Google launched the Pixel Watch last year, marking its entry into the wearables segment and expanding the Pixel ecosystem. According to a reportthe Pixel Watch sold surprisingly well for a first-generation product, with over 880,000 units sold in the fourth quarter of 2022. Today, the search engine giant finally launched the Pixel Watch 2 alongside the Pixel 8 series and there are a few things that stand out and other things they should have improved over the previous generation. In this guide, let’s take a look at the Pixel Watch 2 vs Pixel Watch and decide whether the successor is worth your hard-earned money.
Build quality and dimensions
The Pixel Watch 2 and the Watch have the exact dimensions and a similar build quality (stainless steel). Both feature Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and a stainless steel chassis. One of the things Google users wanted in the Pixel Watch 2 is a larger watch face, but unfortunately the Watch 2 has the same bezels and is only one size as the Pixel Watch. A larger 44mm version would have helped Google use a bigger battery, but it is what it is.
While it’s almost impossible to tell them apart from the front, the back of the Watch 2 looks different, where instead of the sensors being next to each other, they are now spread out across a circular section. There are also new and different colored straps this time that look quite good.
Pixel Watch 2 vs Pixel Watch: Screen
The displays on both the Pixel Watch 2 and the Watch are the same size, i.e. 1.2 inches, but what is different are their resolutions. The Pixel Watch 2 has an AMOLED screen of 384 x 384 pixels with a pixel density of 320 PPI with a maximum brightness of 1000 nits. The Pixel Watch, on the other hand, has a 450 x 450 pixel AMOLED with a pixel density of 453 ppi and a peak brightness of 1000 nits.
Since the Watch 2’s resolution is slightly lower, its overall performance should also get a very small boost, while extending battery life, as the battery now has significantly fewer pixels to power. We’ll get to performance in a moment, but since we’re also getting a new processor built on the 4nm architecture, overall battery life should get a significant boost in addition to performance.
Pixel Watch 2 or Pixel Watch: Performance
The Pixel Watch 2 features a much more recent Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor which, as we mentioned earlier, is built on a 4nm process. It’s a significant upgrade, both in performance and efficiency, compared to Pixel Watch’s Exynos 9110, a 10nm chip originally used in the Galaxy Watch in 2018.
For all the nerds out there, the W5 Gen 1 is a quad-core SoC with Cortex-A53 cores, all clocked at 1.7 GHz and an Adreno 702 GPU. It comes without the co-processor from W5+ Gen 1, which is used for ultra-low power tasks such as a low-power secondary display for AOD like the TicWatch Pro 5.
Battery life comparison
The slightly larger battery and lower resolution screen should give the Pixel Watch 2’s battery life a big boost compared to the Pixel Watch. Paired with the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, Qualcomm’s latest 4nm SoC for wearables, the Pixel Watch 2 should be more in line with Google’s claims of 24-hour battery life, unlike the Pixel Watch which clearly gets much less than lasted 24 hours.
Pixel Watch 2 vs Pixel Watch: New Features
Some of the notable new Pixel Watch 2 features include a skin temperature sensor, stress level indicator, tracking pace, heart rate zones, and new safety features. While the first three features are hardware dependent, users can expect the last two features to appear on the Pixel Watch running Wear OS 4. The new multi-band heart rate sensor is now much more efficient and accurate than the previous generation.
For those who really care about temperature sensors and stress levels, and there are a lot of people who do, the Pixel Watch 2 offers this round of comparison.
However, if you don’t care about the aforementioned features, most of the software tweaks shown at the Pixel Watch 2 launch should make their way to the Pixel Watch in future updates.
Pixel Watch 2 vs Pixel Watch: Specifications Comparison
| Specification | Pixel watch 2 | Pixel watch |
|---|---|---|
| View dimensions and dial | 41 x 41 x 12.3mm 41mm | 41 x 41 x 12.3mm 41mm |
| Display | 384 x 384 pixels 320 ppi, 1.2-inch AMOLED with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | 450 x 450 pixels, 1.2-inch AMOLED with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (non-replaceable) |
| Battery | 306mAh | 294mAh |
| Processor | Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 | Exynos 9110 (10nm) |
| To build | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Storage and RAM | 16GB eMMC and 2GB | 32GB eMMC and 2GB |
| Software | Wear OS 4.0 | Wear operating system 3.5 |
| Sensors | Enhanced four-band heart rate sensor, skin temperature, altimeter, compass, accelerometer, SpO2 | Heart rate, SpO2, accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter and compass |
| Notable features | Stress management, fall detection, emergency SOS, heart zone training, safety features, six months of free Fitbit Premium | Blood oxygen sensor Optical heart rate sensor Haptic crown |
| To colour | Polished silver/bay, matte black/obsidian, champagne gold/hazelnut and polished silver/porcelain | Matte black, champagne gold and polished silver. |
| Prices | $350 | US, Canada, Japan and Europe |
| Availability | USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and India | US, Canada, Japan and Europe |
Pixel Watch 2 vs Pixel Watch: Which One Should You Buy?
The Pixel Watch 2 costs $350, which is a $50 price increase compared to last year’s Pixel Watch. For that you get a slightly larger cell, a significantly faster and more efficient SoC, and new sensors to measure skin temperature and stress levels. It’s worth upgrading unless you don’t care about the new sensors and are already getting decent battery life out of your Pixel Watch. Although, for those who have been waiting a year for the Pixel Watch 2, as we know there are many of you out there, you can reap the rewards of patience; the Pixel Watch 2 is a WearOS device worth checking out if you like the Pixel ecosystem.
For those who don’t care about the Pixel ecosystem, Samsung also offers great smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch 6 or even Watch 5 are still great smartwatches that you can get at a great price, especially the Watch 5, which at the time of writing now costs $200 for the 44mm variant.
