At Made by Google 2025, Google announced the Pixel Watch 4. While it looks the same, there are significant hardware changes that actually make this a sizable update. I’d go as far as saying that this is the biggest hardware upgrade of all the products unveiled today, but you’ll only notice the changes in person.
The first three generations have cover glass that is flat at the center and domed around the edges. The Pixel Watch 4 takes things a step further by raising the center of the glass so that there is no flat surface. From the start, water droplets have been Google’s inspiration, and this year’s design fully realizes that.
In addition to the glass, the display underneath is also domed on the Pixel Watch 4 to make the pixels feel like they are so much closer to the surface. This Actua 360 display results in 10% more screen real estate and a 16% smaller bezel. Protected by custom Gorilla Glass, it’s also 50% brighter than last generation at 3,000 nits, which always helps when in direct sunlight.
These two hardware aspects make for an interesting optical illusion the first time you put the Pixel Watch 4 on your wrist. It’s an immersive effect that cannot be captured in images or videos. Practically speaking, I can imagine myself beginning swipes from the center of the screen instead of starting from one edge and going all the way to the other.
Google touts a custom Gen 3 haptics engine that results in 15% stronger vibrations, though I haven’t been able to appreciate the difference so far. There’s also a new speaker that’s better tuned for speech and aids Gemini responses. The Pixel Watch 4 is made of aluminum and once again has an IP68 rating and is waterproof up to 50 meters.
On the left edge, you’ll find two raised contacts at the ends of the speaker cutout. This is for the new charging system that gets you 0-50% in 15 minutes or less. Google went with a third mechanism in four generations because it believes “ultra fast” charging will be a real differentiator. For those that wear their watch all day, top-up sessions are faster than ever.
If you don’t wear it to bed for sleep tracking, you have a dedicated place to store it that is more elegant, if not premium, than a loose puck. This nature of being an explicit dock (which has mostly disappeared for phones) instead of just relying on the band to keep your watch upright is interesting.
The Quick Charge Dock has a 1 meter long cable and I appreciate how it’s much more weighted than the old puck that so easily flopped around. It’s the same accessory for both sizes, while the watch can be placed in either direction
Made for Google partners will offer compatible charging accessories, cases, and screen protectors.
The Pixel Watch 4 is Google’s first wearable to be serviceable. You remove screws hidden in the band connector to access the battery, while the display is also replaceable.
The Pixel Watch 4 is powered by a new Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 (more on that below) with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. This year, Google is updating the co-processor to the Cortex-M55 for running machine learning algorithms 25% faster at half the power. The display also takes up 50% less power in ambient mode.
Along with Wear OS 6, the end result is 25% longer battery life. The 41mm (325 mAh) Pixel Watch 4 gets 30 hours (AOD) and two days with Battery Saver Mode, while it’s 40 hours (AOD) and three days with Battery Saver on 45mm (455 mAh).
Besides Bluetooth 6.0 and Ultra-Wideband, Google is touting how the Pixel Watch 4 LTE is the “first standalone commercial smartwatch” with emergency Satellite SOS connectivity, which is made possible by the W5 Gen 2. It’s for contacting emergency responders and sharing your location. It can be launched when you dial 911, but have no connectivity. Like on phones, there is a survey, while Google guides you on how to orient the watch with a new set of antennas. Availability is starting in the contiguous US.
On the health front, the Pixel Watch 4 has 18% more accurate sleep tracking that is better at detecting when you’re in REM, light, or deep sleep. There’s also a next-generation skin temperature sensor. Route tracking gets more accurate with dual-frequency GPS when you’re surrounded by buildings or trees.
Similarly, AI-powered activity recognition works in the background so you don’t have to manually start a session. You’ll get a summary with metrics after the fact, and it will get more personalized over time based on your routine. Meanwhile, there are now 50+ Exercise modes, including basketball and pickleball. Cyclists will appreciate how you can now show workout stats on your phone in real-time.
More broadly, Google is introducing a Coach powered by Gemini that goes hand-in-hand with a redesigned Fitbit app that leverages Material 3 Expressive. Understanding your health and fitness goals, it creates personalized fitness and sleep plans. You can conversationally ask questions about health and fitness. This is coming in October as a public preview after the Pixel Watch 4 first hits store shelves for any older model and Fitbit wearable.
Finally, Wear OS 6 is a big redesign that touches every screen and app, including Clock and Weather. It makes for a nice modernization that Wear OS arguably needed after a few years. Tiles really benefit from being able to show more information.
You can now launch Gemini by just raising your wrist and just talking instead of using a hotword or button press. Made possible by the co-processor, this has the potential to be a paradigm changing way to interact with an assistant that’s entirely hands-free.
The other big AI feature this year is on-device smart replies in Google Messages and other similar notifications that use the context of the conversation. The on-device nature is nice especially if you’re using the watch without a paired phone nearby.
The Pixel Watch 4 costs $349 for the 41mm Bluetooth/Wi-Fi model in the US, while 45mm is $399. The LTE model is once again $100 more. It will be available on October 9, with pre-orders today in these colors:
41mm
- Matte Black Aluminum case / Obsidian Active Band
- Polished Silver Aluminum case / Porcelain Active Band
- Champagne Gold Aluminum Case / Lemongrass Active Band
- Polished Silver Aluminum case / Iris Active Band
45mm
- Matte Black Aluminum case / Obsidian Active Band
- Polished Silver Aluminum case / Porcelain Active Band
- Satin Moonstone Aluminum case / Moonstone Active Band (as seen below)
Pre-order Pixel Watch 4
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