Google Pixel Watch Review: My First and Best Smart Watch

Google Pixel Watch

First of all, look at this thing.  That’s a good-looking watch right there. 

Google Pixel Watch

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can it cook?  I mean, does it do anything useful?  Well yes, in fact, let’s look at some of the general smart-watch features.  You can of course receive text messages, notifications, reminders, and the like.  The screen is a bit small for responding to them.  It’s possible, but you’ll mostly just be reading them.  This will also depend on whether you get the Wi-Fi enabled version, or the LTE.  With the Wi-Fi version you’ll pretty much have to have your phone with you to get those notifications when you’re out and about, but the LTE can operate independently.  

You can also use this watch as a pretty powerful body monitoring tool.  With Fitbit built right in, you can track heartbeat, stress levels, calories burned, and steps (including vertical thanks to a built-in altimeter).  If you wear it at night you can also get sleep data, which is very cool.  This thing even has an ECG in it that can detect irregular heart rhythms.  It’s just a really interesting way to keep track of your activity levels, and it will remind you (more often than you’d like), when you need to move.  

You can also load a ton of apps onto the watch, I’m still playing around with which ones I might find useful.  Some popular ones would be Calm for guided meditation, Komoot for hiking and biking trails, Keep to take notes, Spotify for your tunes, and hundreds more that are available.  There are a lot of times when it’s really nice to not have your phone in and out of your pocket to use an app.

Now on to the main reason I purchased the Pixel Watch. 

It can be used as a remote shutter for your Pixel Phone camera.  This basically gives you the freedom to move around your frame, and take photos without being stuck behind it.  Think of the old method of taking group photos.  One person sets up the camera, tells everybody to squish together, hits the timer, then runs into the group, hopefully into the right spot.  There’s no good way of knowing when the photo will occur, so you all hold your silly grins until they turn into a sort-of confused look.  Then your aunt picks exactly the wrong moment to fix her glasses.  Now, you set up the camera, get in the frame, look at your watch and tell everyone where to go.  When you’re ready you give the old 3, 2, 1, and push the shutter button on your watch.  The photo then happens immediately, no need for the awkward timer.  That said, you can still set a timer from the watch if you need to, but hopefully you won’t.  You can also zoom in and out from the watch.  

One useful scenario I’ve found is to take advantage of the 50 meter water resistance the watch gives you.  This means you can leave your camera out of harm’s way, and still get photos of splashing around and enjoying a warm hot-tub on a winter night.  You do of course have to be a little cautious about this on a public beach.  Leaving your Pixel 7 Pro 100 feet away on a beach while you hit the surf is a tad risky.  You can do it, but don’t be surprised if you look down and see your lovely camera in motion. 

On the whole, it just allows a photographer the freedom to get away from the camera, to adjust your model’s hair and take a photo without walking back to the tripod, or to start a video while you’re already in the frame. 

using the Google Pixel Watch as remote shutter

Side note, you do have to select the camera mode on the camera itself, you can’t change from video to long exposure from the watch, for example.  For more sensitive shots like astrophotography or nightsight, it also allows you to take the photo without touching the phone and causing it to wiggle.  

So do I recommend the Pixel Watch?  Absolutely.  It’s a phenomenal looking accessory, and thanks to all the android apps you can put on it, there’s really a ton of functionality it can bring to your daily life.  And as a kicker, it makes you a better photographer.  

Let me know if you found that useful, or if you have any other questions.  And if you did find it useful, like and subscribe for more content, I’ll be bringing you along on a light painting shoot next week, very much looking forward to that.  Thanks as always for your attention, have a bright and focused week.

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