Ever since I got my first smartwatch, I knew: I like smartwatches! So when Google announced their Google Pixel Watch 3 this year, I knew I wanted to upgrade to that watch. But first...

Why did I want to upgrade?

I already had a smartwatch: The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra. And even though it had a great idea (2 displays: OLED and LCD, allowing for a better battery usage), I wasn't happy with the watch anymore. Mobvoi promised an update to WearOS 3.5, which should've been released in Q4 of 2022 (which was about a quarter year in the past when deciding to get a new watch). The last update (and thus, the security patch level) was from September 2021. That's... not good! Especially, since many apps and features were removed as they updated to WearOS 3 - including Google Assistant.

Trying out the Pixel Watch 2

So, still stuck with WearOS 2.9, I wanted to try something new by buying the Pixel Watch 2, but I didn't have the best experience with it either. The battery size wasn't great. The size of the watch was a bit small for my taste, too. Also, the speakers were terrible. The reason why I returned the watch, though, is because it randomly rebooted once at the start of the day, with half of the battery lost. That was while I was working in an office, so I didn't have the charger at hand, and thus, the watch turned off before I was able to get back home.

But I have to say, the software experience was great! Having the latest WearOS is definitely a win - and the crown was super satisfying. Google knows how to make stuff satisfying, and they showed it by making the watch vibrate a bit when scrolling with the scroll wheel.

This didn't stop me from returning the watch, so I kept using my TicWatch.

The WearOS 3.5 Update

Mobvoi finally delivered on their promise of releasing a WearOS update for the watch. Sadly, it was almost one year too late. They promised Q4 of 2022, and the update released at the beginning of 2024. All that without giving any updates to customers.

Also, the watch got quite slow and buggy, resulting in sometimes showing both displays at the same time, or none.

Additionally, the phone app made by Mobvoi isn't the best either. It asks for permission to upload stuff to their servers - even though I already declined multiple times - and it didn't support Google Health Connect for a long time (just now, as the Google Fit API will be deprecated soon).

Switching to the Pixel Watch 3 XL

Since I knew what the software experience of a Pixel Watch is like, I was really hyped for the next "Made by Google"-Event. I hoped that they would upgrade the battery, and... they did! To be honest... Yes, I looked at the leaks, so I already knew that an XL version would be released. Still, I was super hyped for the actual release - and I almost instantly bought one. (Hey, at least I got some money back because in Germany there was a "get 50 € back" deal.)

The setup was easy, and... well... it's WearOS. What did I expect? I like the look of WearOS 5, and, of course, of the watch itself too. It's a great watch! Since I already have a Pixel phone, I get some cool features like controlling the camera.

Before buying the watch, I was super hyped about the feature that detects a loss of pulse, only to find out that it's not yet available in Germany. (Update: It is now, but only for people that are at least 22 years old. Aw man...)

Things I really like

I want to highlight some things I noticed that were new for me and that I like. Note, some of these might be things from WearOS 5 (or 4), and some might be Google-exclusive. Since I can't really tell what is which, I won't say that all of these things are available with WearOS 5 (but definitely are with the Pixel Watch 3 XL!).

Synchronized Notification Settings

One such thing I really like is the synchronized notification setting. More notably: Do not Disturb and Bedtime Mode. If I turn them on or off on my watch or phone, the other device does it as well. This, combined with the automatic activation of Bedtime Mode when plugging in the phone, allows for a fast sleep - without having to manually enable Bedtime Mode on the watch.

Apparently, this feature is only available to people who also have a Pixel phone.

Automatic Bedtime Mode via. Sleep Tracking

Another super cool thing is the automatic sleep detection. This automatically enables the Bedtime Mode on the watch, which - with the feature mentioned above - results in no noises being made by my watch, nor by my phone, and me being able to rest for a few hours.

Synchronized alarm clock

Another feature I believe is Pixel Watch only: When your alarm clock in the default Google Clock app goes off, the watch rings as well - this includes the usage of the vibration motor. I think that's a cool feature to hopefully get yourself awake quicker!

The new App Grid

Ever since I got a smartwatch, I had the app list of WearOS 2. It's okay, and you see all the names of the apps. Originally, you were able to pin some apps to the top, but that's not possible anymore.

Now, you can switch to a different UI: The app grid. I, personally, use it and I like the compactness.

When holding on an app, regardless of selected UI, it opens the app info, where you can uninstall it, stop it, change its permissions and more. Default android stuff.

The battery

The battery is definitely good. After a typical 24h day (with sleep tracking), I put the watch on the charger with around 50-60% left. Since I'm working from home, I can let it charge to 100% anyway, but... even if I couldn't, the watch is back up to 100% quite fast. Yes, I changed some settings, notably I disabled the activate when rotating the wrist setting, but nothing else.

I was sad after hearing that the Pixel Watch 2 (and 3) don't support wireless charging anymore, as the Pixel Watch 1 did. This means you can't use your phone to wirelessly charge your watch anymore, but since the battery life of the Watch 3 has gotten quite good, I may say: This isn't such an issue anymore. Yes, it's still sad, since the charging cable costs ~30 €, but since the watch can last more than 24h (with almost default settings), you can leave your charger back home and charge the watch back up at the next day.

Backups

Thanks to WearOS 4, you can now finally back up the data of your watch to the cloud. This means you can reset your watch and get all the apps back! Obviously, I didn't get to use the backup yet, but I have it enabled, and it backs up the data every day. We'll see how it goes. If it's broken and doesn't work, you can expect a new blog post on here. 😄

Unlocking the phone

I can finally unlock my phone automatically with my watch, so I don't have to use the fingerprint or the pin every time. (Though, using the fingerprint is still my go to, as it's in my muscle memory.) After the phone unlocks, the watch vibrates and shows a screen showing that a device got unlocked, and a big button to lock it again. That makes it quite secure in my opinion.

Of course, with me being a furry who's fursuiting sometimes, there's the question: Would it unlock the phone for someone else, while you're in the fursuit and possibly have given your phone away for someone to store it? The answer is: No, it does not. At least as far as I noticed. I didn't notice a pattern, but I guess it doesn't unlock when it hasn't seen a light in a longer time. Or, possibly, when the phone and the watch simply were too far away. (Or maybe a combination of both? I don't really understand it to be honest.)

Fitbit

I always used Google Fit for my tracking - or, well... at least for the dashboard of my tracking data. Mobvoi has their own apps, with which they then uploaded my data to Google Fit through the Google Fit API. I always enjoyed the animations and the look of Google Fit, so I always used that app to look at these stats.

Now that I use a Pixel Watch, I have to use Fitbit. It's... okay, I guess. The free version is good enough in my opinion. Yes, I got the free 6 months of Fitbit Premium, but only to see what it would get me. To be honest? Not much. I mean... yay, now I have coaches that I could watch videos of to exercise. (I don't do that.) And there are more sleep tracking details, for example a "what animal are you?" type of thing, that shows you, what animal you are, based on your sleep. (I'm a giraffe, apparently.)

I already cancelled the subscription and won't renew it after the test period. Fitbit does enough in the free version, and thus, I can live without it. (Yes, I'm specifically talking about being able to use it just fine for free, since I've seen many reviews and comments that state that "many metrics are behind a paywall and that you need to subscribe to Fitbit when buying a Pixel Watch". Bullshit.)

Things I don't like

Of course, nothing is perfect - and so isn't this watch. These things might count as being nitpicky, but... eh... it's things that are annoying me, ok?

The AI hype is annoying...

As you might know, AI has become a big hype in the last few years, and thus, 2024 was a big AI release for Google. Every device they announced featured a Gemini animation at startup. I, personally, miss the Material You animation that I have on my Pixel 7 Pro, but... eh, it's a startup animation. And if this hype gives me at least some cool features that use ""AI"" (simple algorithms, nothing more), then... sure - but don't call it AI then!

The number of Apps

There are many apps for WearOS on the Play Store. But since WearOS 3, older apps aren't compatible anymore. And when you look at the Play Store today, you see... many streaming services and sport tracking apps. Oh, and some Google / Samsung Apps. Yes, there are some good ones, but in my opinion there aren't enough. I know Telegram had a WearOS client once, but... I can't find it anymore. Though, WhatsApp now has an official one. I'd love to see Signal or Matrix on there too.

If you have some good app recommendations, please leave some here: https://fellies.social/@SteffoSpieler/113503402359677556

Bug - Touch screen issues

I noticed on my way back home from Eurofurence (which was about a week after receiving the watch), that the touch screen didn't respond correctly anymore. Every longer touch (or swipe) would result in a simple tap, and simple taps almost didn't register at all. I tried to report that issue in the Pixel Watch Community, but sadly, I didn't get anything more than a "just factory reset the watch, lol". Luckily, after 2–3 times of it happening, it stopped, and I didn't get the issue anymore.

My first update

Since I already have a Pixel phone, I know that there are monthly updates. At least if no problems occur. Apparently, there were some issues with the upgrade of older watches to the latest WearOS version. This resulted in skipping the update for October. Welp. But then, in November, I finally received the update. It went smoothly! 🎉

If I get another update in December, then this means that Google already gave twice as many updates to the Pixel Watch 3, than Mobvoi has given to the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra.

Conclusion

This is obviously a subjective topic, but I wanted to share my experience upgrading my smartwatch and what I like about it. Currently, I'm happy with this watch and I hope that this blog post was somewhat interesting for you, dear reader.