About a month ago, I received a Pixel Watch 2 as a Christmas surprise. I had been hoping to get one for a while, but I didn’t expect it to happen for several months. Coming from an Apple Watch, some things definitely surprised me. I’m here to share my thoughts now that I’ve used it for a while.
My Impressions about the Hardware:
I like the Pixel 2 Watch’s round shape. It seems to fit my wrist much better than the blocky design of the Apple Watch. I also like the charger. The pins mean the charger doesn’t fall off so easily if the watch is picked up. A problem some users have is figuring out how to align everything properly. This memory trick I saw on Reddit might help with that. Crown aligned, you’ll be fine. Crown away, you’ll have a bad day.
The inversion of the buttons in comparison to the Apple Watch took some getting used to. I spent several days poking at a blank spot on the watch until I got used to it.
One piece of the hardware that may be confusing is the bands. The release button is hard to feel with your finger. Using your fingernails will definitely help. Changing the bands looks harder than it is if you read Google’s instructions. Basically, you push in the button and push the band towards it to take it off. To put it back on, you press the band against the watch so that it presses the button for you, then slide it into place. It takes a few tries, but you’ll get it with practice.
Setup and Software Impressions:
You might get confused upon first boot because the watch doesn’t vibrate when it begins the startup process. However, there is a chime when setup is ready for you to turn Talkback on. That particular feature is a lifesaver, especially for those with no vision at all. I can see the screen light up, so I knew the watch was booting.
The setup process itself is straightforward. Once it starts talking, it basically holds your hand through the whole thing. You get a chance to set up everything you need. My personal favorite part was getting to set up Fitbit. That’s something I’ve wanted to try for years, but regular Fitbit devices don’t talk. Even that whole process is straightforward. The worst part of the setup is honestly the barrage of emails and notifications you get on your phone. It gets a bit spammy.
After setup, there are some things you may want to customize. You’ll probably want to adjust your speech rate and volume almost immediately. Swiping right then up will turn the volume up, and right then down will turn it down. Speech rate is in the granularity controls. You may also want to change how your watch wakes up. I personally have mine set up so I have to press a button to wake it up. Tilt to wake drives me nuts, and touch to wake leads to me waking it up by accident in my sleep, which can drain the battery. I can’t say what settings you may want, so my advice is just to play.
The main thing that aggravates me is there is no audible indication when the watch goes to sleep. Coming from the Apple Watch, I was used to this feature. This is particularly frustrating in places like the ECG app. I don’t know if the watch goes to sleep while I’m trying to take an ECG. The Fitbit Relax app for deep breathing has a similar issue. The watch has a tendency to go to sleep and cut you off. I’ve extended the sleep delay as long as I can, but it doesn’t really help.
All of the features I’ve tried work really well. I can’t speak to things like playing music or using the wallet. Even editing watch faces works surprisingly well. It can be a little confusing if you try to do it on the device, so doing it on your phone may be easier. It’s still doable on the watch, but some people just prefer more room to work.
If you don’t like the speech engine the watch comes with, you can sideload a new one. So far, I’ve had the best luck with Eloquence and Acapela. Vocalizer won’t install due to it being split APKs. Nor will RH Voice as far as I can tell. If you have an engine you like, I encourage you to try it. The worst it can do is not work.
On the topic of sideloading, that can be simple or tricky depending on what method you use. I use an app to connect the phone to the watch, but it’s also possible to do it via the command line on the computer. If you do it that way, you might find yourself confused by the amount of commands you need to keep up with. The app I use is
Wear Installer 2.
Closing Thoughts:
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is an awesome watch. It works well for everything I need it to do. The one feature I think it’s missing could be fixed with a software update. Also, Google’s band switching instructions could be a little less confusing. However, these things don’t take away from my enjoyment of the watch. If you have an Android device and want to get a smartwatch but aren’t sure which one, I would certainly recommend this one.
You can read about the watch’s specs
here.
My first post/comment on this website. I am unfortunately, for you android folks, on the dark side 🙂 I have everything apple, iphone and apple watch. I thought don’t know if it’s bad add on applevis or my personal false impression slowly becoming fact but I’ve heard that apple watch was much more accessible and usable. Well, I’ve just listened to the podcast on blindandroid and for me and my own usecase with my apple watch se2 both would certainly fit well my needs and usecase. Thanks for writing.