Google Announces the Pixel Watch as Apple Watch Rival

The Pixel Watch should see the daylight later this year

We’ve known for a while that Google was working on its very own smartwatch, but up to this point, the company has tried to remain as tight-lipped as possible on the whole thing.

At I/O, however, the search giant finally previewed the Pixel Watch, revealing not only the design but also a series of features coming to the device.

First and foremost, Google is obviously going for an edge-to-edge design, and without a doubt, this makes the Pixel Watch look quite premium. With Fitbit’s infinity band design, it looks like a device that’s mostly focused on activity tracking, though there’s no doubt the smartwatch capabilities will be a major selling point.

However, Google itself explains that deep Fitbit integration would be offered, so most likely, expect advanced health features that can already be tried out on the Sense today.

Elsewhere, the Pixel Watch is a new-generation smartwatch in all regards. It comes with support for contactless payments, obviously powered by the Google Wallet, as well as GPS and 4G LTE. The goal looks to be making the Pixel Watch work independently from Android devices.

Should Apple be concerned that Google is finally making a watch?

Yes and no.

It all seems to depend on the platform support the Pixel Watch is going to come with. If it’s exclusive to Android devices, then Apple has absolutely no reason to be afraid that the Pixel Watch would eat up the Apple Watch share.

But on the other hand, if Google comes up with a companion app that allows users to set up the Pixel Watch on an iPhone, then some people with an Apple Watch might be tempted to give it a try. And eventually, they may be tempted to give a try to Android as a whole, which is exactly what Apple is trying with the Apple Watch in the first place.