Fitbit integration will make or break the Pixel Watch | Tech Ops

It has been a very long time coming, however Google’s first Pixel-branded watch is lastly simply across the nook. The legendary watch was initially rumored to launch in 2018 after which once more in 2019 when Google acquired the smartwatch mental property from Fossil. Presumably, Google could not discover the proper marketplace for its wearable machine. Quite a bit has modified since 2019, although. In 2021, Google accomplished its acquisition of fitness-tracking big Fitbit, providing you with a very powerful ingredient you should make a killer product: unimaginable well being monitoring.

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When Google launched the Pixel Watch at its annual I/O convention, the message was loud and clear: Fitbit algorithms can be on the coronary heart of the Pixel Watch expertise. However the extra I give it some thought, algorithms alone will not be sufficient to avoid wasting the Pixel Watch. The Pixel Watch must enhance Fitbit’s person expertise from finish to finish to have any probability of success. Because of this.

Put on OS has been round for nearly eight years, however I would be hard-pressed to call a single watch that is been an enormous success. Nearly each main smartphone vendor has tried to create a Put on OS watch that included one of the best sensors, coronary heart charge displays, and all of the equipment that go together with well being monitoring, however none of these watches actually took off.

Samsung and Google needed to collaborate deeply to create one of many few cool Put on OS watches. That stated, even the Galaxy Watch is barely a blip in opposition to the gargantuan success of the Apple Watch, to not point out the tens of tens of millions of Fitbits offered. Additionally, regardless of being a Put on OS 3.0 watch, the Galaxy Watch continues to drive Samsung’s ecosystem greater than Google’s.

With Fitbit in its equipment, Google has probably the most crucial ingredient it must elevate the Pixel Watch from simply one other Put on OS smartwatch to a really fascinating product. Fitbit customers, usually, are usually very engaged with their health wearables. A 2019 survey estimated that Fitbit customers had the best ranges of engagement with their wearable units, throughout all platforms. 93% of customers surveyed use their watch every day, forward of 92% of Apple Watch customers. In the meantime, Put on OS customers lagged far behind with simply 75% of the person base surveyed.

Whereas the Fitbit Sense and Sense 2 attempt to replicate a smartwatch expertise with restricted assist for Fitbit apps, the health trackers are too locked down and lack the ability to ship a stellar expertise. Fitbit customers have been clamoring for a high-end smartwatch, and a first-class Fitbit expertise on the Pixel Watch is bound to offer Google a prepared and keen viewers. However for that to occur, one thing has to offer, and Fitbit needs to be a first-class citizen on the Pixel Watch.

I’d go as far as to say that Fitbit must be woven into the material of well being monitoring on the Pixel Watch. Each day step counts, health actions, and sleep information ought to go proper into the Fitbit dashboard that fans have used for years. Leaderboards, exercise charts, and challenges all must have their very own nice watch faces.

Health coaching itself could be very a lot a neighborhood exercise, whether or not by operating golf equipment or digital leaderboards. I’ve used Fitbit merchandise for years to encourage me to be extra energetic, and seeing my mates take 20,000 steps a day was a key motivator for me to start out operating as an exercise. Google must discover a solution to benefit from the superb Fitbit neighborhood and guided exercises within the Pixel Watch expertise. Additionally, Google must have its personal time of shareable and aggressive exercise rings just like the Apple Watch.

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It additionally means untangling the woefully insufficient Google Match from the combination. The platform presents minimal stats, and what’s worse, it does not have any neighborhood side. Each are essential particularly for Fitbit customers, but additionally for anybody with greater than a passing curiosity in well being monitoring. Google’s present strategy of constructing extra health apps their very own siled factor on Put on OS simply will not work right here.

Whereas Google has beforehand talked about that customers will have the ability to sync all of their essential well being metrics with a Fitbit account, the proof can be within the implementation and the way seamless the method is. Being a superb Put on OS watch is up for grabs, however the Pixel Watch needs to be a fantastic Fitbit watch first to have any probability of standing out.

It goes with out saying that the software program will want appropriate {hardware} to match. With Fitbit’s legacy behind it, Google should not have any hassle discovering the right combination of coronary heart charge displays, pedometers, and SpO2 sensors. However there may be one side of the Pixel Watch that makes me surprise: battery life.

Even one of the best Put on OS watches barely handle a day and a half of battery life. Apple needed to create an enormous 49mm monster watch with the Apple Watch Extremely to offer it even midway respectable longevity. In the meantime, Fitbit customers are used to weeks of battery life. The Pixel Watch, by all appearances, is a really compact wearable machine. The watch might want to final a minimum of a full day of common use, bodily actions, and sleep monitoring to make sense as an appropriate possibility. Can Google pull off a miracle right here? Maybe the watch has a Fitbit low energy mode for exercise monitoring. We’ll see.

With the Pixel sequence of smartphones reaching relative maturity and gaining floor amongst mainstream consumers, the stakes are excessive within the success of the Pixel Watch. The Pixel Watch has been within the rumor mill for almost 4 years, and all eyes are on Google. With all the weather in place to create a stellar product, Google merely cannot afford to introduce one other Put on OS watch.

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The headline function is there, and I am hoping Google’s first smartwatch may even be the primary Put on OS watch to really problem the established order.