Specifically, a Pixel 2 series watch? Google (and probably others) has the Pixel 2 series on sale for $100 off list price. Additionally, I have $100 credit at Google’s online store (a result of recently upgrading my Pixel 6a to a Pixel 9a).
Anyway at $100 off and adding the $100 store credit my out of pocket cost would be $50-$100 depending upon whether I choose the LTE option or not. Worth it?
I recently got my first smartwatch (a garmin venu 3) and I really like it. I wanted something with blood oxygen while sleeping and it fit the bill nicely.
I think at the time I didn’t go for the pixel specifically because it didn’t have on demand blood oxygen checks. But if it fits your use case that’s one hell of a discount.
I love my Pixel Watch 2, but you need to know you will charge it every day. I can squeeze almost a day and a half out of it, but I don’t think I’ve ever made it from waking up one morning until going to bed the next day.
On the other hand, it charges quickly, so my routine is to simple put it on the charger while I shower.
Do you currently wear a smart watch, and if so, what features are most important to you? What features do you wish you had?
But, yeah, for $50 for something you could probably sell for at least twice that if you didn’t like it, I’d vote that it’s worth it.
Oh, @rolandh, if you haven’t bought it yet, there is one fairly negative thing to consider, something I was just reminded of by the watch itself.
Everyone now and then I get the feeling that it’s “burning” me. I take the watch off, and I’m not imagining it, because there’s a red place right where it was hurting.
Here’s tonight’s irritation…
It’s not a big deal, but it is annoying. It seems to always happen in the evening, I wonder if it has to do with the battery getting low. And it’s not just me.
Several replies on Reddit urge the OP to “keep the watch clean”. I clean mine every night and after every sweat-producing activity (dog walks, mowing). So I really don’t think filth is the cause.
I get the same burning sensation occasionally with my Garmin, one of the sensors uses electrical pulses and I think that is the cause (in my case).
Garmin makes some excellent running watches and I am a runner. Garmin watches, however, have (to the best of my knowledge) limited cellular functionality (data only). They’re trackable but lack voice and text messaging capability.
Looking at the back of the Pixel 2 watch suggests there is an SpO2 sensor but I don’t know about the on demand part. I’m curious what you mean by on demand oxygen monitoring while sleeping?
Great to hear! I’m not opposed to daily charging. I figured Google’s claims regarding battery life would be optimistic 
.
I haven’t worn a watch of any kind regularly since smartphones became a thing. Having a timepiece on my wrist with a device capable of serving as a clock in my pocket made it seem superfluous.
But, I have been using a hand me down ancient Apple Watch series 3 (circa 2017) mostly for running only. So, I thought Google’s sale and my store credit might provide an opportunity to upgrade the experience.
This is disappointing and thanks for the heads up. I still bought the watch but it’s something for which I’ll keep an eye out. I’ll note the metal on the back of the Pixel 2 watch comes into contact with one’s skin. This is less likely with Apple’s series 3 watch.
Thanks to both @burusutazu and @southpaw for chiming in. I did go ahead and buy the Pixel 2 watch. Mostly, I expect to use it for run tracking but probably will experiment with wearing more generally. Right now, I’m playing with the Fitbit stuff.
I spent an extra $50 for the LTE model. There’s potential appeal to leaving the phone at home when out running.
On demand as in manually triggering a check (phone or on watch). Garmin allows you to do this but from what I had read Google does not. Both had nighttime tracking.
