3 Months With a Pixel Watch: A Quick Update

Doing updates at months 1 and 2 without jumping back in with another at month 3 doesn’t make sense in my brain, so hey, we’re back to briefly talk about life with a Pixel Watch after a quarter of a year. Yeah, I’ve had Google’s first smartwatch on the wrist for most of the past 3 months if you can believe it.

For those who missed it, looking at my review, 1 month check-in, and 2 month check-in might be worth it before moving on in this post because this really will be brief. I don’t have much to add after 3 months, since nothing has really changed. I do have a couple of notes to make, though.

A lot of the same

After a full 3 months of life with the Google Pixel Watch, I can’t exactly say that I expected major changes to come to it or for the experience to change much from that first few weeks, and well, that’s where we are. The Pixel Watch today is like the Pixel Watch from month 1 and that’s OK.

That means the design is still wonderful, performance is very good, battery life is a full day+ (with AOD off), and I’m thoroughly invested in the Fitbit integration. It also means I have the same gripes about software changes I’d like to see, that the band situation isn’t great unless you buy these cheap adapters, and that I’d love to be able to leave the always-on display on each day without worry.

Overall, I still very much like the Pixel Watch, even if I can clearly admit that it is not perfect. It is currently my preferred smartwatch and probably will be for a while since there is nothing on the horizon that I see replacing it. Samsung watches just aren’t for me.

A couple of updates

If there is one area that has surprised me some, it’s in updates. Google pushed out updates to the Pixel Watch out of the box and in both December and January to address a number of bugs. While I wouldn’t necessarily call either of them a major update, they were updates!

I think my surprise there comes from the lack of updates from most Android smartwatch makers. Samsung is pretty good at updating their watches, but the rest of the industry is horrible at it. My brain has clearly been poisoned by history and I probably should have expected Google to be better. I’m glad to see that they have been.

I look forward to regularly scheduled updates and hopefully that leads to Feature Drop goodies.

I bought this goofy new case-band and kind of like it

The folks at Caseology made a Pixel Watch case/band called the Nano Pop that costs $29.99 (buy it here). It’s a silicon case that wraps around the Pixel Watch and then doubles as the band that wraps your wrist. It completely changes the overall vibe of the Pixel Watch, turning it into more of a sport watch (like a Garmin or Polar) than the classic styling I like so much out of the box.

That said, I totally bought it. Yes, I’m aware of how goofy it is and that it hides the Pixel Watch’s wonderful design, but I like trying new things. I also spend a lot of time in the gym and have banged the Pixel Watch enough that I’m worried it won’t be long before I severely scratch its domed glass or crack it. So I’m giving this a spin! I may let you know how it goes.

Went on a trip, left the Pixel Watch behind

If there is one piece of news that I absolutely have to share about the past month with the Pixel Watch, it is in the decision I made before leaving on a trip I took about a week ago. When assessing all of the crap I’d have to bring with me on a 4-night excursion, I looked at my Pixel Watch and then talked softly to it before taking it off and leaving it on my office desk. I instead swapped it for an Apple Watch Ultra.

Why? Battery life and charging. As easy as it is to take the Pixel Watch off each morning and slap it on a charger while at home, I was worried that finding the time to let that happen when on a trip wouldn’t be so easy. When we travel, we try to do stuff the entire time, so that means in and out of a rental, into the woods or a brewery or on a kid adventure and back again.

I knew the Apple Watch Ultra would last 2-3 days on a single charge and wouldn’t be something I’d worry about. It also charges quite fast and I understood that it would take a single charge during the trip rather than 4 of them on the Pixel Watch.

So really what it boiled down to was that it was another thing I didn’t want to worry about. I’m now back on the Pixel Watch with this goofy case, but thought I’d let you know about that decision if for some reason you were wondering about an upcoming trip of yours. That’s the choice I made. I may make a different one next time.

Other Pixel Watch owners, thoughts after 3 months?