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Pixel Watch 3 review: Google finally got it right, especially with the battery life

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2024 might just be Google’s year – for its Pixel-branded hardware, at least. After impressing us with the Pixel 9 phones, the company is ready to release the Pixel Watch 3. Spoiler alert: It continues the trend of this year’s Pixel hardware feeling more mature and ready to take on the competition than ever. With the introduction of a new larger size and serious battery life improvements, the Pixel Watch 3 feels like a smartwatch worthy of the Fitbit and Google partnership. There are still some quirks the company has to iron out, but for now, the Pixel Watch 3 feels like the final evolution of a Pokémon that is ready to battle the big beasts from Samsung and Apple.

Editor's note: At the time this review was first published, Apple had just begun its "It's Glowtime" event, where it's expected to unveil new versions of its smartwatch. Our review of the Pixel Watch 3 was largely conducted in comparison to the latest available model — the Series 9, and was also scored as such. We updated this piece on September 10 to include more details on Wear OS, navigation and the Pixel Watch 3's companion apps. None of that experience affects our score for the device.

One of the biggest developments with the Pixel Watch 3 is the fact that Google has finally introduced a larger size. The previous 41mm size lives on, but it’s now joined by a 45mm one, which is nice for people who always felt the original was just a little too dainty. You’ll also be able to see more on the bigger screen, though the 41mm variant also has a bit more real estate since Google managed to shave the bezels down a tad (16 percent, to be exact).

My colleague Sam Rutherford tested the 45mm model for us, and his exact words were, “It’s SOOO much nicer to have the big one.” Sam adds that this is “the size I wanted all along,” and it’s nice to see my bigger-wristed peers get considered at last.

Fans of a more conventional-looking timepiece will appreciate that the Pixel Watch’s face is circular like it’s always been. Compared to the Pixel Watch 2, this year’s smartwatch doesn’t look noticeably different. It has shiny edges and, in the right light, the crown on the right side sparkles.

Some of my more stylish reviewer friends paired their Pixel Watch 3 with a stainless steel mesh band, making it look right at home as part of their designer-decked outfit. I used the basic silicon sport band that came with my review sample, which I loved because I got the lovely pink color this year that goes with some new pants and bags I recently acquired. I remain an ardent fan of Google’s soft elastic loop straps that make putting the watch on super easy. They’re available in more colors and patterns this year, which is always nice. Sam goes as far as to call this “the best-looking mainstream smartwatch,” and, depending on our definition of “mainstream,” I’d have to agree.

I still wish the company was able to reduce the size of the knob just a bit, or at least make it jut out less. It still pushes into the back of my hand whenever I do a pushup or a plank, unless I turn the watch to the inside of my wrist first. Though you’d also get this issue with the Apple Watch Ultra and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it’s not as prominent on the regular Apple Watch and I have a bit more space before accidentally triggering my Series 9.

I also found the Pixel Watch 3 a little too thick. The Apple Watch Series 9 is 10.7mm (0.42 inches) tall, while Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 is even thinner at 9.7mm. Google’s smartwatch is the chunkiest at 12.3mm, and at these sizes, every millimeter feels like a lot.

A downward-up angle of the Pixel Watch 3 on a person's wrist in the sun. Its sides are shiny.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

Every fraction of an inch also feels outsized when we’re talking about displays that are just 41mm and 45mm (the screens themselves are actually 32.2mm and 36.2mm respectively). In comparison, the Pixel Watch 2’s panel was just 30.5mm. While I didn’t feel like I gained a ton comparing my 41mm Pixel Watch 3 to its predecessor, I certainly saw a lot more on the 45mm model’s screen. Some of that is obvious — a larger display has more room for content or bigger fonts. But the improvements in readability cannot be understated, especially for anyone that needed something more legible.

Google didn’t simply enlarge the Pixel Watch’s panels — it upgraded them. These watches feature the company’s Actua displays that debuted on the Pixel 8 phones last year, which means they can get as bright as 2,000 nits or as low as 1 nit.

That latter made a huge difference when I was in a theater watching Alien: Romulus. While I had to turn on Theater mode on my Apple Watch Series 9 to prevent its screen from scorching my retina during the show, the Pixel Watch 3 automatically dropped to the lowest brightness and remained readable without bothering me or fellow cinemagoers.

The Pixel Watch 3’s screen is also capable of a variable refresh rate of between 1Hz and 60Hz, so it can deliver smooth animations when, say, you’re watching the live feed from your Nest camera. But when you’re not doing anything, the system can drop down to a battery-friendlier 1Hz. This isn’t something I really noticed in my daily use, but I’ll tease right now that it probably has a significant impact on battery life.

The Pixel Watch 3 with a pink band on a person's wrist in front of a mirror. Its screen shows the word
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I was probably the most impressed by the Pixel Watch 3 as a health and fitness tracker. It does a lot of things that competing products like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch do, like automatically detect certain workouts, prompt you to move if you’ve been idle for too long and keep tabs on your pulse and calorie burn as you’re exercising. But importantly, it does some of those things a lot better than its rivals.

As someone who likes to track every single walk I take, no matter how short the distance, I found the Pixel Watch 3 a dream. It consistently caught on that I had been out for a stroll, usually prompting me to log a workout once I hit the ten-minute mark. This also worked well on the many Citi bike rides I reluctantly took in New York City, and the Pixel Watch 3’s GPS tracking matched the Lyft app’s log every time. Only twice in about a dozen walks and bike rides did the Apple Watch Series 9 I was also wearing record these activities, probably because it has a higher threshold of about 20 minutes of activity to hit before it would register something.

Of course, the Galaxy Ring was the best at this, logging every little walk I took even if it was a mere quarter-mile journey that took just five to seven minutes. But that’s a completely different gadget that served a different purpose, so I won’t mention it much more in this piece.

With the Pixel Watch 3, Google introduced a few new features around running and cardio activities. You can now create custom running workouts, with specific segments for sprinting and resting. I found this very easy to use, and had no trouble setting up a short session with a 5-minute warmup, one-minute sprint, one-minute rest, a repeat of the run and rest segments, followed by a 5-minute cooldown. (I know, that’s the best running workout ever, very productive and demure.)

Three screenshots in a composite image showing the data from a session named
Screenshots

For the sprint segments, I had the choice of setting targets for pace, heart rate, distance or duration. When I eventually got into those windows when I was on the treadmill, it was clear I had overestimated my ability to hit an 8-minute mile speed, even for just a minute. I had pushed the treadmill to the 8 mph speed setting and was still getting alerts from the Pixel Watch 3 to hurry it up. I could barely guess what number I needed to be at to meet the mark that the watch helpfully displayed on a spectrum on the left of the screen.

This is certainly not a tool for running newbies, who would be better served with some of the coaching tools in Fitbit Premium (or an app like Couch To 5K). But for runners with cadence and speed goals or those who only want to go fast enough to be in a fat-burning heart rate zone, this would be a useful tool. I liked letting the watch tell me when to run for my life and when I could catch my breath, but otherwise as a casual runner I was less impressed and more intrigued by its potential. Digging into the data was fun and insightful, and I have a general sense of what I could do better if I wanted to improve.

When I was back to my regularly scheduled training program, I used both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Pixel Watch 3 in my F45 HIIT, cardio and weight-training classes. During every session, both watches were never more than a beat or two from each other when it came to stats like my heart rate, cardio zone and calories burned. At the end of each workout, both devices delivered recaps on my performance, and I have a slight preference for how Apple lays out the information. I appreciate that Google congratulates and encourages me for having completed a workout, but its little celebratory graphic at the top just takes up space. I also like that the words on Apple’s interface are slightly easier to read.

Two screenshots showing the data calculated during a session titled
Screenshots

The Pixel Watch 3 also delivers a new stat called “Cardio load,” which can be used in tandem with your daily readiness score to help you train at a level that’s suitable for your energy expenditure. If you’ve already done a lot that week, you might get a high Cardio Load number, which could mean a lower target the next day, depending on how well you’ve recovered. The latter figure is determined primarily by your sleep, and you’ll only start seeing your readiness scores after having worn the Pixel Watch 3 to sleep on at least seven nights.

I am a fussy sleeper and wearing anything on my wrist keeps me awake, and I wasn’t able to test the Pixel Watch 3’s sleep-tracking or readiness scores. But Sam has been wearing his 45mm model to bed and in his experience the Pixel Watch 3 remains as accurate a sleep tracker as its predecessors.

Daily readiness is a feature that used to be limited to Fitbit Premium subscribers, and it’s now available for free to all Pixel Watch owners, which is nice. Like the cardio load number, this score is not something I can easily evaluate. Not only is it a somewhat nebulous idea (how should I go about counting my cardio load during a HIIT session, for example), its utility is also dubious.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist, with a treadmill in the background. The screen shows a run being logged, with 1.04 miles already having been recorded.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I’m not saying this is a bad feature, particularly since I haven’t spent much time with it. I have used other sleep trackers in the past that would assign sleep scores and similar readiness results. The most I’ve ever done with that data is try to get a day off when I was told I had an awful night’s sleep. And that didn’t even work in my favor since none of my managers ever cared about that type of info.

I like the idea of balancing activity and recovery, and applaud Google for making a more concerted effort to encourage that with the Pixel Watch 3. This is one of those features that’s up to the user to make the most of, and is highly subjective, depending on each person’s thirst for data and validation.

Another metric that’s notoriously difficult to verify and do anything with is stress-tracking. On multiple occasions during my testing, the Pixel Watch 3 buzzed and told me it detected “potential signs of stress or excitement,” along with the time it noted that reaction. These alerts typically came in ten minutes after the fact, by which point whatever was exciting or stressing me out was usually over. One time, I remembered to look at the clock after I was agitated by a bad driver in an extremely congested lane going into the Holland Tunnel. Ten minutes later, I was greeted by the Pixel Watch 3, saying it noticed my frustration, exactly when I checked the time earlier.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist, with an alert on its screen saying
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I was impressed by the accuracy of the observation, but otherwise didn’t quite know what to do with the information. The alerts were vaguely worded (probably deliberately so), and you have the option of logging your mood or starting a mindful activity in the moment. It’s not always easy to remember why I was annoyed or excited ten minutes ago, so I ended up either guessing or simply shrugging. Even if Google were to tally up the number of times I had these reactions, I have to wonder if having emotional reactions might just be a normal part of life. There is something useful to be observed here, I’m sure, but I’m not certain that this feature is fully baked just yet.

One more thing that Google brought with the Pixel Watch 3 is “loss of pulse detection” — a feature that is supposed to sense when the wearer has a heart beat. If you’re having a cardiac arrest or respiratory failure, the device can check if you’re responsive and ping emergency contacts if necessary. Thankfully, I didn’t have a cardiac anomaly during the two weeks I’ve had the Pixel Watch 3, and never had a chance to test this feature out. But I can also say that it hasn’t been triggered inaccurately or accidentally so far.

In use — Wear OS 5 still needs some work

If you’re already familiar with Wear OS, the latest version of the software won’t feel foreign. Swiping up, down or sideways will still bring up notifications, settings and tiles. Pressing the crown will pull up all apps, where you’ll find icons laid out in a grid not unlike that on watchOS.

There are a few new features on the Pixel Watch 3 that other Wear OS watches like the Galaxy Watch won’t have. For one, the Fitbit-powered morning briefing is supposed to appear every day with details on your readiness and cardio load scores and targets. But Sam and I both wish it was more obvious. Instead of just appearing when you first put the watch on every day, you’ll just see a small icon at the bottom of the home screen. It would even be preferable if the briefing showed up at the top of the notifications list each morning. This isn’t a major gripe though, seeing as neither Apple nor Samsung surface this data either.

Wear OS could also use some tweaking. Sam wishes basic functions like timers and stopwatches were easier to get to, though personally I don’t mind relying on asking the Assistant for those tasks. And though many of the available watch faces are nice, Sam wishes there were more options, as “nothing really stood out.”

I used both the Pixel Watch 3 and the Apple Watch Series 9 to navigate to a brewery in Red Hook, and the two devices fared similarly. I will say that Apple’s GPS seemed more responsive, pinging me earlier than Google’s to take upcoming turns. It even alerted me when I was basically at the entrance to the bar, whereas the Pixel Watch didn’t seem to realize I was at my destination even after I was seated inside the establishment.

Finally, an area you’ll be spending a lot of time as a Pixel Watch 3 wearer is the Fitbit app on your phone. And the Watch app as well. Neither of these have changed much, and they’re clean and easy to use. I feel like there’s a lot of blank space that makes the interface feel sparse, and could possibly be put to better use and improve readability. But, again, that’s not at all a complaint and, as it is, the app functions fine.

The Pixel Watch 3’s biggest win is arguably its battery life. Google managed to prolong its runtime by quite a lot, ostensibly by doing a few things. First, the Actua displays’ ability to drop to 1Hz when a high refresh rate is unnecessary probably helped conserve some battery. Wear OS 5 might actually be more power-efficient as well and combined with the watch’s dual-chip architecture there were some gains made. Throw in the new auto bedtime mode that turns off notifications and the Always On Display when you’re asleep, and you’ve got a watch that finally lasts well into the morning after a full day and night.

According to Sam, the auto bedtime mode is effective, and “the screen has stayed off for me reliably every night.” To be clear, even in auto bedtime mode, the Pixel Watch 3 will still track your sleep, so you’re not sacrificing precious data in exchange for battery life. It’s also nice to not have to panic about putting the device on its charger the second you wake up.

Both Sam and I found our review units typically lasted at least a day and a half, with the 45mm version staying around a few hours longer in general. My 41mm model was neck and neck with my Apple Watch Series 9, with both wearables hitting about 15 percent at about 11pm after a day out. This number depends on how much you’ve actively used the Pixel Watch 3, of course. A day of numerous Citi bike rides tracked later and my unit was down to 30 percent the next morning, and though the Apple Watch had a bit more juice that same period, it barely logged any of the activity.

If you’re in a pinch, you should be able to squeeze a couple of hours more juice when you turn on Battery Saver mode. According to Google, you should be able to get 24 hours of use on a Pixel Watch 3, and the power-saving mode should extend that to 36 hours, by disabling the Always On Display and limiting background app activity.

One of the best improvements to the Pixel Watch 3 is its charging speed. The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 has basically the same size battery as its predecessor, but as it charges 20 percent faster, it’ll get to 100 percent in 15 minutes less time than before. That’s even if you place it on last year’s charger, meaning the tweaks happened on the watch itself, not on the charging cradle.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist held out in front of a TV playing a sunset in the background.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

It only took three generations. But for the first time, the Pixel Watch feels ready to unseat Samsung’s Galaxy Watch as the best smartwatch for non-Apple users. Those on iPhones will probably find it easier to continue to stay in their ecosystems, but if you’re looking for an Android answer to the Apple Watch, the Pixel Watch 3 might be it. People who own Samsung devices will likely benefit from the integrations with Galaxy phones, of course. So part of the Pixel Watch’s success here has to do with whether people have already bought into Google’s brand

Which brings me to what this means for Google’s greater hardware plans. One of the main reasons it’s hard to leave Apple for Android has been the former’s seamless vertical integration. Features like AirDrop and AirPlay make inter-device interaction so easy that there’s no good substitute elsewhere. Then there’s the RCS vs iMessage, green-bubble-blue-bubble stigma that locks people into iPhones, keeping many from switching.

Getting the Pixel Watch 3 to a point that’s as good as an Apple Watch is a major step towards vertical product integration parity, and could give Google a better shot at gaining and retaining new users. A lot of this will have to do with awareness and marketing, sure, but at the very least, Google finally has a solid smartwatch with which to start.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pixel-watch-3-review-google-finally-got-it-right-especially-with-the-battery-life-170005758.html?src=rss

iPhone 16 hands-on: More Pro than I expected

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It's the day after Apple launched the iPhone 16, and though I published my hands-on with the iPhone 16 Pro right after the event, I didn't have a lot of time to spare for the base models until today. With that extra time, I've been able to learn more about the differences between the standard iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro, and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised that there aren't that many.

One of the most obvious ways to tell the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro apart is in their color selections. The entry-level series has a pleasant, vibrant array of colors this year, with the teal, pink and blue options really catching my eye. These hues are saturated and punchy, compared to the light pastel shades from recent years. I especially like how deep the "ultramarine" blue is — the pictures don't do any of these finishes justice.

The entire iPhone 16 series has the new camera control, meaning you can use the hardware switch to launch the camera app, and then tweak settings like zoom, depth and tone. Having played with them both, I can confirm that they're equally clicky and satisfying to use. Unlike last year, where only the Pro models got the Action button, the iPhone 16 has similar controls, so you're not missing out on a dedicated key by opting for a cheaper model. 

You also gain the ability to record spatial video and audio, thanks to the iPhone 16's updated cameras. In addition to a new ultrawide camera with autofocus and support for macro shots, the sensors have been realigned and are now vertically stacked atop each other. Most intriguing is that the iPhone 16 will also support the new Audio Mix feature that lets you more finely control the voices and sounds in your footage after capture. 

An iPhone 16 held in landscape mode, with the camera app open on its screen. At the top right is the new camera control interface, showing icons for depth, styles and tone.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

It'd be easy to assume that the "four new studio-quality mics" on the iPhone 16 Pro are what's behind Audio Mix, but it appears to just be the ability to record spatial audio that enables the new feature. With this you can go into the iPhone 16's video editing interface, tap the tab for Audio Mix and choose between "In-frame," "Cinematic" and "Studio" options. The first one isolates the sound from subjects in the scene and cuts out background noise, while Studio mimics the acoustic environment of a recording studio, complete with dampening walls. Cinematic, meanwhile, consolidates all the sounds in the front and center of the space.

I was able to get a demo of the Audio Mix feature, and was really impressed that the iPhone 16 was able to isolate voices of people it recorded speaking in an echoey outdoor deck in Apple's new Observatory space. Not only did switching between the different mixes effectively change how loud the various sources of sound were, but it was also nice to learn that you can tune the volume of specific streams in each profile. This is something I'm going to want to play with a lot more to better understand it, but for now I'm very intrigued by the possibility of using an iPhone 16 for future Apple event videos.

One disappointing exclusion from the iPhone 16 is the multi-track recording feature coming to iPhone 16 Pro. That Voice Memo update is only going to be available on the Pro models. 

In fact, here are the main upgrades if you spring for a Pro: ProMotion screens with higher refresh rates and Always On Display, as well as superior camera hardware with a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 5x telephoto option. The premium handsets also have support for 4K120p high-quality slo-mo footage and professional formats like ProRaw. The Pros also have the A18 Pro chip, compared to the iPhone 16's A18, and the differences mostly lie in GPU performance, so you might have a better time gaming on the more premium model. 

Other differences are fairly minimal, like the titanium build and faster USB speeds on the Pros. In general, though, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus feel like much less of a trade off for the cost savings, and you're also getting more fun colors. They also seem like a greater improvement from their predecessors, which is a welcome change after years of incremental changes.

Catch up on all the news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-16-hands-on-more-pro-than-i-expected-222843896.html?src=rss

iPhone 16 hands-on: More Pro than I expected

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It's the day after Apple launched the iPhone 16, and though I published my hands-on with the iPhone 16 Pro right after the event, I didn't have a lot of time to spare for the base models until today. With that extra time, I've been able to learn more about the differences between the standard iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro, and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised that there aren't that many.

One of the most obvious ways to tell the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro apart is in their color selections. The entry-level series has a pleasant, vibrant array of colors this year, with the teal, pink and blue options really catching my eye. These hues are saturated and punchy, compared to the light pastel shades from recent years. I especially like how deep the "ultramarine" blue is — the pictures don't do any of these finishes justice.

The entire iPhone 16 series has the new camera control, meaning you can use the hardware switch to launch the camera app, and then tweak settings like zoom, depth and tone. Having played with them both, I can confirm that they're equally clicky and satisfying to use. Unlike last year, where only the Pro models got the Action button, the iPhone 16 has similar controls, so you're not missing out on a dedicated key by opting for a cheaper model. 

You also gain the ability to record spatial video and audio, thanks to the iPhone 16's updated cameras. In addition to a new ultrawide camera with autofocus and support for macro shots, the sensors have been realigned and are now vertically stacked atop each other. Most intriguing is that the iPhone 16 will also support the new Audio Mix feature that lets you more finely control the voices and sounds in your footage after capture. 

An iPhone 16 held in landscape mode, with the camera app open on its screen. At the top right is the new camera control interface, showing icons for depth, styles and tone.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

It'd be easy to assume that the "four new studio-quality mics" on the iPhone 16 Pro are what's behind Audio Mix, but it appears to just be the ability to record spatial audio that enables the new feature. With this you can go into the iPhone 16's video editing interface, tap the tab for Audio Mix and choose between "In-frame," "Cinematic" and "Studio" options. The first one isolates the sound from subjects in the scene and cuts out background noise, while Studio mimics the acoustic environment of a recording studio, complete with dampening walls. Cinematic, meanwhile, consolidates all the sounds in the front and center of the space.

I was able to get a demo of the Audio Mix feature, and was really impressed that the iPhone 16 was able to isolate voices of people it recorded speaking in an echoey outdoor deck in Apple's new Observatory space. Not only did switching between the different mixes effectively change how loud the various sources of sound were, but it was also nice to learn that you can tune the volume of specific streams in each profile. This is something I'm going to want to play with a lot more to better understand it, but for now I'm very intrigued by the possibility of using an iPhone 16 for future Apple event videos.

One disappointing exclusion from the iPhone 16 is the multi-track recording feature coming to iPhone 16 Pro. That Voice Memo update is only going to be available on the Pro models. 

In fact, here are the main upgrades if you spring for a Pro: ProMotion screens with higher refresh rates and Always On Display, as well as superior camera hardware with a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 5x telephoto option. The premium handsets also have support for 4K120p high-quality slo-mo footage and professional formats like ProRaw. The Pros also have the A18 Pro chip, compared to the iPhone 16's A18, and the differences mostly lie in GPU performance, so you might have a better time gaming on the more premium model. 

Other differences are fairly minimal, like the titanium build and faster USB speeds on the Pros. In general, though, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus feel like much less of a trade off for the cost savings, and you're also getting more fun colors. They also seem like a greater improvement from their predecessors, which is a welcome change after years of incremental changes.

Catch up on all the news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-16-hands-on-more-pro-than-i-expected-222843896.html?src=rss

iPhone 16 Pro hands-on: How does a faux camera control button feel so real?

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Apple's latest attempt to slightly differentiate the iPhone 16 series is... a faux button it's calling Camera Control. But unlike last year's new button, this one doesn't actually physically depress, and uses a mix of sensors and haptic feedback to simulate the sensation of movement. And in my brief hands-on right after Apple's iPhone 16 launch event, I have to say I actually thought it was a real button. 

Editors' Note: After some investigation, it turns out that at least part of the camera control is a real, depressable button. You'll feel the actual movement when you push all the way down, but the half-press is what's simulated by the iPhone 16's haptic feedback. It does a remarkably good job of simulating a two-stage button.

I got a quick look at the iPhone 16 Pro here in Apple Park, and got a deep walkthrough of the new camera control and its corresponding interface. When I first picked up the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I felt like it looked sleeker and thinner than my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which was nice. My fingers were then drawn to the new "button," which has a groove that surrounds it, which helps with identification by touch.

From the home screen, I pressed down on the camera control and the camera app quickly opened. The Apple rep guarding these phones encouraged me to push the camera control with varying pressures, as a lighter touch changed the dial that popped up onscreen next to where the button sat. I dragged my finger on this surface, and the digital knob moved along with me, although I at first found the direction of the movement slightly counterintuitive. I am, however, one of those gamers that needs to flip the direction of my controllers when looking around and navigating any environment though, so that might be just me.

There is no way to change the direction of camera control's direction when you're swiping, but you can tweak the settings to adjust pressure sensitivity. When the Apple rep asked me to push harder on the control, I was shocked at what felt like a real button moving below my fingertip. I confirmed again with the Apple rep that this was not a mechanical button that actually moves, and was met with reassuring nods. Next to me, fellow reviewer Brian Tong echoed my sentiment that the camera control feels remarkably like an actual button. 

iPhone 16 Pro
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

Aside from marveling at the physical sensation on the iPhone 16 Pro, I also took a closer look at the changes to the interface. When I first light-pushed on the camera control, a selection of options came up, allowing me to select Exposure, Zoom, Camera, Styles and Tone. Pressing harder down on each of these locked those modes and a different dial with more markings came up, and swiping on the sensor would move the wheel. In the Camera mode, I was able to quickly switch between the ultrawide, main and zoom options, similar to how the viewfinder currently operates. If you prefer to use the existing interface to switch cameras, you can still do so. 

When you pick the Styles option, you'll swipe between the new Photographic Styles that Apple introduced this year. In each of these, you can tap an icon on the top right of the app to edit them with the new touchpad-ish interface. Dragging your finger around this square at the bottom will adjust color temperature and hue settings. You can also make changes to the Photographic Style in your picture after it's been taken, so you don't have to worry too much about not liking the way something looks. 

iPhone 16 Pro
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I also got to hold the iPhone 16 Pro Max in portrait mode and take a selfie. At first, my thumb was placed too high on the device's edge, and pressing down did nothing. I shifted the phone in my hand slightly, which felt a little precarious, then found the camera control and quickly took a shot. I'm not sure of the position here just yet, but it feels like something I'll figure out in time. 

Some of the camera improvements on the iPhone 16 Pro are new video editing features, but I didn't quite get to recording 4K120 footage yet. I did get to peek at the updated video-editing interface, which has a tab on the side for Audio Mix, which lets you isolate the voices of people on camera or make the shot sound like it was recorded inside a studio. It's all so very cinematic. I don't know that I believe people can shoot IMAX-friendly films on any iPhone ever, but the idea that you can is certainly intriguing.

Part of the reason I found the iPhone 16 Pro slightly sleeker than its predecessor is likely to do with its display. It's 6.9 inches large now, compared to its predecessor's 6.7-inch screen. However, Apple has managed to keep the handset at the same size as before, shaving the bezels down even further to do so. It's not something you'll notice without putting the two devices side by side and really scrutinizing the borders, but it makes a small difference in making this year's Pro Max feel new. 

Whether that makes a meaningful difference in maneuvering the phone or reading more content at once is something I'll wait till I can scroll Reddit for hours on my couch before judging. I'd also need more time to see if Apple Intelligence and the new A18 Pro chip will improve the iPhone 16 Pro experience and battery life. I know I'm super stoked for the update to the Voice Memo app and will be loudly singing into my iPhone 16 Pro whenever I get the chance. If you want the most comprehensive review from an aspiring singer, definitely come back to check out our full impressions soon. If not, well, you have been warned.

Update, September 09 2024, 8:04PM ET: This story has been updated to clarify that there is a real button in Camera Control, and that the half-step is what's simulated by haptic feedback.

Catch up on all the news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-16-pro-hands-on-how-does-a-faux-camera-control-button-feel-so-real-191406863.html?src=rss

Pixel Watch 3 review: Google finally got it right, especially with the battery life

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2024 might just be Google’s year – for its Pixel-branded hardware, at least. After impressing us with the Pixel 9 phones, the company is ready to release the Pixel Watch 3. Spoiler alert: It continues the trend of this year’s Pixel hardware feeling more mature and ready to take on the competition than ever. With the introduction of a new larger size and serious battery life improvements, the Pixel Watch 3 feels like a smartwatch worthy of the Fitbit and Google partnership. There are still some quirks the company has to iron out, but for now, the Pixel Watch 3 feels like the final evolution of a Pokémon that is ready to battle the big beasts from Samsung and Apple.

Editor's note: At the time this review was first published, Apple had just begun its "It's Glowtime" event, where it's expected to unveil new versions of its smartwatch. Our review of the Pixel Watch 3 was largely conducted in comparison to the latest available model — the Series 9, and was also scored as such. We updated this piece on September 10 to include more details on Wear OS, navigation and the Pixel Watch 3's companion apps. None of that experience affects our score for the device.

One of the biggest developments with the Pixel Watch 3 is the fact that Google has finally introduced a larger size. The previous 41mm size lives on, but it’s now joined by a 45mm one, which is nice for people who always felt the original was just a little too dainty. You’ll also be able to see more on the bigger screen, though the 41mm variant also has a bit more real estate since Google managed to shave the bezels down a tad (16 percent, to be exact).

My colleague Sam Rutherford tested the 45mm model for us, and his exact words were, “It’s SOOO much nicer to have the big one.” Sam adds that this is “the size I wanted all along,” and it’s nice to see my bigger-wristed peers get considered at last.

Fans of a more conventional-looking timepiece will appreciate that the Pixel Watch’s face is circular like it’s always been. Compared to the Pixel Watch 2, this year’s smartwatch doesn’t look noticeably different. It has shiny edges and, in the right light, the crown on the right side sparkles.

Some of my more stylish reviewer friends paired their Pixel Watch 3 with a stainless steel mesh band, making it look right at home as part of their designer-decked outfit. I used the basic silicon sport band that came with my review sample, which I loved because I got the lovely pink color this year that goes with some new pants and bags I recently acquired. I remain an ardent fan of Google’s soft elastic loop straps that make putting the watch on super easy. They’re available in more colors and patterns this year, which is always nice. Sam goes as far as to call this “the best-looking mainstream smartwatch,” and, depending on our definition of “mainstream,” I’d have to agree.

I still wish the company was able to reduce the size of the knob just a bit, or at least make it jut out less. It still pushes into the back of my hand whenever I do a pushup or a plank, unless I turn the watch to the inside of my wrist first. Though you’d also get this issue with the Apple Watch Ultra and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it’s not as prominent on the regular Apple Watch and I have a bit more space before accidentally triggering my Series 9.

I also found the Pixel Watch 3 a little too thick. The Apple Watch Series 9 is 10.7mm (0.42 inches) tall, while Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 is even thinner at 9.7mm. Google’s smartwatch is the chunkiest at 12.3mm, and at these sizes, every millimeter feels like a lot.

A downward-up angle of the Pixel Watch 3 on a person's wrist in the sun. Its sides are shiny.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

Every fraction of an inch also feels outsized when we’re talking about displays that are just 41mm and 45mm (the screens themselves are actually 32.2mm and 36.2mm respectively). In comparison, the Pixel Watch 2’s panel was just 30.5mm. While I didn’t feel like I gained a ton comparing my 41mm Pixel Watch 3 to its predecessor, I certainly saw a lot more on the 45mm model’s screen. Some of that is obvious — a larger display has more room for content or bigger fonts. But the improvements in readability cannot be understated, especially for anyone that needed something more legible.

Google didn’t simply enlarge the Pixel Watch’s panels — it upgraded them. These watches feature the company’s Actua displays that debuted on the Pixel 8 phones last year, which means they can get as bright as 2,000 nits or as low as 1 nit.

That latter made a huge difference when I was in a theater watching Alien: Romulus. While I had to turn on Theater mode on my Apple Watch Series 9 to prevent its screen from scorching my retina during the show, the Pixel Watch 3 automatically dropped to the lowest brightness and remained readable without bothering me or fellow cinemagoers.

The Pixel Watch 3’s screen is also capable of a variable refresh rate of between 1Hz and 60Hz, so it can deliver smooth animations when, say, you’re watching the live feed from your Nest camera. But when you’re not doing anything, the system can drop down to a battery-friendlier 1Hz. This isn’t something I really noticed in my daily use, but I’ll tease right now that it probably has a significant impact on battery life.

The Pixel Watch 3 with a pink band on a person's wrist in front of a mirror. Its screen shows the word
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I was probably the most impressed by the Pixel Watch 3 as a health and fitness tracker. It does a lot of things that competing products like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch do, like automatically detect certain workouts, prompt you to move if you’ve been idle for too long and keep tabs on your pulse and calorie burn as you’re exercising. But importantly, it does some of those things a lot better than its rivals.

As someone who likes to track every single walk I take, no matter how short the distance, I found the Pixel Watch 3 a dream. It consistently caught on that I had been out for a stroll, usually prompting me to log a workout once I hit the ten-minute mark. This also worked well on the many Citi bike rides I reluctantly took in New York City, and the Pixel Watch 3’s GPS tracking matched the Lyft app’s log every time. Only twice in about a dozen walks and bike rides did the Apple Watch Series 9 I was also wearing record these activities, probably because it has a higher threshold of about 20 minutes of activity to hit before it would register something.

Of course, the Galaxy Ring was the best at this, logging every little walk I took even if it was a mere quarter-mile journey that took just five to seven minutes. But that’s a completely different gadget that served a different purpose, so I won’t mention it much more in this piece.

With the Pixel Watch 3, Google introduced a few new features around running and cardio activities. You can now create custom running workouts, with specific segments for sprinting and resting. I found this very easy to use, and had no trouble setting up a short session with a 5-minute warmup, one-minute sprint, one-minute rest, a repeat of the run and rest segments, followed by a 5-minute cooldown. (I know, that’s the best running workout ever, very productive and demure.)

Three screenshots in a composite image showing the data from a session named
Screenshots

For the sprint segments, I had the choice of setting targets for pace, heart rate, distance or duration. When I eventually got into those windows when I was on the treadmill, it was clear I had overestimated my ability to hit an 8-minute mile speed, even for just a minute. I had pushed the treadmill to the 8 mph speed setting and was still getting alerts from the Pixel Watch 3 to hurry it up. I could barely guess what number I needed to be at to meet the mark that the watch helpfully displayed on a spectrum on the left of the screen.

This is certainly not a tool for running newbies, who would be better served with some of the coaching tools in Fitbit Premium (or an app like Couch To 5K). But for runners with cadence and speed goals or those who only want to go fast enough to be in a fat-burning heart rate zone, this would be a useful tool. I liked letting the watch tell me when to run for my life and when I could catch my breath, but otherwise as a casual runner I was less impressed and more intrigued by its potential. Digging into the data was fun and insightful, and I have a general sense of what I could do better if I wanted to improve.

When I was back to my regularly scheduled training program, I used both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Pixel Watch 3 in my F45 HIIT, cardio and weight-training classes. During every session, both watches were never more than a beat or two from each other when it came to stats like my heart rate, cardio zone and calories burned. At the end of each workout, both devices delivered recaps on my performance, and I have a slight preference for how Apple lays out the information. I appreciate that Google congratulates and encourages me for having completed a workout, but its little celebratory graphic at the top just takes up space. I also like that the words on Apple’s interface are slightly easier to read.

Two screenshots showing the data calculated during a session titled
Screenshots

The Pixel Watch 3 also delivers a new stat called “Cardio load,” which can be used in tandem with your daily readiness score to help you train at a level that’s suitable for your energy expenditure. If you’ve already done a lot that week, you might get a high Cardio Load number, which could mean a lower target the next day, depending on how well you’ve recovered. The latter figure is determined primarily by your sleep, and you’ll only start seeing your readiness scores after having worn the Pixel Watch 3 to sleep on at least seven nights.

I am a fussy sleeper and wearing anything on my wrist keeps me awake, and I wasn’t able to test the Pixel Watch 3’s sleep-tracking or readiness scores. But Sam has been wearing his 45mm model to bed and in his experience the Pixel Watch 3 remains as accurate a sleep tracker as its predecessors.

Daily readiness is a feature that used to be limited to Fitbit Premium subscribers, and it’s now available for free to all Pixel Watch owners, which is nice. Like the cardio load number, this score is not something I can easily evaluate. Not only is it a somewhat nebulous idea (how should I go about counting my cardio load during a HIIT session, for example), its utility is also dubious.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist, with a treadmill in the background. The screen shows a run being logged, with 1.04 miles already having been recorded.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I’m not saying this is a bad feature, particularly since I haven’t spent much time with it. I have used other sleep trackers in the past that would assign sleep scores and similar readiness results. The most I’ve ever done with that data is try to get a day off when I was told I had an awful night’s sleep. And that didn’t even work in my favor since none of my managers ever cared about that type of info.

I like the idea of balancing activity and recovery, and applaud Google for making a more concerted effort to encourage that with the Pixel Watch 3. This is one of those features that’s up to the user to make the most of, and is highly subjective, depending on each person’s thirst for data and validation.

Another metric that’s notoriously difficult to verify and do anything with is stress-tracking. On multiple occasions during my testing, the Pixel Watch 3 buzzed and told me it detected “potential signs of stress or excitement,” along with the time it noted that reaction. These alerts typically came in ten minutes after the fact, by which point whatever was exciting or stressing me out was usually over. One time, I remembered to look at the clock after I was agitated by a bad driver in an extremely congested lane going into the Holland Tunnel. Ten minutes later, I was greeted by the Pixel Watch 3, saying it noticed my frustration, exactly when I checked the time earlier.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist, with an alert on its screen saying
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I was impressed by the accuracy of the observation, but otherwise didn’t quite know what to do with the information. The alerts were vaguely worded (probably deliberately so), and you have the option of logging your mood or starting a mindful activity in the moment. It’s not always easy to remember why I was annoyed or excited ten minutes ago, so I ended up either guessing or simply shrugging. Even if Google were to tally up the number of times I had these reactions, I have to wonder if having emotional reactions might just be a normal part of life. There is something useful to be observed here, I’m sure, but I’m not certain that this feature is fully baked just yet.

One more thing that Google brought with the Pixel Watch 3 is “loss of pulse detection” — a feature that is supposed to sense when the wearer has a heart beat. If you’re having a cardiac arrest or respiratory failure, the device can check if you’re responsive and ping emergency contacts if necessary. Thankfully, I didn’t have a cardiac anomaly during the two weeks I’ve had the Pixel Watch 3, and never had a chance to test this feature out. But I can also say that it hasn’t been triggered inaccurately or accidentally so far.

In use — Wear OS 5 still needs some work

If you’re already familiar with Wear OS, the latest version of the software won’t feel foreign. Swiping up, down or sideways will still bring up notifications, settings and tiles. Pressing the crown will pull up all apps, where you’ll find icons laid out in a grid not unlike that on watchOS.

There are a few new features on the Pixel Watch 3 that other Wear OS watches like the Galaxy Watch won’t have. For one, the Fitbit-powered morning briefing is supposed to appear every day with details on your readiness and cardio load scores and targets. But Sam and I both wish it was more obvious. Instead of just appearing when you first put the watch on every day, you’ll just see a small icon at the bottom of the home screen. It would even be preferable if the briefing showed up at the top of the notifications list each morning. This isn’t a major gripe though, seeing as neither Apple nor Samsung surface this data either.

Wear OS could also use some tweaking. Sam wishes basic functions like timers and stopwatches were easier to get to, though personally I don’t mind relying on asking the Assistant for those tasks. And though many of the available watch faces are nice, Sam wishes there were more options, as “nothing really stood out.”

I used both the Pixel Watch 3 and the Apple Watch Series 9 to navigate to a brewery in Red Hook, and the two devices fared similarly. I will say that Apple’s GPS seemed more responsive, pinging me earlier than Google’s to take upcoming turns. It even alerted me when I was basically at the entrance to the bar, whereas the Pixel Watch didn’t seem to realize I was at my destination even after I was seated inside the establishment.

Finally, an area you’ll be spending a lot of time as a Pixel Watch 3 wearer is the Fitbit app on your phone. And the Watch app as well. Neither of these have changed much, and they’re clean and easy to use. I feel like there’s a lot of blank space that makes the interface feel sparse, and could possibly be put to better use and improve readability. But, again, that’s not at all a complaint and, as it is, the app functions fine.

The Pixel Watch 3’s biggest win is arguably its battery life. Google managed to prolong its runtime by quite a lot, ostensibly by doing a few things. First, the Actua displays’ ability to drop to 1Hz when a high refresh rate is unnecessary probably helped conserve some battery. Wear OS 5 might actually be more power-efficient as well and combined with the watch’s dual-chip architecture there were some gains made. Throw in the new auto bedtime mode that turns off notifications and the Always On Display when you’re asleep, and you’ve got a watch that finally lasts well into the morning after a full day and night.

According to Sam, the auto bedtime mode is effective, and “the screen has stayed off for me reliably every night.” To be clear, even in auto bedtime mode, the Pixel Watch 3 will still track your sleep, so you’re not sacrificing precious data in exchange for battery life. It’s also nice to not have to panic about putting the device on its charger the second you wake up.

Both Sam and I found our review units typically lasted at least a day and a half, with the 45mm version staying around a few hours longer in general. My 41mm model was neck and neck with my Apple Watch Series 9, with both wearables hitting about 15 percent at about 11pm after a day out. This number depends on how much you’ve actively used the Pixel Watch 3, of course. A day of numerous Citi bike rides tracked later and my unit was down to 30 percent the next morning, and though the Apple Watch had a bit more juice that same period, it barely logged any of the activity.

If you’re in a pinch, you should be able to squeeze a couple of hours more juice when you turn on Battery Saver mode. According to Google, you should be able to get 24 hours of use on a Pixel Watch 3, and the power-saving mode should extend that to 36 hours, by disabling the Always On Display and limiting background app activity.

One of the best improvements to the Pixel Watch 3 is its charging speed. The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 has basically the same size battery as its predecessor, but as it charges 20 percent faster, it’ll get to 100 percent in 15 minutes less time than before. That’s even if you place it on last year’s charger, meaning the tweaks happened on the watch itself, not on the charging cradle.

The Pixel Watch 3 on a wrist held out in front of a TV playing a sunset in the background.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget

It only took three generations. But for the first time, the Pixel Watch feels ready to unseat Samsung’s Galaxy Watch as the best smartwatch for non-Apple users. Those on iPhones will probably find it easier to continue to stay in their ecosystems, but if you’re looking for an Android answer to the Apple Watch, the Pixel Watch 3 might be it. People who own Samsung devices will likely benefit from the integrations with Galaxy phones, of course. So part of the Pixel Watch’s success here has to do with whether people have already bought into Google’s brand

Which brings me to what this means for Google’s greater hardware plans. One of the main reasons it’s hard to leave Apple for Android has been the former’s seamless vertical integration. Features like AirDrop and AirPlay make inter-device interaction so easy that there’s no good substitute elsewhere. Then there’s the RCS vs iMessage, green-bubble-blue-bubble stigma that locks people into iPhones, keeping many from switching.

Getting the Pixel Watch 3 to a point that’s as good as an Apple Watch is a major step towards vertical product integration parity, and could give Google a better shot at gaining and retaining new users. A lot of this will have to do with awareness and marketing, sure, but at the very least, Google finally has a solid smartwatch with which to start.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pixel-watch-3-review-google-finally-got-it-right-especially-with-the-battery-life-170005758.html?src=rss

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review: A grown-up, glowed-up foldable

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Growing up. It’s something we all do, and devices do too. While there’s been very little innovation in mainstream smartphones lately, foldable phones have been maturing over the last few years and finally seem to be coming into their own. It’s like they’re in the young adult phase of their lives, while the conventional “candybar” handset has largely been figured out. At least, on the outside, anyway.

If foldables are the products, then companies like Samsung and Google are the parents, and each of those two has taken a different approach. Samsung has been more experimental, letting its baby flail around in the playground, falling off swings and cracking its face. Google appears to have been more careful, perhaps sheltering its product before releasing it for the first time last year. And let’s not talk about the elephant in (or missing from) the room — Apple is probably waiting till its foldable is mature enough to skip straight to high school before exposing it to the world.

All that is to say the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels like a glowed-up young adult, ready for reality. Though it would have been more apt to call this the Pixel Fold 2 (since it’s only Google’s second foldable), I can see why the company wants us to think of it as part of the 9-series. With the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the entire Pixel 9 lineup feels refined and well-equipped to take on the competition. And maybe even win our hearts.

One of my favorite things about the Pixel foldable is its aspect ratio. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which my colleague Sam Rutherford has described as more like a skinny baton, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels more like a conventional phone when folded. In fact, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is so much an extension of the Pixel 9 series that its 6.3-inch external display is pretty much the same size as the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro.

But because that panel is encased in a frame designed to house a hinge for the flexible internal screen, the Fold actually looks more similar in size to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. When I picked them both up, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold felt a bit heavier, but I guessed that it was probably close to the iPhone 14 Pro Max in weight. I was wrong — the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is actually 17 grams heavier than the iPhone 14 Pro Max and 36 grams more than the 15 Pro Max. More importantly, at 257 grams (9.06 ounces), the Pixel foldable is 18 grams heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

It may not be the lightest foldable around, but the Pixel 9 Pro Fold certainly ranks among the thinnest. When open, its profile measures just 5.1mm (0.2 inches) thick, while Samsung’s Z Fold 6 is slightly thicker at 5.6mm.

Numbers alone don’t tell the entire story. Small dimensions look nice on paper, but the way the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels to hold is a significant part of its evolution. Last year’s model felt a little unfinished, with a bit of a duct-tape vibe to its construction. This time, the device feels solid, thanks to its “aerospace-grade high-strength aluminum alloy” and “matte back with satin metal frame.” The external screen and rear are covered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, helping it be more scratch-resistant.

Of course, as is usually the case with foldables, durability is a concern and something that we can only gauge with time. The good news is, Sam recently published a durability report after a year with the original Pixel Fold, and the device not only withstood the wear and tear of daily life, but also survived being in the general vicinity of an active toddler for 12 whole months.

Some quick final notes on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s design: If you’re right-handed, you might appreciate that the bottom right corner of the phone (when folded) is slightly curved. It rests nicely against your palm and is marginally more enjoyable than the experience for those who are left-handed, who might not like the sharper angle of the bottom left corner. I used the Fold in both hands and didn’t find this a major issue, but our videographer Hayato Huseman did not like the design for left-handed use.

I also have a minor complaint that the device is hard to open without first getting a fingernail in between the two halves, but I expect this will get easier in time. More annoying is the slight creak every time I open the phone, but this got smoother over time. On occasion, there’s also a mildly concerning rattle when I shake the Fold, which is something my friend Julian Chokkattu at Wired brought to my attention, so it sounds like a problem that isn’t unique to our unit. 

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, closed, with its external display facing up, on top of a bunch of mahjong tiles on a park table.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget

I’ve asked Google if this is an issue with just our review samples or if it’s more widespread and according to the company "this is expected behavior that's due to the telephoto camera VCM (voice coil motor). You will likely notice this on Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL as well." I will say that I hear a similar (though less pronounced) sound when I shake my iPhone 15 Pro Max the same way, so this could just be the optical image stabilization system moving about.

Gather up, aspect ratio nerds, have we got an adventure in intricate numbers for you! Though last year’s Pixel Fold had a 5.8-inch external display with an awkward 17.4:9 aspect ratio, this year’s model is much more intuitive. It’s the same 6.3-inch 20:9 screen as the standard Pixel 9, making it a more familiar size and shape. I’m a little bummed that it has the 1,080 x 2,424 resolution and 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate of the base Pixel 9, as opposed to the sharper panel on the Pro (which goes down to 1Hz), but it’s not a huge problem.

Sam pointed out that there is the teeniest change in the Pixel Fold’s internal screen. The original was just under 5.875 inches wide when held in landscape, and while the new Pixel Fold’s interior display is the same size in the same orientation, in portrait mode it’s actually 5.625 inches wide. This means the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s internal display has an almost square 1:1 aspect ratio that’s 8 inches wide diagonally, which is larger than its predecessor’s 7.6-inch panel.

Off angle shot of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold laying on a bunch of mahjong tiles on a park table.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget

This doesn’t dramatically improve things when you’re viewing widescreen content, and Sam would even call it a “very tiny downgrade” in that scenario. The new screen dimensions will make more of a difference when you’re gaming and multitasking than watching videos. The tweak appears to be more for compatibility, and I still had to live with empty space on either side of videos (in both portrait and landscape orientations) when I played YouTube clips in fullscreen mode.

I should point out that the internal display does actually go down to 1Hz, but has a lower pixel density thanks to its 2,076 x 2,152 resolution. I wasn’t ever blown away by either display, though, and merely found them perfunctory. They both go up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness, and are easy enough to read in sunlight, though the front screen can get up to 1,800 nits with HDR while the one inside only goes to 1,600 nits with HDR.

Google’s original foldable already had better cameras than Samsung’s latest, offering a longer optical zoom, sharper pictures and superior low-light performance. So though it’s slightly disappointing that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn’t come with many hardware upgrades, what it does bring is still greater than the Z Fold 6. In fact, Sam says the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the best cameras on any foldable you can buy in the US.

A composite shot of samples from the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold featuring the New York City skyline.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Google has kept the main sensor at 48 megapixels and upgraded the ultra-wide camera to enable macro focus. You’ll still find a 5x optical zoom on the telephoto camera, which is longer than the 3x option on Samsung’s Z Fold 6. What’s interesting is that with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google had to tweak its camera hardware to “fit our unique ultra thin architecture,” which is a fairly impressive engineering feat.

When it came down to actual pictures, the Pixel consistently outshot the Z Fold 6, with Sam going as far as to say it’s “generally a tier level higher.” Colors are brighter and more accurate, and the telephoto hardware makes a noticeable difference in zoomed-in shots. That’s even before using Google’s Zoom Enhance software, too. Given Samsung has been using the same sensor for the main camera for the last three years, that doesn’t seem surprising, but it’s certainly a shame that those who shelled out $1,900 for the Z Fold 6 are stuck with poorer specs here. It’s strange too, considering Samsung’s main sensor is a higher-res 50MP.

It’s worth noting that Google’s primary hardware update also gave the Pixel 9 Pro Fold more of an edge, since being able to use its ultra-wide camera as a macro shooter made its close-up shots better than Samsung’s. Plus, Google continues to lead in low-light photography, producing sharper, more vibrant and better exposed images than the Z Fold 6.

A composite image comparing samples from the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, featuring a mural on a building at night.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget

In fact, software is where the Pixel cameras continue to shine. Google added new features like Add Me and Made You Look this year, with the latter being an exclusive to the Pro Fold. Makes sense, since that uses the internal and external screens. While you have the camera app open on the inside, tapping an icon above the shutter button lets you choose between dual screen, rear camera selfie or Made You Look. Selecting the last one brings up four options of different cartoon animations, and the respective character appears on the outside display. The chicken, or fish, or blob will dance around and make noises to get the attention of your subject. This is meant to work predominantly on children, though I imagine it’ll also pique the curiosity of cats and dogs.

After numerous rounds of testing with Made You Look, I mostly ended up with pictures of an adorable one-year-old looking largely confused, and not even really directly at the camera. With the way the phone's screen and camera is set up, you won't really get a shot of your subject looking into the lens, since the distracting character is next to it. My friend's toddler took a while to warm up to the animation, too, appearing to like the fish the most. She did not catch on that the animal would do something different if she smiled, no matter how many times I tried patiently to explain the concept to her. Not surprising, since she was born only last year after all.

I found more success with an older audience. In fact, the older the subject, the more likely they were to be amused by Made You Look. It does feel a bit futile as a feature, since after a certain age kids mostly know to be aware of, if not to pose for a camera. The idea was good, the execution also sound, but it turns out maybe we should worry less about getting children to face the right way for photos and cherish the moments?

When you’re ready to edit your pictures, you’ll find the same suite of tools that are on the Pixel 9 Pro. That means things like Magic Editor, Reimagine and Autoframe are also available to spruce up your shots. I won’t retread ground we already covered in that review, but like we mentioned before, these generative-AI features are somewhat effective but occasionally problematic. I like using it to create more bushes or greenery in the background so I can center my friends in a candid photo, but find it concerning that Reimagine could be used to add “wrecks, disasters and corpses” to pictures, according to The Verge.

If you can stay away from the problematic AI tools, though, it’s heartening to see that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold can deliver photos that are as good as the ones I got from my iPhone 15 Pro Max. After all, you’re paying $1,800, you should be getting flagship-level cameras.

A medium shot of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's rear camera module, showing its thickness.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Neither Sam nor I have had more than a week with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, so it’s a little too early to talk about longterm performance and daily use. In general, though, so far we’ve noticed the new Fold runs smoothly and coolly, just like the other Pixel 9 Pros. That’s largely thanks to the Tensor G4 processor and built-in vapor chamber, and of course, maybe I just haven’t had the Fold long enough but it never got too warm.

I enjoyed watching YouTube with Threads open next to it on the internal screen, and the larger canvas also made Instagram pictures easier to scrutinize. I wish more apps were compatible with the bigger format, though, since my recent favorite games like Fruit Merge don’t expand to the full width and instead sit in the middle, flanked by two bars of empty space.

It’s also strange that flexing the screen, which is supposed to automatically switch compatible apps into a half-and-half layout, only works in landscape mode. That means if you open YouTube, bend the Pixel 9 Pro Fold slightly and flip it so the rear camera is on the top left corner, you’ll see videos take up the top half of the display. The bottom portion is where the title, description, comments and other videos sit.

This layout is intuitive, and makes sense in the landscape orientation where the clip you’re watching is propped up for easier viewing. I just wish there was an equivalent when you’re holding the Fold in portrait mode that would make the comments take up the right half of the display instead of the awkward column it currently uses.

Sam’s experience with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 leads him to find Samsung’s taskbar “a touch better for power users,” since you can set it to always stick around no matter what app you’re on. This makes it easier to launch apps in splitscreen or just jump between tasks. It’s also worth noting that Google doesn’t support stylus input, while Samsung does, and the latter’s DeX multitasking software is handy for productivity. The Pixel Fold doesn’t have such an interface where apps appear in floating windows, though I do like when compatible apps display extra columns or sidebars when they’re on the bigger screen.

Still, these are generally minor quibbles that feel easy enough to solve with software updates you might receive over time. If you’re not a power user or itching to use a stylus with your foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a solid option over the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The Pixel 9 series has been delivering seriously good results on our video rundown battery test and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is no exception. When running on just the external display, the Fold clocked 27 hours and 9 minutes, which is basically the same as what the standard Pixel 9 got. When using just the interior screen, the Fold lasted 23 hours and 22 minutes, which is impressive for how much larger the panel is.

Those numbers are about two to three hours better than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which notched 25 hours and 19 minutes when folded and 20:07 when open. The new Pixel Fold also beat its predecessor and the OnePlus Open, as neither of those even passed the 20-hour mark on our test.

Although the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only Google’s second foldable device, it’s already come a long way. It both looks and feels better than before, with a size and shape that is more similar to a standard phone when closed. When open, the device is easy to hold and provides a roomier canvas for light multitasking and gaming. Plus, compared to its main competition in the US, the Pixel Fold 2 (spiritually anyway) has a superior camera game and longer battery life. It’s also $100 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, though it’s still pretty pricey at $1,800.

Google’s foldable line still has some quirks to work out, but that’s all part of growing up. For a device that’s only been around for two generations, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a solid foldable for anyone looking to dip their toe into flexible phones that can double as tablets.

Update, September 4, 2:20PM ET: This review was updated after publishing to include more testing of the Made You Look camera feature. These additional impressions have not affected the review score or our overall recommendation.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/pixel-9-pro-fold-review-a-grown-up-glowed-up-foldable-170043123.html?src=rss

Engadget review recap: The Pixel 9 phones are surprisingly great, in spite of their price

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Welcome back to another Engadget Review Recap (or as I prefer to call it, ERR). This is the second edition of a mostly bi-weekly series rounding up the reviews that our team has published, as well as some insight on what's coming, what we skipped and how we do our testing. Plus, fun team trivia! If you missed a review in the last two weeks or simply didn't have the time to read every single thing we publish (how dare you), let this roundup be your quick catch-up. 

This week, we're looking back at the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro reviews, as well as the Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ PC, which is a mouthful of a name if I ever saw one. Other Pixel devices are also being tested as we speak, and the reviews team is pretty busy behind the scenes. On Monday, Apple announced an "It's Glowtime" event for September 9, which means we're also expecting new iPhones and Apple Watches to play with soon.

For now, though, here's what's been happening on the Engadget reviews team. 

by Sam Rutherford

First of all, huge news from the Engadget team: Our senior writer Sam Rutherford just had a baby! Sam will be off on parental leave for a bit, and has managed to keep himself extremely busy right down to the wire, filing hands-ons and helping with reviews up until he went off to the hospital. We will be lost without Sam, but are extremely happy for him and his family as they welcome the lovely addition to their lives. 

The Pixel 9 review is the last full review you'll see from Sam for a while, and in it he clearly explains how impressed he is by Google's premium-ish handset. To him, it's the go-to Android phone, overshadowing Samsung's S24 and any other Android flagship worth considering. It's got a grown-up vibe to it like the Pixel 9 Pros, and has great camera and battery performance. At $799, it delivers plenty for the money.

It's a little tricky to consider the Pixel 9 in the shadow of its Pro counterparts, since there's also the Pixel 8a or the future Pixel 9a possibly nipping at its toes with a great set of features for a lower price. If you have the $200 or so to spare, you might be considering the Pros, which we also reviewed last week.

by Mat Smith

I kid you not: My jaw dropped when I saw the score that Mat Smith, UK bureau chief, proposed for the Pixel 9 Pro. It's possibly the highest we've ever given any Google-made phone, not to mention also arguably the first time a Pixel has been scored in iPhone territory. In fact, both Mat and myself found ourselves mistaking the Pixel 9 Pro for our own iPhones by touch and when their screens were facing up. Sam also thought the Pixel 9 looked and felt remarkably similar to Apple's flagships, which is, in a weird way, a compliment to Google. 

These phones feel grown up, refined and classy. Gone is the glossy finish that the Pixel 6 and newer came in, and with it also went the tendency for these devices to slide off any non-stable surface. The camera bar also looks more elegant, and the straight edges give the Pixel 9 Pros that iPhone vibe that older models lacked.

I love how Google was able to give its latest flagships the iPhone treatment while retaining its character with the camera bar. I adore the new colors, too, especially the pair of pink Pros I received. 

A huge part of why we scored the Pixel 9 Pro as high as we did is the fact that the new smaller Pro doesn't have many compromises due to its size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL and the smaller version both have the same camera setup and are really only different in display and battery size. The larger flagship charges slightly faster, but the baby Pro lasts so. danged. long. It beat pretty much every recent phone we've on our video rundown battery test.

As usual, Google's cameras beat the competition (especially at night), and while we don't know if we'd pay to use its Gemini AI services ourselves, the fact that they're available for free for now means it's not a downside. Some of the new software, like the Pixel Screenshots app or the Add Me tool in the camera, are nifty and generally effective. Others, like Pixel Studio and Reimagine in the photo editing tools, are somewhat problematic, as detailed by Allison Johnson at The Verge.

If you can avoid using those features, which I think is remarkably easy to do, then you'll find the rest of the Pixel 9 Pro satisfying. Its upgraded display is bright and beautiful, though Mat, who only slightly bragged in his review that he had larger-than-average hands, didn't like that the Pro XL had a bigger screen than last year's model. He's not wrong, that thing is hard to maneuver, especially for those of us cursed with smaller extremities. For that reason, we took a point off the Pro XL's score compared to last year's Pixel 8 Pro. We also wish Google had kept its flagships more competitively priced for one more year, since the Pixel 9 lineup costs pretty much the same as the corresponding devices from Samsung and Apple, instead of a hundred or so dollars cheaper in prior years.

Go on over to Mat's review for the details and camera samples. For now, suffice to say that the Engadget team is very impressed with the Pixel 9 lineup, and we eagerly await our own verdicts on the other products in the family, like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. 

by Devindra Hardawar

Feels like we might be getting several iterations of the Dell XPS 13 soon. The XPS 13 Copilot+ PC that Devindra reviewed this week feels like one such variant, as if we're in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's the XPS 13 we reviewed earlier this year but instead of an Intel Core Ultra processor, it uses an Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. That means it lasts a lot longer than your typical PC using x86 system architecture, but also is more likely to encounter potential compatibility issues. 

If you don't plan on gaming on your laptop or need it to run obscure apps, a Snapdragon notebook might work for you, especially if you want long battery life. Gamers who plan on playing Fortnite or League of Legends will need to opt for an x86 system. because the anti-cheat features on those titles will prevent them from working on Arm-based machines. 

Considering we'll likely be getting an XPS 13 with Intel's Lunar Lake CPU later this year, those who want greater software compatibility in an AI PC with Dell's premium design won't have long to wait. The Lunar Lake processors also have neural processing units (NPUs) that are faster than the Snapdragon X Elite's, too. If you don't mind waiting, you'll likely find a variant that satisfies your needs (or your prime timeline) soon enough.

Speaking of AI PCs powered by Intel, let's not forget AMD. Devindra had a chat with AMD's product leads for Ryzen AI and published an article last week around the company's AI PC strategy. This type of interview informs our coverage and reviews of devices with these components, and they're a great opportunity for us to unleash our inner nerds (innerds? never mind).

We also got the chance to nerd out with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman on the Engadget Podcast this week, getting an inside look at what Apple might be unveiling at its event on September 9. 

Gamescom took place last week, and the Engadget team covered the event live, with news around titles from franchises like Dune, Indiana Jones, Marvel, Call of Duty and Civilization. Sam published a hands-on with "King of Meat," which he called a "monstrous mash-up of a co-op platformer."

Not enough gaming coverage? We've got you. Mat published a piece on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which looks like a beautiful RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive. Our team also produced a series of lists and roundups of various types of games, from the best Apple Arcade options and Netflix games to titles for specific consoles like the Playdate and puzzle and word games you can play daily.

Senior reporter Jess Conditt checked out Razer's new Wolverine V3 Pro controller for Xbox and PC this week, which is the company's first fully wireless controller for Xbox consoles and also its first with Hall effects joysticks. Jess spent a few days with the V3 Pro, mostly playing Overwatch 2, and she found it "snappy and surprisingly compact." She said "the joysticks are precise — they require a little more force than the wireless Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller I generally use, but they’re nice and accurate."

We continue to test Pixel devices that are becoming available to the public later in September, while working on testing more AI PCs, leftover Samsung Galaxy products and more. I'm personally extremely excited to check out the new Barbie flip phone from HMD, because I can type so much more quickly on a T9 keypad than on a touchscreen. I think I can, anyway.

Many products are announced every week, not to mention every year, and just this week we saw new gadgets like that Barbie phone, as well as a new AI wearable called the NotePin. Whether we review these devices depends largely on how important they are to our audience (which is usually determined by our understanding of reader interest and how likely they are to want to buy something). Whether a product is ever going to make it to a larger market also matters, so vaporware or mini personal projects on Kickstarter aren't things we typically review. 

Finally, our individual staff members' workload and desire to test these things also contribute to the decision-making process — if someone on the team liked something so much they bought it with their own money, they are always welcome to write up their experience for the site, as part of our ongoing series around things we bought.

As always, it is shaping up to be a busy few weeks ahead for our team, so please send good thoughts and vibes. Thank you as always for giving us your time, and have a fantastic weekend!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-the-pixel-9-phones-are-surprisingly-great-in-spite-of-their-price-140056442.html?src=rss

Engadget review recap: Dyson’s non-weird headphones and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon

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What a week to kick off a new review recap series on Engadget. Google held its Made By Google event on Tuesday, launching the Pixel 9 lineup and the Pixel Watch 3. Since then, though, it's already had to admit to a mistake in one of the forms it had members of Team Pixel sign for access to devices. Coincidentally, that brought up a lot of discourse on social media around what reviewers do, and how they gain access to products. 

I'll take this opportunity to point you to our document on our reviews process, which details how and what we test. That includes specific articles on our evaluation process for specific categories like laptops, VPNs and video games, with more to come. You'll find all our reviews by clicking Sections and then Reviews, or on Engadget.com/reviews.

Anyway, I've wanted to write a roundup of the reviews our team publishes for a while now, in part because I want to highlight the work of our smart, hardworking reviewers. It's also a good way to contextualize our scores, remind people of the breadth of devices we cover and, well, I just like writing for fun and seeing my name on things. AI will never take this from me; I will blog from my own brain for as long as I can.

So here you go: Engadget's reviews recap. (ERR, for short. It doesn't quite work, but it works for me, OK?) I'm not committing to a frequency here, because a weekly cadence might be overly ambitious, while monthly would just result in a novel every 30-ish days. Bi-weekly sounds good but I might mix it up, just to keep you on your toes (or, honestly, while I figure things out). 

by Billy Steele

Remember the Dyson Zone? The headphones with an air-purifying system and mask built in? The company is back this year with a less gimmicky version that focuses purely on sound. Our audio expert Billy Steele spent weeks with the Dyson Ontrac and found that it outlasts most of the competition. It even beat than Sony’s WH-1000XM5 by about 18 hours in his testing. Dyson had explained in a briefing that with all its experience working to reduce the noise of its other wind-generating products (like hair-dryers), it's learned a lot about how to combat unwanted sound. 

But thanks to Billy's experience with pretty much every other pair of headphones out there, I also learned that the Dyson OnTrac's active noise cancellation is only average. As the kids today say, it's mid.

Though these headphones look great and have intriguing hearing health features, ultimately Billy didn't feel they do enough to justify the $500 price, awarding it a pretty mid score of 73. You'll probably find something better from Master & Dynamic, Sony or even Apple.

by Sherri L. Smith

Contributing reporter Sherri L. Smith was once the editor-in-chief at Laptop Magazine, and has years and years of experience reviewing notebooks. So when she says the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is the king of business laptops, I believe it. 

Though she liked the X1 Carbon's display and long-lasting battery, Sherri pointed out that Lenovo's decision to place the power button along the edge instead of on the keyboard deck is a con. She also cautioned that the gap between the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the competition is a small one that is continually shrinking. 

by Sam Rutherford

Thankfully, even after a year, the Pixel Fold's main flexible display remains unblemished.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

This week, the entire Engadget team worked hard to cover Google's hardware launch event, which means less time for writers and editors to publish reviews. Our reviewers are usually involved in hands-on and other launch coverage of the companies whose products they test, and though these aren't full reviews, I consider them relevant for this roundup.

Sam Rutherford, our reviewer of mobile phones, laptops, gaming PCs and more (he does a lot!), spent time with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at a Google hands-on session. Sam is one of those people who actually went out and bought himself a Galaxy Fold when the first generation went on sale. That's how deep his love for and, more importantly, firsthand experience of the category runs. To this day, he uses a foldable as his daily driver. 

In fact, he's been using Google's original Pixel Fold for a whole year, and took the time to write up a durability report that was published this week. Flexible screens are still fairly fragile components, and early foldables were easily damaged. With the Pixel Fold, Sam was pleasantly surprised that it's held up to life with his rambunctious (and adorable) toddler. It's not only heartening news for those considering buying a foldable device, but also fascinating that technology has come this far this quickly.

Elsewhere on the site, we've published a hands-on with the new Pixel Watch 3, and as the dust from Google's event starts to settle, it'll soon be time to expect full reviews of each new device announced. With the Pixels coming out at various points throughout August and September, people will be getting their hands on them quickly enough, and I expect we'll have reviews of those... soon.

We also continue to test a whole host of Copilot+ PCs (remember those?) from companies like HP, Dell, ASUS and Samsung? Then there's the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which is taking a little longer to evaluate considering a lot of its features require longterm testing. Plus, it's almost September, which is when we usually expect Apple to launch new iPhones. There'll be plenty of reviews here soon, so stay tuned. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-dysons-non-weird-headphones-and-lenovos-thinkpad-x1-carbon-140049529.html?src=rss

Google acknowledges it ‘missed the mark’ with onerous demands for Pixel 9 influencers

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If you thought Google might be taking a break after unveiling new Pixel 9 devices at its Made By Google event this week, you would be mistaken. A recent post on Threads appears to show part of the sign-up form to receive Pixel devices, and the language in question mandates that signees feature Google's hardware "in place of any competitor mobile devices" or else "we will need to cease the relationship between the brand and the creator."

After some online conversation, it's become clear that this form was sent to members of the Team Pixel program, which is different from the review program for members of the press or media. Engadget falls into the latter category, and I did not see that language in our form, nor have I ever seen language like this in my experience as a reviewer of Google devices. I also want to assure our audience that we would never agree to any stipulation that requires we give positive reviews in exchange for access.

In the meantime, Google has just released a statement saying the wording was a mistake. Kayla Geier, communications manager at Google, said "#TeamPixel is a distinct program, separate from our press and creator reviews programs. The goal of #TeamPixel is to get Pixel devices into the hands of content creators, not press and tech reviewers. We missed the mark with this new language that appeared in the #TeamPixel form yesterday, and it has been removed."

It's not yet clear if #TeamPixel members have received a new agreement and if those who declined on the basis of that stipulation have been given a chance to re-apply. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-acknowledges-it-missed-the-mark-with-onerous-demands-for-pixel-9-influencers-210531821.html?src=rss

Waiting for a new Fitbit smartwatch? Google says that’s the Pixel Watch 3

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It's been three years since Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit. Since then, the company has launched three new smartwatches under the Pixel brand, including the Pixel Watch 3 at today's Made By Google event. Meanwhile, Fitbit's not launched a single new smartwatch since the unceremonious announcement of the Sense 2 and Versa 4 two years ago. The writing has been on the wall for years that Fitbit might not make smartwatches anymore, instead focusing on lower-profile activity trackers that last long. Engadget can confirm that this is indeed true moving forward.

In an interview with the senior director of product management for Pixel Wearables Sandeep Waraich, I asked whether we would ever see another Fitbit-branded smartwatch anytime soon. Waraich said "Pixel Watch is our smartwatch part of the portfolio." He confirmed that moving forward everything from Fitbit would focus on the more minimalistic, long-lasting trackers the brand has become synonymous with.

While the Sense 2 and Versa 4 will continue to be available in the market, a Google spokesperson said "Pixel Watches are our next iteration of smartwatch for Fitbit."

As for the devices Fitbit continues to make, "trackers is where users clearly tell us they want something discreet," Waraich said. "They want longer battery life, they want a simple experience and we are very proud of our Inspire line."

Waraich also shed some light on how the Google and Fitbit teams have collaborated to build Pixel watches, referencing the former's AI prowess and the latter's established expertise in interpreting heart-rate sensor data for greater insights. According to him, Google brought its expertise in machine learning, providing "advanced models that otherwise probably externally weren't readily available." Fitbit, of course, had deep knowledge on things like data and signal capture and how that translated into how your hands are moving or what you're doing. "HIIT has a very different heart rate algorithm [and] implications than a running workout," Waraich explained.

There's little doubt that the Fitbit brand remains valuable to Google and the industry at large, given the fact its name is basically the catch-all noun for activity trackers. While it can be jarring to see the Fitbit name and app in devices like the Pixel Watch, where integrations should feel more seamless and unified, Waraich told me "it's not an app in Pixel Watch. It's deeply integrated at a system level." 

Outside of the Pixel portfolio, the Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium both still exist to the large chunk of the population that want something simple that can help them stay on top of their overall health. With the trackers and Pixel watches having now matured into devices that can log your activity very well, Waraich said "There is a tremendous opportunity in terms of going from tracking to coaching, real-time guidance included."

Time for everyone's favorite buzzword and trend for 2024: AI. With the Pixel Watch 3, Fitbit Premium users can get AI-generated customized workouts based on their activity and recovery. Of all the features Fitbit Premium has offered (and paywalled) in the past, this feels like a more-suitable use of AI and charging for it. Fitbit and Fitbit Premium are unlikely to be going away, and while we may not see a Fitbit-branded smartwatch again, this feels like a smart move.

Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel Watch 3 launch event right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/waiting-for-a-new-fitbit-smartwatch-google-says-thats-the-pixel-watch-3-202314838.html?src=rss