Personally , the Google Pixel Watch 3 was the success story of 2024 . In just three generations , Google debuted thePixel Watch , a pretty severe smartwatch , meliorate it massivelyfor thePixel Watch 2 , and then perfected it with thePixel Watch 3 . And I ’ll admit , it ’s a comeback report I was n’t expecting to see . Sure , I ’d noticed the Pixel Watch 2 was pretty adept , but at no full stop did I expect it to break through the trash ceiling in my yearning warmheartedness marked “ Only Samsung Galaxy Watches here ” . But smash through it did , and through the shards of raining glass it get up , like an ascending angel .
Alright , so I ’m lay it on alittlethick . But it ’s important to observe quite how suitable the Pixel Watch has become in the last yr . I ’m even considering throw up my own hard - gain hard cash in regaining for theGoogle Pixel Watch 4when it releases after this yr . Except , there ’s one little effect I have with the Pixel Watches , and have had since the beginning . And until that one job is change , I ca n’t see myself grease one’s palms the Pixel Watch 4 , or any next Pixel Watch .
Google, just drop the Fitbit subscription cost already
That ’s a strong command , so I ’m going to quickly caveat : Fitbit ’s program is upstanding . Great , even . I have no problems with how well Fitbit functions , and while I have n’t had the chance to play with a Fitbit product myself in the almost X I ’ve been publish about smarrtphones and smartwatches , I screw that there ’s rarely a bad word said about Fitbit ’s ability to track wellness or usage . Heck , when Google bought Fitbit in 2021 , I hope it would be the break of the day of a new age for Fitbit , and the end of my most hat part of the Fitbit packet . I am , of course of instruction , talking about the subscription cost .
It rankle that the Pixel Watch , a premium smartwatch , is hampered with an extra subscription price . I get why it used to exist — Fitbit was n’t a small society by any mean value , but it needed extra , ongoing funds to keep it going . I have n’t look it up , so I do n’t know if it ’s on-key or not , but itfeelslike it could be true . Pair that with the fact that Fitbits aredirtcheap , and you could warrant it . sure as shooting , it ’s an on-going subscription cost , but you offset that with a comparatively low entry cost and it ’s more palatable .
Google is not a small company struggling for funding , and the Pixel Watch 3 is not soil flashy like Fitbit product are , so … why am I paying like both of those things are dependable ? It reads as pure greed from Google , and it ’s backbreaking to see it as anything but .
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
I want to recommend Pixel Watches and Fitbits, but I can’t
I ’ve been publish about smartwatches for close to a decade now , and in all of that clock time , the subscription means I ’ve never been able-bodied to commend a Fitbit to booster and family — and that applies to the Pixel follow too .
If it was nothing more than a few extra usage classes , perhaps an AI - generated report or two , likeApple Fitness Plus , then I would n’t be so harassed . But no , if you want a Sleep Score or Daily Readiness Score , then you ’ll take to pay Google — one of the humanity ’s bragging companies — $ 10 a month to do so . And it rankles even more because the competition just is n’t doing it . If I slash on aSamsung Galaxy Watch 7it does n’t nickle and dime me for my sleep tracking , and theApple Watch Series 10doesn’t shake a donations tin before I ’m allowed to see what my energy story are . Because it ’s part of the service and Apple and Samsung get that . Google still does n’t , and it ’s a enceinte barrier .
Yes , it annoyed me when Garmin introduced a subscription , but unlike Fitbit , Garmin has n’t hidden anything that feels like a standard comprehension . alternatively it ’s just adding special hooey , andI can exist with that . Can I hold up without a Sleep Score or Daily Readiness ? Sure , I ’ll survive , but will Ithrive?Google does n’t even have to do much to change this . All it needs to say is “ and because the Pixel Watch 4 is a premium merchandise , it ’ll get these features from Fitbit Premium for free ” . That ’s all it ask to do , and I ’m on board . But until then ? I ’ll luxuria after the Pixel Watch 4 , but I ’m certain not buying one .
Joe Maring / Digital Trends
