking your body.

Meanwhile, the Fitbit morning brief gives you all that information plus your biometric readings from overnight as a comprehensive overview about the day ahead. These features seem similar to Garmin's Body Battery and Morning summary, though they also feel like they're more exercise focused. We should get a better sense of how they work when we do our full review.

The Pixel Watch 3 will start at $349 for the 41mm size and jump up to $399 for the 45mm size. If you want LTE, that will be $449 and $499 respectively, please. Overall, this is very high pricing for a smartwatch, but it's not egregious, especially since these are arguably the most beautiful smartwatches you can buy today. The round face with the wrap-around screen is stunning, and the fact that they are as durable as they are is pretty remarkable. 

In case I haven't said it enough, the 45mm size is the most exciting update here. It has been high on my wish list ever since the original Pixel Watch came out, so the fact that it's here is pretty great. I just really hope the battery life follows suit, because if it does, this may very well be my new favorite smartwatch. As always, we'll have to wait for our full reviews before that question is answered, but Google definitely took some very positive steps today.