When I first got my hands on the Pixel Watch 4 during Google’s preview, I said I couldn’t wait to ditch my Pixel Watch 3, and this is precisely what has happened for the past 10 days. The Pixel Watch 4 landed at my door, I opened the box, turned it on, took one look at that gorgeous new display, and knew I had to immediately switch.
Since then, I haven’t taken the Pixel Watch 4 off my wrist — except to charge it — and I can’t imagine going back to the Watch 3. And there are five reasons for that.
Did you buy a Google Pixel Watch 4? 41 votes Yes, I upgraded from the Pixel Watch 3. 15 % Yes, I upgraded from an older Pixel Watch (1 or 2). 17 % Yes, I switched over from a different smartwatch. 10 % Not yet, but I'm interested. 22 % No, I'm sticking with my older Pixel Watch (1, 2, 3). 24 % No, I'm sticking with my other smartwatch. 7 % I'm not interested in smartwatches. 5 %
Better battery life is always welcome
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
My 45mm Pixel Watch 3 lasted me around 32-34 hours on average between charges with raise-to-wake and the always-on display on, but OK Google detection off. I also had it set to automatically mirror my Pixel’s mode, so when I plugged my phone in at night, it went into Bedtime mode, which in turn switched the watch to Bedtime mode, disabling notifications and turning off the display. For me, this was the best compromise between battery life and utility, and the fact that it always lasted more than 24 hours meant I had some leeway on when to charge it.
With the 45mm Pixel Watch 4 on the same settings, I’m getting closer to 42-44 hours on a charge. I just noticed I hadn’t turned on the automatic battery saver at 15% toggle, so I can probably stretch this to 48 hours on a single charge. That’s two full days, without compromising on usefulness. We’re still far from Fitbit’s four-to-seven days, but we’re no longer in the “must charge every day or else” realm of the original Pixel Watch. And that’s incredibly freeing.
I’ve spent the past three years married to my Pixel watch’s chargers, buying a couple of them for the house and my travel backpack, and still forgetting to charge the darned thing once every couple of weeks. This is the first time I feel I don’t have to be this maniac about charging my watch. If I have two busy days in a row and don’t have time to charge in between, the Watch 4 will carry on fine. And that’s all I really need — more leeway on charging times.
I got used to the more stable and faster charging
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
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