Smartwatch google play. 10 Best Fitness Apps For Android Wear

Best Fitness Apps For Android Wear

After the great success that Android has had on smartphones and tablets, Google decided to enter the budding smartwatch market with its Android Wear platform. While the success of the platform is still under debate, there are already many apps available on the platform.

Apart from bringing you notifications right to your wrist, smartwatches have another great use, that is heath and fitness details. Most of the smartwatch manufacturers pre-install their own fitness apps on their devices but there are some cool third party offerings on the Google Play Store.

So, today we are taking a look at the 10 best health and fitness apps for Android Wear:

Endomondo

We are pretty sure of your acquaintance with Endomondo, considering it has been a popular fitness app even before the arrival of smartwatches and Android Wear. The developers have made sure to support Android Wear and that makes it even better because you now have the rich features of the app right on your wrist.

Endomondo packs a long list of great features. The health and fitness app lets you track your fitness data, be it from an outdoor workout or indoor. The app also works great with heart rate monitors to bring you your heart rate data. It also analyses your data to bring your a daily diary, split times for each workout and more.

There are also some cool social features, which let you interact with your friends and share your fitness plans. You can use your Android Wear smartwatch to give voice commands and you can customize what data you first see on your wearable. Endomondo comes in a free version and a premium version. The premium version is a subscription based offers at 5.99/month or 29.99/year.

Developer: Endomondo.com

Compatibility: Varies with device

Availability: Endomondo (Free with in-app purchases) – Google Play Store

Google Fit

Google launched its Google Fit platform alongside Android Wear last year and since being a Google app, it works very smoothly on Android Wear devices. You can use the Google Fit by pairing your smartwatch to your Android smartphone or tablet or you can even use it as a standalone app on your Android Wear smartwatch.

The app shows you the steps you’ve taken in the last few days on your wearable. There are cards for your heart rate measurements, ability to set goals, see cycling and running data and more. For more advanced features such as maps, advanced graphs, you’ll need to pair your wearable with an Android smartphone.

The best thing about Google Fit is it lets you integrate data from your third party fitness apps as well, resulting in all your health data on one screen, which is pretty cool. As with all the Google apps, Google Fit is available for free on the Play Store.

Developer: Google Inc.

Compatibility: Android 4.0 and up

Availability: Google Fit (Free) – Google Play Store

Runtastic Running Pro

Runtastic Running Pro is another popular fitness app on the Google Play Store and it’s very highly rated and rightly so. Runtastic Running Pro, as the name suggests is a running app on the core but the list of features make you feel at home for every fitness or health data you would need.

You can control the app using your Android Wear smartwatch and use the plethora of features that Runtastic brings. There’s map workouts, workout diary with advanced graphs and statistics, voice coach, live tracking, training plans, goals and way more.

The app is available in a free as well as a paid version but we’ll suggest that paid version because of that great list of features. The paid version is available on the Google Play Store for Rs. 300 and you must definitely check it out.

Developer: Runtastic

Compatibility: Varies with device

Availability: Runtastic Running Pro (Paid) – Google Play Store

Strava Running and Cycling

Strava Running and Cycling app is among the most downloaded and highly rated health and fitness apps on the Play Store and with Android Wear support, it gets better. The app has the ability use your smartwatch’s GPS to bring your fitness and health data on the go.

The app brings you key data like distance covered, elevation, speed and the calories you burned. There’s also ability monitor your heart rate, share activities on and see who’s on the top of fitness leader-boards.

The Strava app is available for free but you can make an in-app purchase to get the premium version, which brings features like ability to set goals, immediate performance results, training videos and more.

Developer: Strava Inc.

Compatibility: Android 4.0 and up

Availability: Strava Running and Cycling (Free with in-app purchases) – Google Play Store

MediSafe Meds Pills Reminder

MediSafe Meds Pills Reminder app is pretty self explanatory with its name itself but there are some notable features in the app, which make it a must have for fitness and health app users. Along with reminding you, the MediSafe app is a great medication manager as well and thank to Android Wear, you won’t need your phone for those reminders.

The app lets you enter medical details of not only but your family members or friends as well. There’s also the ability to sync to your family member’s devices in real time. Along with medication reminders, the app also tracks your measurements, medication progress reports and more. The app brings reminders and notifications directly to your Android wearable.

The app is available for free on the Google Play Store, so you should check it out if you constantly forget your meds and pills.

Developer: MediSafe

Compatibility: Varies with device

Availability: MediSafe Meds Pills Reminder (Free) – Google Play Store

Cardiograph

As the name suggests, Cardiograph is aimed at people who want their heart rate data on the goo right to their wrist. The app has been specifically designed with Android Wear smartwatches in mind, as it lets you measure and track heart rate data from your wearable, although your smartwatch should pack a heart rate sensor for that. On a smartphone, the app uses the built-in camera or the heart rate sensor (if it’s there) to measure your heart rate.

The app lets you measure your heart rate, tells you the speed of your heart rate and tracks your data over time. There’s ability to monitor heart rate of different people from the same device using profiles. Each profile will feature heart rate data of the individual members.

Developer: MacroPinch

Compatibility: Varies with device

Availability: Cardiograph (Free) – Google Play Store

Wear Fitness Personal Trainer

Wear Fitness Personal Trainer, also known as Vimo Fit is a great app if you don’t want to use your smartphone at all. The app is aimed at Android Wear users and all the features can be controlled right from your smartwatch.

The app claims to automatically calculate the calories burned and its special algorithms let it know the exercise you are performing. The app is aimed at people who have a workout routine and as the name suggests, the app acts as a personal trainer. There’s a Guide mode, which analyses your fitness levels and goals to bring you personalized info. The app features motion tracking tech and help from famous YouTube personal trainer, Coach Kozak.

If you need a well featured fitness app, specifically for your Android Wear smartwatch, then Wear Fitness Personal Trainer or VimoFit should be a great choice. Keep in mind though that the app is essentially in a public beta, so there will be inconsistencies in the experience.

Developer: Vimo Labs

Compatibility: Android 4.2 and up

Availability: Wear Fitness Personal Trainer (Free) – Google Play Store

Workout for Android Wear

The Workout for Android Wear is a pretty simple and a straightforward app. The app brings you a workout routine of less than 10 minutes everyday to keep you in shape.

The app is based on “The Scientific Workout” routine, which was featured in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health Fitness Journal. The workout routine from the app features 12 exercises to get in shape. The app visually represents the exercises along with a countdown timer. The app also offers detailed statistics right to your smartwatch.

Well, the concept is surely pretty neat and anyone not willing to exercise a lot during a hectic day can use the app to keep them fit. over, the app is available for a modest price of Rs. 60.58 on the Google Play Store.

Developer: Blukz

Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up

Availability: Workout for Android Wear (Paid) – Google Play Store

Wear Run Pro

Wear Run Pro is a cool running tracker app specifically aimed at Android Wear users. The app tracks your running session’s speed, distance, number of steps and more. The app also shows detailed graphs and statistics to keep track of your progress better. The graphs can be shown in monthly, yearly or weekly views, as per your needs.

The app is available in both free and paid versions but we’ll suggest the paid version because of the extra features it brings and the fact that data cannot be imported to the paid version from the free version of the app. If you need a running tracker app and do not want to use your phone at all, you should check out Wear Run Pro.

Developer: AllAboutEE

Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up

Availability: Wear Run Pro (Paid) – Google Play Store

Wear Hydrate Me

Wear Hydrate me, as the name suggests helps you keep your body hydrated. The cool little app tracks and reminds you to take your daily water intake to keep your fit and healthy.

The app features a simple interface and various features like customizable goals, alarms, daily water intake tracking and more. You can make an in-app purchase to see your monthly progress.

While the feature list might not be very impressive, it’s certainly a useful app and gets the work done. Once you install this app, we are pretty sure you won’t be ever be dehydrated.

Developer: AeusTech Inc.

Compatibility: Android 4.3 and up

Availability: Wear Hydrate Me (Free with in-app purchases) – Google Play Store

The arrival of smartwatches and Android Wear is certainly a boon for Health and Fitness enthusiasts and the developers are surely not disappointing anyone. With everything right on your wrist, the ease of use is tremendous and we are pretty sure the future of health and fitness services is rosy.

Well, these are our picks for the 10 best fitness apps for Android Wear smartwatches. Tell us your picks, what health and fitness apps you love to use on your Android Wear smartwatch?

Google Pixel Watch: Finally, A Real Apple Watch-Competitor For The Rest Of Us

Google’s Pixel Watch is an excellent Wear OS smartwatch that integrates tightly into Google’s ecosystem but suffers a bit from sub-par battery life. However, the Pixel Watch finally gives us a solid Apple Watch alternative for Android users.

• Excellent design
• Gorgeous screen
• Responsive software and experience
• Tight Google ecosystem integration
• A little small on bigger wrists
• Sub-par battery life
• Convoluted setup process
• No blood oxygen monitoring
• Some key features require Fitbit Premium

After years and years of rumors and leaks, Google’s elusive Pixel Watch (350) is finally here. What started out as a pair of scrapped Nexus watches back in 2016, has morphed into a single Pixel Watch today. Since then, Android Wear has evolved into Wear OS, and Google has acquired some of Fossil Group’s intellectual property and RD team, plus smartwatch maker Fitbit. In fact, Google co-developed Wear OS 3 together with both Samsung and Fitbit.

Meanwhile, the Apple Watch has (arguably) become the most popular smartwatch on the market, leaving everyone else in the dust. Samsung’s recent Galaxy Watch models, which run Wear OS, are solid runner-ups, but some features only work on Samsung phones. Fossil Group’s many Wear OS smartwatches don’t quite deliver the same level of polish as Apple and Samsung, and likewise, Fitbit’s smartwatches don’t offer a rich enough app ecosystem.

Then, you have ultra-specialized smartwatches like Garmin, and the plethora of smartwatches from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, and even OnePlus, which are mostly just fitness bands on steroids, with fantastic battery life but limited app support. Clearly, the Pixel Watch is facing both stiff competition and high expectations. So, was it worth the wait? Is the Pixel Watch Google’s answer to the Apple Watch for Android users?

Pixel Watch Hardware And Industrial Design

Google’s Pixel Watch is sleek and modern. Unlike other Wear OS devices – especially the smartwatches from Fossil Group – it eschews a traditional timepiece design for a more futuristic vibe, without giving up some familiar cues, such as a circular case and functional crown. It’s also more streamlined than any of Samsung’s smartwatches. Basically, the Pixel Watch is what we’d imagine a circular Apple Watch would look like.

Imagine a donut without a hole, and that’s pretty much the shape of the Pixel Watch. The top half is domed Gorilla Glass 5, while the bottom half is recycled stainless steel and is home to various health and fitness sensors, a speaker and mic (left), and a side button and mic (right). The crown is mounted dead center on the right side between the glass and stainless steel halves, and provides haptic feedback when rotated.

Custom bands attach to the stainless steel half using a sliding mechanism that Google says is “inspired by the secure and seamless way lenses attach to cameras”. We found swapping bands to be reasonably intuitive and hassle free, but others found the process more fiddly. Our review unit came with Google’s active Band (in charcoal), a fluoroelastomer Band with two different lengths to accommodate a variety of wrist sizes.

While these custom bands keep the Pixel Watch looking sleek and modern, the tradeoff is that you can’t use standard watch bands – unless you buy one of Google’s two leather bands, which consists of a standard 20mm Band connected to an adapter that attaches to the Pixel Watch. In addition, Google also offers a stretch Band and a woven Band. All these bands come in various earthy hues from Pixel’s current color palette.

The Pixel Watch only comes in one size (41mm in diameter), which unfortunately, looks a bit too small on larger wrists. It’s available in polished silver (like our review unit), matte black, or Champagne gold, and is water resistant up to 5 ATM (a depth of 50m / 164ft). A magnetic wireless charging base with a captive USB Type-C cable is included in the box, but sadly the Pixel Watch isn’t compatible with Qi wireless charging pads.

As an aside, we’d have preferred if the supplied charging base featured a USB Type-C connector (like Huawei does with the charging base for its smartwatches) instead of a cable, allowing the Pixel Watch to be charged like a phone or earbuds. Right now, if you want to use a USB Type-C charging brick, you have to disconnect the C-to-C cable that’s plugged into it, then connect the charging puck, which is a hassle. These details matter.

Pixel Watch Display Quality

Google didn’t skimp on the Pixel Watch’s display. It’s a 1.2-inch diameter AMOLED panel, 450 pixels across (320dpi) which can reach 1000 nits of brightness. Colors are punchy, blacks are inky, and it’s easy to read in direct sunlight. There’s a significant black bezel (5mm wide) under the glass around the screen in the area where the glass half curves to meet the stainless steel half, but it’s not really noticeable in everyday use.

If, like us, you expect your watches to always show the time, you can enable the Pixel Watch’s always-on display in the settings. Be warned, however, that this feature consumes a lot of power, and since the Pixel Watch’s battery life is already challenging (more on this later), we ended up turning it off.

Google Pixel Watch Audio And Connectivity

By default, Google’s Pixel Watch includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS support, but 4G LTE connectivity is available for an additional 50. Unfortunately, while our review unit supports LTE, we didn’t have access to an eSIM voucher to test this functionality. The Pixel Watch also features NFC for contactless payments via Google Pay, which works fine as long as you remember to double press the crown to activate it.

We didn’t experience any issues with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or GPS connectivity. Calls sounded clear on both ends when using the built-in speaker, and pairing Bluetooth earbuds with the Pixel Watch was trouble free. This lets you enjoy music while working out without having to bring your phone. Obviously, you can also use the Pixel Watch as a media remote for your phone.

Pixel Watch Performance And Battery Life

Google’s Pixel Watch is powered by a 10nm Samsung Exynos 9110 wearable SoC (dual-core Cortex A53), which first appeared on Samsung’s original Galaxy Watch back in 2018. This seems like an odd choice in 2022, considering Samsung’s been using its 5nm Exynos W920 chip (dual-core Cortex A55) on the Galaxy Watch for the past two years. The Pixel Watch also includes an ARM Cortex M33 co-processor for low-power operation.

In the Pixel Watch, this Exynos 9110 SoC is paired with 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage. Other specs include 4G LTE (optional), Wi-Fi (802.11n), Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and A-GPS / GLONASS / Galileo / BeiDou positioning. The Pixel Watch also packs a compass, an altimeter, a blood oxygen sensor, a multipurpose electrical sensor, an optical heart rate sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and an ambient light sensor.

Despite using a four year old chip, the Pixel Watch feels pretty responsive. Subjectively, it performs better than any other Wear OS 3 smartwatch we’ve used, including those from Fossil Group (which mostly feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 and 4100), and even Samsung’s current Galaxy Watch models. Perhaps this is because the Pixel Watch boasts more RAM (2GB) than any other Wear OS smartwatch.

The only area where the Pixel Watch falls short is battery life. Most days, our Pixel watch has basically been idling on our wrist, other than showing notifications, making a few NFC payments, and tracking steps, heart rate, and sleep. But even with the always-on display and LTE disabled – and without working out, making calls, or using Google Assistant – we’ve struggled to achieve Google’s 24h rating.

It turns out that sleep tracking is really power hungry. Google recommends the Pixel Watch have at least a 30% charge to record an entire night’s sleep (seven-ish hours). That’s been our experience, but considering most fitness bands can track sleep – plus daily activities – for a week or longer on a single charge, the Pixel Watch’s energy consumption while tracking sleep (using Bedtime Mode) seems excessive.

The Pixel Watch’s smaller 294mAh battery isn’t helping. Most Wear OS smartwatches use cells with a capacity of about 400mAh. We can’t help but think that a slightly larger case (44mm, say) would have allowed the Pixel Watch to feature a larger battery and fit larger wrists better, without looking out of place on smaller wrists. Regardless, we suggest you keep your charging base within reach, especially if you want to track your sleep.

On the plus side, the Pixel Watch delivers excellent haptics, both for notifications and when spinning the crown. That being said, we’d like to have a way to adjust vibration strength for notifications.

Pixel Watch Software And User Experience

The Pixel Watch runs Wear OS 3.5 and supports all the Google services you’d expect, including Google Assistant, Google Pay, Google Home, Google Maps, and even YouTube Music. It also integrates seamlessly with other Google apps, like Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Keep Notes, Messages, Phone, and Photos. So obviously, if you’re heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem, you’ll feel right at home.

Using the Pixel Watch is pretty intuitive, and the UI is standard Wear OS. Just raise your wrist or tap the screen to wake up the watch and display the current watch face. Swipe down on the watch face to show the battery level, connection status, and quick settings (including shortcuts to the settings menu, Google Home and Google Pay). Swipe up to show a list of recent notifications, plus a “clear all” button.

Additionally, swipe left or right to cycle through a carousel of tiles such as activity, heart rate, sleep, agenda, weather, timer, alarm, Google Maps, and YouTube Music – to name a few. Basically, think of these tiles as app widgets. Touching and holding the current tile allows you to remove it or change its position in the carousel. Similarly, touching and holding the current watch face lets you remove or customize it.

Press the crown to display a list of installed apps. Scroll through the list and tap to launch an app. Once inside an app, swipe right to return to the previous screen. Double press the crown for Google Pay, and long-press the crown for the power menu. Press the side button to show a list of recent apps. Double press the side button to return to the last app, and long-press the side button (or say “Hey Google”) for Google Assistant.

Obviously, you can install additional apps and watch faces from the Google Play Store, either on the Pixel Watch itself, or using Google’s Play Store and Watch apps on your phone. Google’s Watch app also lets you manage tiles and watch faces directly from your handset. Some notifications are actionable, and you can expand notifications by tapping on them, or dismiss individual notifications by swiping left or right.

Google Pixel Watch Setup Process

Before we mention the Pixel Watch’s health and fitness features, let’s take a moment to discuss the setup process. Unfortunately, setting up the Pixel Watch is a somewhat convoluted affair. With most Android smartwatches, you just need to install one companion app on your phone to unlock the device’s full capabilities. As a bonus, this companion app often automatically syncs health and fitness data with Google’s Fit app.

The Pixel Watch requires Google’s Watch app and the Fitbit app, but not Google’s Fit app, which is unexpected. Now, the Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch also require two apps (Samsung’s Wearable and Health apps, plus Apple’s Watch and Health apps, respectively), but those apps usually come pre-installed on the company’s respective phones, and use a single login to connect to their respective ecosystems.

Also, Samsung Health syncs with Google Fit, and Apple Fitness – an optional app focused on workouts – syncs with Apple Health. That’s not how it works with the Pixel Watch. Not only does the Fitbit app not sync with Google Fit, it requires a completely separate login from your Google login. Even worse, the Fitbit app doesn’t use Google Sign-In to streamline account login. Your Fitbit account is a separate ecosystem of its own.

So when you set up your Pixel Watch, you’ll have to create a Fitbit account if you don’t already have one, and none of your Fitbit health and fitness data will sync to Google Fit. If you want to sync your health and fitness data from your Fitbit account to Google Fit, you’ll have to install a separate, third-party app like FitToFit on your handset. Now, we realize Google only recently acquired Fitbit, but this seems like a major omission.

You’d think that the Pixel Watch – which is meant to showcase Google’s wearable ecosystem – would fully integrate with Google Fit, the company’s own health and fitness platform. Adding to the confusion, you can install the Google Fit watch app on the Pixel Watch to collect some basic health and fitness data. But this data often contradicts Fitbit’s data. Where Google Fit might count 8,594 steps, Fitbit might count 8,242 steps.

In addition, during setup, our Pixel Watch didn’t automatically install watch apps for every matching phone app. For example, despite having the Google Camera app installed on our Pixel 7 Pro, we had to manually install the matching Google Camera watch app. We also had to manually install the Photos watch face and the FitBit ECG watch app.

Pixel Watch Health And Fitness Features

As we established during the setup process, health and fitness on Google’s Pixel Watch is primarily handled via the Fitbit app. The company, which was recently acquired by Google, has spent years building a top-notch health and fitness tracking ecosystem around bespoke hardware and software – providing detailed sleep and workout tracking with advanced features such as heart rate zones, daily readiness, etc…

During our time with the Pixel Watch, we only scratched the surface of what’s possible with Fitbit’s health and fitness features, which include sleep tracking, step counting, heart rate monitoring, 40 workout types, and more. Basically, the Pixel Watch does everything a Fitbit smartwatch can do, except for blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring, which is coming to the Pixel Watch at some point in the future.

Unfortunately, some key features, which are available for free on other smartwatches (like sleep score breakdown), are only available on the Pixel Watch with a Fitbit Premium membership, which costs 10 per month or 80 per year. While the Pixel Watch comes with a complimentary six-month Fitbit Premium membership, it seems misguided for Google to charge for features that are standard on other smartwatches.

On the other hand, Fitbit Premium also includes advanced features that are similar to what Apple offers with its paid Fitness membership, like audio workouts and guided meditations. So if these are the kind of features you’re looking for, Fitbit Premium might be worth the additional cost.

Pixel Watch Final Review Analysis

Google’s Pixel Watch is an attractive Wear OS smartwatch with a beautiful screen and responsive software that integrates tightly into Google’s ecosystem. In addition, the Fitbit app offers best-in-class health and fitness features, and its 350 price point is competitive. As such, the Pixel Watch is the first smartwatch that delivers a true Apple Watch-like experience for all Android phone users. That’s a big deal.

But, despite being years in the making, the Pixel Watch is also very much a first generation product that comes with some major limitations. It’s too small for larger wrists, battery life is disappointing, the setup process needs some polish, and there’s no blood oxygen monitoring out of the gate. Also, it’s a bummer that you need a Premium membership to fully enjoy Fitbit’s excellent health and fitness features.

In all, we think the Pixel Watch is definitely worth considering if you’re planning to use it for everything but sleep tracking, and are open to paying for Fitbit Premium. You might also want to buy a Fitbit Inspire fitness Band to wear while you sleep to maximize the Pixel Watch’s battery life. For those with a Samsung handset, the Galaxy Watch 5 might be a better option. The rest of you should probably wait until Google launches the Pixel Watch gen two.

Google Pixel Watch review: A great smartwatch, but not the best for fitness tracking

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Before I even unboxed the Google Pixel Watch, I assumed it would function like a souped-up version of the now-Google-owned brand, Fitbit. After wearing one every day for a month, I found this to be only partially true.

As a smartwatch, the Pixel Watch is outstanding. Using the Android-based (and Google-made) operating system, WearOS, it does almost everything you want in a Smart wearable. There’s a variety of available apps, the interface is simple to navigate, and you can send texts and emails and even make and take phone calls.

But as a fitness tracker, the watch falls flat on its face. Despite Fitbit being an in-house brand, the Pixel Watch is plagued by inaccurate activity tracking due to unreliable GPS syncing. And while this is a first-generation watch that’s bound to experience growing pains, I still expected Google to get the fitness part right.

Aside from that, I was otherwise impressed with its smartwatch functionality and health features. If Google finds a way to fix its syncing issues, the Pixel Watch would be a top competitor as the best Android smartwatch.

The Google Pixel Watch from Fitbit is the brand’s first major collaboration with its parent company, Google. Built exclusively for Android users, the Pixel Watch is a premium smartwatch that blends Fitbit’s activity tracking capability with Google’s Wear OS operating system.

• Compatible with any Android phone that can download the Fitbit and Google Pixel Watch app
• WearOS is intuitive and easy to use
• Lightweight and clean design that resembles traditional, round wristwatches

A stylish design and comfortable fit for wearing indoors and outdoors

Although the Pixel shares some DNA with Fitbit’s wearables, its design is distinctly different. The watch features a circular face with smooth, rounded edges that roll right into the watch Band. It’s a subtle design that forgoes the more sporty, squared style native to Fitbit in favor of something more formal.

As someone who primarily wears sporty activity trackers, I still appreciated the Pixel’s more conventional smartwatch design. It feels like Google intended it to lean more toward being an understated smartwatch than a rugged fitness tracker.

The watch does come standard with a rubber sport Band, giving it some utility as an activity tracker right out of the box. But it’s still sleek enough to complement more dressy attire for the office or a night out. I liked how comfortable this Band was, too, and that it didn’t irritate or chafe my skin during workouts.

The Pixel Watch offers a premium smartwatch experience thanks to WearOS

One of the Pixel Watch’s biggest strengths is its smartwatch capability, led by its intuitive and easy-to-use operating system, WearOS. Whereas a smartwatch like the Fitbit Sense 2 is hamstrung by a restrictive operating system that doesn’t allow third-party app support, WearOS enhances the Pixel’s usefulness.

For instance, it offers Google-branded support via features like Google Assistant, Google Wallet, and Google Maps, as well as a wide selection of apps from the Google Play Store. This includes apps like Spotify, Strava, and, of course, Fitbit.

The Pixel even lets you make phone calls right on the watch, in addition to receiving and responding to text messages. I found it to be a pain typing out long texts on the somewhat small watch face, but with short messages, I was all for it. Voice-to-text, in a quiet area, worked well, too.

What impressed me most about its Smart features is just how easy they all were to use. It was a seamless experience whether I needed to check app notifications, log a workout in Strava, or take a quick phone call on my wrist.

To me, this is exactly what the true worth of a smartwatch is. Being an effective extension of your smartphone lets you avoid fishing your phone out of every few minutes to see what the latest buzz of a notification was. The Pixel nails this.

Works with all current Android phones without a knock to the overall experience

Just because the Pixel Watch is a Google product doesn’t mean the watch’s full compatibility is confined to the company’s Pixel line of phones. Rather, the watch is compatible with any Android smartphone that’s able to download both the Fitbit app and the Google Pixel Watch app via the Google Play Store.

This is in sharp contrast to its biggest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy line of smartwatches. While Galaxy watches, like the Watch5 Pro, do work with other Android smartphones, they’re best utilized with a Samsung phone and lack some major features when paired with anything else.

Although I don’t view the Galaxy Watch’s lack of broad compatibility as a total dealbreaker, the fact the Pixel Watch experience is the same on the Google Pixel 7 as it is on a Samsung Galaxy S23 (the phones I used for testing) does give it wider appeal.

One of the worst fitness-tracking experiences I’ve ever had

This is where the Pixel Watch lost me. Not only did its built-in GPS routinely have trouble connecting during a workout, but that lack of connection would throw the tracking entirely out of whack. It got so bad during testing that I decided to wear a second watch just to get an accurate read of my workouts.

The issue seems to lie directly with how quickly the watch starts a workout. As soon as you hit the start icon, a short, seemingly un-pausable countdown begins before the timer starts. While this is happening, you can see the watch attempting to connect to GPS but instead of waiting for that connection, the watch just begins the workout.

This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the GPS just synced shortly after the workout started. However, I’d go an entire multi-mile run without it ever syncing. The result would be a tracking inaccuracy of anywhere between a minute and a half and two minutes off my normal mile time. I may not be training for any specific race or event but a discrepancy of that size renders my training data useless.

I’ve seen poor tracking like this before and it happens to come from another wearable in Google’s broader lineup: the Fitbit Versa 4. While reviewing that watch, we found the exact same GPS issues and tracking inconsistencies, so it’s disappointing to see that the problem persists beyond just the Versa 4 (the Fitbit Sense 2, however, our pick as the best Fitbit, tracked and synced perfectly fine when we tested it).

To me, this is a major flaw, and something that should give most Pixel Watch users pause, especially active folks. If fitness features aren’t a priority, then its inconsistent syncing and spotty tracking capability may not matter all that much. As someone who’s fairly active and wears and tests fitness trackers every day, I can’t look past it. I hope Google implements a fix via a future firmware update.

Google’s acquisition of Fitbit is most noticeable with the Pixel’s solid suite of health features

The Pixel Watch’s batch of health features is the closest replication of what it’s like to use a Fitbit smartwatch and is clearly where Google leaned on that brand acquisition the most. And for everything it gets wrong with its fitness tracking, it’s actually an alright health tracker.

It offers standard features like heart rate readings and heart rate zone tracking but also has an ECG that can log heart rhythm data. This can be used to detect atrial fibrillation and is set up so people can easily share their data with a doctor.

There’s also an in-depth sleep tracker that provides useful insights into your sleep patterns and can help you chart out habits to improve or adjust your sleep schedule. Some watches, like the Apple Watch Ultra or Watch5 Pro, can be heavy when worn to bed, but the light weight of the Pixel Watch made it so I hardly noticed I had it on.

Some of these features are only available via Fitbit Premium, including in-depth sleep insights, stress management recommendations, and Fitbit’s new Daily Readiness Score. You do still get basic access to features like heart rate zones, the ECG app, and some sleep monitoring. Google includes six free months of Fitbit Premium when you buy the watch, so you can test it out before committing to any subscription cost (which is 10 a month or 80 a year).

Be prepared to charge it daily

The Pixel Watch’s battery life is another area where it dramatically differs from the Fitbit experience. Whereas something like the Sense 2 can last upwards of a week on a single charge, I found myself charging the Pixel Watch nightly.

No matter how I used it, it was always just dead enough to require a plug-in. Even if I didn’t totally sap the battery throughout the day, I knew I still needed to give it some juice overnight to avoid it dying the next day by mid-morning or early afternoon.

Apple Watch users are all too familiar with this kind of recharging schedule, so it’s unfair to knock the Pixel Watch too much because of this. And it’s worth pointing out I was always able to go from 0% battery to 100% in just shy of two hours (and I could get 30% battery in under a half hour, which was often good enough for several hours of use in a pinch).

Should you buy it?

The Google Pixel Watch is a solid smartwatch that’s held back by a severe fitness tracking deficiency. It’s a disappointing aspect of an otherwise great watch experience and one that’s made even more confusing by the fact that Google owns Fitbit.

And although Fitbit’s own fitness tracking experience has never been on par with the more advanced offerings of something like a Garmin watch or the Apple Watch, the tracking inaccuracies with the Pixel Watch were so bad that anyone would be frustrated by them. It’s a big difference to think you ran a 10-minute mile when you actually ran an 8-minute mile.

Our recommendation comes down to how much you value accurate activity tracking. If Google were to update the interface to allow you to pause the start of a workout until GPS synced, that would make a world of difference. As it currently stands, working out with the Pixel Watch doesn’t provide reliable data.

To the watch’s credit, it does offer a satisfying smartwatch experience. WearOS suits the Pixel Watch well and is intuitive and easy to use. Plus, navigating the watch, whether it’s to access apps, check notifications, or send text messages is a breeze.

So, while the Pixel Watch nails being a smartwatch, its severe lack of accurate activity tracking ultimately holds it back.

Wear OS: Your complete guide to Google’s smartwatch OS

Here’s everything you need to know about Google Wear OS, along with some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Wear OS smartwatch.

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Originally called Android Wear when it first launched in 2014, Google’s wearable platform was renamed Wear OS a few years later. It’s seen a few evolutions since then, and none more important than when it announced Wear OS 3 in collaboration with Samsung in 2021.

Wear OS 3 saw Samsung ditch its own Tizen-based smartwatch platform in favour of Google’s for its popular Galaxy Watch line, and in 2022 Google finally launched its very own smartwatch: the Pixel Watch. Of course. as always. there are multiple smartwatches from multiple companies running the software.

Here’s everything you need to know about Google Wear OS, along with some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Wear OS smartwatch.

What is Wear OS by Google?

Google is well known for its mobile operating system, Android, which it loads onto its own phones. the Pixel line. and allows other companies to adopt on their smartphones. With Wear OS, Google has. in essence. adapted Android for smartwatches.

It’s a software platform designed to bring everything you know and love about Android phones to smartwatches. That means popular apps can be downloaded to your wrist, as can music, plus you can make contactless payments, read and respond to messages and. of course. track your health and fitness.

With the version of Wear OS 3/3.5 that’s currently on the Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 models, you can only pair with Android phones. Health and fitness tracking is provided by Fitbit on the Pixel Watch, but Samsung uses its own Samsung Health platform on the Galaxy Watch. However, since you can download and install apps, there are other options too.

With older versions of Wear OS. which still runs on the majority of watches from Fossil, Skagen and other fashion brands. you can also pair with iOS devices. This older Wear OS works with phones running Android 6.0 (excluding Go edition) and iOS 10.0, though supported features do vary across watches, phones, and countries.

Bear in mind, Wear OS offers a better, more fully-functional experience when used with an Android smartphone.

What can Wear OS by Google do?

Wear OS has evolved over the years. With Wear OS 3.0. which arrived in 2021. Google went all-in on performance and the user experience, making the interface smoother, and apps load much quicker, while also extending battery life. It also brought the ability to easily switch between apps, plus improved Google Maps functionality and YouTube Music for offline listening.

Before that, Wear OS 2.0 arrived in 2017 and brought Google Assistant, standalone apps, Google Pay (formerly Android Pay), expanded watch faces, new input methods, improved fitness tracking, new functionality for iPhone users, and a new design.

In a nutshell, here’s a few things the Wear OS platform can do:

Ask Google Assistant

With Google Assistant, you can check the weather, start a run, set a reminder, control compatible Smart home devices and plenty more using your voice. Google Assistant on Wear OS supports Smart Suggestions too so when you ask Google Assistant a question, it will automatically serve up follow-up questions that are related to the conversation.

Answers from Google Assistant are returned over the watch speaker (if it has one) or Bluetooth headphones. If your Wear OS smartwatch doesn’t have a speaker, answers are displayed on the watch face.

Use Google apps

The first time you set up a Wear OS watch, you’ll be guided to sign into your Google Account. Once you do that, you’ll be able to get notifications, share contacts, and sync apps from that Google Account, unless you change it later.

You’ll also be able to use the Google apps on your Wear OS watch including Google Calendar, Google Keep, Google Pay, Google Translate, Google Maps, Google Fit, and YouTube Music.

Stay connected

You can text, email and see who is calling on your watch, without pulling out your phone. Google’s default apps for these services are included with Wear OS.

To open an app on your watch, tap your screen (to wake up the watch) Press the main button on the right to open the list of apps Tap the app you want to open. Alternatively, you can always ask Google Assistant to open a Google app.

Download other apps

You’ll also find Google Play Store on Wear OS watches, allowing you to download third party apps, such as Runtastic or Strava in place of Samsung Health or Fitbit, for example.

To download an app: Press the power button on your watch Scroll to the Play Store icon (you’ll be signed in with the main Google Account on your watch). To search for a new app, tap ‘Search’. If you want to download an app, tap ‘Install’.

Store and play music

Wear OS watches can store your music, so you can still gain access to your favourite tunes when you go for a jog around the park, though you will need Bluetooth headphones connected to your watch.

The best Android smartwatches: Does anything beat Samsung’s sensors?

From the newest Galaxy and Pixel models to the budget-friendly Fitbit and trendy Fossil, here are the best smartwatches for Android users.

June, who often goes by Kerry, serves as Reviews Editor of ZDNET and is based in New York City. He reviews the latest consumer gadgets and shares advice to make the most out of them.

Christina Darby is an associate editor based in New York City with interests in lifestyle technology, fitness and health wearables, and Smart home appliances. She has a bachelor’s in Integrated Marketing Communication and Journalism from Wake Forest.

June, who often goes by Kerry, serves as Reviews Editor of ZDNET and is based in New York City. He reviews the latest consumer gadgets and shares advice to make the most out of them.

Christina Darby is an associate editor based in New York City with interests in lifestyle technology, fitness and health wearables, and Smart home appliances. She has a bachelor’s in Integrated Marketing Communication and Journalism from Wake Forest.

Back in the day, I had a SpiderMan analog watch that I probably didn’t know how to read. Now, the world has incredible smartwatches from brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google that make the clock the least impressive feature.

While smartwatches today are heavily focused on detailed 24/7 health and wellness tracking, many have other advanced features, like a companion Android app, touchscreen display, call and/or text messaging support, installable applications, customizable watch faces, and voice assistants.

With so many different Android smartwatches on the market, finding the best one for your wrist can be difficult. ZDNET researched the best models on the market, including thorough testing of our choice for the best Android smartwatch overall.- the Samsung Galaxy Watch Pro 5.- to help you make the best buying decision. Through our research and testing, we were sure to consider factors like display, battery life, durability, and health suite. Here’s how they stack up against each other and on your wrist.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

Best Android smartwatch overall

• Simple, sleek design
• Body composition analysis
• Improved, curved sensor for more accurate readings

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro specs: Display: 1.4 inch, 450 x 450 pixels AMOLED | Battery life: Two days | Dimensions: 45.4 x 45.4 x 10.5mm | Weight: 46.5 g | Water resistance: 5 ATMIP68 | LTE cellular option: Yes

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the ultimate health companion when it comes to Android smartwatches. With improved sensors from its predecessor, this smartwatch can better track your sleep, body composition, and tough workouts. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is encased in lightweight titanium for a comfortable but durable smartwatch.

From night to day, this watch has features for analyzing your health around the clock. Advanced Sleep Coaching provides a sleep score based on how long and deep your sleep was, as well as insight into how many calories you burned in your sleep. But where does this watch truly excel? In tracking your workouts and analyzing your body composition via an improved, curved sensor for greater accuracy.

This Pro model is a bit more rugged than the base model, as users can import GPX files for hiking and biking. The titanium casing and tough sapphire glass display suggest this watch is up for any adventure.

As much as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is for tracking workouts, it’s also built for a more casual experience. With a 590mAh battery, you will get all-day power for crushing your workout after a long day in the office. Additionally, when you sync your watch with your Galaxy devices you can access your phone notifications from your wrist.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is easily the best wearable for Android smartphone owners and it excels in all of the smartwatch categories, says ZDNET wearables expert, Matthew Miller.