The Google Pixel Watch 4 packs some big internal and exterior changes. And while they may be immediately noticeable, there are plenty of smaller tweaks you can make to improve the experience further.
After using Google’s latest smartwatch for a few weeks, I found changing a handful of settings made a surprisingly big difference in daily use.
Auto-pause workouts
I use the Pixel Watch 4 to track my workouts, including gym sessions and runs. I’m preparing to run a 10K early next year, and so, I’m closely monitoring my run times.
The Pixel Watch 4 can track my runs just fine, but there’s one option you must enable to track your time more accurately.
By default, the Pixel Watch’s workout timer continues to run even when you temporarily stop for a few seconds or minutes.
However, if you jump to the settings page from the Run workout view, you’ll find an Auto-pause toggle. This ensures the Pixel Watch 4 automatically stops tracking my run if I take a water break. And it resumes again when I start running again.
The Auto-pause option is only available for selected workouts, like running, cycling, and walking.
More importantly, you must enable the Auto-pause toggle for each workout type individually. Enabling it for one workout type won’t automatically turn it on for the others.
Change the color theme
The Pixel Watch 4 runs Wear OS 6 out of the box.
The newest version of Wear OS is one of the biggest updates to the platform since its inception, bringing noticeably smoother animations and promising longer battery life. And since it’s based on Android 16, it brings support for Material 3 Expressive.
By default, the watch will pull colors from the watch face and use them for various UI elements. But if you are not fond of the selected colors, you can tweak this.
Go to Settings > Display on your Pixel Watch 4.
Tap Color theme. The watch will use the watch’s color selections by default.
Scroll down and select other color themes from the list. There’s also a No theme option at the bottom of the list.
Keep the display on when charging
Google redesigned the charging mechanism and the charging puck with the Pixel Watch 4. It moved the charging pins to the left, making the watch act as a bedside clock when placed on the dock.
The Pixel Watch 4 lasts longer than any of Google’s previous smartwatches, and it charges faster than ever. As a result, it spends less time on the charger.
Now, to prevent OLED burn-in, the display automatically turns off after a few minutes of charging.
Given the super-fast charging speeds and longer battery life, I’d actually prefer if the screen stayed on while the watch is on charge.
There’s a hidden setting on the Pixel Watch 4 to achieve this.
Open the Settings menu and navigate to Settings > System > About > Versions.
Keep tapping Build Number to enable the hidden Developer Options menu.
Go back to Settings > Developer Options.
From here, enable the Stay away when charging toggle.
This option can lead to OLED burn-in issues on your Pixel Watch 4’s display.
Auto Bedtime mode
Like previous Pixel Watch models, the Pixel Watch 4 also supports Auto Bedtime mode. So, the watch can automatically enter or exit Bedtime mode, mute notifications, and turn off the raise-to-wake gesture when it detects that you’re asleep.
On the Pixel Watch 4, you can customize Auto Bedtime mode and switch the display to Nightlight or Greyscale, enable media sounds, and more. You can even set the watch to only automatically enter Bedtime mode, with an exit requiring manual intervention.
To customize Bedtime mode and its auto detection, follow these steps:
Navigate to Settings > Modes > Bedtime.
Toggle the Auto enter and Auto exit options based on your preference.
To tweak Bedtime mode, scroll down and tap Customize to reveal the options.
Change the display size
You can change the display density on Pixel phones to increase or decrease the size of UI elements.
A smaller size improves information density by making elements on the screen smaller. Similarly, increasing the size enlarges everything on the screen, making text and elements easier to read.
Google provides a similar option on the Pixel Watch 4, enabling you to adjust the display density as per your preference.
I like a higher information density, so I’ve reduced the display size accordingly. You can adjust this on your Pixel Watch 4 from Settings > Display > Display size and text.
Changing the display density does not affect the watch face, though. Its size remains the same.
There’s also the option to independently increase the font size and make the text bold to improve readability.
I use the Pixel Watch 4 to control music playback when in the gym or out running. Given that the watch is on my wrist, it makes controlling music playback much easier.
However, the Pixel Watch does not auto-launch music controls when you start media playback.
You must actually dive deep into the Settings menu to enable this feature. Navigate to Settings > General and enable the toggle for Auto-launch media controls.
Now, the next time you play any media, the controls will auto-appear on your Pixel Watch 4 for easy access.
Tweak the vibration strength
Google says the Pixel Watch 4 ships with a 15% stronger vibration motor. While that’s hard to quantify, the haptic feedback on the watch definitely feels stronger and more nuanced.
The watch also provides subtle vibrations for certain UI interactions, and you can adjust the intensity or disable them entirely if you prefer.
Bring up the app drawer and go to Settings.
Scroll down and select Vibration.
You’ll find sliders to increase or decrease the ring, notification, and alarm vibrations here.
If you want to turn off haptic feedback and vibration completely, turn off the Vibration and haptics toggle.
Adjust Gemini’s gesture sensitivity
Coming from the Pixel Watch 2, I find the Pixel Watch 4’s Raise to Talk gesture to talk to Gemini amazing. It gives the feeling that the AI assistant is always ready for your commands.
The gesture is even enabled by default, and you don’t even need to say a hotword to make Gemini listen to you.
If you live in a particularly noisy area or find Gemini keeps triggering itself automatically on your Pixel Watch 4, you can tweak the gesture’s sensitivity.
Open the Settings menu on the Pixel Watch 4 and select the Gestures menu.
Tap Raise to talk and scroll down.
You’ll see sliders to control the gesture and voice sensitivity. By default, both are at level two, but you can increase or decrease them as per your preference.
The higher the sensitivity, the easier it is for Gemini to detect your gestures and pick up your voice, even in noisy environments. However, setting it too high might cause accidental triggers when you move your wrist.
Make the Pixel Watch 4 truly yours
Individually, these Pixel Watch 4 settings might not seem to make a big difference. But after you have tweaked some Wear OS settings as per your needs, the difference becomes clear.
They help the watch feel more personal and capable, and help it become a true companion device, one that’s always there on your wrist.
8/10
Case size
41mm / 45mm
Case Material
Aluminum
Display
AMOLED
CPU
Snapdragon W5 Gen 2
The Google Pixel Watch 4 nails the smartwatch experience, delivering almost two-day battery life, smooth performance, and all the features you can ask for.