How Google Could Make the Pixel Watch 3 the Smartwatch to Beat

The Pixel Watch 2 was a major improve over the unique, and in some methods it is what I all the time wished from the primary Pixel Watch. But that does not imply there is not room for enchancment. Among the largest adjustments I hope to see this yr is longer battery life. Google is not alone; attaining multiday battery life is a problem for a lot of smartwatch producers, together with Apple and Samsung. Yet as well being monitoring continues to turn into an even bigger a part of the enchantment behind smartwatches, battery life that reliably lasts for greater than a day or two is essential. It would flip the Pixel Watch right into a extra succesful sleep tracker, which is essential for measuring wellness.But battery life is only one means I hope to see the Pixel Watch enhance with Google’s subsequent mannequin. More well being readings that do not require a Fitbit Premium subscription, new wellness metrics and extra measurement choices are additionally on my record. Google usually releases a brand new Pixel Watch and Pixel telephones in October, so we’re anticipating it to keep up that launch schedule in 2024. Read extra: Smart Rings Are Picking Up Where Fitness Trackers Left OffLonger battery life Google Pixel Watch 2 with the charger connected James Martin/CNETIt looks like battery life will all the time be the Achilles heel of smartwatches. Like its major Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch opponents, the Pixel Watch 2 normally lasts for a few day on a single cost. But Google did make some enhancements between the first- and second-gen Pixel watches by enabling the newer mannequin to final for 24 hours with the always-on show activated. With that in thoughts, I hope to see extra enhancements with the subsequent model.There’s another excuse to be optimistic in regards to the Pixel Watch 3’s battery life. Google just lately made adjustments to the best way its Wear OS working system switches between the watch’s major processor and secondary low-power co-processor, which ought to increase energy effectivity and prolong battery life. Light duties comparable to surfacing notifications out of your telephone ought to require much less energy. That’s excellent news for all Wear OS watches, not simply Google’s subsequent Pixel Watch, and we noticed these enhancements at work within the new OnePlus Watch 2. This improved energy effectivity mixed with any updates Google could make to the Pixel Watch 3’s battery may lead to a noticeable increase in longevity. And that is vital contemplating health monitoring instruments from Fitbit (which Google owns) play an enormous position in serving to the Pixel Watch stand out from different Wear OS smartwatches. Sleep is a significant a part of the wellness equation, and it is tough to trace slumber constantly if it’s important to cost your watch each evening. Another measurement possibility The Google Pixel Watch 2. Richard Peterson/CNETLike its predecessor, the Pixel Watch 2 is out there in a single 41-millimeter measurement. That’s advantageous for somebody like me, since I’ve a small wrist, however I think about others could discover the Pixel Watch 2’s display too small. My former colleague Stephen Shankland mentioned metrics could be arduous to see on the Pixel Watch 2 when mountain biking, for instance.Other smartwatches can be found in two sizes to accommodate totally different wrists. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, for instance, is available in 40mm and 44mm measurement choices, whereas Apple sells the Series 9 in 41mm and 45mm sizes. But Google is not the one one sticking with a single measurement. The OnePlus Watch 2 and TicWatch Pro 5 additionally solely supply one possibility, though their respective watches skew on the bigger aspect. Google could the truth is take a web page from Samsung and Apple’s ebook with the subsequent Pixel Watch. According to a report from 9to5Google, the Pixel Watch 3 will are available in a brand new 45mm measurement possibility alongside the present 41mm measurement. New big-picture well being metrics Workout choices on the Pixel Watch 2. Lisa Eadicicco/CNETFitbit launched its Daily Readiness Score in 2021, which charges how rested you might be based mostly on components like exercise, sleep and coronary heart fee variability. But in 2024, I’d prefer to see Google take {that a} step additional to extra clearly distinguish itself from rivals like Oura and Garmin.The present model of the Daily Readiness Score can already present bits of recommendation which are tailor-made to your current sleep and exercise. For instance, in case your readiness is “good,” the app may suggest that you just train reasonably with out overdoing it. I believe Fitbit may do extra on this space with a broader kind of ranking that pulls in different information factors like stress. Fitbit already has a separate Stress Management Score that exhibits how your physique is dealing with stress, together with how exercise and sleep affect your stress ranges. But it could be fascinating to see a blanket metric that ties components like readiness and stress ranges collectively to color a extra complete image of your present state. It’s unclear precisely what’s subsequent for the Fitbit app, however Google is planning some massive adjustments for this yr. Fitbit Labs, a program that may use AI to additional join the dots between well being information factors, will arrive for Fitbit Premium members later in 2024. With Fitbit Labs, you’ll ask questions like why a run felt tougher at present in comparison with yesterday, as the corporate talked about in its Made by Google keynote final yr when introducing this system. But in a more moderen dialog with CNET, Google’s Ajay Surie additionally mentioned the tech could possibly be used to assist Fitbit customers set up health objectives.”We also see a huge potential for AI to help us drive the right recommendations for the goals you want to set,” he mentioned. “Because one of the biggest problems that we see in health, and I have this problem too, is getting users to stay focused and sticking with what they’re trying to achieve.”More with out Fitbit Premium Google Pixel Watch 2 and Google Pixel 8 with the Fitbit app. James Martin/CNETWith the free Fitbit app, you’ll be able to nonetheless observe exercise, sleep and coronary heart fee and examine some tendencies associated to your well being metrics. But lots of the holistic information factors that present extra context require a Fitbit Premium subscription, which prices $10 per thirty days. The Daily Readiness Score talked about above is just accessible with a subscription, for instance, as is Fitbit Labs and Fitbit’s month-to-month personalised sleep evaluation software. While you’ll be able to see your sleep and stress scores with out Premium, you want a subscription to get the total breakdown behind these rankings.Charging a subscription for well being and health teaching providers is not unusual. Oura equally prices $6 a month, and the Whoop band requires a hefty $239 annual membership. But I’d prefer to see Google present extra beneath the free tier, even when it is only a watered-down model of the Daily Readiness Score. Doing so would make the Pixel Watch a extra helpful health tracker out of the field, which is vital now that Google is dealing with new competitors from OnePlus and Samsung. Both firms make Wear OS watches however do not require a subscription for any of their well being monitoring options. Samsung can also be launching new wellness metrics like My Vitality Score and Booster Cards within the Samsung Health app later this yr. A better assistant Google’s AI assistant Gemini introduces itself on a telephone. Google/Screenshot by Lisa Lacy/CNETGoogle already introduced its Gemini AI mannequin to smartphones, and I hope smartwatches are subsequent. The present model of the Google Assistant is already a lot responsive and is useful for duties like setting timers, checking the climate and shortly beginning a exercise. But there are many methods I may see a extra superior assistant being helpful on a smartwatch. What if a extra highly effective model of the Google Assistant may summarize incoming notifications or emails for you, fairly than simply surfacing them in your wrist? With a display as small because the Pixel Watch’s, having an assistant that may reduce down on the variety of occasions it’s important to faucet, swipe and scroll is vital. And a wiser model of the Google Assistant would possible do exactly that.But after Gemini’s picture creation software got here beneath hearth for creating photos of those that have been traditionally inaccurate, it would not be stunning for Google to decelerate its growth to new gadgets. Longer software program help Google Pixel Watch 2 and Google Pixel 8  James Martin/CNETGoogle gives three years of software program updates for the Pixel Watch. While that is not horrible, the corporate affords for much longer help for its Pixel telephones. The Pixel 8 household will get new variations of Android for seven years, which makes the Pixel Watch’s three-year timeline appear brief by comparability. Smartphones are a way more important a part of on a regular basis life in comparison with smartwatches, so it is sensible that Google would help Pixel telephones for an extended time frame. Still, I’d a minimum of prefer to see Google match Samsung, which helps its Galaxy Watch 6 lineup with 5 years of software program updates. Only Google is aware of what’s subsequent for the Pixel Watch and its different merchandise. But a long-lasting Pixel Watch with extra superior well being monitoring and a wiser digital assistant would make Google’s subsequent watch the one to beat.