The fourth iteration of the Google Pixel Watch is here, and the hardware has come a long way. While the Google Pixel 2 was a major leap over the original, the Google Pixel 4 has arguably done more over the last two years. Google's newest Pixel Watch 4 packs a brighter, domed display with a slimmer bezel, helping the Wear OS smartwatch feel more modern than ever.

If you have a Google Pixel Watch 2, the latest Pixel Watch 4 might feel like a compelling upgrade. There's a lot to like, although the core experience hasn't changed much. For those who are considering a switch, let's break down how the Pixel Watch has changed over the past two generations.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Pixel Watch 2: Design and display

From a design perspective, the Pixel Watch 4 is about as similar to and as different from the Pixel Watch 2 as it could be. Here's what I mean — from the outside, the 41mm configurations are identical, weighing the same 31 grams and measuring the same 12.3mm thick. However, the Pixel Watch 4 comes in two sizes, compared to the Pixel Watch 2's singular size, which some find too small. The displays underneath each smartwatch's Gorilla Glass 5 covering are also completely different.

Part of the idea behind the Google Pixel Watch's sloping, waterdrop design was originally to hide the device's relatively large black bezels. That's evident on the Pixel Watch 2, which has a small and old 1.2-inch AMOLED display panel. It does support 1-60Hz variable refresh rates, but its brightness rating is merely 1,000 nits, hardly enough for reliable outdoor use. It's also a flat display panel under curved glass, which directly contrasts with the Pixel Watch 4's screen.

Google kept the domed Gorilla Glass 5 covering on the Pixel Watch 4, but now added a domed OLED display to match. It's called Actua 360, and it features a slight curve to match the shape of the smartwatch itself. The hardware is improved, too. It keeps the Pixel Watch 2's variable refresh rate support, but triples its peak brightness rating.

The Google Pixel Watch 4 can crank itself up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness when needed, significantly increasing its visibility outdoors.

The other notable change is the charging system. Both the Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 4 use charging pins instead of a wireless puck, but they're in different locations on each watch. The Pixel Watch 2 has them on the back with the sensor modules, whereas the Pixel Watch 4 positions them on the side. This fits into a new charging dock that utilizes the display while powering the smartwatch up.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Pixel Watch 2: Hardware and specs

The Google Pixel Watch 4 includes a new Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 processor, but don't get too excited. The real-world experience will likely be similar to using the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 in the Pixel Watch 2. One big addition that comes with the newer model with Qualcomm's latest wearable chip is on-watch satellite connectivity. That means you can get help in an emergency even if you don't have your phone nearby or LTE service on your Pixel Watch 4.

Otherwise, performance is mostly the same, and you get identical 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage on each watch. The Pixel Watch 4 does have a new Cortex M55 co-processor specifically tuned for certain tasks. By shifting tasks like AI queries off the primary chip, the Pixel Watch 4 can use less battery and prioritize efficiency. It's a big move as Gemini becomes the primary wearable assistant for the Pixel Watch.

The Google Pixel Watch 2 lasts only 24 hours with the AOD enabled, while the Pixel Watch 4's 41mm model can finally hit 30 hours. Of course, the Pixel Watch 2 doesn't come in a 45mm size. However, the Pixel Watch 4's 45mm option provides a much longer 40-hour figure for battery life with the AOD active.

Charging is faster, too. The Google Pixel Watch 4 takes 15 minutes to charge halfway from zero for both sizes. By comparison, the Pixel Watch 2 takes twice as long — 30 minutes — to charge the same amount.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Pixel Watch 2: Fitness and health

Both the Google Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel Watch 2 have similar fitness and health suites, as they rely on Fitbit software. There is a basic set of features available to all users, and a few extras locked behind a Fitbit Premium subscription. The new Pixel Watch 4 addresses a few of our gripes with older models, such as GPS accuracy and the availability of non-running workout tools.

Google added dual-band GPS to the Pixel Watch 4, which should greatly improve tracking accuracy. Additionally, there are more than 40 workout modes available in the Pixel Watch 4. New features like Fitbit Morning Brief will keep you up-to-date on your fitness and health progress on a daily basis.

At their core, the fitness and health features are powered by Wear OS 6. It's the latest version of Wear OS that includes the Material 3 Expressive user interface and design language overhaul. Both watches are software-supported for three years after their release, with routine feature drops in tow. However, it's worth noting that the Pixel Watch 2 could lose software support in October 2026. That isn't as far away as you might think.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Pixel Watch 2: Which should you buy?

From afar, it'll be hard to tell the Google Pixel Watch 2 and the new Pixel Watch 4 (41mm) apart. They both sport 41mm case sizes, measure 12.3mm thick, and weigh 31 grams without a strap. Under the hood, there are a handful of new changes that'll make the Google Pixel Watch 4 more enjoyable to use daily. The biggest visual difference is the new domed OLED display and slimmer bezels, which should aid usability, too.

Is that enough to make Pixel Watch 2 users upgrade? I'm not so sure. While I find the older model's large bezels and relatively small display to be unsightly, not everyone will. As such, the upgrade from the 41mm Pixel Watch 2 to the 41mm Pixel Watch 4 might not be that enticing. However, if you're hanging onto a Pixel Watch 2 and want to give the 45mm Pixel Watch 4 a try, I think that's a much easier upgrade to justify.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

• Garmin announced its major August 2025 update on Tuesday, and it's currently rolling out to most recent watches.
• The Garmin Fenix 8, Venu X1, Enduro 3, and other watches are getting running tolerance, speed step loss, running economy, and other new tools from the Forerunner 970.
• Other recent features like evening report, smart wake alarm, and rucking will come to a wider range of watches.
• The update also introduced a new feature: daily suggested track workouts.

Garmin has announced its August 2025 update, which takes the Forerunner 970's cutting-edge running tools and spreads the wealth to other premium flagship watches — though only the newest models.

The Forerunner 970 added several quality-of-life improvements for runners, most notably running tolerance. This tool judges the biomechanical load from each run and tells you how many "impact load miles" your body can currently handle, helping to prevent injuries.

Running tolerance is surprisingly accurate and provides additional context to Training Readiness's focus on cardiovascular recovery. And it helps you judge whether specific workouts (like hilly runs or track workouts) put extra strain on your body. I wish all Garmin Forerunner watches had it, but Garmin is still keeping it to its most expensive models.

While running tolerance is my favorite Forerunner 970 tool, it's just one of many features the Garmin Fenix 8, Venu X1, Enduro 3, and Tactix/ Quatix 8 will receive in this update:

• Auto Lap by Course Point triggers your mile or kilometer splits at GPS-based course markers instead of by actual distance run, in case they don't align.
• Add a race to your calendar, and Garmin will project your ideal final race time based on how long you have left to train.
• If you run to a track, Garmin auto-detects it and locks your route to that track, then goes back to free tracking when you leave it.
• Garmin Triathlon Coach gives you a variety of running, cycling and swimming workouts, personalized to your performance and fitness level.
• If you have a Garmin HRM 600 chest strap, Garmin will calculate your running economy (ml/kg/km) and speed step loss (how much momentum you lose per stride).

On top of all this, Garmin is introducing daily suggested track workouts, including on the Forerunner 570 and 970. It's a spin-off of your daily suggested runs, except that it cuts the easier stuff and ports your tempo, threshold, VO2 Max, anaerobic, and sprint workouts so that they're all visible in the Track Run activity.

And beyond running, some recent Garmin smarts like Evening Report, the smart wake alarm, rucking activity with pack weight, and a calculator app are coming to most models. You can see the feature list — and which watches will receive them — below:

And if all that somehow isn't enough, if you go to the Garmin Forums, you can find a complete list of updates and fixes, more than what's shown above. For example, the Fenix 8 17.28 update includes an emoji keyboard, a way to access apps by swiping left from the watch face, new notification types, and a couple dozen other tweaks.

The Forerunner 970 12.70 update includes some fun new tricks, like the ability to hear LiveTrack spectator messages over the watch's speaker during a race, a watch face data field for running tolerance mid-activity, and custom focus modes. It also fixes personal records so they are judged by elapsed time instead of logged time; that way, you can't cheat into a world-record time by pausing and restarting.

As for more affordable 2025 Garmin watches, the Vivoactive 6 is getting the Evening Report, Rucking activities, automatic rest timers for Strength activities, and a Tips app, while the Instinct 3 update mostly focuses on bug fixes.

Unfortunately, we don't see any major updates for older Garmin watches. Owners of last-gen flagships like the Fenix 7 or Epix Pro Gen 2, in particular, will feel aggrieved that Garmin is locking them out from new features.

The wait is finally over — both the Google Pixel Watch 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 are official. Samsung announced its latest smartwatch lineup in July, and Google followed that up with a Made by Google event on Aug. 20. As a result, we have the two best Wear OS smartwatches for 2025 available for purchase. Usually, which one you pick comes down to which Android smartphone you have, but it's more complicated than that.

There are other factors to consider, such as which watch you prefer in terms of design or how much battery life you need. The Google Pixel Watch 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 each have their own differentiating features, like Satellite SOS onboard for the former and AI-assisted health tools on the latter. If you're choosing between these two great smartwatches, here's everything you need to know.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Design and display

Google and Samsung both lean further into their own emerging smartwatch design languages in their 2025 releases. The Google Pixel Watch has sported a custom "waterdrop" design since its inception, and that continues with the Pixel Watch 4. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 finds a new identity this year, as it features a squircle aluminum chassis with an overlaid circular display. Both smartwatches stand out on the wrist and are readily identifiable.

Although the Galaxy Watch 8's shape makes it look bigger than the Pixel Watch 4, that actually isn't the case. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is flatter, so looks can be deceiving. In reality, the smartwatch is offered in 40mm and 44mm sizes, whereas the Pixel Watch 4 is sold in larger 41mm and 45mm versions. Both smartwatches can be configured with optional LTE connectivity for an additional fee.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is significantly thinner than the Pixel Watch 4, in part due to Samsung's new squircle "cushion" design, which spreads out the components on a larger surface area on your wrist. The former measures 8.6mm thick, while the latter measures 12.3mm thick. In my own testing of the Galaxy Watch 8, I found the thinner form factor to be more comfortable during workout and sleep tracking sessions.

Otherwise, the Pixel Watch 4, well, looks like a Pixel Watch. The charging contacts are still pins rather than WPC-based wireless on the Galaxy Watch 8. However, they're now found on the side of the Pixel Watch 4 instead of on the back. It's the third charging system in four generations, which isn't ideal. With that in mind, there are some cool features that come out of it, like a dock-style connector with nightstand features.

The Google Pixel Watch always sported a curved glass panel on the front, but the Pixel Watch 4 takes that one step further. Now, the OLED display itself is domed, making for a more immersive experience. Paired with slimmer bezels, the Pixel Watch 4 screen feels larger and has a bigger active area than its predecessor.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 8 ships with either a 1.34-inch, 438x438 screen or a 1.47-inch, 480x480 screen. Both options are Super AMOLED displays with 3,000 nits of peak brightness, perfect for outdoor viewing. Samsung uses a "digital bezel" for navigation, meaning you slide your finger along the exterior of the circular display instead of swiping.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Hardware and specs

On the inside, both Samsung and Google are using mostly the same collection of health and fitness sensors for 2025 as last year. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 has the company's new BioActive sensor assortment introduced with the Galaxy Watch 7. The Google Pixel Watch 4 has a few upgrades, like support for dual-band GPS, but the core Fitbit-based health sensors are unchanged.

While Samsung stuck with its Exynos W1000 wearable platform for another year, Google upgraded to the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2. This likely isn't as much of an upgrade as you might expect, but the more curious change is the upgrade to a new co-processor. It's the Cortex M55, and it's designed to handle specific tasks while prioritizing efficiency.

This tweak is just one way Google might have improved battery life on the Pixel Watch 4 without significantly increasing hardware capacity.

Battery life is improved across the board, with the 41mm Pixel Watch 4 now lasting 30 hours with AOD on and the 45mm variant extending that figure to 40 hours. That's great, and it pulls the Pixel Watch 4 more in line with the Galaxy Watch 8. However, the bigger upgrade is to charging speed. Both the 41mm and 45mm versions of the Pixel Watch 4 can charge up to 50% in just 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 8 can last about as long as the Pixel Watch 4, but can't charge nearly as fast.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Fitness and health

Samsung and Google each have their own fitness and health suites. Samsung Health powers the Galaxy Watch 8, and for now, it's completely free. Some features might require a Samsung phone, though. Google mostly uses the Fitbit platform for Pixel Watch 4 health features, and some of those tools are locked behind a Fitbit Premium subscription.

This year, Samsung added key features to the Galaxy Watch 8, such as Running Coach. This tool tests your running ability and creates a personalized training plan to help you hone your craft. Other health tricks, like Antioxidant Index, help you get a thorough picture of your body. That one tries to figure out whether you're eating enough vegetables based on the color of your finger.

By comparison, the Google Pixel Watch 4 includes more than 40 workout modes, and it also introduces new features that directly competes with the Galaxy Watch 8. Google added Fitbit Morning Brief, a daily health summary that sounds a lot like Now Brief.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Which should you buy?

There's a lot to consider when choosing between the Google Pixel Watch 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. It starts with design, since you won't want to wear something daily on your wrist if you don't find it attractive. I still think the Galaxy Watch 8 clears in this category, though the Pixel Watch 4's domed OLED display certainly helps. I'd recommend the Pixel Watch if you want a minimalist device that barely looks like a smartwatch, and the Galaxy Watch if you want to lean into the "smart" look.

In terms of software, both devices are running Wear OS 6, so there isn't much separation there. With that being said, there are some exclusives and integrations you'll only get with a matching phone. If there's a particular health feature you're looking for — like Fitbit Morning Brief or Samsung's Running Coach — be sure to buy the right watch.

At the end of the day, you should probably just buy the one that matches your Android phone best, but you can't go wrong with either choice.

When I reviewed the Pixel Watch 3, one of my few complaints was its unreliable GPS accuracy. Any trees, buildings, or other signal blockages would send my workout line careening off course, messing with my total run distance. It made it hard to recommend the Watch 3 to runners, despite the useful coaching and training load tools.

Turns out, the Pixel Watch team read my review. They emailed me prior to launch, asking if I wanted to learn more about their new L5 GPS tracking and how it works.

I won't know how good the Pixel Watch 4 dual-frequency GPS is until I test it myself, sometime around its October 9 release date. But Shah said all the right things to suggest they understand why better GPS accuracy matters to runners so much.

How dual-frequency GPS works, and why it matters

By default, a standard fitness watch uses L1 GPS, the oldest signal standard available. It's perfectly capable of tracking you in an open field, but the low-powered signal is easily refracted by "urban canyons and highly dense tree areas," Shah explained. They skew your detected position and make it hard for GPS satellites to reacquire your location.

L5 GPS signals have existed for a decade, but are still considered cutting-edge. Initially designed for aircraft guidance where exact positioning is essential, L5 GPS has a more stable signal with a wider bandwidth, capable of cutting through signal noise.

Fewer satellites are capable of broadcasting L5 signals, and it has a higher power demand. But as a secondary source, they can pinpoint you in tandem with L1 signals, ensuring that your location is accurate...in theory.

In practice, some dual-frequency GPS watches are more accurate than others. It's as much about the watch's satellite chip and any course-correcting software as the L5 signal itself.

"Dual-band GPS was one of our key interest areas," Shah explained. They wanted to "truly solve users' problems" with their workout data, in response to customer feedback from athletes who were frustrated with their wobbly GPS-only data (myself included).

Shah doesn't think this is a niche feature, either. Dual-frequency GPS "truly elevates the running experience" because your "real-time pace is a lot more accurate." Serious runners need to gauge how fast their target race pace feels, while casual runners must ensure they don't overtrain or develop a false sense of security.

On that same note, Shah says better GPS accuracy is really important for your "post-workout summaries." Google relies on your workout data to inform its new Fitbit AI coach, which judges how fit you are and recommends detailed workout plans; so you want its data on you to be as accurate as possible.

How Google made its dual-frequency GPS more accurate

The Pixel Watch 4 has help on this front, as the first smartwatch to use the new Snapdragon W5 Gen 2. This new chipset doesn't offer any major performance boost, but it features a new RFFE for location-based machine learning. According to Qualcomm, a dual-band Gen 2 watch will be 50% more accurate than a standard GPS-only watch in challenging areas.

Shah said that "it has been great" working with them, and that the "Watch 4 hardware enabled us to go in the direction of dual-band GPS." But he played things a bit coy when I asked how much of the Pixel Watch 4's accuracy comes from them, and how much comes from Qualcomm.

That said, Shah made it clear that the product management team had to do a lot of work to pull dual-frequency GPS off, and that it wasn't just Qualcomm's new hardware.

They had to collect "thousands of hours of data" from around the world to make sure that the Watch 4's dual-frequency GPS worked properly. Unlike Garmin watches, which simultaneously use dual-frequency GPS and other GNSS like GLONASS or GALILEO, the Pixel Watch 4 relies globally on L1 + L5 GPS.

According to Shah, it's dual-frequency GPS that provides the "most accurate route tracking possible" in all Pixel Watch 4 markets, making other satellite system data redundant.

He also acknowledged that dual-frequency GPS typically has a major impact on battery life, which they take "very seriously." So they "did their due diligence" and found a way to implement it so that the "performance of the battery isn't impacted much." Because of that, there's no way to choose GPS-only tracking to save battery life; dual-frequency GPS will be the only option.

While Shah wouldn't discuss future features or updates, he said that the Pixel Watch team plans to continue to deliver the "best of the best" fitness hardware, and that he's excited for me to try out the Pixel Watch 4's dual-frequency GPS accuracy for myself.

I recently reviewed the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and found that its dual-band GPS wasn't nearly as precise as I'd expect, and that its live pace data was consistently off my real-world pace. So there's room for the Pixel Watch 4 to swoop in as a much better Android running watch option, if its accuracy lives up to Shah's hype.

If it does, the Pixel Watch 4 could easily become one of the best running watches of the year. I'm not taking it for granted until I test the GPS for myself, particularly around forests, buildings, and tracks. But Shah seems supremely confident that his team's watch will live up to the challenge.

Shiny or matte, the Google Pixel Watch 4 looks stunning with both finishes

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How to choose which Pixel Watch 4 color you should buy

Looking at watch case colors alone, the Google Pixel Watch 4 comes in four shades. These are Matte Black, Satin Moonstone, Champagne Gold, and Polished Silver. The first two are matte, whereas the last two are shiny finishes. Going off the case size alone, Champagne Gold is limited to 41mm, whereas Satin Moonstone is limited to 45mm variants of the Pixel Watch 4.

Thus, before you finalize a color to buy, you actually need to figure out what size smartwatch fits your wrist best. Once you've got that sorted, you can check whether the colorway of your liking is available in that case size.

For small-handed folks such as myself, I highly recommend the Champagne Gold 41mm option of the Pixel Watch 4. While I'm not a big fan of the dull lime green Lemongrass Active Band it comes with, you can always swap out the band later, so it's not a big issue.

I always get the Champagne Gold colorway of Google's wearables because it looks gorgeous when worn, and it just goes with everything. It complements a diverse range of skin tones and undertones, so it's the shade I tend to recommend the most.

As for the larger 45mm Pixel Watch 4 size, the new Satin Moonstone color is a stunning option. Since it's new with this generation, it signifies the generation of your Pixel Watch instantly. It also has matching counterparts across the Google portfolio, such as the Pixel 10 Pro or 10 Pro XL, as well as the Pixel Buds Pro 2.

Well, the history of the Pixel Watch, up to this point, invokes one of my favorite memes from that movie. With the Pixel Watch one and two, Google had my curiosity, and with the larger Pixel Watch 3, Google had my attention.

Can the Pixel Watch 4 keep my attention and earn my love? After my interview with Google’s Pixel Watch 4 design manager, Lily Darling, and Ryan Krems, who’s on the product team, focusing on the software side of things, it sounds like an experience that may indeed tug on my heartstrings. Hear me them out…

From ideation to jubilation: The teams behind the design

Lily Darling is responsible for a lot of the visual and motion changes you’re going to see on the Pixel Watch 4, so we began our interview with her behind-the-scenes take on the upgrades Google’s hoping you’re going to love.

Lily: You're going to see this is the most robust design and system overhaul since the first Pixel Watch. So this is really going to signal a big step change there. And something we've really focused on is making the hardware and the software really feel cohesive as one. And that was something very, very important to us from the beginning. And then the other part of this was really making your phone or your foldable also really match your watch for the first time. So we hadn't had that level of cohesion, either.

You’ve heard about the domed display and how it’s the first of its kind. So much was inspired by that, the shape, the motion, the color, and then how everything comes together.

And, we had this challenge of how are we going to make a user interface that is as beautiful to enhance that dome display? So that was one part of the challenge. And then we also had research from multiple design studies, which we conducted, that told us that our users really appreciate user interfaces that aren't just functional, but are truly expressive. And so this evolved into a design system update that became Material 3 Expressive, which really built on our kind of 2020 update, which was called Material You.

We're looking at, you know, how the bands look when you use different tones, and when you see different shapes underneath the glass, what does the glass do?

Lily would go on to talk about how important fluidity was and how that translated into scrolling animations, springy buttons, and motion physics across Pixel phones and watches. But this year, they took that multiple steps further with the new, brighter, domed display with buttons and on-screen elements that hug the dome’s curves and don’t waste space.

From a more functional perspective, though, this was the year of “cohesion,” which meant bringing the level of user interface customizability from the phone to the watch.

Lily: The color that you choose for your watch face now themes your entire system and Google Apps, and that's kind of a game changer that just really makes the device feel like yours. And there's so much choice. With the themes, we're able to pull all the color swatches, all the bands together, and develop palettes that have something that's extremely wearable for everyone.

Lily: One of my new favorites [watchfaces] is Corsa. It's so beautiful. It has all these finely crafted indices that rotate around the display. And it's got an analog feel, but it has this really stylish contemporary feel as well. And when you add it with these colorways, you get these kind of unexpected results that feel just super fresh. We really can’t wait for [the public] to see it. When you hold it, you have a sensory feeling with it, and then you see the UI come to life.

This is all playing out this year thanks to a Pixel Watch 4 Actua 360 display that has 10% more pixels and 16% smaller bezels. The team really focused on moving everything that appears on the watchfaces out to the edges of that Actua 360 but there’s much more to the hardware and software improvements, some significant evolutions that Ryan dove into.

Ryan: With Pixel Watch 4, we have a new co-processor. That new co-processor is 25% more performant, but more importantly, it's 50% more efficient. So this really helps drive that improved battery life for your all-day scenarios, because that's powering your all-day tracking for health, fitness, and your motion. [For example] your race to talk algorithms, those are all running on that co-processor.

For our stated [battery life] numbers, we have 30 hours for our 41 millimeter and 40 hours for our 45 millimeter. So a 25% increase in general. Then, on the battery saver mode, we'll have two days for the 41 millimeter and three days for the 45 millimeter.

With that "new" Cortex-M55 co-processor, I also needed to know how the inclusion of Gemini plays out in your daily fitness routines, along with the new AI coach in the Fitbit app. There wasn’t a lot of information they could provide at the moment on Gemini, but Ryan did tell me that the new AI coach experience within the Fitbit app will be driven by not only the Pixel Watch but legacy and current Fitbit devices as well. That will be part of the new Fitbit app experience and will see some expansion over time.

Though the Pixel Watch line doesn’t currently have a “rugged” version like Samsung or Apple, the team has implemented some hardware features that compete with the “Ultras.” The most important is L5, or dual-band GPS.

When our resident wearables reviewer, Michael Hicks, gets his hands on the Pixel Watch 4, we’ll see how reliable that implementation is, but the fact that it's there is a promising addition to the offering.

Another new charger? Yes. Another new charger

Something not as grandiose as dual-band GPS is a quality-of-life improvement. Those may sound like little things on paper, but in practice, they can make a big difference in how you use a product. In this instance, one of their most significant improvements may irk some users: another new charger.

I’ll have to see for myself when I have my time with the watch, but the gains from this year’s charger might do a lot to assuage some frustrations.

Ryan: There is this journey, though, between just the device's battery life and also the charging and the time to charge. So with this cradle, we're able to get 25% improved charging over the Pixel Watch 3, which had improved charging over the two, right? We're now zero to 50% in 15 minutes. It is a shocking difference. It changes the way you use the watch.

As we talked more about this, Ryan clued me in on one other seemingly slight improvement that I gladly welcome: you no longer need to worry about aligning the watch on the charger correctly. With the Pixel Watch 3, placing it on the charger is like plugging in an old school USB cable; which direction is the right one? The new charger is more frictionless in that regard.

Ryan: For the side charging and our cradle, we came about this through a very diligent process. You’ll feel it when you have this cradle. It just snaps right in [so] you don't have to align anything. You go place your watch, the UI rotates, and it shows you the time. It shows you the current charge level, and the time to full.

Some bits about fitness. Fitbits?

We also talked about the fitness features and what improvements we’ll see there. You already know now that there is dual-band GPS for outdoor enthusiasts, but what about those of us “gym rats” who prioritize rep counting over satellite connectivity for our fitness needs?

Ryan: On the device, we've improved our activity recognition. [Pixel Watch 4] has a much deeper set of underlying machine learning models to more accurately categorize your workout events, and then it will grow and learn over time as well. We also have bike transmit. This turns your phone into a bike computer. You transmit all of your stats [from your watch] to your phone as you're commuting on your bike.

Closing expressions

Of all the Q&As that took place over the course of this interview, one of the notes that stood out to me most was this quote below. I’ll touch on why in a moment.

Lily: I think that the fact that we were thinking across form factor, not just about the watch, we were really thinking like, what does this decision mean for every form factor? How do we bring that cohesion, but also bring things that feel very bespoke and right for the watch, since it's round, you know, versus the phone or foldable?

For me, what has made Samsung Galaxy and Apple watches stand out over the years, above and beyond watches whose form factors I may have liked more, is the cohesion within their respective ecosystems. Those watches feel like true extensions of their phones and tablets, but with features that make the watches unique and feel much more valuable than just being a second screen for your phone, as they did in the early days of smartwatches.

With the Pixel Watch 4, it seems that Google’s wearable line may hit its stride, and provide that Google ecosystem cohesion that has made its competition tough to beat in the wearable space, unless you’re a triathlete looking for a very niche, sport-specific wearable.

And if that’s the case, I’ll gladly throw out another Leonardo DiCaprio meme because more high-quality options for consumers are always worth celebrating.

• Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 and W5+ Gen 2 on Wednesday.
• Like the Gen 1, the W5 Plus Gen 2 uses a 4nm SoC with four Cortex-A53 cores, a Cortex-M55 coprocessor, and an Adreno 702 GPU.
• This generation is 20% smaller and supports both satellite messaging and enhanced dual-band GPS tracking.
• The Google Pixel Watch 4 is the first smartwatch to use the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2.

Qualcomm has revealed the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2, the new smartwatch system-on-chip (SoC) for Wear OS watches that powers the Pixel Watch 4. And while we'd hoped for a more robust power upgrade, the new satellite messaging and better efficiency are more significant than you might think.

The 2022 Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 delivered 2X performance and 50% improved efficiency in a 30% smaller size than its previous Wear 4100 chip. This 2025 model — which uses the same 4nm SoC, 22mm coprocessor, and GPU — is a more iterative update, with a 20% smaller footprint and 20% efficiency boost.

What's most exciting is that the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 adds support for Skylo's Narrowband Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN), enabling the Pixel Watch 4 to send SOS satellite messages with your location if you're in a cellular dead zone.

Qualcomm explained in a briefing that its wearable satellite messaging is quite restrained compared to mobile satellite SOS, which supports voice calling; this version supports two-way messaging and location sharing, but without draining your watch's limited battery capacity.

This makes Wear OS the first wearable OS to support satellite messaging, says Qualcomm VP & GM of Wearables Dino Bekis, and "this technology can allow users to stay connected in the most remote locations, sending and receiving critical messages via satellite" for "enhanced safety."

In addition, the new Radio Frequency Front End (RFFE) enables "Location Machine Learning 3.0" for GPS tracking. Essentially, the chip is smarter at taking your GPS data and course-correcting it to your actual location.

Qualcomm says this algorithm makes Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 watches with dual-band GPS 50% more accurate than Gen 1 watches with L1 GPS and no machine learning capabilities, particularly in "densely urban or deep canyon environments" where signals are frequently obstructed.

The Google Pixel Watch 4, the first in its lineup to add dual-band GPS and satellite SOS, will benefit from this GPS boost, both for workout results and for providing your exact location in emergencies.

This new model measures 12.3mm — same as the Pixel Watch 3 — despite a significant increase in battery capacity for 25% longer battery life. The Snapdragon W5 Gen 2's smaller footprint allowed Google to prioritize upgrades in other areas, even if its performance speed is unchanged.

Notably, the Pixel Watch 4 uses a "new" Cortex-M55 coprocessor, which it says is "25% faster at half the power" than the Cortex-M33 in the Pixel Watch 3 and 2. The Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 also uses the M55, but both Qualcomm and Google insist that the Watch 4 uses the W5 Gen 2, not the "Plus" version.

Either way, the Pixel Watch 4 is capable of more on-device AI smarts than past models, such as smart replies to messages. So evidently, this new co-processor pays off, even if the main cores are unchanged.

Hoping for a more substantial Snapdragon W5 upgrade down the line

This new W5 Gen 2 chip makes significant strides for "connectivity, efficiency, form factor, and location tracking," according to Qualcomm. But we previously heard that Qualcomm and Google teamed up on a RISC-V chip for wearables, and last year, Dino Bekis told me at the Snapdragon Summit about plans for a new wearable chip with a significant performance boost for computing and AI.

Why didn't we see a more significant generational update with newer cores? Maybe smartwatch makers didn't see the need for more power, caring more about efficiency and new features. Perhaps Google and Qualcomm needed more time to make RISC-V compatible with Wear OS.

When asked why Wear OS makers didn't seem to be demanding more powerful SoC, the Qualcomm rep said that they wouldn't discuss their roadmap, but didn't rule out the possibility of a more powerful chipset in the future.

For now, considering that older Android watches can already run Gemini commands, they may be able to maintain this current level of performance for the next couple of years. And the Pixel Watch 4 intrigued us with its on-device smart replies and Gemini Raise to Talk, which we tested in our Pixel Watch 4 hands-on.

Google's Pixel Watch 3 proved that the third time's the charm, bringing a new size, a new chip, and surprisingly capable performance and battery life that have continued to impress us to this day. With the Pixel Watch 4, Google has the daunting task of improving on an already great smartwatch while competing with some heavyweights from Samsung and OnePlus.

The Pixel Watch 4 seems fit for the task, thanks to a refined design, an upgraded Snapdragon chip, and some new AI smarts. Some changes, like the new charger, may annoy users at first glance, although it becomes clear very quickly why Google is switching things up.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Specs

Google Pixel Watch 4: Curves and colors

The Pixel Watch 4 looks nearly identical to the Pixel Watch 3, but Google made the interesting choice to include a domed display underneath the glass. It's a very slight curve, but it's noticeable enough, and it may not appeal to everyone. However, it's clearly meant to accentuate the new Wear OS 6 Material 3 Expressive UI while pushing content as close to the glass as possible.

Wear OS 6 itself is a visual departure from previous versions of the OS. Elements are decked out in various colors based on a set theme, and the UI itself has evolved to better contour to round watch displays. This is probably the best way that Google has been able to make the most out of its screen real estate, which can feel cramped when compared to square smartwatches like the Apple Watch.

Surprisingly, the watch is the same size and thickness as its predecessor, despite the larger battery. Holding the Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel Watch 3 side-by-side, I didn't notice a difference in size or weight between the two, although the former's display is noticeably brighter.

Google Pixel Watch 4: More battery, another charger

The Pixel Watch 4 is estimated to last nearly twice as long as its predecessor, with up to 40 hours on a single charge with AOD enabled (for the 45mm model). I'm inclined to believe this, as the 45mm Pixel Watch 3 still manages roughly two full days on a single charge, although I tend to keep it on gesture wake.

It would have been nice to see additional battery life gains comparable to the OnePlus Watch 3, which can achieve as much as five days, but I'll take what I can get. Of course, we'll have to test further to see just how far we can push it, but our experience tells us that Google might be a bit modest in its estimates.

Yes, Google included yet another charger in the Pixel Watch, but I have hopes for this new unit. It charges the Pixel Watch from the side, which actually makes a lot more sense. It's also able to charge the watch much faster, with Google claiming 50% in just 15 minutes and a full charge in an hour or under, depending on the size.

It seems much more reliable than the current charger for the Pixel Watch 3, which is my biggest gripe with the outgoing model. When on the charger, the watch display rotates, showing you the time and letting you swipe through your tiles without disturbing the charging. And if it gets misaligned, the watch will warn you so you can avoid returning later to find that your watch hasn't, in fact, been charging.

Google Pixel Watch 4: If a chicken had lips, could it whistle?

The Pixel Watch 4 is getting smarter, and it all starts with Gemini. Thanks to the power of the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 and on-device Gemini Nano capabilities, you might actually want to use the smart replies. I tested it with a pretty basic text prompt, inquiring about a football game, and it provided some expected suggestions. So I tried something a little more random and philosophical. To my surprise, it responded somewhat appropriately.

But perhaps the coolest Gemini feature is Raise to Talk. You can evoke Gemini just by raising your wrist, no wake word or buttons to press. It reminds me a lot of Look and Talk on the Razr Ultra, which triggers Moto AI just by looking at the phone, although this method seems a bit more natural.

In lieu of an actual AI button, Raise to Talk is the sort of thing I would love to see on a Pixel phone to make Gemini more readily available, so I'm glad to see it on the Pixel Watch.

Google Pixel Watch 4: Coming soon... ish

The Pixel Watch 4 may not seem like a big upgrade visually, but there are enough upgrades here to keep this a fresh smartwatch, even when compared to the previous Pixel Watch 3 or newer Galaxy Watch 8. It's the first commercially available smartwatch with satellite SOS connectivity, it features upgraded dual-frequency GPS, and Google finally made it easily repairable with a replaceable display and battery.

I didn't get to try the new Fitbit features like Activity Recognition or the new AI coaching, which won't be available until October, but as a fitness enthusiast, I'm excited to see what the Pixel Watch 4 can offer me.

The Pixel Watch 4 starts at $349 and is available for preorder as of today, August 20. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a while to grab one, as it won't hit store shelves until October 9.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

• Google debuted the Pixel Watch 4 during its main event in NYC, detailing the device's thinner bezels and Actua 360 domed glass display.
• The device boasts loads of Gemini intelligence, capable of handling a multitude of user tasks, such as checking emails, Calendar events, and playlists.
• The Pixel Watch 4's fitness capabilities bring over 40 exercise modes, and its refined heart sensors help users understand irregular heartbeats, stress levels, and more.
• Pre-orders are open for the Pixel Watch 4 for the following prices: 45mm $399 Wi-Fi/$499 LTE, 41mm version $349 Wi-Fi/$449 LTE.

The day's finally arrived for the Pixel Watch 4's launch, and Google's main event delivered every single detail.

This afternoon (Aug 20), the Pixel Watch 4 debuted during the Made by Google event in NYC. Similar to the company's previous release, the Pixel Watch 4 arrives in a 45mm and a 41 mm size variant. When it comes to the display, Google states its watches have been outfitted with an Actua 360 domed display that offers a "nearly edgeless experience." More importantly, this year's Pixel Watch boasts 15% smaller bezels, meaning consumers will have more screen to play with.

The Pixel Watch 4 has also been gifted a 50% brighter display, with Google stating it can reach 3,000nits of peak brightness. Corning Gorilla Glass protects the Pixel Watch 4's screen. Google highlights the device's repairability focus, stating that consumers can replace its display and battery; however, "servicability options may vary depending on region and availability."

When it comes to features and power, the Pixel Watch 4 rocks the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2, paired with the Cortex-M55 co-processor.

Of course, Gemini is present throughout the Pixel Watch 4 (much like the rest of Google's releases today). The company states the device features a new "custom speaker and haptic engine" for clearer audio and vibrations when talking to the AI. Google states that "soon," users will need only "raise their wrist to talk to Gemini. Right now, Gemini can answer questions about your emails (Gmail) and Calendar events to help keep you updated, while also helping you create a playlist for a road trip.

Additionally, users will find the Loss of Pulse safety feature, previously debuted on the Pixel Watch 3. Safety Check is included, alongside Emergency sharing, Fall Detection, and Car Crash Detection. Launching with the Pixel Watch 4 is SOS Satellite Communication capabilities, making it the "first smartwatch" to deliver such a feature.

Fitness & Health

Aside from wristbound AI and safety tools, the Pixel Watch 4 is stated to deliver users "holistic health insights," courtesy of a range of heart-focused features. Thanks to the ECG app, the Pixel Watch 4 can detail its AFib assessment of your heart, clueing you into any irregular heartbeats, and provide "alerts" if your heart rate has stepped outside its normal range.

When it comes to stress, the Pixel Watch 4's body-response sensor is said to help users understand what is stressing their bodies out "in real-time." Other key health analytics, such as your SpO2 and heart rate variability, return for the 4th-gen watch, with accompanying alerts in case you're metrics are a little abnormal, per your usual stats.

The Pixel Watch 4's sleep tracking capabilities will track and highlight the duration of your sleep and how long you've spent in light, deep, and REM stages. Google states users can add crucial health details about themselves on the Watch 4, such as their blood type, medication, and more, for emergency scenarios.

For users working on their fitness, the Pixel Watch 4 offers 40 exercise modes, as well as advanced running tools for runners. Before starting your day, Google highlights the Fitbit Morning Brief that arrives every morning for users with it enabled. Google states users will receive a "summary" of their readiness and how they slept the night before.

Lookin' stylish all-day long

While the Pixel Watch 4's 45mm and 41mm have remained pretty similar thus far, Google states that its provided battery life is where the two begin to differ.

The 45mm version is said to deliver a 455mAh battery that delivers ~40 hours with its AOD (always-on display) active and ~72 hours with its battery saver mode enabled. Fifteen minutes is reportedly all consumers will need to reach ~50% charge with the 45mm variant. The 41mm drops down slightly to a 325mAh battery. This is estimated to last ~30 hours with AOD enabled and ~48 hours with its battery saver mode.

More importantly, the Pixel Watch 4 received a change to its charging as the device no longer sports its pins on the rear panel. Google introduced a new Quick Charging Dock for the Pixel Watch 4's side-mounted charging. Now, while it's charging, your watch will show "key" information, such as the time, current percentage, upcoming alarms, and more.

Consumers will find Active Bands for both versions of the Pixel Watch 4 in two different sizes for your wrists. However, Google is highlighting new available colors, like Moonstone (45mm only) and the 41mm's Polished Silver body/Iris band and its Champagne Gold body/Lemongrass band. There's also a new Gradient Stretch Band for the watch, which is a soft, stretchy polyester yarn band for a more comfortable day-long fit.

The Pixel Watch 4 is available for pre-orders today (Aug 20) ahead of its expected October 9 market launch. The 45mm is available for $399 Wi-Fi/$499 LTE, while the 41mm version costs $349 Wi-Fi/$449 LTE.

For more news and information on the Pixel Watch 4, check out our Ultimate Guide- for articles about the smartwatch

The NOMAD's key perk is its offline street and topographic maps, now improved with street/ trail names and points of interest in case you don't predownload a course.

Its Ambiq Apollo 510 processor makes map navigation blissfully smooth. Scroll in or out with the crown, or swipe on the touch display to look nearby, and it fills in the details in less than a second, where other fitness watches I've tested have painfully laggy maps.

Old-school fitness watch fans will appreciate that the COROS NOMAD uses a 1.3-inch MIP display. I'm much more of an AMOLED fan, but COROS's colorful, high-contrast take on MIP is respectably readable indoors, once you turn on the gesture backlight, and it's great outdoors.

But COROS also made the NOMAD feel more modern with its new voice pins. Using the dual noise-canceling mics, you can record your thoughts mid-activity and have each recording pinned to a specific GPS location. It turns your workout summary into a hike diary, with the option to add photos to specific pins and then text the summary to loved ones so they can listen and see for themselves.

I tested it out on a local hike, and was happy with the experience. My voice came through clearly if I held the watch near my face, or muffled but audible at my hip, with pretty good noise cancellation for wind and footsteps.

COROS auto-transcribes every voice pin, and if you describe something like a tick infestation or trailfork, COROS will label that pin with a hazard or nav symbol. You can also place pins without speaking, using the same action button shortcut menu.

Voice pins aside, you can now see 3D flyover summaries of your COROS activities in the app. And more generally, COROS updated its training load widget so it no longer resets every Monday; you now get a rolling 7-day view of your training load, which is much more useful.

COROS also includes a ton of fishing activity modes, with ways to log your catches and casts, pin "promising" fish spots, and other niche tools. I've never fished myself, but it's gratifying to see COROS try to target niche audiences.

In many ways, the NOMAD is a rugged COROS PACE Pro. Both share the same $349 price tag, 30+ hours of dual-band GPS tracking, training load data, recovery time recommendations, music storage, and speedy offline map navigation.

But while the PACE Pro has to compete against a crowded market of running watches, the NOMAD has only a few rugged adventurer rivals like the Instinct 3 and Amazfit T-Rex 3.

Why the COROS NOMAD excited me more than the Garmin Instinct 3

I gave the Garmin Instinct 3 a solid review score for its weeks of battery life, accurate data, and Garmin training tools. But I also complained that Garmin should have given a $450+ "adventurer's watch" offline maps and more exclusive outdoor tools, so that battery life wasn't its only trademark.

Whether you care about the NOMAD's voice pins and fishing tools or not, at least COROS made sure to differentiate it from its other lineups, and didn't price-lock maps like Garmin does. Plus, even if you buy the Fenix 8 for mapping, it has more sluggish performance, and navigating with buttons instead of a crown isn't that fun.

Of course, the Instinct 3 has plenty of upsides over the NOMAD: doubled water depth with a MIL-STD-810 rating, a built-in flashlight, daily suggested workouts, a rucking app, and contactless payments. Most importantly, Garmin offers AMOLED or solar recharging in multiple sizes, where the NOMAD only comes in one MIP variant.

So it's not to say that the COROS NOMAD is "better" than the Instinct 3. But it's $100–150 cheaper, it's a more dependable navigation aid in emergencies, it helps you preserve memories of your favorite outdoor moments, and its weeks of battery life will be enough for most without solar recharging.

Testing the COROS NOMAD's GPS and HR accuracy

I took the COROS NOMAD out for a long run and a hike while wearing the Garmin Forerunner 970 and the Garmin HRM 200 chest strap as control groups for GPS and HR, respectively.

For the first 12-mile run, I used the NOMAD's default All-Systems GNSS mode and SatIQ mode on the Forerunner 970. COROS and Garmin ended up differing by about 50m / 0.03 miles by the end, a pretty minor discrepancy. You can see in the maps above how the NOMAD (red) sometimes drifts off course into cars or houses, but otherwise stays on the street or trail with reliable accuracy.

For my hike, I used dual-band GPS on both watches. Again, the gap was 0.03 miles or 50m, with the NOMAD (orange) and Forerunner (red) mostly staying in lockstep on tricky, winding trails and barely struggling with tree foliage.

The only blip was how COROS randomly warped me at the end of the hike about a mile, adding a ton of excess elevation. I have no idea how it happened, and haven't replicated the glitch since, but at least it didn't seem to affect my distance data.

As for heart rate, the COROS NOMAD matched my chest strap's HR average and max for the hike, but fell 1 bpm and 2 bpm short for average and max during that hard 12-mile run, respectively. Most optical wrist-based sensors struggle with anaerobic heart rates, but COROS's gap is smaller than most brands; serious runners may insist on wearing a chest strap, but everyone else should be satisfied.

Overall, I think COROS NOMAD buyers should be quite happy with its accuracy. It launches today, August 18, on COROS's website, and should come to retailers like Amazon and REI later in the month.

Many running watches offer marathon training plans. Now that I'm signed up for the Garmin Tucson marathon in November, just three months out, I have to decide quickly which plan to try. Should I trust a smartwatch algorithm to give me a personalized marathon training plan, or use a running coach plan from TrainingPeaks?

It's been a few years since I last ran a marathon. When Garmin offered a media invite to run in its first Garmin Marathon series, I knew I'd have to ramp up my mileage quickly, but intelligently, so I don't overtrain and crash out.

I've reviewed pretty much every running watch under the sun, but whether I use my Garmin Forerunner 970 or another device, my success or failure will depend on the workout plan, more than the hardware.

So I decided to sit down and compare every smartwatch marathon training plan, to see which would best prepare me for the Garmin marathon series.

Every smartwatch-based marathon training plan for beginners

Very few smartwatches recommend long-term training plans. Suunto outsources its plans to TrainingPeaks. Fitbit offers daily Run Coach recs, but nothing cohesive. Apple Fitness+ focuses on indoor workouts. I only know of a few running watches with proper marathon guidance!

GARMIN: Available through Run Coach, Garmin's marathon training plans last 16 weeks. The beginner plan has zone-2 easy runs, zone-4 threshold pace runs, and fartlek runs, with one long run every weekend.

Between three weekly runs, Garmin recommends two cross-training days per week, for bodyweight exercises, yoga, swimming, or cycling.

The intermediate plan expects five workouts per week, but isn't that different. It recommends weekly intervals and has more back-to-back run days, plus longer long runs, but still mixes in rest and cross-training days.

Garmin's training load philosophy emphasizes low aerobic and anaerobic variety to improve VO2 Max, plus strength training to optimize your form. I'm normally all about this philosophy, but frankly, if I'm going to increase my workout days per week and hit my marathon target, I need to spend most of my time focused on mileage. Next marathon, I'll worry about speed and power.

COROS: COROS has 15 marathon training plans, targeting specific finish times or 12-to-20-week schedules. Many target pro runners that hit 50–100 miles per week, but COROS also caters to mere mortals like myself.

COROS' 4-hour, 12-week plan expects you to run five times per week for 25–40 miles. Most are short aerobic endurance runs, with the occasional "marathon pace" run and long, fast runs on Sundays.

This 4:00 marathon pace plan, conversely, schedules four runs per week for 15–25 miles. But nearly every run has you mixing easy pacing with 15-second strides or 400m pickups, eventually progressing to intervals and inverted pyramids. You get more rest days, but rarely take an easy run.

Either way, COROS emphasizes mileage over cross-training, letting you decide if you want to focus on speed work or how far you're willing to go per week. I'm pretty impressed with what they have to offer.

POLAR: The Polar running program has you input how many days per week you're willing to run and how long, plus how hard you typically find running. It then creates a 100-day marathon training plan.

If you're a Light runner, Polar has you do a medium run every Monday and Friday, intervals on Wednesdays, and a long run on Sunday. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are reserved for cross-training: Strength, mobility, and core exercises, respectively.

If you're a Strenuous runner, you swap in a tempo run on Wednesdays and intervals on Saturdays, meaning you're doing three medium-to-hard runs in a row from Friday to Sunday. You still don't get rest days, only cross-training exercise days. Either way, these rigid plans are for people who work out every day.

SAMSUNG: The Galaxy Watch 8's Running Coach has ten training levels; Level 10 aims for runners to finish a marathon in under 4:48. To qualify for level 10, you need to pass Samsung's 12-minute running test with unknown criteria.

The Running Coach beta is kind of a mess. You can't simply choose a marathon training plan; if Samsung ranks you lower, you'll have to spend weeks, if not months, leveling up. But if Samsung eventually lets runners pick their target distance and pace manually, however, the Running Coach has a great variety of run types like Fartlek, repetitions, intervals, and long runs that would benefit beginner marathoners.

AMAZFIT: Zepp Coach has you choose a target marathon pace and date, then describe your weekly mileage and average pace. With that, it generates a three-month program of easy, hard, interval, fartlek, and long runs, grouped by HR zones or pace depending on your preference.

It's not the most comprehensive or varied training plan, but it's available for super-cheap watches like the Amazfit Bip 6 or Active 2, which is great for frugal runners.

Which marathon training plan I'm going with

All of these marathon training plans are "free" after you buy your watch, so we can't complain too much if they're a bit limited. You can find thousands of TrainingPeaks marathon plans if you want to pay for something better.

Personally, after all that searching, I'm leaning toward a straightforward Hal Higdon novice training plan, which are popular with first-time marathoners. Rather than focus on complicated speedwork or strengthwork, I'll just check off four runs a week of about 20–30 miles and hope for the best.

I'm a few weeks behind his 18-week schedule, but I'm hoping I can hit the ground running, so to speak, because I've already been training. Then, once I've conquered this Garmin marathon, I can go into another marathon with a more advanced plan.

But if you have a favorite marathon training plan that helped you hit a PR, I'd love to hear your recommendations in the comments!

• Ultrahuman announced the acquisition of viO Health Tech, which helped facilitate its newest PowerPlug: Cycle & Ovulation Pro.
• This feature helps users understand their cycles on a more diverse scale, as many don't fall within the "normal" 28-day cycle range.
• Ultrahuman states its cycle and ovulation tracking/monitoring can help women with PCOS and endometriosis.
• This new PowerPlug is rolling out for Ring Air users in the U.S., EU, U.K., Canada, and Australia for $3.99 per month or $39 per year.

Ultrahuman announces a major health-focused feature to help women better track their menstrual cycles and ovulation periods.

This afternoon (Aug 15), Ultrahuman announced that it has acquired viO Health Tech, which has facilitated the launch of the company's Cycle & Ovulation Pro for the Ring Air. This feature is rolling out now for consumers in the U.S., EU, U.K., Canada, and Australia. Ultrahuman states viO is designed for women with "diverse cycle patterns" as most tracking services are only centered around regular 28-day cycles.

Behind the Cycle & Ovulation Pro feature is Ultrahuman's "15 years of R&D." The press release states the feature utilizes a temperature-sensing algorithm that was originally for viO's OvuSense. This algorithm has reportedly cleared the FDA hurdles for "intervaginal temperature-based ovulation tracking."

This algorithm will monitor and display changes within a woman's body as time goes on.

Ultrahuman states women should gain a better understanding of their cycles and ovulation periods as their lives continue to evolve. Cycle & Ovulation Pro is said to collect a woman's "physiological patterns and temperature biomarkers" through the Ring Air. This provides tracking on the Ring Air that is estimated to be 90% or higher in accuracy. Additionally, Cycle & Ovulation Pro will offer fertility planning support for women, guiding them through various cycle types for "accurate ovulation confirmations."

Logging changes & Understanding Patterns

Cycle Flags are another aspect of this Pro feature. Ultrahuman says Cycle Flags take into account your temperature data to "suggest hidden patterns" to help you understand cycle variability. Certain trends can include "early or late ovulation, short luteal phase, the absence of ovulation," and more. As previously mentioned, the Cycle & Ovulation Pro feature is designed to help all women, even those outside of the "normal" 28-cycle period.

Ultrahuman says its feature is designed to help women with PCOS or endometriosis.

Lastly, Cycle & Ovulation Pro contains a logging feature, letting women note their moods, symptoms, and any changes in behavior. These changes could correlate with "cycle phases," per Ultrahuman, and could help women better identify "long-term" wellness trends.

Cycle & Ovulation Pro is available for users with the Ultrahuman Ring Air in the U.S., EU, U.K., Canada, and Australia for $3.99 per month or $39 per year. The company teases that other regions are to come. More importantly, those using the regular Cycle & Ovulation PowerPlug can still do so without any disruptions.

• HTC debuted its new AI-driven smart glasses, the VIVE Eagle, which lets users control them fully with their voices.
• Users can capture photos, videos, and more with the VIVE Eagle's 12MP ultra-wide camera, while also listening to music with rich sound.
• The VIVE Eagle sports a "premium" open-ear design that lets users adjust its temples and nosepads for a comfortable fit.
• The glasses are available for pre-order in Taiwan for NT$15,600 (~$518).

While HTC has stepped into VR headsets, the company is debuting something we didn't expect: AI smart glasses.

HTC is diving headfirst into the world of smart glasses with the likes of Meta and future players, such as Samsung and Google, with the VIVE Eagle. Launched earlier this morning (Aug 14), HTC highlights the VIVE Eagle as "AI-driven wearable eyewear." Since this is—let's say—an alternate route from HTC's VR headsets, the company's senior vice president, Chris Huang, said, “VIVE Eagle represents HTC’s newest exploration in the realm of intelligent living and personal wearables."

The VIVE Eagle touts a "premium design" at a lightweight 49 grams. HTC states users can alter its comfort by adjusting its nosepads and contoured temples for a fit that'll last you all day. Additionally, the post highlights the inclusion of ZEISS sun lenses, which provide UV protection "without compromising optical clarity."

Packed into the VIVE Eagle is voice-activated AI with support for Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. HTC states its AI support can help users capture life's moments with a simple phrase: "Hey VIVE, take a photo." The VIVE Eagle will capture your photos using its 12MP ultra-wide camera, thanks to VIVE AI.

Recording is another capability of the VIVE Eagle. The press release states users can ask their glasses to record a reminder, take notes, and more just by using their voices.

Music & Prviacy

Other than capturing memories, HTC states its newest AI glasses can even carry your favorite tracks for you. The post highlights the VIVE Eagle's open-ear design with "large acoustic drivers and virtual bass" for richer audio. The company also states the glasses' audio capabilities help to minimize sound leakage, meaning you (hopefully) won't disturb others around you. While out, the VIVE Eagle's speakers can deliver your music in full volume; however, you should still have the awareness to understand what's happening around you.

Speaking of staying a little private, the glasses reportedly sport AES-256 encryption to safeguard your data stored locally within the device. More importantly, HTC says the content you capture with the VIVE Eagle is "never uploaded, tracked, or used for AI model training."

Some smaller AI specifications state the VIVE Eagle supports real-time translation for 13 languages. The content the glasses capture via the cameras is then translated and fed to the user through its speakers. HTC states its support encompasses Arabic, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Thai, Turkish.

Taiwan Pre-orders

While staying lightweight, the VIVE Eagle contains a 235mAh battery with up to 36 hours of standby time. This battery is also said to last roughly 4.5 hours for continuous music playback purposes. In 10 minutes, the glasses are estimated to reach 50% charge.

The HTC VIVE Eagle glasses are available today (Aug 14) for consumers in Taiwan for NT$15,600 (~$518). Consumers in the region will find it in Berry, Coffee, Grey, and Black. At the moment, there's no word on whether or not global users will be able to get their hands on the VIVE Eagle.

• A recent report states the FDA is going after Whoop over its Blood Pressure Insights feature present on its Whoop MG device.
• The FDA states Whoop should seek "prompt action" to rectify its lack of appropriate certification for the BPI.
• Whoop states its feature is more intended as a "wellness feature" and not as a "medical tool" as the FDA claims.

The Whoop MG is the company's latest display-less tracker, but a recent report states it's in hot water with the FDA.

In a report from Bloomberg, the publication states the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is targeting Whoop for the removal of its Blood Pressure Insights (BPI), a feature the latter isn't willing to budge on. According to the post, the FDA's interest stems from the Whoop MG's lack of certification for its blood pressure tracking capabilities. As such, the FDA reportedly told Whoop that it should seek "prompt action" to rectify this issue.

Bloomberg notes a statement from an FDA spokesperson today (Aug 13), which says the agency "has not authorized BPI for any use, including for the measurement or estimation of a user’s blood pressure."

On Whoop's side, the company says the FDA has "misinterpreted" its blood pressure estimation tool as a "medical tool." More importantly, Whoop adds that its Blood Pressure Insights feature is labeled as a wellness-focused tool, and that it is not intended to diagnose more severe cardiovascular medical issues. The publication cites a letter written by Whoop to the FDA on August 4, which reads, "We believe it is not within the FDA’s authority to regulate the product. We therefore do not intend to remove the app."

The post highlights Whoop's intention to meet with the FDA, in hopes of having "a constructive dialogue" with its officials.

Wellness or Medical?

To expand on this, the Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG launched earlier this year in May. The Whoop MG is the main highlight for this particular topic since it introduced the company's Blood Pressure Insights. Per the company, the BPI feature is designed to provide "daily estimates of systolic and diastolic ranges right from your wrist." Its launch post states these estimations may help users "understand your recovery, sleep, stress, and more."

While Whoop's fine print states its BPI is "not a medical device," echoing its statement to the FDA, the agency continues to hammer home the fact that the device "does not fall under the general wellness device policy..."

Bloomberg highlights that the feature is only available for Whoop Life plan members, which costs a whopping $359 per year.

We're one week away from the Pixel Watch 4's arrival at the Made by Google event. But while we wait for the official reveal, let's look back at the Pixel Watch 3 instead, a watch that mostly lived up to my every expectation, but wasn't quite perfect.

I started testing the Watch 3 last August, and by September, I considered it my favorite Android smartwatch. It's a step up over the Watch 2 where it matters, and pandered to me with some fun running software tools.

However, Google's iffy software strategy and some strong rivals eventually killed my Pixel Watch 3 honeymoon period. Fortunately, Gemini has made things exciting again.

Doing its best with older tech

I don't know if the Pixel Watch 4 will stick with last year's processor or use a new Snapdragon processor. Either way, it's impressive how Cortex-A53 cores (made in 2012, before "Android Wear" existed) can power the Pixel Watch 3 so well that I've never dealt with any lag or major crashes.

When I tried Wear OS 6 on a Watch 3 at Google I/O, I was amazed at how smoothly the unfinished software ran. And while Google's efficient philosophy can hold its Pixel phones back, it works quite well for smartwatches.

Gemini may require more power, but it runs just as smoothly on my Pixel Watch 3 as it did during my Watch 8 Classic Gemini test. It answers questions quickly, understands follow-up questions, and communicates seamlessly via Extensions with other apps like Calendar.

Future models should hopefully feature offline commands, better voice recognition, improved battery efficiency, or faster Wi-Fi bands. Until then, it's easily keeping up with the new demand and offering a better AI experience than Apple Watches can deliver.

I traded style for battery life and don't regret it (much)

Google's Watch 3 45mm was long overdue. Compared to the 1.2-inch Watch 2 display, my 1.43-inch display shows much more visual data. Now that Gemini is a signature feature, every pixel of space for text is useful.

Even better, it has extra battery capacity, easily outperforming Google's 24-hour-with-AOD estimate. During my initial review period, I was hitting two days with sleep tracking and the occasional GPS workout. These days, it's closer to 36 hours, with hours to spare, since I rarely use it for sleep tracking.

Of course, I would like better battery life. Since the 3-to-5-day OnePlus Watch 3 launched, it's harder to accept how Google and Samsung can't seem to break past the 1-to-2-day barrier. But it is a hefty watch, and the lighter OnePlus Watch 3 43mm only lasts two days.

I would love for Google to bring back Fitbit watches and put its considerable health and fitness tricks into a longer-lasting watch, but I digress. For now, the Watch 3 does its best without being too heavy.

The larger Watch 3's problem is that its bezelless design looks worse. The smaller version looks more natural because the rounded edges take up more space, but this Watch 3 is much more of a big, dark lump.

My cousin called it a "creepy water drop," while my fiancée likened it to a "naked chicken breast without any seasoning," during my smartwatch beauty pageant. It didn't look bad to them like my bulky fitness watches, but the edgeless design doesn't appeal to everyone.

If the Pixel Watch 4 gets bulkier to fit in a bigger battery, as some rumors claim, that'll only exacerbate this design quirk.

Of course, plenty of people don't like the new look of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic or the Galaxy Watch 8, either. Android watches generally try to balance style, power, and battery life, and can't nail every category.

Hoping Google irons out its update issues

The months of update dysfunction were definitely my low point with the Watch 3. I don't know if the Pixel Watch team is too ambitious with updates or just needs a beta program.

Let's quickly run through the past year of Google Wear OS updates:

• Early September 2024: The Pixel Watch 3 launches with Wear OS 5
• Late September: Google launches and then rolls back Wear OS 5 on the Watch 1 and 2
• Mid-November: Wear OS 5 rolls out again
• March 2025: Google rolls out Wear OS 5.1, promising four quarterly updates per year
• Late March: Many Watch 3s still haven't received 5.1, while those that do report major bugs
• Early April: Google pushes its first patch
• Late April: Google pushes its second patch, re-releases 5.1
• June: Google pushes quarterly update with small changes

This whole update mess meant that the Pixel Watch 3 didn't get any proper updates for the first six months, and then I didn't get the March update for a month.

I eventually tested the improved step count algorithm and found it promising, but Google reverted to the old system after users reported overinflated counts.

I'm sure that Wear OS 6 will be stable and running smoothly on the Pixel Watch 4 when it launches. But Google needs to prove it can pull off a major update to older models without critical bugs and painful rollbacks.

Looking onwards

I'm feeling generally quite positive about the Pixel Watch series, update woes aside. They've always felt a bit expensive, but now that Galaxy and OnePlus watches have gone up in price since last year, the cost feels a bit more realistic.

I think the Pixel Watch 4 can capitalize on the goodwill that the Pixel Watch 3 generated in the past year and make an even stronger impression with Android and Pixel fans.

We like the Charge 6 for its role as one of the few fitness-focused trackers that also includes built-in GPS. It's also housed in a thin, lightweight body that users love, especially for long-term exercise, sleep tracking, and more. The normal price tag on the Charge 6 also offers a pretty solid value proposition, so an extra $40 off definitely doesn't hurt.

✅Recommended if: you prefer a small smartwatch that's comfortable to wear to sleep or while working out; you need something with an accurate HR sensor and GPS tracking; you like having a watch with support for Google Maps and Wallet, among other apps.

❌Skip this deal if: you prefer a watch with an especially bright display in outdoor sunlight; you need something with an altimeter or a cEDA sensor; you're looking for a watch with premium-level GPS accuracy and have the budget to upgrade.

The Fitbit Charge 6 is our top pick for the best fitness tracker category, especially because of its thin, nimble design. Where modern smartwatches often go large and bulky, the Charge 6 offers a refreshingly lightweight design that makes it a great candidate for sleep tracking and exercise.

It also features a useful haptic button, an improved sensor for HR monitoring, and access to apps like YouTube Music, Google Maps, Wallet, and more.

It is worth noting that it lacks some of the extra sensors included on premium smartwatches, such as an altimeter and cEDA sensor. Some have also criticized the accuracy of the GPS sensor, so those looking for a precise GPS might also want to consider upgrading.

There's no trade-in required and no confusing eligibility requirements to worry about, just a straight $399 in promo credits over 24 months. The top recommendation in our guide to the best smartwatches for students in 2025, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 has only been out since late July, so don't miss this chance.

Get our favorite student smartwatch for FREE with this new T-Mobile deal

• Check out our ultimate back to school shopping guide for more shopping tips.

✅Recommended if: you want a comfortable, feature-packed Samsung watch with AI smarts and loads of health and fitness tracking features; you already use T-Mobile's wireless service.

❌Skip this deal if: you don't need an LTE smartphone; you're seeking a device with excellent battery life or a rugged fitness watch; you'd rather upgrade to the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic or Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025).

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is easily the best Android smartwatch that money can buy today, coming complete with a vibrant 1.3-inch AMOLED display, four years of guaranteed Wear OS upgrades, and an ultra-comfortable design that you can wear all day long. There's dual-band GPS and NFC support, plus you get all of the latest health and fitness tracking technology, including 13 HR LEDs and AI-powered features like Energy Score and Running Coach.

Furthermore, the Exynos W1000 processor performs like a champ, and there's plenty of RAM for all of your back-to-school needs. After all, there's a reason we had such high praise for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 in our 4.5/5-star review.

So yes, there's lots of good stuff about the Galaxy Watch 8, but what about the bad? Well, for starters, the 2025 watch continues Samsung's pattern of dropping flagship wearables with mediocre or even poor battery life.

Our reviewer needed to charge the Galaxy Watch 8 for 30 minutes twice a day to get all-day usage and sleep tracking, which feels a little unacceptable when you consider some of the best smartwatches for battery life can last up to two weeks on a single charge. Fortunately, the watch's fast charging capabilities make up for some of the inconvenience.

The Galaxy Watch 8 also has a bit of a big sibling problem, as both the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) are considerably better (albeit chunkier) devices that don't cast that much more than the base model. That said, if you want a sleek, lightweight smartwatch for free before the new semester hits, this T-Mobile deal is tailormade for you.

Switching from beefy smartwatches like the Apple Watch Ultra and Garmin Enduro 3, having to charge the Galaxy Watch 8 multiple times per day was a tough adjustment. If you can get past that drawback, though, the Galaxy Watch 8 is a nearly-perfect Wear OS device. It's comfortable, provides useful and engaging health insights, and pairs nicely with the best Samsung phones.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Pricing and availability

Samsung first revealed the Galaxy Watch 8 at a Galaxy Unpacked event on July 9, 2025. The entire Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 lineup is generally available as of July 25.

The 40mm size of the Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $349.99 in the U.S., up by $50 compared to the Galaxy Watch 7. You can upgrade to the 44mm size for an extra $30, bringing the MSRP to $379. Both models are available with an optional LTE upgrade costing $50 extra.

For perspective, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic starts at $499.99, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 retails for $649.99.

Various deals on the best Samsung watches can make the wearables more affordable. I only paid $130 for my 44mm Galaxy Watch 8 by taking advantage of a trade-in deal and reserve credit at Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: What's good

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 lineup stands out thanks to its controversial design: the squircle shape from last year's Galaxy Watch Ultra is now found on all the 2025 models. The company calls this a "cushion" design — it's like the circular screen is now resting on a squircle aluminum chassis, or a cushion.

The move serves two main purposes. The Galaxy Watch 8 now has a unique design language separate from the Apple Watch and competing Wear OS watches. More importantly, the larger footprint of the Galaxy Watch 8 on the wrist spreads out the internals better, allowing for a thinner form factor. Both size options measure 8.6mm thick, down from 9.7mm on the Watch 7.

The 40mm variant weighs 30 grams, and the larger 44mm size is only four grams heavier. All told, this makes the Galaxy Watch 8 one of the thinnest and lightest Wear OS smartwatches on the market. This is crucial, because it makes the Galaxy Watch 8 more comfortable to wear while working out and sleeping. To get proper health data, you'll need consistent sleep and activity tracking, and that's why the Galaxy Watch 8's slimmer design really matters.

Specifically, the daily Energy Score is the central metric of the Samsung Health suite. It grades your energy level for each day out of 100, using data points like sleep tracking, activity tracking, and more. You need to wear the Galaxy Watch 8 to bed to get an Energy Score, but that wasn't a problem due to how comfortable the new design felt.

Compared to similar features, like Garmin's Body Battery metric, I found that Samsung overestimated my energy level yet conservatively recommended activity plans. For example, I'd get an Energy Score of 87 for the day alongside a message that I should prioritize rest.

To me, those are a bit contradictory, but I'd always rather a fitness watch push extra rest instead of the alternative, which is to encourage overreaching.

Fitness and health data was solid overall, with the Galaxy Watch 8 offering dual-band GPS and the Samsung BioActive sensor suite. I don't expect the Samsung watch to be as accurate as my Garmin in terms of heart rate or GPS tracking, but the Galaxy Watch 8 always gets close enough. We've already covered a few of the biggest Samsung Health features this year in-depth, including Antioxidant Index and Running Coach.

The entire experience is powered by One UI 8 Watch, backed by Wear OS 6 at the core. Wear OS 6 came with lofty goals, like improved efficiency and expanded third-party watch face support. I love how the operating system looks visually, and fitness data is presented in a colorful and engaging way. Still, there's work to do.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: What's not good

The biggest problem with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is battery life. Even as Wear OS 6 was supposed to improve efficiency, I haven't been impressed with longevity on the Galaxy Watch 8. In order to have enough charge for sleep tracking and all-day wear, I need to make time for two 30-minute charge sessions daily — one right before bed and another in the morning.

Officially, the Galaxy Watch 8 should get 30 hours on a single charge with the always-on display enabled. As always, that figure depends heavily on how much you use it and how long GPS and fitness tracking are active. I got far fewer hours of use on days when I eclipsed 150 minutes of recorded activities. It makes sense, but it's something to consider if you live a very active lifestyle.

The smartwatch does charge fairly quickly, needing about 80 minutes to get from 0% to 100%. This makes my routine of two 30-minute charges per day possible. With that being said, I find that the more you need to charge a smartwatch, the more likely you'll forget to put it back on before going on with your day. That's why I'd recommend considering the Galaxy Watch Ultra if you need multi-day battery life or plan to track a lot of daily activities.

There were also times when I found the One UI 8 Watch operating system to be less than intuitive. Occasionally, you'll run into situations where Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 Watch clash — there will be two ways to do the same thing. For example, you can use Google's Wear OS dictation feature or the one built into Samsung Keyboard. I also found myself wishing there was a dedicated app for workouts separate from Samsung Health on my watch.

Navigation on the Galaxy Watch 8 could certainly be improved overall. The digital bezel system feels as gimmicky as ever, and the two side buttons feel underutilized. If you prefer tactile buttons, I'd strongly recommend taking a look at the Classic or Ultra models. Simply having a third Quick Button to customize on the Galaxy Watch 8 would've solved many of my navigation gripes. Unfortunately, the base model is the only one not to include it.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Competition

Samsung's biggest competitor is arguably the Google Pixel Watch 3, soon to be the Pixel Watch 4. Some might prefer the more dainty and minimalist style of the Pixel Watch compared to the very techy look of the Galaxy Watch 8. It'll also pair better with a Google Pixel phone, and could be a better pick for Android users that don't have a Google or Samsung device.

However, it's worth noting that the Pixel Watch 4 is rumored to measure around 14mm thick — practically in another category compared to the 8.6mm Galaxy Watch 8. The OnePlus Watch 3 gives you the best battery life in a Wear OS watch, but like the Pixel Watch 3, it's a chonker. The large size and bulky, rugged look might not be for everyone.

Outside of the Wear OS space, it's worth reviewing the best Garmin watches if you want long battery life above all else.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

• You have a Samsung Galaxy phone and want a first-party companion
• You need a thin and light watch that will fit comfortably during workouts and sleep
• You like the mix of Gemini and Samsung Health software features available on this watch

You shouldn't buy this if...

• Multi-day battery life is a main priority for you, or if you track a lot of activity
• You need great hardware controls, like customizable buttons or a rotating bezel
• You don't like the hardware design or the One UI 8 Watch interface

With generally the same sensor suite, display offerings, and processor, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8's hardware hasn't been completely overhauled. For some reason, it feels that way regardless. The switch to the squircle design isn't something you need to settle for — it's actually good. Go with a silver case color to contrast with the black display bezel, and you've got a seriously eye-catching Wear OS smartwatch.

Whether you feel compelled to upgrade to Galaxy Watch 8 will depend on your priorities. I traded in my Galaxy Watch 6 Classic because I found it to be too bulky for daily use and running, and the Galaxy Watch 8's thin and light form factor is a breath of fresh air by comparison. On the other hand, those looking for longer battery life and faster charging will be disappointed.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 might be the best base-model Wear OS smartwatch to date.

• Oura adds Pregnancy Insights to track health changes and give guidance to mothers-to-be.
• New Perimenopause Check-In offers symptom tracking and personalized health reports.
• Pregnancy Insights launches Aug 12, 2025, with Perimenopause Check-In in the U.S. Aug 13.

Oura today announced new features in its app focused entirely on mothers-to-be. During pregnancy, a woman's body goes through transformational changes as it adapts to a growing baby, impacting various health metrics. Many women have no easy way of knowing whether these changes are normal or if they warrant a discussion with a doctor. Oura's new feature aims to address this.

The company unveiled Pregnancy Insights, which helps women track these changes and provides educational content to guide them through each phase of pregnancy. The feature will show new metrics like Gestational Age, along with updated trimester rings and weekly insights on the home card.

A new trend view will display how key metrics, such as temperature trends, resting heart rate (RHR), heart rate variability (HRV), and respiratory rate, change during pregnancy. There's also a Keeping Track system, allowing members to tag symptoms, experiences, and emotions.

Oura says that Readiness, Sleep, Rest Mode, and Recovery Mode insights will now be contextualized for pregnancy, helping women understand why their scores are impacted.

Oura also unveiled its first-ever perimenopause feature

In addition to the pregnancy tools, Oura announced Perimenopause Check-In to support women navigating perimenopause. This feature combines self-reported symptoms with wearable data and gives women direct access to healthcare resources within the Oura app.

Users start by answering a survey, after which they receive a personalized assessment of symptoms and overall quality of life. A PDF report summarizing symptoms, biometric trends, and cycle data can be easily shared with healthcare providers.

The Pregnancy Insights feature is available to all Oura app users starting August 12, 2025. The Perimenopause Check-In will be available in the U.S. starting August 13, 2025, with other regions to follow soon.

• A new leak suggests we can expect a new Quick Charge Dock, a Gen 3 sensor hub, and 25% faster charging speeds for the Pixel Watch 4.
• The upgraded sensor hub promises more accurate health and fitness tracking.
• Built-in Gemini support is said to be coming, along with a charger that can detect moisture.

Leaks about the Pixel Watch 4 have been everywhere, but now we're finally getting a glimpse of the new charging pins, and it seems like they're on the side of the watch this time.

A Reddit leak showing alleged retailer slides breaks down some Pixel Watch 4 upgrades, including shifted charging pins, a new Quick Charge Dock (Gen 3 sensor hub), and 25% faster charging (via 9to5Google).

Based on the leak, the next-generation sensor hub should offer greater precision for health and fitness metrics. While these are promising signs, the true performance of the new sensors won't be known until the watch is officially released and can be tested.

The latest leak backs earlier claims of a side-mounted charging system for the Pixel Watch 4, with the contacts now built into the watch casing. This confirms it as its new charging method.

The images show two POGO charging pins on the smartwatch’s left side, placed at each end of the speaker grill.

Upgraded sensors and a sharper display

The text frames the Pixel Watch 4 as a major step up from its predecessors, calling out improvements in display clarity and overall responsiveness.

Furthermore, the report validates earlier speculation about improved battery life for the Pixel Watch 4. The document outlines a 30-hour life for the 41mm model and a 40-hour life for the 45mm model.

The leaked retailer slides note that the Pixel Watch 4 will come with Gemini built in and a redesigned charger featuring moisture detection, a detail that will likely get a deeper dive during the launch presentation.

The Pixel Watch 4 is said to feature a redesigned charging interface that also lets it function as a bedside clock while docked.

Google is most likely set to pull the wraps off the Pixel Watch 4 on August 20, sharing the spotlight with the Pixel 10 lineup and the Pixel Buds 2a.

After a 15-year hiatus from golfing, I decided to get back into the sport last month. I'm predictably rusty and was never that good in my teens. But I've been pleasantly surprised by how useful my Garmin Venu X1 has been as a (sort of) golfing beginner.

Growing up, I would get wowed by Tiger Woods chipping in at the 16th at Augusta, or Phil Mickelson doing some magical flop shot, and then drag my dad to the local 9-hole Par 3 course to practice. I fancied myself good at the short game, but never really mastered my swing.

I eventually graduated to playing (badly) on proper-sized courses with friends during high school. But after growing six inches, my youth-sized clubs held me back; then I went off to college and the working world, never finding the time or money for new clubs. Running was much easier on my time and budget.

Now, I'm finally falling back into golfing at my local course with used clubs. I'm still at the stage where I'm just happy if I don't top or shank a ball, but I'm getting better after hundreds of swings at the driving range. And when I'm playing a round, I find that glancing at my Garmin watch has been an excellent alternative to dedicated golf tech or apps.

This Garmin watch is a straightforward rangefinder replacement

As a near-sighted person who spends most of his day staring at monitors, I'm very bad at judging distances. Hitting at the range, I can tell if I've struck a ball well or how far it's slicing; once it goes past that 100-yard sign, though, it's hard for me to guess how much further my five iron is going than my nine iron.

My Garmin watch gives me that context on the course. When I start a Golf activity, it pulls from my GPS data and its 43,000 predownloaded courses to show my location relative to my local course map. I can then see exactly how many yards I have left to go to the center of the green, whether I'm at the tee or on the fairway.

Knowing that I have 120 yards to go, picking a club based on that information, and then seeing immediate evidence if I chose correctly is vital for an amateur who lacks context or instinct for what club to use.

This tool isn't strictly necessary on a par 3 where you can see the exact yardage, but Garmin can also estimate "playslike distance," telling me how elevation change, wind, and humidity will affect ball flight.

And on par 4s and 5s, it's very helpful to be able to walk up to the ball for my second shot, glance at my wrist for one second, and immediately see a ballpark of how far I have to go. If I'm laying up, I can check around where I'm aiming for the exact yardage to the next hazard.

Ever since I heard a golf shop worker and customer ranting about slow amateurs fiddling with rangefinders or golf GPS apps when they should be focusing on their swing, I've worried about testing the patience of whomever I'm paired with. A simple smartwatch golf app solves that problem.

Once my Garmin Venu X1 detects that I've swung, it starts tracking how far I move until my next hit. After the round, I can check each hole for how far I drove the ball off the tee, my drive accuracy, greens in regulation, and other stats.

Generally speaking, I was impressed with how accurate Garmin's auto-tracked golf shots were. The only place the Venu X1 failed was in detecting my putts or certain chips. I assume subtle putt motions are hard for a watch gyroscope to measure against normal arm motions.

But it's easy to log my score at the end of each hole — saving me from having to pocket a physical scorecard — and then have the watch auto-update to the next hole's yardage and conditions, so I can start mentally planning my next shot while walking to the next hole or waiting for other players to finish.

Why I prefer my Garmin Venu X1 to other golf watch options

I last golfed before fitness watches were a "thing," so I've yet to test how other brands handle golfing. But since Garmin beats most other brands for GPS accuracy and battery life, it was a natural fit to try first.

Only a few premium Garmin watches, like the Fenix 8, Forerunner 970, and Venu X1, have pre-downloaded courses. The Approach series is more affordable and built for golfers, but its training tools are more limited for running, hiking, and other activities.

More importantly, I've become spoiled by the Venu X1's massive, 2,000-nit display and lightweight design.

On a normal fitness watch, the circular display cuts off visual space, so you have to zoom out more to see all the details or scroll through the hole if you prefer an enhanced view. With the Venu X1, I just naturally see the whole hole, with enough space for buttons in the corners and yardage that doesn't block vital visual data.

It's easier to tap specific points to check the hazards or contours, but you rarely need to because the default view shows so much.

More importantly, I barely notice the Venu X1's 40g weight on my wrist, and it's so skinny (with no crown) that there's no chance it bumps into my wrist when it bends mid-swing.

Any normal smartwatch weighs about 1.5–2X that; when I try making a swinging motion with my Galaxy Watch 8 Classic or Apple Watch Ultra 2, I immediately notice the watch bouncing away from and against my wrist from the momentum, unless I wear it so tightly that it's uncomfortable.

It's hard to recommend the Venu X1 without some reservations: it's expensive, even for a Garmin watch, and a rangefinder would be cheaper. Plus, you may not like the squircle look, and while its battery is more dependable than an Apple or Wear OS watch, a full 18-hole course of GPS tracking will burn a decent chunk of its battery life.

But since I already have a Venu X1, I can't see myself willingly wearing any other watch to the course. It helps a beginner like me make snap-judgment decisions on which club to use, without being uncomfortable or a distraction.

Unless you have the means to buy one of everything, you have to decide if something is the right fit for you. That can be hard; the companies making them will tell you that you need one to make your life complete, people who got a lemon or just didn't like it will say the product is garbage, and reviewers simply can't cover everything.

Often it's good to take a step back and see what you're going to get inside that pretty package. Was it worth what you paid for it? Will you get enough use from it to justify the purchase? Or maybe, you should hold off and see what's coming next.

We can't make those decisions for you, but we can tell you what we think and maybe where you should start your decisions process.

Why buy a smart ring?

Before you go any further, you need to figure out if you even want or need a smart ring; they aren't for everyone.

Think of a smart ring as a remote sensor for all the stuff on your smartwatch that reads your body. There is no display, so you won't be scrolling through Instagram in the bathroom or anything like that. It's a very basic wearable computer that can collect data and send it to an app on your phone, and not much more.

Having said that, smart rings can be very accurate. More accurate than a smartwatch and way better at things like counting steps than your phone could ever be. They're great devices for tracking your health and fitness, but not so much when it comes to anything else.

And you know what? It's fine if you just aren't into the smart ring craze. I'm not; they don't offer anything I really need that my smartwatch doesn't give me. Plus, my watch has a screen so I can use it to see things like an incoming text. If you don't think you'll have a pressing need, skip it.

The Pros

As a fitness wearable, a smart ring has a lot to offer. Sometimes a device doesn't need to do a little bit of everything to be useful.

As mentioned, smart rings can be very accurate when it comes to measuring things like heart rate or body temperature. They're not as accurate as a certified medical device (and they aren't advertised to be), but because they tend to fit "better" than a smartwatch, they get better readings.

Smart rings are small and light. That can be important when you're doing some exercises. As you can imagine, it's easier to lift weights or run five miles wearing a ring than it is while wearing a heavy watch or carrying your phone.

Smart rings don't look "weird". A lot of people care about the accessories they wear and are turned off by the look of a big, clunky watch. Smart rings are minimalistic and sleek. Except for that wild Casio one.

Smart rings send everything to an app on your phone. The apps are pretty good, too! That puts your health and fitness data right where you want it, and you won't have to try and swipe, twist, or tap on a small watch screen to do anything.

The cons

Nothing is ever perfect, and you need to weigh the good against the bad before you pull out your wallet. Smart rings are no exception.

They are expensive. I'll start here because almost everyone thinks they cost a lot. You'll spend about the same amount of money on a smart ring as you would on another wearable, but it seems like you should be paying less because they're so small.

They often come with a subscription. You pay for the smart ring, then you sometimes pay to get the most use out of it. Only you can decide if the monthly fees are worth it.

You can't adjust the fit. They're a ring and you need to carefully buy the right size. If you lose or gain a little weight, they aren't going to fit well. If you become pregnant, they aren't going to fit well. Your finger needs to stay the same size as it was when you measured for the right size.

They're disposable. You can not have a smart ring serviced or repaired. They're simple devices with a battery that should last 12-18 months before it even starts to degrade, but once they get "old," there's nothing you can do about it.

My verdict

I can't call this one, but I can say what I decided and why. You need to figure out if you need (or just want) a high-tech ring to go along with the rest of your tech.

I don't use one. I decided I didn't need anything from the list of pros enough to justify the cost of yet another expensive device, and instead just wear my old, scratched Garmin watch. It tells me what I need to know and most everything I want to know, too.

One final thought that could be helpful: they aren't any good at tracking your movement if you're in a wheelchair. Most wearables aren't, but companies are working on it. Of all the devices I've tested, I have to continue to recommend a Garmin watch if you want to keep track of how many "pushes" you've done throughout the day until Apple or Google get their software sorted out at the same level.

Take the time to see if you even need a smartwatch, and think about things like subscription fees before you decide. You'll be happier in the long run. If you decide you do want to grab a smart ring, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is on sale right now, and you can save $100 (25%) at Amazon.

Does the Google Pixel Watch 4 support Qi wireless charging?

Why the Pixel Watch 4 benefits from its third proprietary charger in four years

New Pixel 10 owners will be able to charge their phones with Qi2 chargers, including Google's proprietary Pixelsnap chargers or other MagSafe accessories. So Pixel Watch 4 owners may feel disappointed that they're getting a third proprietary charger in four years instead of a universal charging standard.

But Google has made a compelling case for this new charging system. The new two-pin charger is 25% faster than the old one. Where the Watch 3 41mm took 24 and 60 minutes to hit 50% and 100%, respectively, the Watch 4 41mm only needs 15 and 45 minutes.

Likewise, the Pixel Watch 4 45mm only needs 15 or 60 minutes to hit 50% or 100%, while the Watch 3 45mm needed 28 and 80 minutes.

This charging speed is on par with the OnePlus Watch 3's speedy VOOC charging, and it's significantly faster than the Galaxy Watch 8. You can easily top off your Pixel Watch 4 while showering or brushing your teeth and get enough juice for sleep tracking.

On top of that, the Quick Charge Dock lets you place your Watch 4 upright while it charges, making it easier to see the time and charging time remaining, or to swipe through your Tiles for information while in charging mode.

During our Pixel Watch 4 hands-on, our tester noticed another useful feature: If the Watch 4 is sitting improperly or the charger lacks power, the Watch 4 will detect that you're trying to charge it and place a warning notification on screen to fix things.

We may be waiting a long time for Qi charging for Android watches

Smartwatch owners know the pain of proprietary chargers. You get one cable in the box, and if you lose it or leave it at home during a vacation, your watch suddenly becomes useless; the replacement is expensive and often isn't available on Amazon for faster shipping.

Why can't we demand a universal Qi charging standard for watches, like we have with smartphones and USB-C? Mainly because a Qi magnet takes up a decent amount of design space that Android smartwatches or fitness watches can use for other priorities, like battery life.

"Smartwatch designs are a delicate balancing act, and a mandated wireless charging coil would stifle innovation in other areas," says Jitesh Ubrani, IDC's research manager of worldwide device trackers, when I asked him about the possibility.

So for now, we'll have to accept that Pixel Watches won't be compatible with Qi or Qi2 chargers for a long time, forcing you to keep that extra cable on hand. But at least the Quick Charge Dock makes up for it with some of the fastest smartwatch charging we've seen yet.

• A chunk of Pixel Watch 4 leaks highlights Google's supposed plans for deep Gemini integration.
• Snapshots of its supposed promo material claim Gemini will offer "quick AI assistance," alongside suggestions for users right on their display.
• Other rumored features include Loss of Pulse and over 40 exercise modes.
• Google's event to launch the Pixel Watch 4 and the Pixel 10 series will take place on August 20.

We've just witnessed one major Pixel Watch 4 leak leading up to launch, and now we're faced with another that seems to be Google's promo material.

In a thread on X by tipster Evan Blass, alleged snapshots of Google's upcoming promo and device information material for the Pixel Watch 4 were posted. What immediately catches your eye is a banner that reads, "Google Pixel Watch 4 with Gemini." That seems to be the highlight of this leak, as another alleged promo image teases the AI model as a "quick AI assistant" for whatever you need.

The leak claims Gemini's presence on the Watch 4 will be there to give users "personalized help" and also provide "text suggestions" that "sound like you." Gemini will likely leverage some sort of "understanding" and context around how you usually speak to it to offer these AI-based suggestions. Or it could just be fancy talk—we'll see during launch.

Elsewhere, the Watch 4 is rumored to feature the Pixel Watch 3's Loss of Pulse detection.

This was a feature that hit the Watch 3 in April after the FDA cleared it in February. If the Pixel Watch 3 doesn't detect your heartbeat for an extended period of time, it will alert emergency services on your behalf, explaining the situation. Additionally, there are supposedly "40 plus exercise modes," as well as the ability to build "custom run plans."

A look into the Pixel Watch 4

The leaks also had something to say about the Pixel Watch 4's specifications. The supposed images reiterate what we've heard before about a 41mm and a 45mm variation for the device. However, we're getting a glimpse into its battery, which claims to sit at ~30 hours (41mm) and ~40 hours (45mm). The leaks state these estimations take into account the AOD (always-on display).

If true, this is already higher than what the Pixel Watch 3 offers. Last year's model delivers "up to" 24 hours for both sizes with AOD active. With it off, users will likely go further with their watch.

The tipster also alleges a few health sensor capabilities, like ECG, breathing rate, and HRV.

As previously stated, we're just coming off the back of several leaked Pixel Watch 4 renders that seemingly gave us our best look yet at it. While it's been rumored for months now that Google will keep the glass-domed design the same, the Watch 4's alleged renders hinted at thinner bezels for a larger screen. These leaks clued us into the potential colors for the 41mm, which could include Iris, Lemongrass, Porcelain, and Obsidian.

The 45mm has been rumored to provide Moonstone, Porcelain, and Obsidian. Those images from earlier this week didn't give us a look at the watch's supposed "side-mounted" charging, as older rumors suggest the Watch 4 does not have its old charging pins on the back. The Made by Google event is slated for August 20.

• Samsung highlights a few "Preventative Care" features on the Galaxy Watch 8 series, thanks to its sensors.
• The devices can help detect "premature heartbeats" using Ectopic Beat Detection to help users avoid arrhythmia.
• The Watch 8 series is also the first to monitor and understand a user's antioxidant levels, encouraging them to make important lifestyle changes if needed.

Our well-being should always take top priority, and while hectic schedules can make that difficult, Samsung says its latest Galaxy Watch is trying to help.

In an email to Android Central this morning (Aug 7), Samsung highlighted a "preventative" care feature that it wove into the Galaxy Watch 8 series. In a blog post, the company states consumers with a Galaxy Watch 8 will have access to its Ectopic Beat Detection software for "actionable" insights. Samsung states this feature is designed to help users detect early signs of "premature heartbeats."

These early heartbeats, which is states can typically go unnoticed during routine checkups, can lead to arrhythmia and potentially evolve into a risk of heart failure.

The post highlights the Galaxy Watch 8's "enhanced" ECG sensor and its ability to inform users if it detects signs of ectopic beats.

Vascular Load is another preventative care feature Samsung has packed into the Galaxy Watch 8. This was a feature it teased a little before the devices launched in July, touting it as an AI-powered feature designed to determine the "strain on your heart." Today, Samsung says that the watches utilize PPG waveforms to measure your blood flow and vascular stiffness throughout the night.

Samsung reports that daily stress, diet, and how much rest you get can affect this aspect of your health. If left unchecked, it could lead to more serious cardiovascular concerns.

Changing Lifestyle Habits

Aside from an early warning system, Samsung says the Galaxy Watch 8 can also help users make well-informed decisions about their lifestyle. For example, the series features an "Antioxidant Index," which uses its BioActive sensors to scan your skin carotenoids. What this returns is a well-informed look into antioxidant levels, primarily based on the amount of fruits and vegetables you've consumed.

Users are given a score between 0-100. While Samsung says low fruit and vegetable intake can negatively impact this score (and your health overall), other factors like your diet, UV light exposure, and more can impact your antioxidant levels.

Additionally, "Bedtime Guidance" is designed to help users "build healthier sleep routines that lead to deeper, less interrupted sleep and more energized mornings." Samsung says this was developed alongside KAIST to help users understand their bodies and the right amount of sleep for them.

The Galaxy Watch 8: aid right on your wrist

Samsung has been pushing the Galaxy Watch 8's health features, as we've seen with its Preventative Care (early detection) and lifestyle monitoring capabilities. The devices are also well-equipped to handle your fitness goals and tracking features. The Korean OEM highlights the device's daily Energy Score, which informs users of how prepared their bodies are for the day ahead. If you're fit enough to push extra that day, you'll know.

However, there may be days when you need to take it a little easy and rest.

Samsung Health's AI-powered insights deliver "Personal Wellness Tips" to users, encompassing Vascular Load and more.

• Smartwatch deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Samsung | Dell

How long is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 battery life?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 should last nearly as long as the Watch 8 Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is the latest wearable offering from Samsung and is the starter watch to get in its current lineup. The Watch 8 comes in two sizes of 40mm and 44mm, with prices starting at $349.99 and $379.99, respectively. The 40mm Galaxy Watch 8 features a 325mAh battery, and the 44mm version has a 435mAh capacity. Despite the difference in capacities, though, Samsung estimates up to 40 hours of runtime on one charge for both sizes. With the Always-on Display (AOD) feature enabled, this is said to drop to 30 hours.

While we've not yet tested the Galaxy Watch 8, we have finished our review of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, which comes in a single 46mm dial size with a 445mAh battery. Interestingly, Samsung has the same battery life estimates for the Classic as well. In our testing, we found the Watch 8 Classic to last for roughly 25 hours when really pushed, but it's usually double that when usage is light.

Since the 44mm version of the Galaxy Watch 8 has nearly the same capacity as the Watch 8 Classic, you should expect a similar battery life too. The same would apply to the 40mm version, too, since the smaller battery will be powering a smaller display. Overall, you should expect the Watch 8 to easily last an average of 1–2 days between charges, as do most of the best Samsung watches.

Garmin itself leaked the Venu 4 name in a description of the Japanese Garmin golf app, saying it would get premium golf features that the expensive Garmin Venu X1 received earlier this year.

Otherwise, we don't officially know anything about this watch. But we can look at Venu X1 upgrades over the Venu 3 — plus the pricier Fenix 8 and Venu-lite Vivoactive 6 — and get a pretty good idea of what tricks the Venu 4 will receive to refresh the Venu 3 template.

Here's everything we expect from the Venu 4, along with everything we truly hope Garmin will add, even if the odds are slim.

The most likely Garmin Venu 4 features

The Garmin Venu 4 should emulate the Venu 3 with two AMOLED touch display sizes (1.2 and 1.4 inches), a mic & speaker, all-systems GNSS tracking (but no dual-band GPS), an altimeter for elevation data, a gyroscope for accurate workout tracking, music storage, Garmin Pay, and at least the 5th-generation Elevate sensor with ECG and skin temp readings.

It should bring back the core Garmin health and training tools like Body Battery, Sleep Coach, intensity minutes, workout benefit, recovery time, animated indoor workouts, running dynamics, running power, and more recent add-ons like Garmin Strength Coach.

Since the Venu 3 came out, Garmin has continued to update its core UI, and the Venu 4 will have a smarter, more logical navigation layout than the last model. Beyond that, the Venu 4 is due to receive a ton of new features.

The 2025 Vivoactive 6 is designed as a cheaper Venu alternative, but since it came out later, it introduced features the Venu 4 is nearly 100% certain to get: move alerts, daily walking suggestions, Garmin Run Coach, prebuilt cycling plans, PacePro, training effect, and the smart alarm that waits to wake you until you're in a light sleep stage.

Plus, the Vivoactive 6 display — like the Venu X1 and Forerunner 970 displays — is twice as bright as most AMOLED Garmin watches; expect the Venu 4 to hit 2,000 nits, as well.

The Garmin Venu 3 was one of the first Garmin watches to add a mic & speaker, but it only works for Bluetooth calling and pass-through commands to your phone. Since then, several watches like the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 570 have added on-watch commands like "Start a run activity" or "Show my sleep summary." It's a guarantee the Venu 4 gets these commands.

Everything we hope the Garmin Venu 4 will add

Frankly, if the Garmin Venu 4 adds all of the above features, that'll be enough to satisfy plenty of people. And the more features Garmin adds, the more justification it will have to raise the Venu 4 price, just as the Instinct 3 and Forerunner 570 jumped $50 and $100 in price, respectively.

But if Garmin is determined to charge more, we may as well get even more new features out of the Venu 4! Here's what we want to see, from reasonable possibilities to unlikely hopes.

A flashlight

In the last year, the Fenix 8, Enduro 3, Forerunner 970, Venu X1, and Instinct 3 have all added built-in LED flashlights, though not the Vivoactive 6. The fact that the $550 Forerunner 570 didn't get the flashlight could mean that Garmin reserves this for the top-tier models (and Instinct series built for outdoor use), but it could be a way for Garmin to differentiate this mainline model from other smartwatches, with a feature that's quite popular among Garmin users.

More Forerunner training tools

Garmin avoids adding overly complicated Forerunner training tools to the Venu series, where they might overwhelm new users. But the Garmin Venu X1 received nearly all the same training features as the Forerunner 970, as Garmin couldn't reasonably charge $800 without including them.

The pricier the Venu 4 gets, the harder it'll be to justify excluding certain tools like training load and training readiness. Most runners and hikers will go for Forerunners and Instincts, but those who will trade extra buttons for a more stylish design still deserve this data, and indoor athletes will benefit from training load data, too.

Breadcrumb navigation

The Garmin Venu 4 will never get offline maps when the Instinct 3 and Forerunner 570 didn't; it's a frustrating fact that Garmin reserves maps for premium models, even though other brands offer maps on cheap watches.

What's more surprising is that the Venu 3 doesn't even have point-to-point navigation, so you can't follow a course and see how far you are from your destination. Even if most Venu fans will never use GPX courses, and it's not a priority for an indoor-focused watch, some users will definitely benefit from this.

Elevate v6 with new health data

The Garmin Venu 2 was the first model with the Elevate v4 sensor, the Venu 2 Plus introduced ECG readings, and the Venu 3 was one of the first — after the Fenix 7 Pro — to use the current Elevate v5 sensor with skin temperature. I don't know if Garmin has a new sensor suite ready, but the Venu 4 is a candidate to introduce the 6th-generation version.

The most obvious upgrade would be additional LEDs for better HR accuracy, but I'm also hoping for new health data. Garmin has patented a method to track glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for a "long-term indication of the average blood glucose level." More recently, its "pulse spectroscopy" patent discussed ways to track your body's hydration and hemocrit levels. There's no guarantee Garmin will use these patents, but it's an example of how Garmin is looking to expand its health offerings.

Daily indoor workout recommendations

The Garmin Venu 4 will get the new Garmin Strength Coach for a guided, weeks-long training plan, as well as premade strength, HIIT, cardio, yoga, and pilates workouts. But not everyone likes to follow a rigid, long-term plan; I personally prefer Garmin's daily run suggestions to its structured Run Coach. With daily cycling and walking suggestions available, too, I think daily indoor workout suggestions are the natural next step!

I'm not sure of the logistics of how they pull this off, as there are so many different types of indoor workouts based on your equipment and abilities. Maybe it'd end up being some kind of Garmin Connect Plus feature. Either way, it'd help the Venu 4 compete against the Apple Watch with its curated list of Fitness+ video workouts.

Cellular data

I've been waiting for Garmin to get back into selling LTE watches since the Forerunner 945 LTE, which solely used it for safety check-ins. The Garmin Venu 4, like the kid-focused Garmin Bounce, could go beyond that and offer 4G LTE calling or voice message check-ins to Garmin LiveTrack.

To be clear, I'd want this to be an optional add-on, just as you can pay extra for LTE-capable Apple and Galaxy Watches. The point is that this would be extremely appealing for those who want a phone backup or phone-free workout experience, whether outdoors or at the gym. The current rumor is that Garmin will sell a Fenix 8 Pro with LTE, so that's a more likely candidate, but who knows!

An even skinnier design

The Garmin Venu 3 is one of the most stylish Garmin watches out there, with a cool steel bezel and svelte case. The Venu X1 isn't nearly as stylish, but I'll admit that its 40g, 7.9mm case is very comfortable to wear, both for workouts and at home. I'm hoping that Garmin can make the Venu 4 a little more petite while preserving its two-week battery life. That might be an unfair request, but I'll hope for it regardless.

• An X tipster posted a GitHub repository full of alleged Pixel Watch 4 renders, which showcased the device from a few angles in its potential colors.
• The 41mm was shown in Iris, Lemongrass, Porcelain, and Obsidian, while the 45mm saw Moonstone, Porcelain, and Obsidian.
• The alleged renders seemingly showed off the watch's thinner display bezels, though it did not highlight Google's rumored "side-mounted" charging.

Pixel Watch 4 leaks just keep popping up, as another source from social media claims to have discovered its entire color selection and more.

X user Bedros Pamboukian posted a link to their GitHub repository where they've allegedly discovered the Pixel Watch 4 in all its colors (via 9to5Google). The tipster's repository suggests the device will launch with four watch band colors and three main body 41mm variations. Those colors are as follows: Iris (silver body), Lemongrass (brass body), Porcelain, and Obsidian (obsidian body).

For its 45mm version, the tipster alleges a Moonstone, Porcelain, and Obsidian.

The supposed renders of the Pixel Watch 4 are another major talking point of this rumor. The tipster's images showcase the device straight on, which seems to highlight its thinner bezels. Aside from that, the rest of the device is relatively similar to what we've seen for the past three iterations. The Pixel Watch 4 is still rumored to feature a physical button on its right side with its rotating crown.

These leaked renders don't give us a good look at its altered back panel, nor the rumored "side-mounted" charging on its left side. You can check the full GitHub repository for the entire leaked render selection.

A design people recognize

Rumors about a change to the Pixel Watch 4's charging became a little more "real" in mid-July when a rendering suggested "side-mounted" charging. The render highlighted a chance for the device to be placed in a new "cradle" (or whatever they'll call it) to charge while standing on its side. If true, it'll make the Pixel Watch 4 seem like a mini Google Home, as you'll be able to see its clock during its power-up cycle.

The Pixel Watch 4 could also see a slight indentation on its left side with two charging pins to go with this newly developed charger.

We've been wondering about the Pixel Watch 4's charging ever since an initial batch of leaked renders completely left out its necessary pins. While some figured wireless charging was on the way, it seems we might be headed in a new direction. Also, aside from thinner bezels for its domed-glass display, the Pixel Watch 4 is reportedly thicker, possibly indicating a bigger battery.

The Made by Google event is slated for August 20, where we should see the Pixel Watch 4 alongside the Pixel 10 series and more. This week's rumors claim the watch might also hit the market for a price similar to the Watch 3, too.

It's officially smartwatch season — Samsung released the Galaxy Watch 8 lineup last month, and Google is here with the Pixel Watch 4. This year, we were graced with a new "classic" Wear OS watch from Samsung, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. It slightly breaks from tradition, moving to a squircle case while retaining its circular screen and satisfying rotating bezel.

There is a lot about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic that screams vintage, but the new modern touches might not be well-received by Classic fans. By comparison, the Pixel Watch 4 improves on what it does best. The Google Pixel Watch has historically been a very modern-feeling smartwatch, and now, it has slimmer bezels and an attractive domed display.

Is the polarizing Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic enough to push buyers toward the Pixel Watch 4? Let's review how these two great smartwatches compare to help you figure out which one is right for you.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Pricing and availability

The Google Pixel Watch 4 was officially revealed at a Made by Google 2025 event on Aug. 20, and preorders began that same day. Despite the early preorder date, the Pixel Watch 4 doesn't hit shelves until Oct. 9. It still might be a good idea to get in on the action early if you want to take advantage of pre-order deals and promotions.

Pricing remains the same, so you'll pay $349 for the 41mm model and $399 for the 45mm model. LTE versions cost another $100 on top of that.

Samsung released the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic on July 25, and it's now publicly available. It's only available in one 46mm case size that retails for $499. That's more than the previous Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It's also priced higher than the Pixel Watch 4. You can get the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic in white or black colorways.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Design and display

Samsung and Google now both have their own unique smartwatch design languages. It'll be up to you to decide which one you prefer. Google has the "waterdrop" chassis for the Pixel Watch, where the display glass flows right into the case like a water droplet. Meanwhile, Samsung is sticking with the "cushion" shape for the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, where you get a circular display atop a squircle case.

Regardless of how you feel about each style, there's no doubt they're distinct. Google is keeping the same general design language on the Pixel Watch 4, albeit with slimmer bezels. Luckily, the Google Pixel Watch 4 isn't any thicker than the Pixel Watch 3, measuring 12.3mm thick. Even still, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is only 10.6mm thick.

That's true even after accounting for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic's physical rotating bezel. It's used for navigation, giving users a satisfying way to control the watch while limiting the number of display touches needed for each action.

Notably, if you like a smaller watch, you'll probably need to go with the Pixel Watch 4. Samsung did away with offering the Classic watch in multiple sizes; the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic has a 46mm case size. Google does a better job supporting multiple sizes, and the Pixel Watch 4 comes in 41mm and 45mm cases, just like its predecessor.

Believe it or not, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic's display size falls right in the middle of the Pixel Watch 4 size options. Samsung's watch sports a 1.34-inch Super AMOLED screen with a 438x438 resolution, and it now supports a 3,000-nit peak brightness rating. The squircle chassis and rotating bezel take up a lot of space; thus, the larger case size actually has a smaller screen.

The 45mm size of the Google Pixel Watch 4 packs a larger display with a domed design and slimmer bezels. That means the Pixel Watch 4 screen will seemingly flow right into the chassis, even more so than before. Both AMOLED screens support a 3,000-nit peak brightness rating and offer a 60Hz variable refresh rate.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Hardware and specs

On the inside, both Wear OS smartwatches are packed with wearable processors and a slew of health sensors. Samsung just updated its watches with new BioActive sensors and Exynos W1000 processors last year, and they both carry over to the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. Google was due for an upgrade, and the Pixel Watch 4 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 2, a new Qualcomm chipset for wearables.

The Pixel Watch 4 is the first wearable to use it, paired with 2GB of memory and 32GB of storage, aligning with prior models. There's also a Cortex M55 co-processor tailor-made to handle AI tasks while remaining efficient and preserving battery life. However, Samsung bumped up the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic's onboard storage to 64GB this year, keeping the memory at 2GB.

Samsung's extra storage on the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic could come in handy if you want to save a bunch of music, podcasts, or workouts on your smartwatch.

Battery capacity is increased on the Pixel Watch 4, with the 41mm model sporting a 325mAh capacity and the 45mm offering a larger 455mAh cell. Additionally, Wear OS 6 and the new chips combine to even squeeze more battery life out of the batteries. When all is said and done, Google claims the Pixel Watch 4 will get 30 or 40 hours of battery life on a single charge with AOD on, depending on whether you get the smaller or larger variant, respectively.

At 445mAh, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic's battery capacity is enough to get you through around a day or two on a full charge. The exact figure depends on whether you keep the always-on display enabled and how many GPS workouts you track.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Fitness and health

Samsung helped usher in a new era for Wear OS smartwatches with the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. It runs Wear OS 6 out of the box, which features Gemini as the standard voice assistant instead of Google Assistant. It's using a One UI 8 Watch skin, so the entire operating system will feel familiar if you're a One UI user. In addition to Gemini, you'll also get Galaxy AI and Samsung Health integration on the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic.

The new model includes a few new health tricks, like tracking your antioxidant index and serving as your custom Running Coach. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic also includes now-standard features like heart rate monitoring, ECG support, blood-oxygen monitoring, and temperature detection. Basically, the BioActive sensor here will have all your health and sleep tracking needs covered.

Google is shipping the Pixel Watch 4 with Wear OS 6 and Gemini support, too. It also brings along the Material 3 Expressive redesign, something that's exclusive to Pixel wearables. Google has exclusive health tricks for the Pixel Watch 4, building on existing tools such as heart rate monitoring, ECG support, blood-oxygen monitoring, cEDA sensing, and temperature detection.

The addition of dual-frequency GPS should improve accuracy on runs and walks, and satellite SOS support on-watch can help in an emergency.

Fitbit powers all the health and fitness tools on the Pixel Watch 4. You get a new feature called Fitbit Morning Brief that provides a rundown of your portfolio at the beginning of each day. If you're used to Samsung's Now Brief or Garmin's Morning Report, you know what to expect here. The summary will take in your sleep tracking, energy level, and fitness progress and ready it for your morning review.

Google Pixel Watch 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Which should you buy?

The Google Pixel Watch 4 ended up being a major upgrade, with slimmer bezels, a new processor, and more battery life. Google AI and Gemini tools tailor-made for the Pixel Watch change the way you interact with the device on your wrist, and dual-band GPS shore up accuracy for fitness tracking.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is still in a league of its own with a unique design and rotating bezel. It already sports Wear OS 6 and Gemini, too. If that sounds intriguing, you may want to pick up the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic instead of the Pixel Watch 4.

As is often the case, you should probably buy the Wear OS smartwatch that matches your phone. This time around, if you choose the Pixel Watch 4, you won't feel like you're missing out as much compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch.

For more news and information on Google's latest smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.

• The Pixel Watch 4 Wi-Fi models (41mm and 45mm) are reportedly sticking to last year’s prices—$349 and $399, respectively.
• On the other hand, both LTE versions are expected to drop by $50, which is a nice surprise.
• The Pixel Watch 4 is also tipped to hit 50% in just 15 minutes now, with 80% in about 30.

A new report hints at the possible pricing for the Pixel Watch 4 lineup, and things are looking pretty promising for buyers.

According to Android Headlines, the Wi-Fi Pixel Watch 4 models in both 41mm and 45mm are expected to stick with last year’s pricing. On the other hand, the LTE models might drop by $50 compared to the Pixel Watch 3.

The outlet says the Pixel Watch 4 will launch in the U.S. at the same $349 starting price as last year’s model. Chances are, the £349 / AU$579 price tags will stick around for other regions too.

This rumored price covers the 41mm Wi-Fi model, and according to Android Headlines, the 45mm Wi-Fi version is holding steady at $399.

LTE gets cheaper

Furthermore, the report suggests the Pixel Watch 4 LTE models will be easier on the wallet this year. The 41mm LTE version is tipped to land at $399, down $50 from last year’s $449. The same goes for the 45mm LTE model, which could drop to $449 from $499.

The Pixel Watch 4 pricing seems to line up with some of your favorite Wear OS smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch 8.

Furthermore, the report says buying the Pixel Watch 4 will score you six months of Fitbit Premium and a free month of YouTube Premium thrown in.

With Fitbit Premium, you’ll get access to in-depth health insights, guided workouts, and a solid lineup of meditation and mindfulness sessions. YouTube Premium, on the other hand, removes ads, lets you save videos for offline viewing, and unlocks full access to YouTube Music.

Charging could get a boost

The report also suggests the Pixel Watch 4 will juice up 25% faster, thanks to a revamped side/dock charger. It’s expected to hit 50% in just 15 minutes, which is way quicker than the Pixel Watch 3’s 24 to 28 minutes. Even better, getting to 80% should take around 30 minutes, down from the previous 35 to 50.

However, while some users may find a few perks with the new side-mounted pogo pin charger, it’s not all upside. Since it’s a fresh design, finding third-party chargers might be tricky at launch. Plus, those visible pogo pins on the side could be a bit of an eyesore and might not play nice with existing watch cases.

When I reviewed the Pixel Watch 3, I had a very positive experience, but that only raised my expectations for the Watch 4. The same applied when I interviewed the Qualcomm VP of wearables about the brand's potential new Wear OS chipset. I thought this might be the generation that transformed Wear OS.

Instead, the rumored and leaked Pixel Watch 4 vs. Pixel Watch 3 differences we've seen have been more of a mixed bag. A brighter display with smaller borders sounds great, while low blood oxygen alerts will be an interesting foil to Samsung's sleep apnea detection. But we might not get the massive processor change I'd hoped for, and the changed design may have as many cons as pros.

The Pixel Watch 4's most subtle and significant upgrade

The Pixel Watch 4 will allegedly use the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, the 2022 chip first introduced in the Pixel Watch 2. That means it would keep the same four Cortex-A53 cores as before, while the latest Galaxy Watches use one Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55 cores.

If this leak is correct, that's one obvious reason to choose the Pixel Watch 3, or stick with a Watch 2: It'll have the same performance level. The Watch 3 is already capable of running Gemini on Wear OS, and Wear OS 6 ran smoothly when I tested it.

I'm not sure if Google chose not to upgrade the processor because it didn't think it needed the extra power or because its RISC-V plans with Qualcomm fell through, but it's still disappointing if true.

A later leak confirmed Google's plan, but also suggested the Watch 4 will swap out the 2016 Cortex-M33 co-processor with the 2020 Cortex-M55, making it capable of delivering "5x the AI workload at a fraction of the power."

Ask yourself if you plan to use Gemini often enough for this boost to matter, or if you can settle for a couple of extra seconds of delay for every query. If you mainly use the AI on your phone already, then the Wear OS version may be more of a limited novelty.

Gemini aside, I hope the M55 makes other background tasks more battery-efficient, similar to how the OnePlus Watch 3 lasts for days by running health and notifications through its upgraded BES2800 co-processor.

This leak suggests the Pixel Watch 4 41mm and 45mm will last 30 and 40 hours with AOD active, respectively, which significantly beats the Watch 3's 24-hour-with-AOD estimate. It's still nowhere close to OnePlus's option, but it's now ready to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 for longevity.

Is the battery boost worth waiting for? Definitely for power users. But 30–40 hours still falls into that awkward window where you still need daily charging, because it'll die in the middle of day two — likely while you're at work.

Maybe with AOD turned off, the larger Watch 4 can be stretched to two full days; I'll have to test that in my review. But the point is, if you plan to charge your watch every night, the Watch 3 will easily last the full day, and cost you less. The Watch 4 just gives you wiggle room as the capacity fades over time.

Will a beefier Pixel Watch 4 design work for you?

Unlike the controversial changes to the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, the Pixel Watch 4 design should stick to the same style as always. But leaked Pixel Watch 4 renders suggest that it may be 2mm thicker than the Watch 3.

That may not sound like much, but 14mm is in the realm of thick fitness watches, and I don't think the whole bezelless aesthetic will work if it's bulging up from your wrist too far, like a black lump. So I hope this leak turns out to be inaccurate.

Maybe the Pixel Watch 4 needed to be thicker? Aside from extra battery capacity, one leak suggests it will be fully repairable, unlike the older models that couldn't be disassembled to fix damaged components.

That same leak suggests the Pixel Watch 4 could have satellite SOS capabilities if you don't have your phone on you. Fitting a functional antenna in there for emergencies might have thickened things up.

And one last leak this month showed the Pixel Watch 4's new side-mounted charging stand in place of the current bottom charging pin system. The Watch 3's charging system works, but it's a bit finicky to get it attached; it'll be interesting to see if this version is an upgrade, whether in terms of speed or convenience.

We don't have official confirmation on any of this yet, but it's clear Google did its best to make the Pixel Watch 4 better... but may have had trouble squeezing everything into a rounded-edge frame that wasn't too thick.

Should you wait for the Pixel Watch 4?

At this point, I think it makes sense to wait, even if you suspect the Pixel Watch 4 might not deliver everything you wanted. But not everyone should.

Google has the Pixel Watch 3 at $80 off, just off its all-time low from Prime Day ($250), and you can cut a little extra off that on the Google Store with a trade-in deal. But the current rumor is that the Pixel Watch 4 will stick to its normal price.

So you can easily quantify the decision now. Assuming these leaks are accurate, do you think it's worth $100 more to get an extra 5–10ish hours of battery life, a slightly larger and brighter display, a more convenient charger dock, faster Gemini commands, a couple of safety features, and one extra year of updates?

The Watch 3 is one of the best Android watches today, and the Watch 4 allegedly will have the same app speeds, storage, and health sensors; it'll also get Wear OS 6 in a couple of months. So there's no harm in grabbing one for cheap if you're not impressed with what the newer model has in store.

Samsung's Watch 8 squircle plans leaked over a year in advance, so we're not expecting the Watch 9 to rock the boat. So if we accept that the squircle is here to stay, what else should the Galaxy Watch 9 add or change?

Based on our time reviewing the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and our Galaxy Watch 8 hands-on, here's what we'd like (or expect) to see from the Galaxy Watch 9.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Models

Samsung sold a Galaxy Watch 8, Watch 8 Classic, and Watch Ultra (2025) this year. Since Samsung traditionally sells Classics on alternating years, the safest bet is that we'll only see a Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra (2026) next year.

We're still a big fan of the 2022 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which Samsung skipped for the Ultra last year. Now that Samsung has started selling three models per year, we'd love to see a Pro resurrection that's lighter and longer-lived than the Classic and Ultra.

Unfortunately, since a titanium frame and long battery life are key Ultra selling points, we won't get our hopes up about a Watch 9 Pro.

There's also a decent chance Samsung will sell a cheap Galaxy Watch FE 2 next year. Apple releases its budget SE watches every 2–3 years, and since the first Watch FE came out in 2024, Samsung might follow its rival's lead in 2026.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Likely specs and features

Samsung rarely backslides on features offered from past generations, so it's safe to say that the Galaxy Watch 9 will come in two sizes, each aluminum case sporting a 5ATM water-resistant and MIL-STD-810H protective rating.

The last two Galaxy Watch generations used the 3nm Exynos W1000 chip with 2GB of RAM. Aside from the old Tizen OS watches, we've never seen one chip last three generations of Galaxy Watches, so there's a possibility of a new, faster 3nm chip, or at least a new coprocessor to handle background tasks and AI more efficiently.

We'll eventually see Galaxy Watches go beyond Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 5GHz into 6.0 and 6GHz. And we could see the Watch 9 add ultra-wideband (like the Pixel Watch 3 has), enabling features such as digital car keys, paired watch/phone unlocking, or better Find My tools. But we can only speculate if the Watch 9 gets them or a later generation.

Since Google continues to make Wear OS more battery efficient every year, Samsung won't feel much pressure to increase the Watch 9's capacity too far beyond the Watch 8's 325/435mAh capacity, sticking to the same 40-hour estimate.

That also applies to the 10W WPC fast charging that the last three generations of Galaxy Watches have used. Faster charging can deteriorate battery capacity, so Samsung will let rivals like the OnePlus Watch 3 beat the Galaxy Watch 9 for speed. We would love to see Samsung adopt Qi2 charging on the Watch 9, at least.

Lastly, Samsung should bring back the same BioActive sensor that enables all of the new health tracking tools like Antioxidant Index, Running Coach, Vascular Load, and AGEs Index. It could improve it with new LEDs, like the Watch 7 added, but the fundamentals will be unchanged.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: What we want and expect to see

The Galaxy Watch 8 had a clear strategy: stick to the same hardware template with a thinner, squircle "Cushion Design" and a bunch of new Galaxy AI health tools. The Galaxy Watch 9 will probably continue down this same path.

Samsung has publicly speculated about a Samsung Health subscription, and most of its Galaxy AI disclaimers say that the tools are free through 2025. So it seems likely the Galaxy Watch 9 will push out even more health and fitness tools to justify a subscription.

We don't necessarily want to pay monthly for Health tools, but it seems a likely possibility. Let's focus instead on the Galaxy Watch 9 tools that we do want.

Better battery life

Samsung is working on denser all-solid-state batteries, or "Dream Batteries," according to a report. It claims that Samsung wants to insert this tech into Galaxy Buds, the Galaxy Ring 2, and future Galaxy Watches.

We'd love to see this in the Galaxy Watch 9, but the report suggested these "dream batteries" may not be ready until the Galaxy Watch 10 in 2027. And it may also be more expensive than your typical lithium-ion battery, and we don't want the Watch 9 price to rise again so soon.

In the meantime, we can only hope that some combination of a more efficient Wear OS 7, a better coprocessor, or extra capacity will make the Watch 9 longer-lived. I doubt we'll see it come close to the OnePlus Watch 3, but if it can hit 50 hours per charge instead of 40, that alone would be worth an upgrade.

Thicker watch bands

Plenty of Galaxy Watch fans' wishlists would start with a return to a more circular design. But since Samsung isn't likely to relent on its squircle look anytime soon, I'll instead bring up this request from my colleague Brady, who is currently reviewing the standard Watch 8.

He likes the Watch 8 design in person, calling it "super thin" and praising the contrast between the dark screen and metallic squircle. But he doesn't like how the current Galaxy Watch 8 bands look "really narrow compared to the thick squircle case," emphasizing instead of masking the squircle's size.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has wider bands that proportionally match its size. I'm not sure if the current Dynamic Lug system can accommodate a wider band, but hopefully, this is something Samsung can figure out by the Galaxy Watch 9 launch.

New Gemini tools

This request is as much about Google and its Wear OS 7 plans as about Samsung. But now that Gemini on Wear OS has launched, we hope that the AI will continue to improve, integrating more closely with Google & Samsung apps and improving smarts.

We're hoping that any upgrades to the Exynos processor will lead to faster and smarter AI responses. But beyond that, we'd like to see Gemini integrate more closely with Samsung Health so it can provide direct coaching based on your data.

We'd also like to see Gemini Live come to Wear OS watches for more in-depth conversations. And while this isn't specific to on-watch AI, it might be handy if Samsung and Google could train an AI tool that lets you take a photo of a plate for nutrition logging.

New Samsung Health data and coaching

If Samsung's going to charge money to judge our bodily health, it needs to earn it. I suspect we'll get some kind of Health Coach AI, but it'll need to be highly accurate and tailored to your body's data, rather than some generic LLM chatbot.

Samsung has been working on non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, and this would certainly fit into Samsung's current mold of judging your body's heart health and antioxidant levels — assuming that it's ready and accurate enough to be relevant.

Otherwise, Samsung has done a good job of surprising us with tools like the antioxidant index that we never expected, so we'll simply hope that Samsung has more tricks in store that its multicolored LED sensors can detect.

That's where I come in. Having reviewed the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic — as well as the Ultra, 6 Classic, and 5 Pro — I'm intimately familiar with Samsung's One UI Watch software, including the newest features like the Multi-Info Tiles, Now Bar, and Gemini that you'll want to dive into straight away.

These are the 10 Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 features or settings to activate or change straight out of the box. Note: You'll find Settings by either swiping down from the main watch face and tapping the cog icon or opening the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone.

Enable gestures and shortcuts

Even the best smartwatch UI can be tedious to navigate through, by virtue of the small screen. Save yourself a bunch of time by enabling shortcuts to your favorite apps out of the box.

Tap Settings > Buttons and Gestures. Here, Galaxy Watch 8 owners will find two shortcuts for the Home button; I like changing the Home double press to open my favorite app instead of the last app opened, and the long press to open Gemini instead of Bixby or the power menu.

You can also edit the back button short press, but "Go to previous screen" is too convenient for navigation to lose.

If you specifically have the Watch 8 Classic, you can edit the third Quick button; it defaults to Samsung Health exercises but can open your stopwatch, flashlight, water lock, camera controller, or voice recorder instead. You can also edit whether it triggers with a short or double press, though unfortunately, you can't choose a shortcut for each, only one.

Even if you don't edit your shortcuts, you will want to turn on gestures, which are disabled by default. The double pinch gesture is the most important one: You can answer calls, dismiss alarms and calendar alerts, or pause/restart your music playlist just by double-pinching your fingers.

From the main watch face, the double-pinch gesture opens the "Now Bar," showing the most important contextual data you need to know. And if you toggle the Secondary action on, a double pinch will take you to your latest notification or next Tile, without having to scroll.

Its companion is the Shake gesture: Twisting your fist up 90 degrees will also dismiss alerts and timers, as well as decline incoming calls or return to the main watch face from a notification. And the Knock knock gesture is like the Quick Button: It lets you trigger a specific shortcut, from the flashlight or stopwatch to any one of your favorite apps.

Edit your Tiles and add new ones

Wear OS Tiles have always highlighted info from one specific app or health tool at a time; One UI 8 Watch added new customizable "Multi-Info Tiles" that let you see more information per Tile. By default, Samsung groups your Tiles by Health, Fitness, and Basic, all visible past the main watch face.

My advice is simple: Customize the Tiles to make them your own. Scroll down to the bottom of any Tile and tap the + button; you'll be shown "Featured" Tile suggestions that fit the theme, followed by a list of all eligible apps with a Tile widget. Some apps have two Tile options: a condensed half-screen widget and a full-screen one.

For the Health tile, for example, you may want to add the antioxidant index, food calorie tracking, hydration tracking, medication reminders, mood tracking, cycle tracking, or the new Vascular Load widget. You might not want a full Tile dedicated to each, but now that they scroll down in one category, you're more likely to want to check them all at once.

You can also create a new Tile with whichever theme you think is appropriate; I created a Morning Tile with my alarms and reminders, for example.

So far, unfortunately, only Samsung apps work with the multi-info tiles; Google and third-party apps still take up a full Tile slot each. To add those, keep scrolling right past your current Tiles and tap the Add tiles button. If you don't see a specific Tile, make sure you have the app downloaded on your Galaxy Watch 8 from the Play Store; not all apps have Tiles, however.

Add new and custom watch faces

Samsung makes the best watch faces on Wear OS, with dozens of styles and hundreds of variations available. The simplest way to change your watch face is to tap-and-hold the main face to find your favorites, or swipe right and tap Add watch face to look through the available options. You can also customize to change the background image, style, color, indexes, and complications of a given watch.

I've always found customizing on-watch to be really finicky, so I recommend using the mobile Galaxy Wearable app, where you can see more options at once, including tons of "Premade" styles with varied colors and backgrounds.

Tap Watch faces in-app, and you can scroll through every option by category, or tap "Discover more watch faces" at the bottom to search by color, style, and specific data. I recommend saving ten faces or so on the watch, so you can quick-swap based on your mood.

Wear OS 6 also reintroduced third-party watch face apps like Facer, so you can add custom or branded faces like the SpongeBob face above. Each app gets one face slot on your watch, so you'll need to buy and choose faces in-app; they'll then automatically appear on your Galaxy Watch 8.

Limit notifications

One of the main perks of a Wear OS watch is actionable notifications, but it's also about sparing yourself from checking on every pocket buzz. You should make sure you only see the important stuff and save the rest for later.

In the Galaxy Wearable mobile app, tap Watch settings > Notifications > App notifications. Take a couple minutes to toggle off all the apps that you don't think are important to see. Then back up and decide whether to use Smart device selection — which limits watch notifications while your phone is active — or always show on both to be sure you don't miss anything.

In Advanced settings, anyone with bad eyesight can choose Read notifications aloud if they wish, while I personally toggle Turn on screen when notifications received for a visual signal to go with the vibration.

Start testing out Gemini

Now that Gemini has rolled out to Wear OS, you should take full advantage of it. It has better integration with Google and Samsung apps than Assistant did, plus the ability to search or use multiple apps with a single query. It's also prone to mistakes, to be fair, but it's not as limited as Assistant was.

Go to Settings > Google > Digital Assistant and toggle on the "Hey Google" wake word, or else follow the instructions above to make Gemini the long-press shortcut on the Home button.

By default, Gemini uses the same voice option chosen on your phone. To change it, go to the mobile Gemini app, tap your profile pic, then Settings > Gemini's voice. There are currently ten voices available to choose from, and it'll sync to your watch instantly.

As you start to ask Gemini questions, keep an eye on your display. The first time that an answer requires your location data, you'll have to give it permission. And Gemini will make you choose a default app for certain categories if Google and Samsung both have one, like Calendar or Messages.

Finally, you may want to create a Gemini Tile using the steps above. This is mainly if you want to create a consistent Gemini action, such as turning on/ off the smart lights in your home, to save yourself from having to ask every time.

AOD and screen timeout

The Galaxy Watch 8 is estimated to last 30 hours with AOD or 40 hours without. I've found the Watch 8 Classic easily outperforms that estimate with AOD as the default, but if battery life is your main concern, go to Settings > Display and toggle Always-On Display off.

You can also use a gesture to only show the display when you turn your wrist toward your face, which is a commonly used middle ground between AOD and tapping the display. To enable this, go to Settings > Display > Screen wake-up, then toggle on Raise wrist to wake.

Since battery life isn't a concern for me, I instead leave AOD on and change the Screen timeout and Show last app times.

By default, the Watch 8 times out after 15 seconds; five seconds after that, it forgets what you were looking at. I recommend extending these times to 30–60 seconds for the timeout and two minutes to still reopen to the last app or menu, so you can look away to check something on your phone, come back, and still see the relevant data.

Wear your Galaxy Watch 8 to bed

I don't like wearing smartwatches to bed, but plenty of Galaxy Watch owners don't mind the feeling. Unfortunately for me, a ton of Samsung Health data will only be available if you wear the Galaxy Watch 8 every night consistently.

From just one night of sleep, Samsung will give you an Energy Score, Sleep Score, blood oxygen levels and breathing rate, skin temperature, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. It's a wide range of data meant to quantify whether you're sleeping healthily enough to stay at your best.

If you enable Sleep apnea detection in the Samsung Health Monitor app, Samsung will alert you after two days of sleep tracking if it sees signs of "moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. It's not diagnostically accurate, but it gives you a reason to speak to a doctor if the signs are there.

After three nights of sleep, Samsung will generate a Vascular Load score. It judges whether your heart is under stress, whether from workouts or lifestyle impacts like sodium intake or blood pressure, and tells you whenever your load is higher than normal.

Samsung will also be able to judge your "sleep pressure" and circadian rhythm after three days to suggest an "optimal bedtime" that "maximizes alertness the next day." After a full week of sleep data, it'll start "coaching" you, giving you a sleep animal related to the type of sleeper you are and pushing you to form healthier bedtime habits.

Change your diet with antioxidant index

One of the main Galaxy Watch 8 headliner features is the antioxidant index, which measures your thumb for carotenoids, aka the antioxidant pigments in fruits and vegetables that give them their vibrant red, orange, and yellow coloring, and give you a healthy way to counterbalance the effects of aging and stress on your body.

Once you add the antioxidant index to your Health tile, measuring it is easy; you simply tap the widget, then Measure, then Ok under "Start measuring." Before pressing okay, take your watch off and press your thumb firmly against the rear sensors. It only takes about five seconds to measure, after which you'll be scored.

Early reviewers who pride themselves on eating healthily have found that Samsung's widget tends to score them badly, so don't be too discouraged if you get a low result. Any score above 75 means you have an "Adequate" amount of antioxidants; 50–74 means you're eating approximately 50–99% of your recommended daily antioxidants; and any score lower than that means you're at less than half.

Turn on Extend Unlock

If your Galaxy Watch 8 is paired to a Galaxy phone, you can sync them so that your phone stays unlocked so long as your Watch 8 is connected via Bluetooth.

In your phone settings, go to Lock screen and AOD > Extend Unlock, enter your phone PIN, then tap Trusted devices > Add trusted device and choose your Watch 8 from the list of devices.

At this point, your phone will remain unlock for four-hour periods at a time before needing you to reenter your passcode. This is less secure, but more convenient, and you at least know that it'll relock if someone steals your phone.

Activate the developer tools for fun

Wear OS has hidden developer settings that aren't really meant for everyday people, but are fun to try out if you think the regular One UI Watch settings are too limited.

Go to Settings > About Watch > Software Information. Find the field "Software version" and tap it five times; you should see a Developer Mode pop-up appear. After that, swipe left twice and you should see Developer options at the very bottom of the main Settings menu.

Here, you'll find plenty of obscure tools: The option to keep the display awake while charging, a vibration whenever the watch detects a connectivity change, better GPS accuracy, and the ability to shorten the animation screen that appears whenever you change menus.

The latest one added with Wear OS 6 is Force Global AOD Experience, which ensures that all apps have an always-on mode to keep showing data after the timeout window.

The beginning of your Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 journey

This isn't a comprehensive list; it's worth spending 10 minutes just going through every Settings menu for the things I missed. For example, you may want to open the Safety and Emergency settings and add your Medical info, toggle sending an SOS alert to your emergency contacts (along with 911), and enable fall detection.

Also, go onto the Play Store and download your phone's apps onto your watch — since this isn't done by default. For example, you may want to use a fitness app like Strava or Nike Run Club instead of Samsung Health directly.

Lastly, since Samsung changed the band mechanism on the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, your old watch bands won't work anymore. My colleague Namerah wrote guides on the best Galaxy Watch 8 bands and the best Watch 8 Classic bands if you want to rebuild your collection.

The Garmin Venu X1 is one of the oddest watches the brand has sold. It's a premium-tier, skinny smartwatch that makes the Venu 3 look limited in some ways and superior in others.

Given how expensive the Venu X1 is, you'll probably want to know how much better it is than the mainline Venu 3, which costs $350 less. We've heard rumors that the Venu 4 could arrive soon, but until then, the Venu 3 remains one of the best Garmin watches available, offering features that typically come with prices comparable to those of the Fenix 8 or Forerunner 970.

It comes down to your priorities. The Venu X1 arguably has the best display and comfort of any Garmin watch, along with advanced training tools and maps. But it trades away the weeks-long battery life that Garmin power users are accustomed to, and many of its upgraded features will be overkill for the typical Venu crowd.

Garmin Venu X1 vs. Venu 3: Design and display

The Garmin Venu lineup targets "mainstream" audiences. Its designs prioritize lightweight style, with fewer buttons and AMOLED displays (before that became the norm for Garmin). The Venu 3 fits that mold, measuring 1–2mm skinnier than most Garmins and masking its polymer body with an attractive steel bezel.

The Venu X1, on the other hand, very clearly emulates the Apple Watch Ultra 2 squircle look, except with an incredibly skinny frame that leaves little room for a typical Garmin battery. It's incredibly comfortable to wear, but the design will turn off Garmin fans who dislike Apple Watches on principle.

The 2-inch Venu X1 and the 1.2-inch Venu 3S weigh the same, which is the crux of the X1's appeal: a weight you can barely feel paired with a ton of visual data, while the 3S has to squeeze things in.

Part of the weight difference comes from the X1's lighter nylon strap, but it's actually quite comfortable (except for being hard to take off of larger wrists), whereas I complained that the Venu 3's default silicone band wasn't breathable enough in my review.

My biggest complaint with the X1 design is that it only has two buttons. Venu watches generally depend on touchscreen controls, but at least the Venu 3 has a third button for two shortcuts. Otherwise, the X1 doesn't have the Up / Down buttons that Garmin power users like, or the crown that Apple fans might like. It's just as swipe-dependent as the Venu 3.

The 1.4-inch Garmin Venu 3 display is actually quite good, on par with the much pricier Fenix 8 in resolution and brightness. But this X1 squircle design creates room for a ton of extra visual data, as the watch face above shows.

That said, you'll have to decide if you need this info enough to spend hundreds more for it; we'll talk about the main use case (maps) in a later section.

What's particularly nice is that the Venu X1 is twice as bright as the Venu 3 and all other Garmin AMOLED watches except the Forerunner 570 and 970. The older model is bright enough for normal circumstances, but tends to get washed out in sunny weather, while the X1 is fully visible.

Garmin Venu X1 vs. 3: Hardware, sensors, and battery

Both the Garmin Venu X1 and 3 sport the newest Elevate gen-5 sensor, with the best HR accuracy, stress and recovery data, and nightly skin temp and breathing rate info. Put another way, you won't get new or better data by upgrading to the X1.

In fact, the Venu X1 is missing ECG readings, if you're concerned about monitoring heart health. We believe this comes down to design: Garmin uses a metal bezel wired to the sensor's electrodes, and the Venu X1 only has titanium on the caseback. Garmin doesn't do passive AFib detection like other brands, so the Venu 3 is your best bet for regular check-ins.

Like most of the latest Garmin models, the Venu X1 has a built-in flashlight, activated by holding down the back button. It's much more useful than the display-based flashlight on the Venu 3, but it will burn through your battery quickly if you use it too often. It's decently bright for something up close, but not the best fit for nighttime workouts.

Both models have a built-in mic and speaker for Bluetooth calling and passthrough commands to your connected Android phone's assistant or iPhone's Siri. New to the table is the X1's Voice Command tool for on-watch functions like "Start a run" or "Show my training status."

Unfortunately, Voice Command tends to be fairly buggy and limited, a trait it shares on the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 970. Hopefully, Garmin will make it smarter over time. For now, setting it up as a shortcut lets you skip a bunch of swipes to open an app or menu, but be prepared for your command to get misinterpreted sometimes.

Generally speaking, the Garmin Venu 3 matches its more expensive sibling in terms of hardware, and it beats it handily for battery life. It gets an extra six days out of the box, three more days' AOD mode, and six additional hours of all-systems GNSS tracking.

The Venu X1's eight days of battery life certainly isn't bad compared to a smartwatch, but since it doesn't have the smarts of an Apple or Wear OS watch, and it costs nearly as much as an Enduro 3, you'd wish it lasted longer.

Garmin Venu X1 vs. 3: Software

This product compare page shows every difference between the Venu X1 and Venu 3, but since it's a pain to read through hundreds of features, I've put the software highlights in the table below.

The Garmin Venu 3 is tailor-made for indoor athletes, with a wide range of pre-made workouts and on-watch workout animations and muscle maps to show the form and benefits for each. It does have the essentials for runners, cyclists, and swimmers, with accurate location data and post-workout data on how long to rest, but nothing beyond that.

By contrast, the Garmin Venu X1 goes all out. For indoor athletes, you can follow a Garmin Strength Coach training plan that personalizes workouts to your abilities instead of just picking premade ones. And for outdoor athletes, the X1 has nearly all of the same running and cycling tools as the Forerunner 970 — aside from the latest running tolerance metric and dual-band GPS.

In particular, training load is vital for helping athletes judge if their workouts are varied and tough enough to improve, and lactate threshold guides athletes on the HR turning point where their bodies go into overdrive.

The Venu X1's signature feature, however, is mapping. You get preloaded topographic maps for roads and trails, plus golf courses if that's your hobby.

Very few Garmin watches have built-in maps, including "adventurer" watches like the Instinct 3. The Venu 3 doesn't even have breadcrumb navigation, so you can't create a Garmin course or download and follow GPX maps.

In this case, I'll compare the X1 against other "premium" Garmin models. In the photos above, you can see how the X1's square display gives you much more context for your surroundings and room for more text and buttons; the more expensive Fenix 8 naturally cuts off visual data, so you have to zoom out more to see what's nearby, and any text is disruptive.

It's one of my favorite features on the Venu X1, but it's also fair to say I don't get a chance to use it often, and I rarely follow courses on-watch. If you're happy enough using your phone for mapping whenever you hike, maybe you don't need to spend hundreds more for this tool.

Garmin Venu X1 vs. Venu 3: Which should you buy, or should you upgrade?

The Venu 3 remains one of the best fitness watches despite launching in 2023. It's a well-rounded option for people who want accurate workout results and some basic training suggestions, but already have an app or coach to guide their training.

You may want to wait for the Venu 4, but given how inflation has hit Garmin watch prices, that could easily end up costing $500 or more, and we don't know how different it'll be. The Venu 3 or Vivoactive 6 may be a better fit for the more casual, frugal fitness fan.

The Garmin Venu X1 is fantastically comfortable and gives you more comprehensive training tools across most sports, but it might be overkill for the usual Venu buyer. In truth, it's more of a Forerunner 970 rival, for people willing to cut their battery life in half for a lighter fit and more data at a glance.

• Fitbit detailed an update for the Charge 6 that brings expanded support between it and exercise machines.
• Users can now view their heart rate in real-time, as captured on the tracker, on more workout machines.
• The company is also rolling out new watch faces for the Charge 6, based on users feedback.

Check your Fitbit tracker, the company's starting to roll out an update that brings improvements and some new aesthetic charm.

Fitbit posted the details of its latest patch notes today (July 28), which focus on improving the overall Charge 6 experience. As a tracker, the Charge 6 helps users work out, walk, and more, and its newest update aims to "improve connectivity" for fitness equipment. Fitbit states it is expanding compatibility between the Charge 6 and exercise machines.

What this expanded connectivity brings is the ability for users to view their heart rate in real-time on their equipment's display. If you've never done this or are simply curious, there's a support document with those details. Per Fitbit, the Charge 6 is compatible with Peloton bikes, treads, and rows, as well as iFit (NordicTrack), Concept2, Tonal, and Strava, just to name a few.

To help your Charge 6 when you're working out, Fitbit detailed three new watch faces that are designed to provide "more comprehensive" data when glancing. New faces like Axira and Geometric are a bit simpler and artistic, offering quick bite-sized pieces of health data, like your heart rate or steps.

Fitbit Refinements

The new Momentum watch face displays the current time, as well as an entire log of your current health analytics. Users will find their heart rate, steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and Active Zone Minutes.

Fitbit's blog post mentions that there are also a few "general" bug fixes headed for the Charge 6, too. The company also has a few undisclosed fixes rolling out for the Inspire 3, Versa 4, and Sense 2 in today's update.

The Charge 6 picked up a small update earlier this year that was essentially like house cleaning for the device. The device grabbed a much-needed Bluetooth security upgrade, as well as new "status indicators." These indicators regarded your device's state (DND or otherwise) and its battery, among a few more.

On a more exciting note, Fitbit Labs had an update a couple of months ago that brought Gemini-powered lab report summaries. Under the "Medical Record Navigator," users can ask Gemini to help them understand those complicated reports with a little more ease. Additionally, that experimental update introduced "Symptom Checker." With this, users can describe what they're feeling to the app (and its AI) to receive some suggested actions to help them get on track again.

• Fitness tracker deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Dell

Best Buy is matching Samsung's enhanced trade-in credit for certain watches, meaning you'll get a $250 rebate for a good-condition Galaxy Watch 6 Classic or Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, cutting the Classic's price in half, while the Galaxy Watch 7 saves you $200. You can also trade in brands like Fitbit, Garmin, Google, Apple, or Oura.

Amazon is also offering a $100 gift card with the Classic through August 5, but we don't see the same trade-in offers, so it's only the right fit if you don't plan to send in your old smartwatch. Meanwhile, Samsung also offers $100 instant credit on its store plus the same trade-in deals as Best Buy, but that gift card is obviously limited to other Samsung devices.

Having reviewed the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, I really appreciated how its rotating bezel gives me exact controls for easier navigation, as well as its key upgrades over the Watch 6 Classic like faster performance and a brighter display.

But it's on the heavy side, and its unconventional new design may not be a fan favorite. Plus, there's unfortunately no 1.5-inch option like the Watch 6 Classic offered. These may be deal-breakers for this otherwise-tempting deal.

At the very least, the Classic is an aesthetic upgrade over the thinner-but-boxier Galaxy Watch 8. But if you are interested in the baseline model, Samsung will give you a $50 e-gift card to buy the Watch 8 instead, with up to $200 in trade-in credit. With the right watch to swap, you'll only spend $150 on one of the best Android watches available, with that extra cash as a bonus.

Is it worth upgrading to the Galaxy Watch 8 or Watch 8 Classic? If you own a Galaxy Watch 7, the Watch 8 truly isn't that big of a jump, aside from the brighter display and some fresh health tools, such as the antioxidant index and vascular index.

But if you're coming from a 2023 Galaxy Watch or earlier, you're getting a wide array of new upgrades that'll improve your smartwatch experience immensely.

Once this Galaxy Watch 8 Classic deal ends, you'll have to wait until Black Friday to hope that Samsung discounts it by $100 to match this deal's value. That's definitely not a guarantee!

• A recent set of alleged renders suggests the Pixel Watch 4 will charge from new "side-mounted" contact points.
• Rumors add that Google will debut a new charging system for the Pixel Watch 4, so it can stand on its side while charging, like a small clock.
• Older Pixel Watch 4 rumors allege the same design, thinner bezels, and a larger size to potentially fit a bigger battery.
• Google's event for its new devices takes place on August 20.

Leaks surrounding Google's 2025 releases continue, as a new rendering suggests a charging input change for its watch.

A recent Pixel Watch 4 render, posted by Android Headlines, alleges the device will have users charging it from a slightly different angle. According to the publication, Google has supposedly moved the watch's charging pins to the left side of its body. The post states that the left side will feature an "indentation" with "two charging contacts" inside.

Now, it's expected that the Pixel Watch 4 will sit on its left side to charge, meaning the display can now face users, almost like a mini-clock.

The publication also revealed a rumored rendering of the charging cable and holder for the Pixel Watch 4. It seems the charging cradle will feature a small dip to accommodate the Pixel Watch 4's circular body.

It also shows the two spaces where those side-mounted charging contact points will likely sit.

Expected to Advance

This isn't the first time we've heard something curious about the Pixel Watch 4's charging; remember its massive render leak from April. On the surface, the renders purport that Google will stick with its design from the past three generations: a circular watch face and a crown on the right side. However, these renders claim the Pixel Watch 4 will sport thinner bezels, potentially moving us closer to the dream we all have for Google's smartwatch.

One aspect of these renders that caught some eyes was that the Pixel Watch 4's back panel seemingly lacked its charging pins. It was previously assumed that these two indents on the device's older renders were buttons, but theories have veered toward charging.

The Pixel Watch 4 is rumored to have 41mm and 45mm variants, just like the Pixel Watch 3. However, the device is reportedly slightly thicker than before. This leads to speculation that Google could pack an even bigger battery into the Pixel Watch 4.

Elsewhere, pricing has become the object of consumer concerns, which is where rumors from mid-July come in. There's a chance that Google will keep its Pixel Watch 4 pricing similar to the Pixel Watch 3. As a refresher, the Pixel Watch 3 saw the following prices: $349 (41mm Wi-Fi model), $399 (LTE), $399 ( 45mm Wi-Fi), and $449 (45mm LTE).

• Smartwatch deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Samsung | Dell

How many software updates will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 get?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 will last for years

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is the company’s latest smartwatch model for Android users. Best paired with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone to unlock exclusive features, the Galaxy Watch 8 came out of the gate with Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 Watch, which was made available as an update in late July.

With One UI 8, you get upgrades like motivational health features, a more intuitive interface, and access to powerful new tools like Running Coach, Vascular Load, and Antioxidant Index.

You can see Multi-Info Tiles on the screen, providing details about everything from your health metrics to weather. The Now Bar makes it easy to see and access details from supported apps.

It won’t end there, though. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 will support four years of software updates. This means it will be updatable through 2029, and thus current for many years to come. The same, it should be noted, applies to the larger Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. This is also the promise Samsung has committed to for all its latest-generation smartwatches.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to hang onto it for four years. While this watch will continue to run the same OS as any new models launching in the next 48 months, there could be a new watch down the line that has exclusive features or a refined design that catches your eye. What do you do then?

The good news is that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 will retain good trade-in value if you want to upgrade, provided it's kept in good condition. You could also resell or hand it down to a friend or family member once you’re ready for something new. They’ll have the reassurance that even if this happens two years from now, the watch still has a couple of years left of software support to remain current and up to date with the latest features.

But with all the goodies in this sleek smartwatch, which will likely soon rank among the best Samsung Galaxy smartwatches, you might be more than happy to hang onto it through to the end of the 2020s.

While one can only speculate at this point, I'm using my years of experience covering launches like this to tell you exactly what you can expect when the new wearable is unveiled. After all, Google Pixel Watch 3 deals are hardly unheard-of, but things might get more interesting once the popular wearable is officially deemed "last-gen". Let's dive in. 

What we know

Google recently confirmed that the 2025 Made by Google event will be held in New York City on August 20th. The company is already advertising the Google Pixel 10 on its store's website, and while we've received no official word on the Pixel Watch 4 just yet, the latest leaks and rumors suggest that the wearable will be revealed alongside the new phones during the event. 

As for the specs, we don't know a lot about the new smartwatch just yet. Some credible leaks have indicated that the wearable will boast the same teardrop-inspired design as its predecessor accompanied by an increase in thickness, which could suggest a bigger battery. The Pixel Watch 4 might also have smaller bezels than the previous generation, while another rumor has suggested that the watch will boast the same Snapdragon chipset as the Pixel Watch 3. 

The Pixel Watch 4 is also certain to be equipped with Wear OS 6, which means you'll get access to all of the fancy new UI features based on Material 3 Expressive, such as scrolling animations, new color themes, and redesigned tiles that work seamlessly with the Pixel Watch's uniquely curved display. And as expected, the new OS will seamlessly incorporate all of the latest AI-boosted software features from Gemini.

Unlike the Pixel 10 lineup of flagship phones, the Pixel Watch 4 is expected to retain the same price tag as its predecessor, starting at $349 for the 41mm version and setting you back $399 for the 45mm watch. You can also expect a ton of preorder deals to go live once the smartwatch is revealed on August 20th.  

Will the Google Pixel Watch 3 get cheaper?

Now for the million dollar question: will the Pixel Watch 3 get cheaper when the Pixel Watch 4 is unveiled? It's hard to say with certainty, but I can make a guess based on past device launches. 

The Google Pixel Watch 2, for example, was unveiled in 2023 with a starting price of $349, but now it's widely available for as low as $249. Slap on a discount during any major sale event and you can even find the last-gen watch for as little as $145. The problem is that its last-gen status also means that the wearable can be hard to find through some retailers. Indeed, the longer you wait to buy a last-gen device, the more likely it is that the item will be out of stock when you go to make your purchase. 

In other words, I wouldn't necessarily wait for an official price drop to buy the Google Pixel Watch 3. Instead, simply shop for the watch during the next major sale event, such as Black Friday or one of the many back-to-school sales that are beginning to kick off across the web. After all, the Pixel Watch 3 dropped to $249.99 during Amazon Prime Day a few weeks ago, and the watch isn't even last-gen yet. I expect that record-smashing discount to return this fall, so if you don't mind waiting a bit longer, that might be the best time to buy. 

Ironically enough, if you dislike this generation's boxy style, the Watch 8 Classic is still the best option: It's more "normal" than the bezelless Galaxy Watch 8 or massive Watch Ultra (2025), thanks to its stylish steel bezel masking the squircle case beneath it.

I imagine Galaxy Watch 6 Classic owners are eyeing the Watch 8 Classic skeptically, wondering if they can stand another two-year wait. As the person who reviewed both watches, I can speak to the changes you'll appreciate — and those you'll have to learn to live with.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Pricing and specs

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic ships on July 25 for $499 / £449 / €530 / CA$699 / ₹54,999, with a $50 surcharge for cellular support. For context, the Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $349 / £319 / €380 / CA$499 / ₹38,999.

Samsung offers trade-in deals for recent Samsung, Apple, or Garmin watches to cut down the price, with less credit for "any smartwatch, any condition."

The Watch 8 Classic is available in just two colors, Black or White. On Samsung's site, there are four default strap options available — Sport (silicone), Fabric, Athleisure (rubber), or Hybrid — each found in five colors.

The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic specs are below; it's mostly the same as the Watch 8, except that it's 33g heavier and 2mm thicker with 32GB of extra storage.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic design and display

• The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic only ships in one 1.34-inch display size.
• The new Dynamic Lug system helps straps fit your wrist more snugly.
• The ridged rotating bezel and 60-second scale are high points, but the Classic is still bulky.

The Watch 8 Classic's design is its main selling point and biggest question mark. Should you pay extra for the rotating bezel and third shortcut button, or skip it because it strays from the old rounded design?

For those who haven't tried a Classic bezel before, it's a massive improvement for exact controls over the default "touch bezel" on the Watch 8. You rarely scroll too far by accident, and it's become muscle memory to scroll clockwise to specific Tiles or counter-clockwise for recent notifications.

I especially like the Watch 8 Classic bezel because its ridged design is more striking than past models; the 6 Classic's bezel is easier on the fingers but almost too subtle for anyone to see, especially with my Black model. This version's bezel is rougher to the touch, but still easy to turn.

The last model prioritized display space, shrinking the border down so small that you could barely see the 60-second scale around the edge. The Watch 8 Classic border is much more striking but hems in the display, preventing a 1.5-inch option.

If you're swapping from the Watch 6 Classic 47mm, you'll find that the Watch 8 Classic 46mm weighs the same — about 3oz with the strap — and that the new "Dynamic Lug" system makes the watch strap sit more securely against your wrist.

I can't deny, though, that the 1.34-inch display will feel like a visual downgrade, with the enhanced 3,000 nits of brightness only applying during outdoor workouts. Those who bought the 1.3-inch Watch 6 Classic won't mind, but this model will be about 10g heavier and may look too bulky on small wrists.

Samsung also transplanted the third Quick Button from the Galaxy Watch Ultra. It triggers a shortcut with a single- or double-press, like starting an exercise, stopwatch, or flashlight; I only wish Samsung let you set up two shortcuts with it.

During workouts, pressing the Quick Button once pauses or restarts a workout, double-tapping it triggers a new lap or interval, and holding it down ends the workout. I find these very useful, but more sedentary buyers can make do with gesture shortcuts or Gemini commands.

It's difficult to say whether you will find the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic "attractive" enough to spend $150 more. It beats the Watch 8 for style, but not for comfort.

From your perspective wearing it, the Classic's rotating bezel and three rounded buttons cover up most of the squircle case along the top and right side, softening its artificial appearance. The left side is quite stark, flat, and chunky, but you won't see it, only others.

The normal Watch 8 display looks naked by comparison, but that also makes it that much lighter and skinnier. Unless you're accustomed to heavier smartwatches, the Classic's thick steel case might feel burdensome — especially for sleep tracking.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Battery and charging

• Samsung promises 30 hours per charge with always-on display (AOD) or 40 hours normally.
• The Watch 8 Classic takes about 90 minutes to hit 100% power.

Most Galaxy Watches last between 1–2 days, with the capacity slowly fading over time. The Watch 8 Classic is no exception; Wear OS 6 delivers a 10% software efficiency boost, but this hasn't changed Samsung's typical 40-hour estimate.

That said, the Watch 8 Classic idles extremely well. Even with AOD and the "Hey Google" wake word active, my Watch 8 Classic lasted across two nights of sleep tracking. Dozens of Gemini commands (plus AOD) burned about 20% battery across a full afternoon, but even that put it on pace for 25 hours; with more casual usage, it lasts twice as long.

For workouts, two hours of dual-band GPS tracking and a fully bright display burned about 20% battery, so 10 hours seems like a reasonable estimate with a full charge.

You may see faster battery burn if you spend more time outdoors or use music storage. You should upgrade to the Watch Ultra or OnePlus Watch 3 to guarantee more than two days per charge. But I'm happy with these results.

As for charging, it takes 90 minutes for the Watch 8 Classic to hit 100%, though you can get enough juice for sleep tracking in a short span. I appreciate that Samsung added an adaptive charging tool to keep it at 85–90% power, so overcharging doesn't ruin the capacity.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Health & fitness

• The Watch 8 series added Bedtime Guidance, Vascular Load, Running Coach, and Antioxidant Index.
• It offers plenty of sleep insights...if you can stand wearing the Classic to bed.
• The fitness accuracy and Running Coach aren't that reliable for serious athletes.

Of the Watch 8 series' four exclusive health features, only one (antioxidant index) has stood out to me. Another (Running Coach) is promising in theory but flawed in execution. And I haven't been able to gauge Bedtime Guidance and Vascular Load properly.

I've written an in-depth guide on how the antioxidant index works; the gist is that Samsung can detect the levels of carotenoids from red, orange, and yellow produce in your thumb's skin, estimating whether you're eating the recommended amount of nutritious produce per day.

My antioxidant index score has climbed from 56% to 90% after I radically changed my diet, validating that Samsung's sensor can truly detect healthier eating habits after a two-week buffer.

Most of Samsung Health's other insights require you to wear the Watch 8 Classic 24/7, like Energy Score, Sleep Score, SpO2, breathing rate, skin temperature, and HRV.

I wore it enough to judge that my HR, HRV, and SpO2 data are on par with other smartwatches' sleep results. But I haven't hit the 3–7 days of sleep necessary to judge your circadian rhythm (Bedtime Guidance) and heart health (Vascular Load) because the Classic is so uncomfortable to wear to sleep.

Aside from the thickness and weight, the Dynamic Lug system keeps it so snug against my wrist that I must either sleep on the opposite side or feel the watch digging into my skin.

If you're less sensitive to this discomfort, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic may be your most comprehensive smartwatch option for tracking and judging the impact of your sleep, stress, diet, and lifestyle on your health. This can be illuminating, but also anxiety-inducing.

As for fitness, I tested the new Samsung Running Coach, which gives you a 1–10 ranking based on a 12-minute, all-out running test before generating a training plan to help you level up to run further and faster.

It's a promising system that's best suited to beginner and intermediate runners, but I found that it (A) misranked me badly, (B) expects me to run much more slowly than I normally would for "fast" workouts, and (C) has an annoying workout guide that incessantly buzzes your wrist about whether you're "on pace" or not.

I've also found myself underwhelmed by the HR and GPS accuracy on the Watch 8 Classic during workouts. Compared to my Polar H10 chest strap, the Classic fell 5–10 bpm short of my real HR during a tough track workout, with similar dips during my running test, but then overestimated my HR during a long walk.

As for location data, its dual-band GPS is better than a GPS-only watch but still tends to drift well off my path at odd moments, cutting corners or adding extra distance while I'm running down a straight path.

And while the step count is decently accurate on the move, the Classic gives me thousands of false steps at my desk, merely from fidgeting and typing.

As strong as Samsung is on the health front, I'm not convinced that the Galaxy Watch 8 is a serious fitness watch yet. But since the Watch 6 Classic was even worse, it's a step in the right direction.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Software

• It launches with Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 Watch, and will receive version and security updates through 2029.
• New highlights include the Now Bar, revamped Tiles, and Gemini.

I have the least to say about the Watch 8 Classic software because it's predictably good: One UI 8 Watch is a well-oiled machine with some excellent new features added and the second-longest software support behind Apple.

I'm a big fan of the revamped One UI 8 Watch Tiles. A single Tile now shows data from multiple apps, merging relevant apps and widgets in one convenient location. It spares you from having to scroll through a bunch of Tiles or scour the app drawer to find what you need, and you can customize your own.

So far, only Samsung apps have varied Tile sizes that take up half or most of the display. Google and third-party apps still require a full Tile to themselves. But I'm hoping Samsung will make this format available to other devs.

The other new tool is the Now Bar, which you trigger with a double-finger tap gesture. It pulls up contextually relevant info like your current playlist or timer onto the main watch face, or else takes you to your most recent notification if nothing is pertinent. It's another way that Samsung saves users from excess scrolling to find what they need.

Gemini is coming to almost all recent Wear OS watches, not just Wear OS 6. But since it's brand new, I tested it on the Watch 8 Classic and came away impressed with how well it integrated with Google and Samsung apps.

It can perform complex tasks, like pull from multiple apps for a single query, or remember what you just asked about when creating a calendar invite, Keep list, or Tasks reminder.

Gemini on Wear OS isn't perfect; it can be too long-winded, doesn't wait long enough when I'm asking it to send a message, and should offer users an easier path to take their queries to their phone if they want. But it's an excellent start, one that Android fans will find compelling.

Competition

Anyone looking for a more traditional-looking Classic alternative should consider the OnePlus Watch 3. It lasts 3–5 days per charge and sports a bold titanium look. But you'll have to accept two (slower) Wear OS updates and a health companion app that's reliable but much simpler than Samsung's.

Only the Pixel Watch 3 or the upcoming Pixel Watch 4 can match a Galaxy Watch for speedy updates, robust health features, and high-quality apps. I don't know if their less rugged, bezelless design will appeal to the Classic crowd, however.

Truly, it's the Classic's siblings that are its biggest competition. The Watch 8 offers nearly all the same perks for $150 less, if you sacrifice better controls and doubled storage; the Watch Ultra loses the bezel, too, but adds a titanium frame and enhanced battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Should you buy it?

You should buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic if...

• You're a Watch 4 / 6 Classic owner who loves the rotating bezel.
• You want a digital coach to prod you into a healthier lifestyle.
• You like using watch storage for music or podcasts.

You shouldn't buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic if...

• You already own the Watch 7 or Ultra and the changes aren't enough.
• You can't adjust to the squircle look.
• It's just too expensive for you.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra makes the Watch 8 Classic look relatively "affordable," but it's still one of the most expensive Android watches ever. Considering Samsung has been selling the Watch 7 for under $200 recently, spending $500 would be a bitter bill even without the controversial changes.

If you're a die-hard Samsung fan looking to get healthier, the Galaxy Watch 8 will fit the bill for less...but anyone hesitating over the Classic will definitely hate the base model. And even if Samsung switches back to the status quo with the Galaxy Watch 9, we probably won't see a new Classic until 2027.

So it's really a simple decision. If you like the bezel and can trade in your old Classic to Samsung to cut the bill in half, I'd suggest buying the Watch 8 Classic; you may find that the new design grows on you. For others, this heavy, expensive smartwatch may be the wrong fit.

• The CMF Watch 3 Pro features an upgraded four-channel heart rate sensor, and 131 sports modes (including seven smart recognition activities).
• It also comprises an AI-powered running guidance and improved sleep tracking.
• The smartwatch features a larger 1.43-inch AMOLED display (with a peak brightness of 670 nits) and over 120 customizable watch faces.
• It further includes built-in dual-band GPS for precise location, features stable connection via the new Nothing X app, and offers up to 13 days of battery life.

Nothing's sub-brand CMF has unveiled a new smartwatch, dubbed the CMF Watch 3 Pro. It comes as a successor to the Watch Pro 2 with significant upgrades.

The Watch 3 Pro is being positioned as an affordable and intelligent health and fitness tracker. It features an upgraded four-channel heart rate sensor, which is believed to showcase more accurate and reliable readings when compared to the predecessor Watch Pro 2 model.

According to the latest community blog post, the smartwatch incorporates 131 sports modes, which also comprise seven smart recognition activities — significantly higher than the previous iteration, which came with 120 models and five smart recognition activities. Additionally, for the first time, the Watch 3 Pro features AI-powered running guidance, real-time coaching, and personalized recovery tips, as well as enhanced sleep tracking accuracy.

In terms of accuracy, the Watch 3 Pro also features a built-in dual-band GPS that claims to provide precise location tracking, a notable addition over its predecessor. While the smartwatch still relies on Bluetooth 5.3, it is promised to have a stable connection with the help of the Nothing X app.

The Nothing X app is replacing the popular CMF Watch app, as it now includes support for the Watch 3 Pro, as well as previous smartwatches like the CMF Watch Pro and Watch Pro 2. The new Nothing X app is said to offer a new control center for settings and detailed fitness insights.

Users should note that the CMF Watch app will remain active until July 2026, a measure offered by the company to ensure a smoother transition for CMF users.

The Watch Pro 2, the latest iteration of the Watch 3 Pro, features a larger 1.43-inch AMOLED display and a notable increase in peak brightness, reaching a maximum of 670 nits. It also features over 120 customizable watch faces, which include dynamic and interactive options. As for the build, the latest smartwatch comes with a metal body, new color options, and an IP68 rating.

As for battery life, the Watch 3 Pro promises 13 days of typical use and 10 days of heavy usage. In comparison, the Watch Pro 2 was promised with an 11-day battery life. The CMF Watch 3 Pro also features a wide range of smart capabilities, including a voice assistant, remote camera control, music controls, and the ability to record transcriptions, among others.

The CMF Watch 3 Pro has not been announced for global regions, and it retails at £99. For those who order right away, they can expect the smartwatch to reach their doorstep by the end of July.

The Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic have arrived with much gusto. As Samsung parades its latest wearables around, showing off their fitness and health tracking prowess, band compatibility hasn't been discussed much.

One of the things that I loved about Samsung Galaxy Watch models was the use of standard quick-release connectors for their bands. Until the Galaxy Watch 7, you could use bands compatible with all generations, dating back to the Watch 4, Watch 3, or even the OG Galaxy Watch, allowing for seamless interchangeability across all generations leading up to the Watch 7. This was a huge advantage as it opened the door to countless options.

Disappointingly, the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic no longer use quick-release connectors. I'm really upset about it.

What purpose does this move serve?

Samsung isn't the only smartwatch maker that favors proprietary connectors. Google does the same with its Pixel Watch family. But the difference is, Google has always done it that way. Additionally, all Pixel Watch models can use interchangeable bands, as they all utilize the same connector. It presents a unified front and solidifies the Pixel Watch brand.

But I don't understand why Samsung would move away from quick-release bands after seven generations of smartwatches. Being able to use standard bands designed for another Galaxy Watch on any other model made it more cost-effective to buy a Samsung wearable. You could hold on to your old bands and reuse them, or buy previously released straps that tend to be cheaper than newly released ones. Upcycling older bands for new smartwatches is also a more sustainable approach.

According to Samsung, the change was made so the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic could sit flatter on the wrist. However, I am not sure if this small design change was worth trading in quick-release connectors. Do the benefits of a flatter fit outweigh the advantages of universal strap compatibility?

It's a change that no one really asked for, and yet, Samsung felt the need to lose what was arguably one of the best features of its wearables.

Is the new Dynamic Lug System better than quick-release connectors?

With the Dynamic Lug System, you click one button and the entire Galaxy Watch 8 band pops off. Plugging a strap back in is very straightforward. You simply align the connectors and push the band in. It clicks into place swiftly. It's very much like the connectors on the Samsung Galaxy One-Click Watch bands that we've seen before.

Admittedly, the new Dynamic Lug System is quicker than quick-release pins, but there was nothing explicitly wrong with the quick-release connectors to begin with. I suppose speed matters to a lot of people, but it's only a few seconds' difference either way. Besides the flatter fit, I don't think the time difference in swapping out bands justifies such a major shift either.

I value backwards compatibility and the use of an industry standard a lot more than quicker band swap time or a thinner wearable.

It's not just Samsung users who will be effected by this

Samsung is a big slice of the wearable pie. Many quick-release 20mm and 22mm bands are marketed or designed specifically for Samsung Galaxy Watch models, but because they use standardized pins, they can also be used by many other smartwatches. This is why this shift also affects other brands as well.

OnePlus, Amazfit, Garmin, Withings, and Xiaomi smartwatches all use the standard 22mm or 20mm quick-release bands that the last seven generations of Galaxy Watches used.

You could easily use a nice Amazfit band on your Galaxy Watch or vice versa. Everyone was happy. Either way, both sides profited from this arrangement.

Now that Samsung has moved on to a new system, consumers won't be able to enjoy as wide a pool when buying smartwatch bands. As usual, it's the consumers like me and you who lose in the end.

And what can be done about this? The brutal truth is there's not much to do besides complaining and hoping for a better future. Maybe Samsung will revert to quick-release pins with the Galaxy Watch 9, but I'm not counting on it. For now, we just have to accept it as is or buy older Galaxy wearables if this is a deal breaker.

• The 2024 Galaxy Watch Ultra just became the first Wear OS watch to grab the Wear OS 6-based One UI 8 Watch update.
• Samsung pushed out the stable update just weeks after kicking off the beta, skipping a second round entirely.
• New tools like Running Coach, Bedtime Guidance, Vascular Load, and Antioxidant Index are here to nudge you into better habits.

Samsung is kicking off the One UI 8 Watch rollout to older smartwatch models, starting with the first-gen Galaxy Watch Ultra.

The South Korean tech giant today announced the rollout of One UI 8 Watch to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, with U.S. users on Reddit confirming it’s live. The update brings over the new health features and streamlined UI first seen on the Galaxy Watch 8 series.

Samsung clearly wasted no time. Today's release comes just weeks after opening beta testing in the U.S. and South Korea, skipping what many expected to be a second testing round. For now, it looks like only the 2024 flagship watch is getting the upgrade.

Essentially, the Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) is the first current Wear OS smartwatch to get the Wear OS 6 update, beating even the newly announced Galaxy Watch 8 and 2025 Watch Ultra. Samsung may have shown off its latest and greatest Android smartwatches with One UI 8 Watch out of the box, but they haven’t hit stores yet.

Health features, upgraded

The update brings a bunch of new tools to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, like Running Coach, Bedtime Guidance, Vascular Load, and Antioxidant Index. These features are all aimed at helping you build better habits with more personalized health insights.

And there’s more. Galaxy Watch Ultra users are also getting the updated One UI 8 Watch look. It’s been reworked to fit the smaller screen better, so the stuff you actually need is front and center.

This update is a hefty one, close to 2GB, so expect it to take a while to download and install.

• Pixel Watch users in Japan and Singapore are now getting the July 2025 update after sitting out the last one.
• Emergency calls now work on cellular models, even without a mobile plan, just stay connected via Bluetooth.
• Despite its July rollout, the update includes the June 2025 security patch.

Pixel Watch owners in Japan and Singapore who missed the last update are now finally getting the July 2025 release.

Google’s June Feature Drop packed in perks like transit payments and favorite home controls for the Pixel Watch. However, Pixel Watch users in Japan and Singapore were left waiting. After promising an update “in the coming weeks,” Google is finally delivering, with the July 2025 patch now hitting Pixel Watch devices in those two countries (via Droid Life).

The BW1A.250605.004.J2 update is rolling out specifically to cellular versions of the Pixel Watch 2 and Watch 3 in Japan and Singapore. It includes a fix for a previous bug with emergency calling, which should now work on cellular models even without active service as long as they’re tethered via Bluetooth.

June security in July’s body

Even though the BW1A.250605.004.J2 update just landed in July, it still carries the June 2025 security patch. One notable tweak is that Google Wallet payments on the Pixel Watch now need you to unlock the watch before tapping to pay.

The update also lets you pin your go-to home controls right on the Pixel Watch for quicker access.

Google says the rollout will gradually hit more devices over the next few weeks.

If you’re in Japan or Singapore and don’t feel like waiting, you can manually trigger the July 2025 update on your Pixel Watch. Go to Settings → System → System updates, then keep tapping the “Your watch is up to date” screen until it starts downloading.

The next big Pixel Watch update is expected to arrive in September, likely bringing Wear OS 6 to current models along with a deeper dose of the Material 3 Expressive look.

• Android Headlines has released renders of the Moto Watch (2025), a circular watch with a crown expected to launch later this year.
• Most recent Moto Watches have had square-shaped displays and run on Moto Watch OS.
• The report suggests this new Moto 360 (2025) will also use RTOS, but could use Wear OS as well.

The Moto Watch 360, a decade-old smartwatch beloved by early Android smartwatch fans, will allegedly get relaunched later this year. But whether it resonates with fans or not will depend on what operating system it's running.

Android Headlines has leaked official renders of the Moto Watch (2025), suggesting it'll have a steel case with metal band, a fairly large display with classic-style second markings along the bezel, a rotating crown, and a second back button.

The site also shared limited info about the smartwatch itself: It'll ship in five colors, runs the same RTOS as other Moto Watches, and (as the name implies) arrives later this year, possibly around IFA 2025 in early September.

The site speculates that the Moto Watch (2025) could use Moto Watch OS and Wear OS, similar to how the OnePlus Watch 3 uses a custom RTOS for background tasks and Wear OS for demanding apps. But it has no inside information to suggest this.

The renders themselves do seem to show a fairly thick watch, like most Wear OS watches, which could indicate the presence of a Snapdragon processor and plenty of memory to power the demanding OS.

The first Moto 360 used Android Wear, as did the second-gen model in 2015. After that, Motorola licensed out the name to eBuyNow, which made the Moto 360 (2020) with Wear OS 2. Since then, CE Brands, which owned eBuyNow, has sold several squircle Moto Watches with long battery life and basic smarts.

It's unclear whether Motorola is finally returning to Wear OS, something we've wanted for some time, or if this watch will simply use classic aesthetics to make its RTOS-only watch stand out from recent models like the Moto Watch Fit (seen above).

With the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic ditching the traditional look for a squircle case, something like the Moto 360 (2025) could really appeal to people who like "classic" smartwatch aesthetics, paired with new smarts like the Gemini assistant. But again, that will only apply if it has proper Wear OS support.

This hypothetical Wear OS-powered Moto Watch (2025) would have stiff competition against the Watch 8 and Pixel Watch 4, but might stand out if it can emulate the OnePlus Watch 3 and deliver longer battery life than a typical smartwatch.

I'm also really good at researching data about everything — that's a big part of our job here at Android Central — and I love to help people (another big part of our job!). If you have questions about your tech, I'd love to talk about them.

Email me at askjerryac@gmail.com, and I'll try to get things sorted out. You can remain anonymous if you like, and we promise we're not sharing anything we don't cover here.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Why doesn't my smartwatch have the same health features as one sold in Europe?

Roger asks:

Why do manufacturers launch wearables like smartwatches with different health features in different countries? They always say "pending regulatory approval," but what does that really mean?

Hi Roger, and thanks for writing in and asking! Since so many people use a wearable device for health and fitness, this is an interesting and important question.

The easy answer is that manufacturers mean what they say — they do not have approval to sell a new wearable with a specific feature (hypothetically, say, sleep apnea detection) in all countries, so it's launching in those countries without that ability.

Often, approval is granted and the feature comes with a software update, but not always. It's easy to blame the manufacturers; Samsung or Google should do whatever is needed to get those features out for everyone. But it's not really up to them.

The hardware is already there

Companies usually don't make a different version of the product for different countries. If you buy a Pixel Watch in France and it can monitor your breathing during sleep, it could also do it in the United States as far as the hardware is concerned. Sometimes, even the software is there, buried and hidden, because it can't be used. But usually it's not.

We see phones built differently for different parts of the world, but wearables are a more integrated platform with more stringent hardware requirements, so it's best to just make them all the same. Your watch has the same chips and sensors inside as one sold anywhere else, even if the features are slightly different.

Blame the government

I'm sure every country around the world has some sort of regulatory body that governs the use of medical devices intended to be worn or implanted. Yes, if your wearable tries to detect or diagnose a specific health condition, it is considered a medical device. I'm only really familiar with how it works in the U.S., but I imagine the process is similar everywhere else.

In the U.S., if you build your own medical device, write your own software, and use it yourself, you do not need any sort of approval from anyone. Nobody is doing this, of course, but the provision is there because it needs to be — someone needs to test things during the product development stage.

Once you make your device or software available for others, and especially if you put it up for sale, you need to jump through all sorts of hoops. For health features, this means the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) decides.

The FDA says that any device “intended for use in the diagnosis of disease of other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease” requires FDA approval. Wearable devices are not regulated if they are intended only for general wellness uses. All implanted devices require approval.

Samsung just went through this with sleep apnea detection for the Galaxy Watch last fall. Originally, it was sold in the U.S. without access to this feature because — you guessed it — it required regulatory approval.

The FDA determines if the feature is accurate and consistent enough, as well as makes sure that no consumer health data can be accessed by an unauthorized party. It often sets guidelines for the marketing of the feature; in this case, you should be over the age of 22 and not be diagnosed with any respiratory illness, including sleep apnea. Of course, they can't enforce this, but once it's in print, Samsung is following the rules.

Once all this happens, we can use our Galaxy Watch to tell us if we stop breathing during the night once we receive a software update that enables the feature.

Why not wait until it's approved?

That's a simple answer — companies don't hold back products for this because they want to sell products, and you don't want to wait for it to be approved.

Most people didn't buy a Galaxy Watch only because they wanted to monitor for sleep apnea. I'd say the people who really wanted this feature are just a small percentage of users. I like it, you may like it, most people just don't care.

None of those people could have bought a Galaxy Watch if it weren't available, and would have bought a different model. Waiting until September of last year to release the device would have meant a lot of missed sales from people who didn't plan to use sleep apnea detection in the first place. That's not good for business.

It's worth noting that some companies, such as Samsung and Apple, are able to obtain approval much faster than others. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. My best guess is these large companies have a relationship with the right people and a good understanding of the entire process.

That said, there are some features, such as blood pressure monitoring, that even these companies haven't been able to weasel their way into getting FDA-approved.

If the next wearable you want launches minus a health feature or two, don't be afraid to buy it anyway. Approval is probably coming; it's just that the government only has one speed — a slow one.

• Google is rumored to keep the Pixel Watch 4 prices steady in Europe (€399 for the 41mm Wi-Fi model, €499 for LTE).
• The design is expected to stay familiar with slightly slimmer bezels, and it’s rumored to be packing the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip.
• The upgrades could be a bigger battery (327mAh for 41mm, 459mAh for 45mm) with faster charging, plus a new strength-training mode and a customizable workout builder for tailoring your routines.

Google’s big event is locked in for August 20, and the Pixel Watch 4 is expected to make its debut. According to a recent leak, it might stick to the same price, which is good news if you were bracing for a bump.

Dealabs claims Google is sticking with last year’s smartwatch price in Europe, which probably means folks in the U.S. can expect the same treatment (via 9to5Google). This means the 41mm Pixel Watch 4 could go for €399 if you’re sticking with Wi-Fi, and €499 if you want LTE. The bigger 45mm version will likely hit €449 for Wi-Fi and €549 for LTE.

While U.S. pricing for the Pixel Watch 4 isn’t locked in yet, if history is any clue, it’ll probably match Europe’s numbers. Last year’s Pixel Watch 3 launched at $349 for the 41mm Wi-Fi model, $399 for LTE, and both 45mm options went for $399 (Wi-Fi) and $449 (LTE). So, chances are Google sticks to that same pricing playbook this time around.

Since not much is changing under the hood based on leaks and rumors, it wouldn’t be surprising if Google leaves the price alone. Design-wise, the Pixel Watch 4 looks to keep the same circular style, just with slightly slimmer bezels.

Same chip, small tweaks

On the inside, the Pixel Watch 4 is said to stick with the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip as last year, so any performance gains will likely be minor tweaks rather than a major leap.

That said, there are a few upgrades worth noting. Leaks point to better battery life and faster charging, plus a new co-processor built to handle AI tasks more efficiently. Battery-wise, the 41mm model could jump from 307mAh to 327mAh, while the 45mm might go from 420mAh to 459mAh.

Another rumored addition to the Pixel Watch 4 is a new strength training mode. Google is also said to be working on a custom workout builder, so users can tailor routines to fit their own style.

This new setup looks aimed at giving you full control over how you train, from customizing warm-ups and cool-downs to tweaking your main workout. It’s a smarter way to train harder without pushing too far. And if you're on Fitbit Premium, you’ll probably also get AI-generated running tips that match how you run, not just some generic plan like what you get from other Android smartwatches.

The perfect complement to a Samsung Galaxy smartphone is a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch. If you’re looking to get something on the upper end of the scale, the decision comes down to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 2025 is a slightly upgraded version of Samsung’s first rugged smartwatch model launched in summer 2024, while the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is the larger, highest-end version in the new standard line. The question becomes: is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 worth the extra coin? Let’s find out.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Design and durability

First, let’s look at, well, looks. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 is the largest Samsung Galaxy smartwatch, thicker than the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. But it also happens to be a smidge lighter. Both have three buttons, including a Quick Button for accessing frequently used options.

The biggest difference is that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a digital-only bezel, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic adds a rotating bezel. Considering Andrew Myrick notes in his initial Galaxy Watch 8 hands-on that the rotating bezel is his favorite way of interacting with a smartwatch, this will be a big deal for a lot of people like him.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 comes in four titanium finishes: Silver, Gray, White, and a new one: Blue. It has a large 1.5-inch AMOLED screen housed in a squircle design that affords up to 3,000 nits peak brightness. The screen is made from sapphire crystal, and the watch itself is as rugged as they come, meeting an IP68 and an impressive 10ATM rating as well as MIL-STD-810H standards for durability.

In terms of battery life, it has a 590mAh battery, the same as the previous generation model, which means it should last about four days in power savings mode, about two with frequent workout tracking, and more.

By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic comes in basic Black or White, though you can spruce it up with various band types (sport, fabric, or hybrid as well as third-party options). It employs a thin and cushioned design that has been brought over from the original Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.

This squircle design change is immediately noticeable, and Myrick notes that it’s one that grew on him after he became accustomed to it with last year's Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra after wearing that model for a while. As noted, along with the Dynamic Lug System, the big differentiator is the inclusion of a handy rotating bezel on this watch.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic has a smaller 1.34-inch Super AMOLED sapphire crystal display with the same 3,000 nits peak brightness. It boasts both IP68 and MIL-STD-810H certification, but it isn’t quite as water-resistant for deep diving with “only” a 5ATM rating.

The battery is also smaller at 445mAh, and while Samsung doesn’t note its rated battery life, you can expect to charge it at least every day or two if it falls in line with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 Classic, which has a slightly smaller battery.

There’s an LTE option with both watches as well as Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC for tap payments. While the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 is more expensive, there are trade-in deals with older model Samsung Galaxy Watches (not the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2024 at the time of this writing) that can save you a few bucks.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Specs

Let’s look at how these two smartwatches compare when it comes to basic specs.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Health, wellness, and smarts

When it comes to the internals of these two smartwatches, what they can track and what you can do with them are pretty much identical. Both run on an Exynos W1000 processor and come loaded with Wear OS 6. Both have 64GB storage (that’s double that of the 2024 edition of the Galaxy Watch Ultra) and 2GB RAM.

Both track all the usual suspects when it comes to health, wellness, and vitals, thanks to the inclusion of a Samsung BioActive sensor. This includes workouts, calorie burn, activity levels, sleep, stress, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, and more. They offer tailored sleep coaching, an area where Samsung has been upping the ante. This includes the ability to detect moderate to severe signs of sleep apnea.

There’s also Vascular Load tracking, which monitors your stress levels during sleep, and Antioxidant Index to measure your carotenoid levels. These relate to dietary intake and metabolism, and the data can help you make more informed lifestyle choices.

To use the latter, you need to remove the watch and place your finger on the underside sensor, which isn’t ideal, but it’s worth doing if cartenoid level measurements are important to you. High Stress Alerts will ping you if either watch notices your stress levels are too high, prompting you to take a breath. There’s also a mindfulness tracker and energy score.

Runners will love the Running Coach, which calculates your fitness level on a scale from one to 10 and delivers a customized and personalized training plan with real-time guidance and motivational insights to help you along on your journey. Using Together, you can also challenge friends and family for further motivation. Both also incorporate dual-frequency GPS for tracking your runs, hikes, walks, cycles, and other outdoor activities.

One big update with both the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is the inclusion of Google Gemini out of the box, replacing the outdated Google Assistant smart voice assistant. With this, you can summon Gemini with natural voice commands, whether that’s to initiate a workout, check on your calendar, or simply ask questions about what’s going on around you. Samsung worked closely with Google to ensure that there’s seamless integration with its first-party Wear OS apps.

Speaking of which, you can also keep on top of things by leveraging the multi-info tiles and Now Bar, which keeps your most crucial notifications front and center.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic: Which should you choose?

The decision between the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 Classic really comes down to your personal needs and budget. But even if you have the bucks to spare, is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 worth it?

Let’s consider your biggest upgrades with that model compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. It’s lighter but also thicker, has a larger display, longer battery life, and is more durable. It’s really designed to be the adventurer’s watch. So, if you’re the type of person who participates in a lot of outdoor sports, especially underwater activities, you’ll find value in it.

The extra battery life is appreciated as well, but if you are already used to charging your smartwatch every day or two, you might be used to that routine anyway. With that said, longer battery life is always appreciated, especially on those days when you’re at 2% right before you’re about to go for a run.

Design and feature-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, as well as its smaller Galaxy Watch 8 sister, is starting to look more like an Ultra model anyway, with the same cushioned and squircle design. However, there’s a key advantage with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic to keep in mind if you would use it: the rotating bezel.

We haven’t yet tested the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 but based on Michael Hicks’ review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024 model), if the iterative update offers even slight improvements, it won’t disappoint. He calls that model “a great smartwatch that’s enjoyable to use,” applauding how powerful and reliable it is. We also named the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra among the best waterproof smartwatches you can buy, and chances are the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 will take its spot on the list.

Interestingly, Hicks said last year that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra falls between casual and serious users. Given this, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is even more skewed to the casual side, but with all the same features serious users will appreciate, minus the extra battery life and durability, and with a cool rotating bezel. It’s the more elegant-looking of the two watches without sacrificing too much. So, it will likely be the preference for most users.

Bottom line: if you have an older model to trade in and it brings the price of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 in line with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, it’s worth considering. But it’s not necessary for most people unless you’re heavy into water and other outdoor sports, or you’re a power user where every last minute of battery life counts. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is a lovely medium that affords all the same features at a more affordable price and with a similar yet more stylish design.

If you want something smaller, consider the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. If you already have the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024), don’t bother upgrading just yet. It’s not a big enough jump in features to warrant it.

Garmin refreshed its mid-tier and high-end running watches, releasing the upgraded Forerunner 570 and 970, respectively. While both smartwatches have the same goal of trying to help you improve your running, they try to do so at different price points. The Forerunner 970, retailing for $750, brings the Forerunner closer in capabilities to Garmin's highest-end smartwatches. Meanwhile, the Forerunner 570 attacks the midrange market.

The Garmin Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 are both somewhat flawed devices. The Forerunner 570 lacks a few features we've come to take for granted at the $550 price point, like ECG support. On the other hand, the Forerunner 970 is the most versatile Forerunner to ever exist, but at its highest price.

If you're trying to find out whether your needs best align with the Forerunner 570 or Forerunner 970, this comparison will help.

Garmin Forerunner 970 vs. Forerunner 570: Design and display

Garmin's Forerunner lineup is all about practicality, and its design reflects this. Both the Forerunner 970 and 570 are loaded with hardware buttons that make it easy to track laps and stop/start workouts on the fly. They come with a somewhat loud design, but this is typically appreciated by runners. Each is offered in unique colorways that can emphasize a sporty look, or you can opt for black to try to remain subtle.

Still, the Forerunner 970's polymer case doesn't look the most premium, and that's to preserve a lightweight build. It does have a titanium bezel and metal buttons for durability, though. There's also a colored Forerunner metal accent piece on the side to emphasize the runner-first ethos of this watch. It weighs 56 grams, and that includes the strap.

The Forerunner 970 is only available in one 47mm case size. The Forerunner 570 is more versatile in this regard, as it's available in both 42mm and 47mm sizes. It also sports a polymer case, but uses a lighter and less premium aluminum bezel. This watch opts for Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the front, whereas the 970 goes with sapphire glass.

Overall, you can expect the Forerunner 570 to feel slightly less premium than the Forerunner 970. That being said, they're both cut from the same cloth, so there are a ton of design similarities here.

Garmin upgraded the display on the Forerunner 970, doubling its peak brightness. The smartwatch features a 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 454x454 resolution. The move to AMOLED adds clarity and color while preserving brightness, and it doesn't appear to come at the cost of battery life.

By comparison, the Forerunner 570 ships with either a 1.2-inch or 1.4-inch screen, depending on what size you get. It's also an AMOLED panel, but this watch doesn't last as long as the Forerunner 970. Both watches will be plenty bright enough for outdoor workouts.

Garmin Forerunner 970 vs. Forerunner 570: Hardware and specs

There are slight differences between the Forerunner 970 and 570 in terms of hardware. Both watches use the same Garmin Elevate v5 heart rate sensor, which is the latest and most accurate version. However, the 970 takes that one step further, adding ECG support and a skin temperature sensor. The Forerunner 970 and 570 both have a blood-oxygen sensor, accelerometer, altimeter, compass, and gyroscope.

The pricier 970 comes with quadruple the available storage space, with 32GB onboard. Meanwhile, you only get 8GB on the 570 for music and workout files. Additionally, the 970 has a few more GPS bands, and both support multi-band GPS.

In terms of battery life, the Forerunner 970 will get you further. It supports up to 15 days in smartwatch mode, and 23 hours while using SatIQ GPS. On the other hand, the 42mm Forerunner 570 tops out at 10 days in smartwatch mode. The larger, 47mm version gets you one extra day. Both last longer than a typical smartwatch but shorter than other Garmin models.

To round things out, the Forerunner 970 has a dedicated flashlight to illuminate your runs. It's best used in a pinch rather than as a full-time solution. However, the 570 doesn't include a flashlight at all — it can only illuminate the screen as a makeshift alternative.

Garmin Forerunner 970 vs. Forerunner 570: Fitness and health

As Forerunner models, both of these Garmin watches have software tools that'll help you run and train smarter. They just aren't entirely equal. There are a few features exclusive to the Forerunner 970, like Running Tolerance. This will calculate a biomechanical "impact load" for each mile you run, adjusting for things like elevation and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It's aimed to help you avoid overexertion and overuse injuries.

There are other perks, like running economy and step speed, available if you happen to have an HRM-600 chest strap to add data points. There's also an Evening Report that wraps up your day.

While the Forerunner 570 doesn't have all those high-end features, it still gets the Garmin Run Coach. This will help you train for your next race, and you can track crucial running metrics including VO2 Max, Training Load Ratio, and HRV. However, our reviewer found that sleep insights left a bit to be desired, and the 570's somewhat bulky profile didn't make nighttime wear comfortable.

Garmin Forerunner 970 vs. Forerunner 570: Which should you buy?

For most runners, the Forerunner 570 will probably cover all the necessary bases while maintaining a reasonable $550 price point. It does lack electrocardiogram (ECG) support, which has become commonplace on smartwatches and offline maps. Still, I'd bet that most runners don't use either of those features very often — I know I don't. It's an excellent, slim, and sporty watch for running that's versatile and available in multiple sizes.

On the other hand, the Forerunner 970 is for the runner who's envious of multisport watches like the Fenix 8 and wants that experience on a Forerunner model. At $750, the 970 is expensive, but it's actually much cheaper than those top-tier models like the Fenix 8 and Enduro 3. If money is no object and you're a hardcore runner, you'll have a blast with the Forerunner 970.

For the casual gym-goer or amateur runner, a basic fitness-oriented smartwatch can be a valuable tool. People who fall into this category can choose between an entry-level Garmin watch or a similarly priced Wear OS watch, each with its own advantages. The Garmin Vivoactive 6 places a greater emphasis on fitness and health tracking, whereas the Google Pixel Watch 3 excels in covering the "smart" features.

Both can handle serving as a daily smartwatch for basic features, but which one is best for you? There are some things to keep in mind, like whether you're familiar with Garmin's hardware and software already. Or, whether you have a Google Pixel phone that can tightly integrate with the Pixel Watch 3.

If you're choosing between the Garmin Vivoactive 6 and the Google Pixel Watch 3, let's break down how these smartwatches compare.

Garmin Vivoactive 6 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Design and display

Both the Garmin Vivoactive 6 and Google Pixel Watch 3 have relatively muted and simplistic designs, at least compared to other smartwatches. Google offers the Pixel Watch 3 in two different case sizes: 41mm and 45mm, allowing you to choose the one that best matches your wrist size. This does come at an extra cost — the 41mm watch starts at $349, and the 45mm watch starts at $399.

Still, it may serve you better than the Vivoactive 6, which tries to find a middle ground as a one-size-fits-all watch with a 42mm case size. It's cheaper, retailing for $299, and also thinner. At 10.9 mm thick, the Vivoactive 6 will have a slimmer profile on the wrist than the 12.3mm Pixel Watch 3.

Garmin's Vivoactive 6 is made using a fiber-reinforced polymer case with an anodized aluminum bezel and a silicone strap. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 3 uses a recycled aluminum case and a fluoroelastomer Active band. Both watches are rated for 5ATM water-resistance, but the Pixel Watch 3 sports Gorilla Glass 5 for durability — the Vivoactive 6 is still using Gorilla Glass 3.

The Vivoactive 6 features a touchscreen and two hardware buttons for navigation, whereas the Pixel Watch 3 has a touchscreen, a button, and a rotating crown.

In terms of displays, the 42mm Garmin Vivoactive 6 matches up nicely with the 41mm Pixel Watch 3. The Vivoactive 6 sports a 1.2-inch AMOLED screen with a 390x390 resolution, and if you're used to bigger smartwatch displays, this might feel a bit cramped. Surprisingly, Google crammed a bigger display into a smaller case size, as the 41mm Pixel Watch 3 comes with a 1.27-inch AMOLED panel with a 408x408 resolution.

Of course, you can always step up to the 45mm Pixel Watch 3 if you need a bigger screen. The larger variant has a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a 456x456 resolution.

Garmin Vivoactive 6 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Hardware and specs

While the Garmin Vivoactive 6 provides a robust health and fitness experience of the features it does support, there are some gaps. For instance, the watch includes the last-gen Garmin Elevate v4 heart-rate monitor, an accelerometer, a pulse-oxygen sensor, a compass, and a gyroscope. This, paired with Garmin software, helps paint a pretty full picture of your health and fitness data at the $299 price point.

Still, there are things missing, like a barometric altimeter — this means you can't track elevation during runs or hikes. Other key hardware omissions include a microphone and speaker, so you won't be answering calls on your watch with the Vivoactive 6.

Meanwhile, the Google Pixel Watch 3 has a more well-rounded sensor suite, adding an altimeter, barometer, electrical skin conductance for body response (cEDA) sensor, and a skin temperature sensor. It also supports ECG readings, if you care about those. The tricky part about this comparison is that the Pixel Watch doesn't always make the most of this data because its software features are limited.

Additionally, the Google Pixel Watch 3 does support LTE connectivity, but you have to pay extra for that model. The option isn't available on the Vivoactive 6 at all.

Battery life is where the Vivoactive 6 crushes the Pixel Watch 3. Garmin's watch can last up to 11 days in smartwatch mode, whereas the Pixel Watch 3 will be lucky to last more than a single day on a charge. This means you'll have to charge the Garmin maybe once per week, and the Pixel Watch nightly.

Google does offer quadruple the storage for music and other data on the Pixel Watch 3, with 32GB of space available.

Garmin Vivoactive 6 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Health and fitness

Software is likely going to be the deciding factor in whether you pick the Garmin Vivoactive 6 or the Google Pixel Watch 3. Both excel in their own key areas. Despite having fewer sensors, the Vivoactive 6 has a better health and fitness software suite.

It can track more than 80 different kinds of workouts, which is great if you train outside the box. Garmin's software will also suggest daily walks for you to keep you active and moving. There are workout videos viewable right on the watch and specialized features like workout tracking. This will detect your weightlifting reps and rests automatically during and between sets.

Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 3 uses Fitbit primarily for health and fitness software. It's not as great an experience as Garmin's robust suite, but it may do the job if you only track casual workouts. Crucially, the Pixel Watch 3 runs on Wear OS 5, which means you have a large suite of third-party apps and smartphone integration available. It also has Gemini, an AI-powered assistant right on your wrist.

Garmin Vivoactive 6 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Which should you buy?

Even without the latest Garmin technology, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is still considered to be generally more reliable than the Google Pixel Watch 3 when it comes to workout data. GPS tracking is more consistent, and there are extra non-running features for those who prefer the gym to the track. If that sounds like you, the Vivoactive 6 will probably serve you better than the Pixel Watch 3.

However, the Pixel Watch 3 has a similar advantage — it runs Wear OS. If you need tight integration with your Android phone, like the Fitbit UI, or rely on third-party smartwatch apps, the Pixel Watch 3 is your pick. It all depends on your individual needs. For health features, go with Garmin. For smart features, choose Pixel.