The Google Pixel Watch 5 has landed, alongside a slew of compatible phones including the Google Pixel 11 and its Pro, Pro XL and even Pro Fold variations. While the phones look great, It’s the watch that’s drawn my attention, and there’s a lot to like here.
Arriving in two sizes (41mm and 45mm) just like in previous years, with Canyon, Obsidian and Fog colored bands, as well as a special NBA-star Stephen Curry-themed edition, the Google Pixel Watch 5 is priced starting from $399.99 / £369 / around AU$565 (TBC) for the 41mm model, and $429.99 / £399.99 / around AU$600 (TBC) for the 45mm model, with LTE-capable models costing extra.
What do you get for your money? Well, the Pixel Watch 5 has received several quality-of-life improvements over last year’s model. These include Google’s ever-improving wrist-based Gemini integrations, Google Health’s new AI fitness coach, GPS that can reportedly go head-to-head with the likes of the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, and a new suite of handy background health features called Health Guardian, which is available on Pixel Watch 3 and up.
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While I haven’t gone hands-on with the watch just yet, judging by its specs sheet the Pixel Watch 5 is every inch a competitor to the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9.
It’s slightly difficult to compare watches from different ecosystems, but while it’s unlikely the quality of a smartwatch is going to be a tipping point for someone changing phones, and possibly tablets or computers to better work within a particular walled garden, these features could be a contributing factor to a decision to switch from Google to Apple or Samsung, or vice versa.
Let’s look at each flagship watch’s specs side-by-side below (I’ve used the larger models for clarity: the 45mm Pixel Watch 5, the 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 and the 44mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 9), then I’ll go through all the unique stuff Google’s just announced.
Specs comparison table
|
Watch |
Google Pixel Watch 5 (45mm) |
Apple Watch Series 11 (46mm |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 (44mm) |
|
Price |
From $429.99 / £399 / around AU$600 |
From $429 / £399 / AU$699 |
$409.99 / £379.00 / AU$699.0 |
|
Dimensions |
45mm x 45mm x 12.3mm |
46mm x 39mm x 9.7mm |
46.0 mm × 43.7 mm × 8.6 mm |
|
Weight |
37g (no strap) |
38g (no strap) |
34g (no strap) |
|
Case/bezel |
100% recycled aluminum |
Aluminum or titanium (100% recycled) |
Armor aluminum |
|
Display |
Actua 360 display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
LTP03 OLED |
SuperAMOLED, Sapphire crystal |
|
GPS |
Dual Frequency GPS: GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, QZSS |
L1 GPS, GNSS, Galileo, and BeiDou |
L1+L5 GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou |
|
Battery life |
Up to 40 hours |
24 hours |
Up to 40 hours |
|
Connection |
Bluetooth 6.0, wifi, LTE available |
Bluetooth 5.3, wifi, LTE available |
Bluetooth 6.0, wifi, LTE available |
|
Water resistance |
5ATM, IP68 |
WR50 and IP7X |
5ATM, IP68 |
As we can see above, one of the key things that we can take away from this year’s top crop of smartwatches is that they’re all starting to look and feel the same, at least on paper. Similar prices, specs, battery life and feature sets: there’s very little separation here in terms of nuts-and-bolts quality. However, there are a few aspects — some featured in the table above, some not — that help the Pixel Watch 5 stand out from the pack.
Repairability
One of the best things about the Pixel Watch 5, which debuted last year on the Pixel Watch 4, is the fact that it’s repairable. You can use a standard Torx T2 precision screwdriver set to disassemble the watch and replace its battery and display, an unusual feature for small, water-resistant electronics like smartwatches — but certainly a welcome one, as anything that extends the life of the device and reduces e-waste is a fantastic initiative in our books.
It’s a feature we’d love to see adopted across the board — including by Apple and Samsung.
Battery life
While the Google Pixel Watch 5’s battery life seems to be roughly equal to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9’s offering, both devices handily beat out the Apple Watch Series 11’s 24 hour guarantee, even though that’s an improvement from the 18 hours of previous iterations. At smaller sizes, the Pixel and Samsung watch’s battery lives return to up to 30 hours; still not a lot and a pain point for people used to the likes of the best Garmin watches, but better than Apple’s offering.
The Google Pixel Watch 5, like Apple’s wearable, offers fast charging, with just one hour until full. However, it’s also got a neat little charger held over from last year: a dock that allows you to turn your watch into a little upright bedside alarm clock. Cute!
GPS
This is a tricky one. Practically speaking, there might very little in this competition in terms of GPS accuracy, but Apple is on the back foot here. While Apple’s Ultra 3 comes with some of the most sophisticated and accurate GPS credentials on the market, the mainline Apple Watch Series 11 only offers single-band GPS in comparison to the Galaxy Watch 9 and Pixel Watch 5, which offer dual band L1+L5 GPS.
The Google Pixel Watch 5 also connects to more satellite networks than either watch, and is said to match the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 3 in terms of accuracy — according to Google. This is yet to be tested in the field, but I’ll run or cycle my usual routes with an Ultra 3 or Fenix 8 Pro once I get my hands on the watch to test this for myself.
Satellite comms
Speaking of satellites, they’re good for more than just GPS accuracy. While all three watches have LTE-enabled models, allowing you to add them to your phone’s data plan (available at an additional cost) the Google Pixel Watch 5 has a feature usually reserved for premium, Ultra-tier watches: emergency SOS satellite communication messaging.
A holdover from the Pixel Watch 4, satellite connectivity allows you to use the watch to communicate with emergency services using the Skylo satellite network, offering two-way messaging and location sharing. It works without your phone and is optimized for ultra-low power consumption.
Insulin Resistance Trends
The Google Pixel Watch 5 gets a handful of new features, including blood pressure (long thought of as the holy grail for optical LED heart rate sensors, blood pressure or hypertension detection is starting to make its way into the smartwatch market now) and, most intriguingly, an Insulin Resistance Trends feature.
This isn’t available yet (said to be coming September 2026) but neither Samsung nor Apple watches have this feature right now. Insulin Resistance Trends is billed as a non-invasive way (unlike continuous glucose monitors, which require needles) to monitor or estimate your body’s efforts to regulate blood sugar.
Google says the feature is ‘a personal efficiency meter, giving you a sense of how efficiently your body absorbs energy from food and manages it throughout your activities.’ Eating and drinking spikes your blood sugar, and exercise brings it back down as glucose is used for fuel.
The Insulin Resistance Trends feature works as part of Google’s new Health Guardian suite of features, monitoring health trends in the background. Essential for diabetics, it’s also useful for weight management in general, and I’m intrigued to see the consensus on this feature, and how it works, once it lands.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
