My Pixel Watch 3 is so good that I might not upgrade to the Pixel Watch 4

With the next Made by Google event just days away I thought it was a good time to take a look at the Pixel Watch 3 from 2024. The Pixel Watch 3 was quite the leap over the Pixel Watch 2 and I expect the PW 4 to follow suit. Now, I don't expect any groundbreaking new features but instead further refinement in areas needing the most improvement. But before we get to that lets quickly review the PW 3 after 1 year. 

Pixel Watch 3 1 yr review

First and foremost the PW 3 has held up really well over the last year.  There are no noticeable scratches or cracks and the overall performance has been the same since the day I bought it. Battery life is great and gets me through an entire weekend with only needing to charge Monday morning. Speaking of charging, the PW 3 still charges relatively quickly with it being fully charged by the time I am leaving for work.

The health features with a focus on running and the additions of Target and Cardio have proven to be useful for tracking and improving overall fitness. The headlining feature, Loss of Pulse detection  introduced on the Pixel Watch 3 can be a lifesaving tool for those that may experience a medical emergency. 

For me, Morning Brief is my favorite new feature and it gives you a breakdown of previous night Sleep data, Daily readiness score, Cardio/Target load, Exercise progress, Weather and Health metrics alerts. Gemini was brought to the PW 3 earlier this year and enabled a better interaction with the Assistant. All these new features and app updates have greatly improved the PW 3 and raised its level of sophistication as a product.

How can Google improve the Pixel Watch?

The number one gripe with most people with the PW is its lack of repair-ability so far. For example, if someone was to break the screen the entire watch would need to be replaced. To me, this is less of a user issue within warranty but could become problematic after that year runs out. With the PW 4 Google is addressing this problem. Even though battery life is solid I would still like for Google to push the bounds of what is possible and continue to improve in this area. Performance is good but a better SOC and software updates will only add to the polish of the PW 3. I also believe that UI enhancements are needed and expected with Material 3 Expressive.

Conclusion

Google is building on what already seems to be a very mature product. The PW 3 is a great device and if Google stays at this pace the PW 4 will be on another level. Based on rumors Google is already addressing some of these pain points with repair-ability and battery life with a bigger battery and software tweaks. M3E is the UI overhaul we've been waiting for and I am really excited to see what's to come. Right now, I'm not planning on buying a PW 4 but I feel like I'm starting to talk myself into wanting one but will wait to make my final decision until the event.

Pixel Watch 3 users, do you plan on upgrading? OG PW and PW 2 users, what say you?