Google and Samsung might have co-developed the fashionable model of Put on OS, however every takes its personal {hardware} and software program method to creating an Android smartwatch. Evaluating the Google Pixel Watch 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, you may see these variations in motion.

Final 12 months, the Google Pixel Watch shortly turned one in every of our favourite smartwatches regardless of its years-long improvement course of. Nonetheless, the Galaxy Watch 5 remained our favourite due to years of Samsung tweaking and enhancing upon its design. Now that Google has had a 12 months to enhance upon and modernize its design, the Pixel Watch 2 seems to be much more aggressive.

Whereas we nonetheless want extra time to check the Pixel Watch 2 absolutely, you may learn our preliminary Pixel Watch 2 hands-on to see the way it matches as much as our Galaxy Watch 6 evaluation. In any other case, we’ll break down all the Pixel Watch 2 vs. Galaxy Watch 6 variations in design, specs, software program, health instruments, and extra.

Google Pixel Watch 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Design and show

The Google Pixel Watch 2 seems to be remarkably near the authentic Pixel Watch, with the identical case dimension, thickness, 1,000-nit brightness, and 1.2-inch show with 384 x 384 decision. When you had been hoping for a second dimension choice or that Google would shrink the show border, you may have to attend and hope that the Pixel Watch 3 delivers there.

Samsung sells 4 variants of the Galaxy Watch 6: two normal fashions and two Classics. With both choice, you may choose a 1.3-inch or 1.5-inch show with double the brightness, making it simpler to view outside. Particularly, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 6 case is smaller than the 41mm Pixel Watch 2 however provides you 0.1-inch further area due to its minimal show border.

Utilizing that border, the Galaxy Watch 6 has a capacitive contact bezel that you just rotate your finger throughout to scroll by way of info. It really works nicely sufficient in very best circumstances — higher than the Galaxy Watch 5 bezel, in our exams — however is not essentially the most dependable whenever you’re on the transfer or throughout a sweaty exercise.

Select the Pixel Watch 2, and also you get a devoted haptic crown to scroll by way of knowledge as a substitute. In our hands-on, we famous that “the newly redesigned crown feels greater high quality with improved tactility and a extra clicky spin.”

After all, you may select the Galaxy Watch 6 Basic to have a whole rotating bezel across the show to slip by way of widgets; it provides you a neater grip than a crown but additionally provides some important weight to the watch itself.

Google used stainless-steel with the primary Pixel Watch however switched to lighter, fully-recycled aluminum supplies with this iteration. Because of that, the Pixel Watch has a extra aggressive weight, solely about 2.3g heavier than the bottom Galaxy Watch 6 and considerably lighter than the stainless steel Basic watches. Relying on which watch band you select, both watch might be lighter or heavier than the opposite.

On that observe, your entire authentic Pixel Watch bands carry over to work for the Pixel Watch 2, which has new Lively Sport and Steel Slim bands however in any other case sticks to the identical choices. Whereas we now have loads of Galaxy Watch 6 bands we advocate, Google’s first-party bands have a classy look (paired with the extra trendy watch) that we recognize.

Though the Galaxy Watch 6 is far thinner than the Pixel Watch 2 on paper, that is solely due to Samsung’s, er, artistic measurements that do not take the sensor housing into consideration. By our measurements, it is 12mm thick, simply 0.3mm thinner than the Pixel Watch 2.

The largest upside to the Galaxy Watch 6 is its extra sturdy design. Each watches have 5ATM and IP68 scores for mud and water resistance, however solely Samsung achieved a MIL-STD-810H score to guard in opposition to shock injury. Google’s beautiful round-edged show seems to be as implausible as ever, nevertheless it’s extra liable to select up scratches alongside the sides.

The Pixel Watch 2’s Gorilla Glass 5 safety, too, will not be as dependable as Samsung’s sapphire glass constructed into the Galaxy Watch 6. Chances are you’ll wish to look into Pixel Watch 2 display screen protectors, must you select it.

Google Pixel Watch 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: {Hardware} and sensors

Within the final technology, the efficiency battle between the Watch 5 and Pixel Watch was considerably difficult. Google relied on an previous Galaxy Watch 1-era Exynos 9110 chip however paired it with a sturdy 2GB of RAM and a Cortex co-processor to deal with behind-the-scenes well being and watch face duties; Samsung had the newer Exynos W920 chip paired with simply 1.5GB of RAM.

With this technology, the Galaxy Watch 6 jumped to the W930 chip with 2GB of RAM, giving it an 18% clock velocity enhance, 25% shorter app switching, and basic loading time enhancements. In observe, we have discovered it is very quick for just about something you ask it to do.

As for the Pixel Watch 2, it switches to the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, paired with the identical Cortex M33 co-processor and 2GB RAM because the final mannequin. It additionally retains its 32GB of cupboard space for music and apps, whereas the Galaxy Watch 6’s 16GB of storage is a last-gen weak level for an in any other case future-proofed watch.

We did not get sufficient hands-on time with the Pixel Watch 2 to evaluate how a lot sooner it’s, however we do know at the least that it is considerably extra battery environment friendly with a battery that is solely 12mAh bigger, providing you with 24 hours per cost with always-on show (AOD) lively, based on Google. We do not have a non-AOD estimate as of but.

For comparability, the Galaxy Watch 6 has a 40-hour estimate however lasts simply 30 hours with AOD lively. It does nicely in standby mode for checking notifications and coronary heart price knowledge however prompts instruments like always-listening Assistant or music streaming, and it is extra of a charge-once-a-day watch. The Pixel Watch 2 additionally requires day by day prices, however its environment friendly chip provides us hope that it may well deal with strong use with out dying in a single day throughout sleep monitoring.

As for recharging both watch, the Pixel Watch 2 takes 43 or 75 minutes to succeed in 80% or 100%, respectively, whereas we discovered that the Galaxy Watch 6 takes about 45 minutes to hit 75% or 70–75 minutes to hit 100%. They’re comparable, in different phrases.

Each the Galaxy Watch 6 and Pixel Watch 2 measure coronary heart price, coronary heart price variance, excessive and low coronary heart price warnings, passive irregular coronary heart price rhythm (AFib), lively AFib detection (ECG), stress, respiration, blood oxygen, and pores and skin temperature.

Additionally they have a lot of the typical watch sensors you’d anticipate, like accelerometers, gyroscopes, altimeters, compasses, and ambient gentle sensors, in addition to a lot of the similar world satellite tv for pc navigational methods (GNSS) like GPS. Neither has dual-frequency GPS monitoring, sadly.

As for connectivity, both watch enables you to improve to a 4G LTE model for $50 whereas providing NFC for tap-to-pay and Wi-Fi for sooner downloads, although no Extremely Wideband just like the Apple Watch. Samsung does win on this space with assist for WiFi 5GHz downloads and Bluetooth 5.3 as a substitute of 5.0.

By way of distinctive well being sensors, the Watch 6 measures your physique composition with Bioelectrical Impedance Evaluation (BIA), although our reviewer discovered that its outcomes had been somewhat inconsistent in comparison with sensible scale outcomes.

The Pixel Watch 2 took the Fitbit Sense 2 cEDA sensor for physique response utilizing coronary heart price, coronary heart price variability, and pores and skin temperature; Samsung additionally has a stress-tracking widget however does not say what metrics it makes use of particularly.

Each watches have well being knowledge limitations to think about. Google locks a number of its well being knowledge behind the paywall of Fitbit Premium, and the Pixel Watch 2 does not allow you to actively examine some well being knowledge like blood oxygen — solely checking it passively in a single day.

Samsung makes most of its knowledge accessible in Samsung Well being, however its ECG knowledge particularly should be considered within the Samsung Well being Monitor app that is unique to Samsung telephones. And it does not have a paid choice to take your knowledge and analyze it for well being tendencies, as Fitbit and Google provide.

Google Pixel Watch 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Software program and health

The Pixel Watch 2 comes with Put on OS 4 out of the field, whereas the Galaxy Watch 6 makes use of One UI 5 Watch primarily based on Put on OS 4.

The Pixel Watch 2 is getting new apps like Gmail and Google Calendar with Put on OS 4, together with new watch faces, a backup and restore function, and revamped Google Assistant that solutions questions primarily based in your tracked well being knowledge.

Whereas these all depend as causes to get excited for Google’s watch, the Galaxy Watch 6 ought to finally get many of those instruments in a One UI 5.5 Watch replace, and it is had entry to Backup and Restore for years. Typically talking, each watches provide you with related first- and third-party apps, although Samsung is extra prone to push you in the direction of its personal and make you dive into settings to change to Google Assistant or Pockets.

By way of health instruments, each watches have dozens of sports activities modes and some key actions with computerized detection for a number of standard actions like working and biking. Every has personalized coronary heart price zones, VO2 Max knowledge, and the power to observe set exercise parameters that buzz your wrist should you’re off tempo.

The important thing distinction, in fact, is Google’s Fitbit Premium integration. The Pixel Watch 2 affords 6 months of free membership, providing you with entry to a Day by day Readiness rating primarily based in your sleep knowledge, well being knowledge tendencies, wellness experiences, skilled exercises, and loads of different helpful info and exercise instruments.

As soon as your subscription runs out, you may must pay $10/month or $80/12 months to entry a number of this knowledge. That is the important thing draw back to the Pixel Watch 2 that it pushes you to pay for a subscription by integrating Fitbit so deeply into the watch’s working system.

Google Pixel Watch 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Which must you purchase?

The Galaxy Watch 6 pricing ranges from $300 for the smallest mannequin to $430 for the most important Watch 6 Basic. The Pixel Watch 2 falls squarely within the center at $350…however your watch worth will tick upwards if you find yourself staying subscribed to Fitbit Premium.

At the moment, the Galaxy Watch 6 claims the highest spot for greatest Android smartwatch on the power of its efficiency, sturdy design, and strong battery life. However relying on our Pixel Watch 2 evaluation, Google may problem Samsung for this prime spot regardless of a number of key downgrades just because it serves as each an Android watch and a health smartwatch.

That final level might decide which you select. In order for you a smartwatch that offers you loads of health instruments and simply digestible well being knowledge, Google has put extra effort into this space than Samsung by way of its Fitbit acquisition. When you’re extra within the apps and do not wish to pay for a health subscription, Samsung might serve you simply wonderful.

In any other case, your alternative might come all the way down to which Android telephone you personal, for the reason that Pixel Watch 2 will pair greatest with the brand new Pixel 8, whereas the Galaxy Watch 6 has unique instruments discovered on Galaxy S23 telephones. Or, should you care extra about aesthetics or sturdiness, the fashionable Pixel Watch 2 or extra rugged Galaxy Watch 6 will serve your wants extra.