A larger Google Pixel Watch 3 was the upgrade I was waiting for
New 45mm option joins refreshed 41mm model
Google’s first two in-house attempts to shake up the smartwatch establishment were big on minimal design, but small in stature. The Pixel Watch 3 finally sets that right. This third-gen wearable is launching in 41mm and 45mm sizes, with slimmer bezels, brighter screens and more advanced fitness features – but battery life doesn’t seem to have made similar progress.
The overall design will feel very familiar to anyone that’s ever strapped a Pixel Watch or Pixel Watch 2 to their wrist. The circular watch body is still pretty much all screen, with a rotating crown at the right for scrolling through WearOS menus. The case is still made from aluminium, and the silicone active bands still clip on using proprietary lugs.
It’s great to see Google slim the 41mm version’s bezels down by 16% from the outgoing Watch, and if you go for the 45mm model you’re looking at a significant 40% hike in screen estate. Underneath the curved Gorilla Glass 5 watch faces, Actua AMOLED panels use 1-60Hz LTPO adaptive refresh tech to maximise power saving. That should mean much smoother interactions than the 30Hz Pixel Watch 2. They can now hit a peak 2000 nits brightness for clear viewing on the sunniest of days, too.
Fitness seems to again be the main focus, with a more accurate heart rate sensor and Fitbit-powered exercise tracking expanded to include more running tools. Timed warm ups and cooldowns, target pace, heart rate, distances and times, and interval routines are all on offer for serious fitness fanatics to fine-tune their training. On-wrist audio guidance and haptic vibration aim to keep you on track, and media controls are easier to access without losing sight of your split times. There’s even a dedicated running dashboard in the Fitbit app now, with weekly breakdowns of how many miles you’ve covered.
There’ll be no escaping your fitness goals with a Pixel Watch 3 on your wrist; it’ll give you a Morning Brief every day with how well you slept, a readiness score based on your heart rate that warns against overtraining, and a target cardio load that’ll keep you on track towards your exercise goals. Oh, and a weather forecast, so you know whether to pack a raincoat or sunscreen. These aren’t gated behind a Fitbit Premium subscription, either.
You can also expect the usual extensive selection of health monitoring sensors, plus IP68 and 5ATM water resistance for pool swimming.
The Pixel Watch 3 runs WearOS 5, which only just launched recently on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra. Expect a lot more Google ecosystem integration here, like getting a video feed from your Nest Doorbell, controlling your Google TV-equipped telly or streaming box from your wrist, and remote shooting your Pixel phone’s camera. Performance comes courtesy of a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 5100 chipset, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of on-board storage – so no change from the previous generation.
The one thing that hasn’t seen a major upgrade is battery life. While the 45mm model has a 35% bigger battery than the 41mm version, both are only rated for 24 hours of use with the always-on display enabled. Google reckons 36 hours in battery saver mode is doable, and bedtime mode kicks in automatically now, which should save a few volts while you’re snoozing. Still, it’ll come as a disappointment to Pixel fans jealous of the Galaxy Watch 7’s two day longevity. At least charging times have been slashed by 20%.
The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 is arriving in matte black with an obsidian band, polished silver with porcelain or rose quartz bands, and champagne gold with a hazel band. The 45mm version can be had in matte black with obsidian band, matte hazel with a hazel band, or polished silver with a porcelain band.
All versions are available to order right now. Expect to pay £349 or £449 for the 41mm model in Bluetooth or LTE guises; the 45mm model will set you back £399 or £499 for Bluetooth or LTE respectively.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
