Google is also pushing Fitbit’s Readiness Score as an important metric for Pixel Watch users. The feature, which takes into account things like your sleep score, recent workouts, and heart rate variability, lets you know if you should take more time to rest or if you’re ready for an all workout. But to access the app’s Readiness Score you’ll need to sign up for Fitbit Premium.
The service, which costs $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, includes things like guided workouts, health metrics for the past 90 days, and sleep score breakdowns. Google is offering 6 months of Fitbit Premium for free, after which you’ll need to pony up the cash. That said, you don’t need Premium to take advantage of the watch’s own features, just the Fitbit app’s offerings.
Long battery life, sort of
Here’s where the Pixel Watch runs into a wall. Google advertises 24 hours of battery life for the watch with the always-on display turned off. And that’s more or less what I got. But when you turn the always-on display on, you’ll get just a hair more than 12 hours of battery life.
The Apple Watch and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 will get you through your day and then some with their always-on displays active. To be clear, this isn’t a total deal breaker since the Pixel Watch still does everything else you expect it to, but it’s certainly a downer considering that this is designed to look like an attractive timepiece. Still, I did notice battery life improve slightly towards the end of my review time.
As for performance, the Pixel Watch was about as zippy as you’d expect a smartwatch to be. I noted a few hiccups here and there, such as when double-tapping the recent apps button or crown to activate Google Pay, but those instances were rare.
Should you get it?
The Pixel Watch is a beautiful piece of technology with top-notch fitness and health tracking capabilities. It finally puts Google on the map as an exceptional hardware maker capable of putting out some truly attractive gadgets. And sure, its bezels could be smaller, but I’m not too hung up on them.
I do, however, wish that the watch’s battery was stronger when the always-on display is active, especially given the watch’s premium price tag. That said, if you’re an Android user and looking for an otherwise strong smartwatch contender, the Pixel Watch is certainly one of the best options out there next to Samsung’s offerings. It doesn’t quite beat out the Apple Watch as the top-of-the-line smartwatch on the market, but it certainly comes close. | 
