Google’s Pixel Watch 5 is promising — but it isn’t finished
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Think of this as part one of the Pixel Watch 5 review as most of the new features aren’t out yet. That said, GPS rocks.
Victoria Song Close Victoria Song Senior Reviewer, Wearable Tech Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
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Think of this as part one of the Pixel Watch 5 review as most of the new features aren’t out yet. That said, GPS rocks.
Victoria Song Close Victoria Song Senior Reviewer, Wearable Tech Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
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The Google Pixel Watch 5 has, in many ways, been the hardest Pixel Watch to accurately review. Barely anything has changed in terms of hardware. The sizes are the same, the chips and battery got an itty-bitty boost, and there’s a new pyrite satin case finish. Instead, the big updates are all software-related: This year’s watch gets ambitious new health features that expand on the overhauled Google Health app and its AI coach introduced with the Fitbit Air earlier this year.
The only problem is those health updates aren’t here. The watch’s most interesting new features — blood pressure and insulin resistance trends, nightly sleep breathing quality, and strength training cues from the wrist — won’t start rolling out until next month. And in the case of breathing emergency detection, which calls emergency services if the device detects you’ve stopped breathing, the feature is still pending FDA clearance. (Europe will get it at launch, but this isn’t the sort of feature you can test anyway.)
That leaves me and the Pixel Watch 5 on my wrist in a bit of a reviewer’s pickle. All those features sound smart to me, but I can’t weigh in on whether they’re worth $399.99 — a $50 price hike over last year’s model — until they’re available. Given that half of those new metrics are meant to be viewed monthly , it’ll be a hot minute before I can write about them.
Improved GPS is good so far! Offline Gemini can come in handy Gesture controls are great While not overhauled, the hardware is still good
Which leaves the rest of the Pixel Watch 5 software updates: Wear OS 7, offline Gemini, a more accurate Raise to Talk feature, Proactive Assistance, more integrated gesture controls in the UI, AI watchfaces, some improved bedtime automations , and better GPS maps for outdoor activities. Broadly, I get the vibe Google’s going for — subtly helpful AI that enables glanceable, quickly actionable information — and I like it. However, except for GPS, these are refinements. They’re not mind-blowing updates that warrant morphing into the “ Shut up and take my money! ” meme. At launch, these will be exclusive to the Pixel Watch 5, but Google does have a history of software updates trickling down to older models with time.
Wear OS 7 isn’t a major departure from Wear OS 6. The double pinch and wrist turn gestures are now more directly integrated into the UI. At certain points (e.g., scrolling or selecting), you’ll see an animated chip of the pinching gesture. It’s a handy way of teaching you when a gesture can be used. During “live” activities — say, a workout or timer — another chip will appear on the main watchface. Flipping your wrist will dismiss your current screen or a call. These aren’t unique ideas. The Apple Watch has had them for a while. However , I love that they’re more prominently featured on the Pixel Watch ( and not just the Watch 5 ). You’ll never see me pooh-pooh well-executed gesture controls on smartwatches simply because they’re not 100 percent new.
I was less enamored with Proactive Assistance. As my colleagues Dom Preston, David Imel, and Cameron Faulkner have noted in their Pixel 11 reviews, these Gemini-powered suggestions don’t always work as intended. You may also never notice them! On the watch, it was helpful when a friend texted me via Google Messages about my availability for plans. A chip for my Google Calendar instantly popped up. Except those were orchestrated scenarios for testing. In real life, I mostly plan hangouts over Slack or phone calls, where Gemini isn’t integrated. I get the concept, and I can see this improving with future updates. But for now your mileage will vary.
Offline Gemini was more convenient in testing than I’d anticipated. I had zero intention of running with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold that I’d paired with my Watch 5. I’ve dropped way too many a smartphone to risk wrecking a caseless, $1,900 phone. Nevertheless, Gemini was able to start a workout via voice command, as well as quickly obtain a GPS signal well out of Bluetooth range of the phone, and therefore internet. (I did this exact testing scenario before setting up cellular.) There’s still some latency when you use wrist-based Gemini — offline or otherwise — but not so egregious that it’s unusable. Especially for basic tasks.
Speaking of GPS, I called Google bold when it claimed the GPS on the Pixel Watch 5 outperforms that on the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. It does this by…
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