The Google Pixel Watch 2 is here to de-stress you
This is the Watch upgrade we have been waiting for...
Google has revealed its new Pixel Watch 2 and with it a whole host of new tracking features. Google has gone big on Fitbit this time around, which makes sense given the company bought for a cool $50bn back in the day.
Two of the biggest features out of this partnership are the new stress-management tools and a heart rate monitor which comes with an upgraded sensor (over 40% better).
This offers Google's most accurate heart rate monitoring, whether you are exercising or sleeping (or both at the same time, we aren't here to judge), you will get decent readouts.
If you are getting a little tetchy that we haven't yet explained the stress-management stuff, then this feature is for you.
It's been crimped from the likes of the Fitbit Sense 2 and will measure a number of things, including heart rate, sweating and skin temperature and will notify you if it thinks that you are getting a little stressed. It will also offer up ways to reduce this stress, ask you to log your mood, and get back to feeling fine again.
If that's not all, there's body-response tracking on board which may help your pick out patterns in your life where stress and the like happens, with the hope that you can change your routine to counteract these.
Now, we are users of the original Pixel Watch and our only real bugbear with the device is battery life. Google reckons it has fixed this, though.
While the battery of the new watch isn’t actually that much bigger, 306mAh (increased from 294mAh). But Google is promising that all-important 24-hour battery life, and that's with the energy sapping Always On Display enabled.
Also, the good news is that it is speedy to charge: give it 30 minutes' juice and you should get some 12 hours of use out of it.
Looks wise, the Watch is pretty much the same. Interestingly, the display, while the same circular 1.2” OLED, has a slightly less 384 x 384px resolution. We're guessing this will help with battery, too.
Accessory wise, you can choose myriad different bands, including: the stock band, Active Sport Band, Woven Band and Steel bracelet. These go for $50/$60 a pop.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is available to pre-order now and costs $350/£349 for the Bluetooth model and there's an LTE option for $400.
