Android fans have been waiting an entire year to see more options for the new and improved Wear OS 3 watches, since the only one that came out last year was Samsung’s exclusive Galaxy Watch4. At Google I/O 2022, the company announced the much-anticipated (and much-leaked) Pixel Watch, technically Google’s first smartwatch developed entirely in-house. It will also be the first major update to Fitbit hardware since last year’s acquisition by Fitbit.
Details on the Pixel Watch are scarce as it is expected to launch next to the new generation of Pixel phones in the fall. We do know that it has a large, circular, all-glass display, custom wrist bands, and “deep integration” with Fitbit’s fitness trackers. This is a big draw for Fitbit users who have been keeping track of their sleep patterns, workouts, and other vital health information for many years.
With the most recent Fitbit hardware revisions being iterative and not transformative, the Pixel Watch is now the flagship Fitbit device. It will also be the most sophisticated (and most likely most expensive) way of accessing the Fitbit ecosystem.
It remains to be determined how the Pixel Watch will differ from the high-end Fitbit devices such as the Versa 3 or Sense. Even as a Google subsidiary, Fitbit has been adding high-end tracking capability, like irregular heart rhythm notifications enabled just a few days ago.
Google claims that the Pixel Watch will feature Fitbit’s industry-leading fitness information system. It highlights continuous heart rate and sleep monitoring, Fitbit’s Active Zone minutes scheme and data syncing with the existing Fitbit tracking systems. The Pixel Watch’s sensor setup is very similar to that of the Charge ..
The Pixel Watch will be based on Wear OS, instead of Fitbit’s home-built software. It will replace Fitbit’s proprietary NFC payments system with Google Wallet. The Google Assistant integration can also tie directly into the Google Home hardware. But notably, Google made no mention of the existing Google Fit app, its own home-developed fitness tracker that’s been an integral part of Wear OS for years.
It appears that Fitbit will effectively replace Google Fit (at minimum by default) on Pixel Watch. It is not yet clear if this will be extended to other watches that have access to Wear OS 3.
We don’t yet know the price of the Pixel Watch when it launches this fall. It will be a direct competitor for the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, as opposed to the more limited and focused fitness tracker-style devices Fitbit users are familiar with. This could cause sticker shock.
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