The Google Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 are two high-end Android watches aimed at targeting Apple Watch dominance in the smartwatch space. Both run the latest version of Wear OS, have circular displays, track similar workouts and have many similar fitness sensors. But how do these two Android watches compare when used in the real world, not just by looking at specs on paper? Let’s take a look at it in detail below!
Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 design and screens
The Google Pixel Watch features a curved screen for a sleek look, with a digital crown and side buttons. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has a flat screen with two side buttons. It’s not a crown, but a virtual touch bezel around the screen. Move your finger around the bezel to navigate between menus and options.
Comfort-wise, the Pixel Watch looks and feels better on my small 152mm wrist, especially for sleep tracking, but may be too small for some wrists. That might immediately get you looking for a bigger watch and put the Galaxy Watch 5 in your favor.
The bezel around the Pixel Watch’s screen does a lot of work, but it’s only really noticeable when you have a lighter watch face in the background. Don’t forget that if your hands are sweaty or wet, especially during a workout, physical controls like the Pixel Watch’s crown are easier to control, unlike the Galaxy Watch 5’s touch bezel, which has nothing on you The fingers simply don’t work well when hydrated.
Each has a bright OLED screen that maxes out at 1,000 nits. This means they are all very easy to see in direct sunlight. They can also stay on all the time, if you want to avoid lifting your wrist or tapping the screen.
Water resistance is a feature of both watches, but only the Galaxy Watch 5 has an official IP68 rating, making it dust and water resistant. The Pixel Watch is water resistant to 5ATM or 50 meters.
Both have speakers and microphones: you can take calls, dictate messages, and hear notifications read aloud, but only the Galaxy Watch 5 lets you play music from the speakers.
Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 health and fitness features
Both watches have all the basics: tracking steps, calories, sleep, and many types of exercise. The Pixel Watch relies heavily on Fitbit’s interface and ecosystem for exercise tracking, so you’ll find all of your health data integrated in the Fitbit app. Galaxy Watch 5 uses the Samsung Health app. You can also choose to use Google Fit on either, but you’ll get the most powerful experience with each company’s proprietary app.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Watch 5 can automatically detect outdoor activities like walking and running. It’s something I miss so much when using the Pixel Watch because it can’t do it — although other Fitbit trackers can.
The Galaxy Watch 5 also has some additional sensors that might be appreciated, such as bioimpedance for measuring body composition. There is also a temperature sensor, but it was not active when comparing. There’s also an ECG or EKG app, but you’ll need a Galaxy phone to use it unless you sideload the Health Monitor app on another Android phone.
The Pixel Watch also has an EKG, but it works on any Android phone. Both watches also feature blood oxygen trackers, which aren’t yet enabled on the Pixel Watch. It also doesn’t have high and low heart rate alerts or irregular heart rhythm alerts like the Galaxy Watch 5.
Both have built-in GPS, and they each lock onto a signal within about five seconds of being out. Compared to controlling the phone, the Pixel Watch is more accurate at calculating distance, but things like step count and pace are all within the same range of each other.
The heart rate sensor on the Pixel Watch is also closer in accuracy to a chest strap than the Galaxy Watch 5; if I want the best results from my cardio, the Pixel is my watch of choice.
Sleep tracking was also excellent on the Pixel Watch, and not only was the sleep score more reflective of my overall sleep quality, but the Galaxy Watch 5 continued to give me shockingly low blood oxygen at night.
Pixel Watch vs Galaxy Watch 5 battery life comparison
For general use, including always-on display, notifications, and a one-hour GPS workout, I got 21 hours on the Galaxy Watch 5 version and up to 20 hours on the Pixel Watch. Typically, you’ll need to charge both before tracking sleep, especially if the Pixel Watch’s battery life drops by more than 20 percent overnight.
The Galaxy Watch 5 supports reverse wireless charging, so you can put it on the back of some Samsung phones to charge it. The Samsung watch went from flat to 45% in 30 minutes and took about 1.5 hours to reach 100%. The Pixel Watch charges at a comparable rate, taking at least 30 minutes for the same 45% charge and about 1.5 hours to 100%. Neither comes with a USB-C charging brick.
>>>>>>>>>>>Samsung Watch battery
