It’s hard to believe that Google is already on its fourth generation of Pixel Watch. The progress has been slow, but the improvements have been steady. With the Pixel Watch 4, Google may finally have the smartwatch to beat for Android owners.
Admittedly, I haven’t always been the biggest fan of the Pixel Watch. I was very underwhelmed by the first generation, but each successor has impressed me a bit more. In fact, I made the switch from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 to the Pixel Watch 3 last year. I was happy to see more of the same with the Pixel Watch 4.
8/10
Brand
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
Color Screen
Yes
Notification Support
Yes
The Pixel Watch 4 is made to work seamlessly with your Pixel (or other Android) device. The domed display offers a fantastic view of anything you need on your smartwatch, from the time to in-depth fitness insights.
Pros & Cons
Beautiful minimalist design
Wear OS 6 looks and feels better than ever
Great battery life and fast charging
Solid health and fitness features
Gemini is a side-grade replacement for Google Assistant
Google keeps changing the charger design
Price and availability
The Pixel Watch 4 is currently available from the Google Store, Amazon, and Best Buy. The watch comes in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. Each size is also available in a Wi-Fi-only and LTE-enabled version. Both models come in a black or silver body with a handful of silicone watch band colors to choose from. The 41mm model starts at $350, while the 45mm goes for $399.
Brand
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
Color Screen
Yes
Notification Support
Yes
Battery Life
Up to 40 hours with always-on display
Operating System
Wear OS 6
Onboard GPS
Dual Frequency GPS: GPS, Galileo, Glonass
Lens Material
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
CPU
Snapdragon W5 Gen 2
RAM
2GB
Storage
32GB
Battery
455 mAh
Connectivity
4G LTE, Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi
Health sensors
Compass, Altimeter, Red and infrared sensors, Multipurpose electrical sensors, Multi-path optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Far field skin temperature, Barometer, Magnetometer
Weight
36.7 g (without band)
Material
Recycled plastic, cobalt, aluminum, steel, glass, tin, tungsten, gold, copper, and rare earth elements
Google is keeping the design consistent, and that’s okay
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
There’s not a lot to say about the Pixel Watch 4’s design. Google has maintained a very consistent design across all four generations of the Pixel Watch. The display is slightly more domed than previous models, but it essentially feels the same. The only feature that breaks up the polished pebble-like design is the knurled crown knob.
Personally, I’m a big fan of minimalist smartwatches, so I still love this design. It’s clean, it’s smooth, and it’s comfortable to wear. I can easily dress it up with lugs and a leather band, or keep it low-key and sporty with a seamless silicone band. The Pixel Watch never feels out of place on my wrist, regardless of activity.
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
The one design element I’m still not the biggest fan of is Google’s proprietary bands. I’m using the 45mm model for this review, and I was very disappointed when I realized my 41mm bands don’t fit. Now, I understand that it’s the same for most watches that come in multiple sizes, but there’s a bigger price hurdle with proprietary bands. It would be quite expensive to build up another collection of bands if I wanted to switch watch sizes.
As I mentioned, there’s a single crown knob on the Pixel Watch 4, and a flush button on the bottom edge joins it. The crown is used for scrolling, going home, and opening the app list. The button shows recent apps and can launch Gemini and Google Wallet with a long-press or double-press. Across all four generations, I have never found the button to be comfortable to reach. All in all, it’s more of the same when it comes to the Pixel Watch 4’s review, and I’m totally fine with that.
Wear OS 6 might be the biggest upgrade
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
The Pixel Watch 4 is the first smartwatch to ship with Wear OS 6.0. It’s a surprisingly big change from Wear OS 5.1. The most obvious difference is Google’s Material 3 Expressive aesthetic making its way to the Pixel Watch—and I love it.
Wear OS 6 feels like it was intentionally designed for a watch. Obviously, previous versions of Wear OS were designed for watches, but it’s much more apparent now. Many elements of the UI flow and adapt to fit the compact confines of the circular screen. For example, when scrolling through the app list grid, icons get bigger as they pass by the wider center portion of the screen. All of these fluid changes make everything feel smooth and responsive.
Android’s Material You system-wide color theming has finally been brought to Wear OS as well. The colors that you choose for your watchface are reflected in other parts of the UI. It’s not as noticeable as on a Pixel phone, but it’s a nice, subtle addition.
I should also mention that Google Assistant has been fully replaced by Gemini on the Pixel Watch 4. There’s a new “Raise-to-Talk” gesture to go along with it. You can simply raise your wrist and start talking—no more “OK Google” needed. It doesn’t always work, but I do appreciate the concept. Other than that, Gemini is no more useful than Google Assistant. It’s a side-grade at best.
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
On the surface, this is mainly a visual update, but it’s a very good one. Wear OS 5 was certainly not “outdated” by any means, yet Wear OS 6 somehow feels even more modern. I’m more excited about the Pixel Watch as a platform now.
Health and fitness capabilities are still good enough
Health and fitness is one area that held me back from the Pixel Watch series up until last year. This year, the Pixel Watch 4 brings a few additional upgrades to health and activity monitoring.
The biggest change I’ve noticed is a different approach to recognizing what I’m actually doing. Previously, the Fitbit app would constantly ask if I wanted to track an activity. The watch will now automatically detect and just go ahead and record certain cardio activities if they last for at least 15 minutes. You get a notification with a full recap soon after you’re done. This is particularly useful for random walks around the neighborhood or a weekend Costco trip. The feature works for activities like walks, runs, cycling, and a handful of gym machine workouts.
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
There are some updates for when you’re not working out, too. There’s a new sleep algorithm that Google claims is significantly better at classifying sleep stages. During my own testing, I found the results to be as accurate as I can tell. My problem with any sleep tracking device is that without a firmly reliable “control,” it’s hard to know for sure how accurate it is—or what to do with the information once I have it.
Moving on to a different area of accuracy, the addition of dual-frequency GPS is supposed to bring more accurate route maps. I can say that I saw a slight improvement across my test bike rides, but I didn’t have any major gripes before. I still think a dedicated sports tracker will provide the most accurate location data you can get.
It took a while for Google to get the Pixel Watch’s health and fitness to a level that I felt I could ditch Samsung Health and my Galaxy Watch. I’m still not convinced it’s fully better, but it’s certainly good enough now.
Awesome battery life and super fast charging
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
If you’re looking for one area of the Pixel Watch 4 with the biggest upgrade over last year, it might be battery life. I’ve been able to easily stretch the 45mm model to multiple days on a single charge. The 41mm model should be equally impressive with the same new power-efficient Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 processor.
What makes it even better is the awesome fast charging. I never bothered with putting the Pixel Watch 4 on the charger overnight. I’d just pop it on while showering or a quick juice up while sitting at my desk. Even a short 15-minute charge will give you around 50%.
But it’s not all positive. Part of why I avoided setting up the charger next to my bed is that Google introduced yet another proprietary design (the third one). I’m glad Google has stuck with the same proprietary band through four generations, but I’d also like to reuse my chargers. I bought extras for the Pixel Watch 3 and now they’re useless.
Pixel Watch 4 vs the competition
Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
If you’re interested in the Pixel Watch 4, the Galaxy Watch 8 is its most direct competitor. Both watches cover the fundamentals—latest Wear OS, Gemini integration, and core health sensors—but their approaches are unique. Hardware-wise, the Pixel Watch 4 has a brighter screen, faster charging, and emergency satellite connectivity. However, they’re overall pretty similar in terms of raw specs.
The Galaxy Watch 8 allows for a deeper dive in physiology, offering metrics like Antioxidant Index and Vascular Load for the diehard health enthusiasts—and Samsung doesn’t charge extra for it. Ultimately, you’re choosing between Google’s software and Samsung’s software. They’re visually very different. Samsung offers more options and features, but you may not need them all.
The easiest way to decide between the two is to look at the phone in your hand. Each watch has a small handful of features that only work with phones from the same brand. If you own a Pixel phone, you’ll probably be happier with the Pixel Watch 4. Same story for the Galaxy Watch 8 if you’re a Galaxy phone owner.
Should you buy the Google Pixel Watch 4?
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
Google has once again delivered a beautifully minimalist watch with a cohesive, comfortable design. You’re getting the most modern, flowing version of Wear OS yet, and that alone might be my favorite thing. The addition of the Material 3 aesthetic and subtle UI improvements makes it feel like the software was finally tailor-made for the circular display on the Google Pixel Watch 4.
The other major win is the battery life. You can finally stop worrying about keeping the charger next to your bed every night. Multiple days of power is a huge leap, and that speedy fast charging means you can top it off during your morning routine. That said, you’ll probably be a bit annoyed with the charger situation if you’re upgrading from a previous model.
Ultimately, it’s about whether you want the purest Google experience on your wrist. The Pixel Watch 4 is the clear winner for Pixel phone owners—it plays nicer with your device, and the visual similarities look great. If you value a clean design, excellent battery life, and the very best of Wear OS, the Pixel Watch 4 is now a polished, high-performing device that’s easy to recommend.
8/10
Brand
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
Color Screen
Yes
Notification Support
Yes