Now that the Made by Google event has finally arrived, it’s time to break down the specs of some of the products announced, and a great place to start is with a Pixel Watch 3 comparison with its predecessor. Google’s Pixel Watch 3 features a few minor changes and fewer major ones, so it can be hard to decide whether the device is truly worth the $100 price difference. With two new models this time to accommodate those with a preference for a bigger dial, maybe Google is onto something with their latest offering.
Should you upgrade to the Pixel Watch 3? Let’s find out.
Image: The Pixel Watch 3
Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 Comparison—Putting the Specs to the Test
The Made by Google Event 2024 was held on August 13 and despite a large number of their product specs being leaked well in advance, the company was still able to make a few new announcements that were of interest. The Google Pixel Watch 3 upgrades were called the company’s “best lineup yet,” and it’s true, the watch does appear to have a better health monitoring system and enhanced fitness tracking capabilities than ever before.
The new 45mm dial is one of the biggest selling points that can draw in a larger crowd considering the small Pixel dial has often been labeled too small for some wrists and too feminine to suit everyone’s aesthetic. Nothing major has changed in the watch’s design so making a Pixel Watch 3 comparison with the older models on its visual appeal relies solely on the size of the dial and improved brightness of the screen.
The color options are not too different from the older models either—there’s a polished silver aluminum case with a porcelain active band, champagne gold aluminum case with a hazel active band, polished silver aluminum case with a rose quartz active band, and finally one dark shade with the matte black aluminum case and obsidian active band. The bigger dialed watch leaves out the champagne gold and the rose quartz dials, replacing them with a matte hazel aluminum case and hazel active band.
Pixel Watch 3 Display Specs
Beginning our Pixel Watch 3 vs 2 comparison with the display specs, both devices have a 320 ppi density AMOLED screen. The older Pixel Watch 2 only has a 41mm model but the newer edition has a 41mm dial and an alternate 45mm dial. The bezel on the newer model is 16 percent smaller, which means that even with the smaller dial, you still get to experience more screen space.
The frame of the dial uses the same aluminum encasing the previous model does, both of which are better than the original stainless steel case. The Pixel 3 has a “brand new Actual display,” which essentially refers to the bright screen that comes without sacrificing any color quality. The older model only supports 1,000 nits brightness but the Google Pixel Watch 3 upgrades double it to 2,000 nits.
A brighter screen is better for outdoor settings so if you step outside your house more often than we do, then the screen is definitely an upgrade for you. The watch is also capable of dialing it down all the way to 1 unit in a dark room, which is a thoughtful feature as smartwatches on night mode are still usually too bright to comfortably use at night.
Image: The two sizes available with the Pixel Watch 3
Battery and Processor Specs—Watch 3 Features a Decent Upgrade
Compared to the 294mAh battery on the first Pixel watch, the 306mAh battery on the Pixel 2 has not been changed on the 41mm Pixel 3. Fortunately, the new 45mm watch has a bigger 420mAh battery which is another benefit of investing in the bigger watch. One would think the brighter screen would run the battery down faster making a bigger battery essential even on the smaller watch, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The watch claims to have a 24-hour battery life that can be extended to 36 hours with the battery saver mode on. The actual performance of the battery may vary, and Pixel watches have always been underperformers when it comes to battery life. A bigger battery on the smaller Pixel Watch 3 would have been appreciated, but at least there’s an alternate option to consider buying.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 upgrades include some additional support systems to improve the battery life such as the automatic detection of a user falling asleep to turn off non-essential features and a low power mode for when the battery falls below 15 percent. Google also claims that the newer Pixel Watch 3 charges 20 percent faster, so if fast charging is a priority for you, this could provide a small boost.
The storage remains unchanged at 32GB and 2GB RAM so there aren’t any differences there. Turning our Pixel Watch 3 vs 2 comparison to the chips, both feature the same Qualcomm 5100 and Cortex M33 co-processor. If you look at the watch in terms of processing speed or internal capacity, both will perform the same way, however, the Wear OS 5.0 that the Watch 3 features could provide some additional support for better performance. It’s interesting to see Google hasn’t brought AI to market the product like it has with everything else it’s working on.
Watch 3 Features—The Newer Model Wins When It Comes to Its Many Capabilities
With the specs out of the way, we can turn the Pixel Watch 3 comparison to its many abilities. The Pixel Watch 3 features a much more cohesive integration of Google’s services including offline access to Google Maps and a direct integration with your Google TV remote controls. The Call Assist allows you to take a call just like any other watch, but you have the added ability to put the call on hold for a minute so you can find a place to stop and answer comfortably.
The watch can livestream your Nest doorbell cameras, so even when you’re away from home, you don’t have to lose touch with the things happening in and around your house. These little details expand on what you might want to use your watch for, going beyond the usual fitness and sleep tracking to do so much more. All of that doesn’t mean it compromises on fitness either.
Fitness Tracking Is Much Better on the Google Pixel Watch 3
An essential part of the comparison between the Pixel Watch 3 and the 2 is the fitness tracking abilities. The new watch has much better support for designing custom workouts on your phone that you can use to create a plan for your workout of the day, with times allotted for rest periods and each segment of your workout. The watch alerts users during the start of the different phases of the planned workout so they can make the switch, tracking their performance the whole time between these alerts.
Heart rate tracking appears to be more efficient than ever before, especially accounting for the rapid fluctuations that occur when you go for a run. The watch even claims to track step cadence or vertical oscillation to give you an in-depth assessment of changes in your run patterns.
The Pixel Watch 3 comparison also leans in favor of the new watch due to the new Readiness score that combines sleep, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability, to assess your readiness to train. The cardio load score assesses the heart’s exertion during training to test how efficiently your heart is being pushed to perform. The daily target load score puts these two metrics together to create a full picture of how much you can handle each day.
The Pixel Watch 2 is not quite as elaborate with its health scores but even if you work out regularly, its abilities are sufficient at tracking workouts. If you’re a fitness enthusiast who is very particular about tracking every detail and maximizing your performance as far as possible, the Google Pixel Watch 3 upgrades are an easy pick for you.
The most unique Watch 3 feature is the “loss of pulse detection” capability that alerts emergency services and provides them with the user’s location in case the watch detects such a health event. This will be available exclusively in select EU countries and the UK for now, so users in those regions will soon have an extra safety precaution on their wrists.
Pricing of the Google Pixel Watch 3 vs Watch 2
The 41mm Google Watch 3 is priced at $349 USD and the 45mm version is priced at $399 USD. For LTE connectivity, the prices go up further by $100 USD for each model. The Pixel Watch 2 was originally released at $349 USD as well, but it can now be purchased at $249 USD if you want the Wi-Fi version or $299.99 USD for LTE. If you want to make a purchase right now, the older model is significantly more affordable.
Should I Upgrade to Pixel Watch 3?
If you don’t have a smartwatch or do have one that’s years old, the latest Google model sounds quite appealing. It can provide well-rounded assessments of your daily activity and integrate smoothly with any Android phone so you don’t have to think too hard about compatibility. Especially if you have health conditions that benefit from regular heart monitoring or are very serious about scaling up your workouts, you should upgrade to the Pixel Watch 3.
If you do have the Pixel 2 or another smartwatch that does everything you need but is getting old now, then investing in the Pixel 2 is a much better deal. The Pixel Watch 3 doesn’t make any major advancements with the battery or the chipset so you would be better off continuing with the Pixel Watch 2, waiting it out till the next generation where the hardware also gets a decent upgrade.
The Watch 3 is quite noteworthy in every way, and from its design to its capabilities, it’s a well-made and well-thought-out device. Depending on your needs, the Google Pixel Watch 3 upgrades could be perfect for you but if you already have the older model, we wouldn’t recommend an upgrade this time.