Three years after acquiring Fitbit, Alphabet is selling its first Google-branded watch with the fitness-tracking technology. It’s called Pixel Watch, and consumers can find it on store shelves starting Thursday.
I’ve been testing Google’s new Pixel products for the past several days. In addition to the Pixel Watch, there are the new phones, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, which go on sale at the same time.
Most of the Pixel 7 phone upgrades are minor when compared with the last generation Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Last year’s phones were the first to debut Google’s self-made Tensor processor and a brand-new design. The $600 Pixel 7 and $900 Pixel 7 Pro run on Google’s new Tensor G2 chip and are the company’s latest effort to establish a foothold in the global smartphone market, which Apple and Samsung dominate.
The core of this review focuses on the Pixel Watch since it’s the first time we’re seeing how Google is incorporating Fitbit, which it bought in 2019 for about $2.1 billion.
The Pixel Watch starts at $350 for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and $400 for 4G LTE. For smartwatch users, there’s not much new here. Heartrate tracking, fitness tracking and sleep tracking have been available for years in products from Fitbit and other companies, notably Apple.
I was hoping Google’s first Fitbit tie-in would bring some more groundbreaking innovations to the wearable game, especially for the price. The new Apple Watch SE is just $250 and has the same main features as the Pixel Watch. The same is true for Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5, which costs $280.
Google’s Pixel Watch is the company’s premium watch, whereas the Apple Watch SE and Galaxy Watch 5 are base models. But the features each offer are pretty similar.
The main benefit I can see to the Pixel Watch is the beautiful, inconspicuous design. The round face and domed glass design make the Pixel Watch feel more luxurious. It’s also made out of stainless steel, which is more expensive than cheaper aluminum smartwatch base models.
Overall, it’s too little, too late for Google. There aren’t enough exciting features to justify the price, and all of the important stuff is available on other cheaper smartwatches.
Here’s what you need to know before buying the new Pixel Watch and what I noticed about the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro phones.
Pixel Watch: What’s good?
The Pixel Watch is lightweight with a lovely design. The watch face is just 41mm wide, and it emulates a water droplet, which makes it feel like a watch and not like a computer on your wrist.
I was worried that the smaller size would result in a less powerful battery. Google promises 24-hour battery life, and I was able to get a full 24-hours out of the Pixel Watch, though I didn’t use it to track my sleep.
During my first day testing the Pixel Watch, I did a workout, kept the display on full-power mode, checked email and controlled my Google Home from my wrist without needing to charge it until the next morning.
The seamless integrations with Google’s other products are another bonus. I was able to use my Pixel Watch to broadcast a message on my Google Home, announcing to my husband I was on my way home. I was also able to turn on and off lights and play music.
As a Google Calendar user, I also appreciated having these reminders on my watch.
Another benefit of the Pixel Watch is high-frequency heart rate monitoring. Most watches only measure heart rates frequently when you’re in the middle of a workout, so it doesn’t drain the battery. Google says the Pixel Watch continuously tracks your heart rate.
There’s also a cool camera feature. You can position your phone camera to take a picture, and control the camera app with your watch. You can even see what the camera is capturing.
Google Pixel Watch allows you to control your phone camera remotely.
Sofia Pitt
What’s bad?
None of its alluring features allows the Pixel Watch to stand out from smartwatches that have been on the market for a long time.
I was hoping that for Google’s first integration with Fitbit software, there would be some new technology or that the device would be more affordable.
Also, fall detection isn’t going to be immediately available on the Pixel Watch. Google says it’s coming this winter. That’s disappointing, given it’s already available on other smartwatches.
Pixel 7 & 7 Pro updates
Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones.
Sofia Pitt
The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have a few nice updates, especially to the camera. The coolest feature is photo unblur, which, thanks to Google’s new Tensor 2 chip, allows you to take any blurry photo and clear it up. Even better, you can unblur any photo, not just those you’ve taken on the Pixel phone. I tried it on a blurry photo of my husband and me. Here are the results:
Here’s a photo of Sofia Pitt and her husband before using Pixel 7’s new photo “Unblur” technology.
Sofia Pitt
Here’s a photo of Sofia Pitt and her husband after using Pixel 7’s new photo “Unblur” technology.
Sofia Pitt
Like unblur, most of the updates to the new Pixel phones are software related. When it comes to the camera, Google updated night sight, which means nighttime pictures are even clearer. Again, you have the new Tensor chip to thank for that. There’s also cinematic blur on videos, which makes the subject clear and background blurry to give videos a professional quality. There are improvements to real-tone so that photos of people of different races better represent their skin color.
Google is also making our lives easier when we need to call an 800 number. When dialing 1-800 on the Pixel 7, you no longer need to wait to “Press 1 for help” or “Press 2 for reservations.” The options just show up on your screen, saving you time so you can automatically connect to the relevant department instead of speaking to a robot.
The phone also transcribes audio messages, but only if they’re sent from another Android device.
Overall, the camera is great on the new Pixel, but the updates aren’t enough to get me to switch from iOS to Android.
(L-R) Apple CEO Tim Cook, Vivek Ramaswamy and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th U.S. President in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
While the stock market broadly fared better on Monday than in the prior two trading days, Apple got hammered once again, losing 3.7%, as concerns mounted that the company will take a major hit from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The sell-off brings Apple’s three-day rout to 19%, a downdraft that has wiped out $638 billion in market cap.
Apple is one of the most exposed companies to a trade war, analyst say, due largely to its reliance on China, which is facing 54% tariffs. Although Apple has production in India, Vietnam and Thailand, those countries also face increased tariffs as part of Trump’s sweeping plan.
Among tech’s megacap companies, Apple is having the roughest stretch. On Monday, the only stocks to drop in that group of seven were Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.
The Nasdaq finished almost barely up on Monday after plummeting 10% last week, its worst performance in more than five years.
Analysts say Apple will likely either need to raise prices or eat additional tariff costs when the new duties come into effect. UBS analysts estimated on Monday that Apple’s highest-end iPhone could rise in price by about $350, or around 30%, from its current price of $1,199.
Barclays analyst Tim Long wrote that he expects Apple to raise prices, or the company could suffer as much as a 15% cut to earnings per share. Apple may also be able to rearrange its supply chain so that imports to the U.S. come from other countries with lower tariffs.
A customer checks Apple’s latest iPhone 16 Plus (right) and Apple’s latest iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) series displayed for sale at Master Arts Shop in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sept. 26, 2024.
Firdous Nazir | Nurphoto | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs could lead Apple to raise the price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max by as much as $350 in the U.S., UBS analysts estimated Monday.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is Apple’s highest-end iPhone on the market, and currently retails for $1,199. UBS is predicting a nearly 30% increase in retail price for units that were manufactured in China.
Apple’s $999 phone, the iPhone 16 Pro, could see a smaller $120 price increase, if the company has it manufactured in India, the UBS analysts wrote.
Shares of Apple have plummeted 20% over the past three trading days, wiping out nearly $640 billion in market cap, on concern that Trump’s tariffs will force the company to raise prices just as consumers are losing buying power.
“Based on the checks we have done at a company level, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the increased cost sharing will be done with suppliers, the extent to which costs can be passed on to end-customers, and the duration of tariffs,” UBS analyst Sundeep Gantori wrote in the note.
Apple, which does the majority of its manufacturing in China, is one of the most exposed companies to a trade war. China has a potential incoming 54% tariff rate — before new increases were proposed Monday. Smaller tariffs were also placed on secondary production locations, such as India, Vietnam and Thailand.
JPMorgan Chase analysts predicted last week that Apple could raise its prices 6% across the world to offset the U.S. tariffs. Barclays analyst Tim Long wrote that he expects Apple to raise prices, or it could suffer as much as a 15% cut to earnings per share.
If Apple were to relocate iPhone production to the U.S. — a move that most supply chain experts say is impossible — Wedbush’s Dan Ives predicts an iPhone could cost $3,500.
Morgan Stanley analysts on Friday said Apple could absorb additional tariff costs of about $34 billion annually. They wrote that although Apple has diversified its production in recent years to additional countries — so-called friendshoring — those countries could also end up with tariffs, reducing Apple’s flexibility.
After last week’s “reciprocal tariff announcement, there becomes very little differentiation in friend shoring vs. manufacturing in China — if the product is not made in the US, it will be subject to a hefty import tariff,” Morgan Stanley wrote.
Last week, the firm estimated that Apple may raise its prices across its product lines in the U.S. by 17% to 18%. Apple could also get exemptions from the U.S. government for its products.
Kimbal Musk, co-founder of The Kitchen Community, speaks during the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, May 3, 2016.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Elon Musk’s younger brother, Kimbal, took to the social network X on Monday to lambaste President Donald Trump’s tariffs, calling them a “structural, permanent tax on the American consumer.” He also said Trump appears to be the “most high tax American President in generations.”
“Even if he is successful in bringing jobs on shore through the tariff tax, prices will remain high and the tax on consumption will remain the form of higher prices because we are simply not as good at making things,” Kimbal Musk wrote on X, one of the companies in his brother’s extensive portfolio.
The younger Musk owns a restaurant chain called The Kitchen, is a board member at Tesla and a former director at SpaceX and Chipotle. He has also co-founded and invested in other food and tech startups, including Square Roots, an indoor farming company, and Nova Sky Stories, a creator of drone light shows that he bought from Intel.
Elon Musk is a top advisor to Trump, overseeing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an effort to drastically cut federal spending, largely through layoffs, and consolidate or eliminate agencies and regulations. However, his relationship with some key figures in the Trump administration has been showing signs of strain in recent days as the president’s sweeping tariffs have led to a dramatic selloff in stocks, including for Tesla, which is down 42% this year and just wrapped up its worst quarter since 2022.
Over the weekend, Elon Musk took aim at Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro, disparaging his qualifications in a post on X.
“A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing,” Musk wrote, after Navarro told CNN on Saturday that “The market will find a bottom” and that the Dow will “hit 50,000 during Trump’s term.” It’s currently at about 38,200.
Musk also said that Navarro hasn’t built “sh—.” Navarro told CNBC on Monday that Musk is “not a car manufacturer” but rather a “car assembler,” dependent on parts from Japan, China and Taiwan.
Tesla was seeking a more moderate approach to trade and tariffs in a recent letter to the U.S. Trade Representative.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Kimbal Musk this year has contributed funds to the Libertarian National Committee and Libertarian Party of Connecticut. In 2024, while his brother became the biggest financial backer and promoter of Trump, Kimbal donated to Unite America PAC, a group that markets itself as a “philanthropic venture fund that invests in nonpartisan election reform to foster a more representative and functional government.”
A representative for Kimbal Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.