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Google launched its second-generation Pixel Watch 2 today at the Made by Google event, along with Android 14 and Wear OS 4. And as expected, the design is quite similar to the original. Of course, this is just a second-generation wearable for Google, so we didn’t expect a lot of changes here, but still good to see some things that reviewers and users complained about, get ironed out.
This is still a 41mm watch, so it’s quite small to be honest. I put it on my wrist next to my Apple Watch Ultra, and it’s pretty comical. But the Pixel Watch 2 is looking to be more like a Fitbit rather than a competitor to the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch. Which is okay, because the wearables market is already pretty crowded, so being more of a fitness tracker is a good thing.
There’s a new charger this year
One of the changes that Google did make this year is in the charger. It not has a few more pins that help it align better, and a stronger magnet. So it’s unlikely to fall off while you’re charging it. This wasn’t a huge deal with the original, but it would slip off the charger from time to time. So it’s good to see that ironed out here.
Speaking of charging, Google says that you can now charge it a lot faster, so while battery life is sticking to 24 hours still, you’ll at least be able to top off faster.
Google has also added a quad-core processor inside, which is something we were able to actually test out here. It’s definitely more snappy than the original Pixel Watch. Now the thing here is, hopefully it stays that way. The Pixel Watch could be very snappy, and then it could also get slow pretty quickly.
Pre-orders for the Pixel Watch 2 are live now and will be shipping next Thursday, October 12, 2023. It starts at $349 for the WiFi model and $399 for the LTE model. That’s a bit more than Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6, but you’re also getting the full Fitbit suite included here.
Pre-order Google Pixel Watch 2 - Best Buy
