Giving Apple a run for their money - Google Pixel Watch 4

Quick Overview

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is criticized for inheriting the poor battery life of its predecessors, lasting less than a day without battery saver mode, despite maintaining a sleek form factor and offering premium health tracking features like SpO2, Heart Rate Monitoring, ECG, and cEDA Sensing, which are features that sometimes surpass competitors like Apple Watch.

Key Points: The Pixel Watch 4 battery life is extremely poor, lasting less than a full day (without Battery Saving Mode) for the reviewer, similar to previous generations. Google promises 30 hours of battery on the 41mm model or up to 40 hours on the 45mm model, including 15 hours of fast charging in just 15 minutes. The watch features an Actua 360 display protected by custom 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and includes dual-frequency GPS (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS). Health sensors include SpO2 Monitoring (Red and Infrared Sensors), Heartrate Monitoring (Multi-Path Optical Heart Rate Sensor), ECG, and Afib Monitoring. The watch utilizes a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 chip with a Cortex-M55 co-processor, 32GB eMMC flash, and 2GB SDRAM. The proprietary watch strap mechanism is easy to use, but the proprietary charging standard for the watch body is considered limiting. The reviewer notes that Satellite SOS feature is available only on LTE models and requires a separate subscription/service.

Context: This video provides an in-depth review and unboxing of the Google Pixel Watch 4, focusing heavily on its hardware specifications, physical design, and key fitness/health tracking capabilities, while contrasting its performance, particularly battery life, against competitors like the Apple Watch.

Detailed Analysis

The reviewer unboxes the Google Pixel Watch 4, immediately stating that the device has a "broken" aspect, referring to its notoriously poor battery life, which he experienced lasting less than a day even with battery saving mode disabled. He notes that Google is promising up to 30 hours (41mm) or 40 hours (45mm) of battery life, with a fast charge feature delivering 15 hours of use in just 15 minutes. The physical design is praised for its sleek form factor, featuring a new "Actua 360 display" made with custom 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Internally, the watch runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2, supported by a Cortex-M55 co-processor, 2GB SDRAM, and 32GB eMMC flash. Health tracking is comprehensive, including SpO2 monitoring, Heartrate Monitoring (Multi-Path Optical Heart Rate Sensor), ECG, and Afib Monitoring, though the AFib detection is noted as being delayed (not real-time, requiring data sync over several days). The watch also includes advanced location sensors like dual-frequency GPS and a cEDA sensor. A significant point of contention is the proprietary nature of both the watch strap mechanism (which is easy to swap) and the charging puck, which forces users into Google's ecosystem. The reviewer also mentions that the Satellite SOS feature is limited to LTE models and may require a subscription after the initial two-year free period. Finally, the reviewer contrasts the Pixel Watch 4's lack of features like hypertension detection (which Apple Watch has) with its superior battery life compared to the previous generation, despite the overall battery performance being underwhelming in real-world use.