GoKawiilThe $399 Google Pixel Watch 5 isn’t about the hardware. Sure, there’s a new satin pyrite case finish, a few new strap colors, and a Steph Curry Special Edition. Under the hood, there’s a slightly faster Qualcomm processor and an itty-bitty battery bump. There’s a $50 price hike from last year, too, because the Pixel Watch 5 isn’t immune to RAMageddon — none of us are. Otherwise, no one would blame you for looking at this watch and thinking absolutely nothing’s changed. That’s because the big updates this year are all software-based.
This isn’t a huge surprise considering Google’s Fitbit Air launch in May. And after seeing some Pixel Watch 5 demos, it’s clear this year’s refresh is furthering the AI and proactive health themes that Google introduced earlier this year.
Health and fitness features account for the bulk of the updates, but Gemini on the wrist gets a few key improvements. You can now use it offline for simple tasks like starting timers and launching apps. (Though I noticed in my demo it was notably slower when doing this offline.) Gemini will also be more proactive in making suggestions. One example I saw: a text asking for my availability brought up the option to check Google Calendar from the wrist. Likewise, there’s now an icon right on the watchface that surfaces real-time information for things like timers, Uber ETAs, and workouts. Meanwhile, the pinchy pinch and wrist-flick features came via a software update to Pixel Watches in December, but they’re much more fully integrated into the UI with WearOS 7.
There’s little reason for Pixel Watch 3 or 4 owners to upgrade. Most of the new health software updates will be backward-compatible. Photo: David Imel / The Verge
You can also use AI to generate watchfaces. I created a watchface featuring “fat cats and an elegant font.” It didn’t quite do that. The fat cats weren’t characters, so much as pleasantly plump, cat-shaped clock numbers. It’s a gimmicky way to shoehorn the Nano Banana model onto the watch… but if that’s your thing, it works.
Now for the health stuff. The most novel update is Breathing Emergency Detection. It’s an extension of last year’s Loss of Pulse feature. When the watch detects a severe drop in blood oxygen saturation (aka SpO2), it’ll trigger a call to emergency services and your designated emergency contacts. (A sudden drop in SpO2 may indicate you’re struggling to breathe.) To minimize false positives, the watch uses a combination of heart rate, motion, and altitude sensors. While I didn’t get to see the feature in action, I was told at my demo that the feature won’t kick in unless SpO2 drops to roughly 83 percent — so a significant decrease — for an extended period. It also disables once the watch determines you’ve been asleep for 30 minutes to mitigate false alarms linked to low SpO2 from sleep apnea or side sleeping. The feature also isn’t intended to be used by people with preexisting or chronic respiratory conditions; it’s more for flagging acute instances where a person may have stopped breathing. It’ll be available on both the Pixel Watch 4 and 5 in Europe at launch, and is pending clearance from the FDA in the US.
A less high-stakes feature is that the Pixel Watch (and Fitbit Air) will also track nightly sleep breathing quality and provide monthly updates. The idea is to see how your daily trends impact respiratory health at night over a longer time frame.
Behold, the new satin pyrite case finish and olive strap. Photo: David Imel / The Verge
Two other health features are Blood Pressure Trends and Insulin Resistance Trends. First and foremost: Neither of these is diagnostic. Both are wellness features intended to function as “check engine light”-type warnings, require a minimum of a week’s worth of data, and flag trends monthly. They won’t be available right when the Pixel Watch 5 launches; rollout is currently scheduled for September. That said, these features will also come to the Pixel Watch 3 or later, as well as the Fitbit Air.
With Blood Pressure Trends, the watch will monitor blood flow using the optical heart rate sensor, as well as motion sensors. That data gets fed into an AI model to estimate the shape and speed of pulse waves traveling under the skin to approximate whether your blood pressure is trending higher or lower. (There will be no direct systolic or diastolic measurements.)
... continue reading