Battery life on the Pixel Watch line-up has been on an ascending trend ever since the first watch landed. Even though I’ve been on this positive journey from the Watch to the Watch 2 and Watch 4, I still wasn’t ready for how awesome the Pixel Watch 4 has turned out to be when it comes to battery life. This is the first time in four years that I can finally let my guard down when it comes to charging my smartwatch, and I’m not alone. My colleagues C. Scott and Kaitlyn noticed it too, and so have many of you, leaving comments here on Android Authority as well as on Reddit (here or here) and other social networks.
If you don’t have a Pixel Watch 4, let me paint you a picture to explain how terrific and game-changing Google’s battery and charging improvements have been this year.
Are you happy with the battery experience (longevity and charging speed) on your Pixel Watch 4? 22 votes Yes! An enthusiastic yes! 27 % It's fine. It could be better. 5 % No, I'm not getting good battery life. 0 % I don't have a Pixel Watch 4. 68 %
From fitness trackers that last a week to smartwatches that last a day
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I came to my first Pixel Watch, having worn a Fitbit tracker (One, Flex, Alta HR, Inspire HR) for over a decade. I was used to battery life that lasted five to seven days on average, and I loved not worrying about battery life. Given how forgetful I tend to be and my inability to stick to any routine whatsoever, the choice to plop my tracker on a charger whenever I felt like it once every few days was freeing.
I can’t explain how hand-tied I felt when I got the first Pixel Watch. I had to change my entire personality to keep that watch alive, which you can guess was a lesson in futility. Since the Pixel Watch merely lasted 24 hours on a charge, I had to anxiously think about when and where I would top it off, and yet, I often forgot to do so. I don’t know how many times I noticed the black screen right as I was heading out the door or going to bed. And since some of my days lack any routine (long active days versus boring days at home), it was impossible to keep the watch topped up.
I was always anxious about charging my first Pixel Watch, and yet I often ended up with an empty battery regardless.
This was compounded by the slow charging, which Google slowed down even further in software updates to avoid overheating on the wireless charger. By the end of the year, I wasn’t getting 24 hours anymore, and I had to keep the watch on the charger for two hours just to top it off. Needless to say, a 10% charge versus usage time was useless, and the two-hour downtime became a thorn in my side every day. When I was traveling, I had to mentally do the math to account for 120 minutes on a charger throughout my busy day. I hated it.
The Pixel Watch 2 slightly improved battery life thanks to better power management on Wear OS and a marginally larger battery, but it drastically cut the charging time, which helped ease my battery panic… but only a little.
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