Google needs to release a budget Pixel Watch a to be competitive
Years after the company launched software for smartwatches, theGoogle Pixel Watchis available to buy as the first self-made hardware running Google’s Wear OS—long after other manufacturers are already offeringgreat Android smartwatches. As beautiful as the Pixel Watch is as a fashion device and as a watch, it falls short in other areas that might be key to a successful wearable. One of those areas is the price. If you weren’t lucky enough to live in an area where you could get the Pixel Watch as a free preorder bonus for yourGoogle Pixel 7 Proor Pixel 7, it costs you at least $350. That’s a problem for Google, as it will have a hard time convincing anyone to buy an expensive watch that comes with compromises.
Enter a hypothetical Pixel Watch a.
Just like Google Pixel phones only took off as an insider tip for those who aren’t the biggest Android nerds when the Pixel 3a was introduced, could this Pixel Watch make a difference to Google’s new wearable ecosystem?
Just imagine a cheaper, potentially bulkier, and less beautiful-looking Pixel Watch that costs less than half of that $350 price tag, say $150. It might not look as beautiful as the timepiece we just got from Google, but it could offer the same feature set and maybe better battery life at a fraction of the cost. Still, at $150, some of the compromises the company made with the Pixel Watch would have been more excusable than they are at $350.
Combining the right components to get the right price is a piece of the puzzle.
A more affordable Pixel Watch could also help the company push Wear OS as a platform and ramp up its hardware efforts, which it needs tobecome independent from Samsung and Apple. A cheap and convincing entry point to the Pixel lineup could make prospective owners interested in more Pixel hardware, like phones or (later) tablets.
Google could catch some customers during Black Friday or other shopping events using modest discounts of $20 to $50 without devaluing its product. This is an issue with the normal Pixel Watch in Europe, where many people are now selling it at a discount after they got it as a freebie with theirGoogle Pixel 7and Pixel 7 Pro orders. Google can only discount its Pixel Watch so much without acknowledging it’s too expensive. Once the Pixel Watch is discounted below $250, who would buy one at the full price or not regret getting one for $350?
If done correctly, the strategy wouldn’t affect Google’s bottom line too much. The company could stick with its custom band mechanism, offering buyers a selection of beautiful bands for the Pixel Watch at a markup.
The Google-fication of the Fitbit lineup
This is just wishful thinking on my part. It’s unclear if we will ever see a cheaper Pixel Watch. Looking at the Google Store, it’s clear the company positions its first Wear OS device as the top premium product in its wearable lineup. It sits next to Fitbit devices now that Google’s purchase of the fitness-focused company has gone through.
That way, the $350 Pixel Watch sits next to the $300 Fitbit Sense 2 and the $230 Fitbit Versa 4, not to mention the affordable fitness bands. You can look at Google’s wearable lineup like this, and it can make sense.
I still think the Pixel Watch is different from the Fitbit watches and could deserve a lineup of its own. The Fitbit watches and bands are laser-focused on health tracking, with their own operating system that doesn’t support Wear OS apps and some of the smarts of the dedicated watch OS from Google. The Pixel Watch is much worse as a fitness tracker. Its 24-hour endurance on a single charge makes it impractical to rely on it as an all-day health tracker.
That’s not to say there isn’t anything good about the Pixel Watch. It convinces me in the design department, and it feels almost like the Apple Watch of the Android ecosystem. Despite its ancient CPU, it manages to be one of the smoothest Wear OS watches we’ve ever reviewed at Android Police. The watch faces Google engineered for the Pixel Watch are pleasant to look at and a perfect match for Material You on your Pixel phone. All that can’t be said for Fitbit watches, which feel more like (excellent) tools than elegant timepieces.
That makes me feel like there is room for the Pixel Watch a in Google’s lineup. If the company is serious about hardware, it should do everything to push its operating system, and its watch ecosystem as the perfect companion for the Pixel phone lineup—or as an for its excellent Pixel hardware before you even get one, as Wear OS watches are compatible with all Android phones. Look at it from all perspectives, and the Pixel Watch a makes perfect sense.
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