Google Pixel Watch 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: The battle for your wrist

Design & Sizes

Compact and classy

Both the Pixel Watch 3 and the Galaxy Watch 7 are no-frills smartwatches that don’t stray away from tradition. 

We have no specifics about the materials used on either of the watches, but we don’t think Google will rely on titanium or stainless steel. At best, we’d expect the case of the watch to be made of aluminum, which will ensure light weight. The Pixel Watch 3 will likely be IP68-rated, so standard water-resistance.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 7 is your standard aluminum Samsung smartwatch. It’s got that timeless and easy-going design language, which makes it easy to wear no matter the circumstance. You can have this watch in two size versions, in 40mm and in 44mm. Both are very lightweight and comfortable to wear (unlike the massive Galaxy Watch Ultra).

With the Galaxy Watch 7, we have IP68 general dust and water-resistance on board, but Samsung has also thrown in enhanced water resistance up to 5ATM, or 50 meters. This means that you should generally be okay to swim and dive with the Galaxy Watch 7 without worrying about water damage. 

One feature that lacks on the Galaxy Watch 7 is a rotating hardware bezel. Instead, we get a fully touch-based interface; we also don’t get a customizable Quick Button like the one on the Galaxy Watch Ultra. 

Display-wise, both the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 7 have OLED displays. Maximum brightness achievable by both will gravitate around 2,000 nits in bright conditions, boosting the overall legibility of the screens. That’s great, but some smartwatches can hit 3,000 nits peak brightness for an ever better legibility; case in point, all those devices are much more expensive. 

Bands

Lots of customization

According to leaked promotional materials, the Pixel Watch 3 will support with a multitude of watch bands in different styles––classic, modern, and sporty. By default, the phone will arrive with a stock Active Band, likely a standard silicone one. Google will seemingly offer both a small and a large band in the box so that you would be able to customize your fit. 

Thankfully, unlike the larger Galaxy Watch Ultra, the Galaxy Watch 7 relies on Samsung’s One Click band attachment mechanism. This one uses standard lugs on the case of the watch, while the bands feature a button that lets you quickly and easily detach the strap. This also means that you’re not limited to Samsung’s bands only: you can use any similarly sized watch band that uses the standard lug system.

In terms of stock bands, we get Samsung’s new and vibrant Ripple bands. Available in green and cream colors, with some colorful stitches for extra personality, these new bands go extremely well with the wearable. The bands feel durable and easy to wear. 

Software & Features

AI is now on your wrist

Yes, AI is all the rage on phones, but it’s also spreading to smartwatches as well. 

The Pixel Watch 3 will arrive with Wear OS 5 (already live on Galaxy Watch 7 series), but Google will also be sprinkling some of that AI magic that seeps from its Pixel phones. It seems the Pixel Watch 3 will be able to control the camera on the Pixel phone, most certainly like a remote control. You will also be able to view live feed from your Nest Cam or Nest Doorbell straight on your wrist, which sounds like a mighty useful feature to have. 

Of course, you will be able to do all other kinds of smartwatch stuff, like access Google Maps offline and use Google Wallet for payments and public transportation cards. 

In terms of health and activity related features, the Pixel Watch 3 is scoring some new features. You will be able to create custom runs and race against your saved workouts in order to motivate yourself to beat your record. 

The watch will provide you with haptic cues as to when to sprint, stop to cool down, or simply maintain pace, so a personal trainer on your wrist. In terms of insights, the Pixel Watch 3 will provide you with info about your cadence, stride, and vertical oscillation. 

Another new feature is Readiness, which sounds similar to Garmin’s Body Battery and Samsung’s Energy Score. Readiness will tell you if you’re, well, ready to tackle activities and will likely use insights from your previous sleep session. Cardio Load, on the other hand, will tell you just how ready you are for physical activity.

Finally, the Pixel Watch 3 will arrive with Fitbit Premium with AI-powered recommendations and advanced health information. Every morning, the Fitbit Morning brief will provide you with a summary of the most important health and fitness metrics. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 7 comes with One UI Watch on top of Wear OS 5, which Google and Samsung developed in tandem. AI is also present here, omnipresently running in the background to deliver you insights about your health, daily routines, and your wellbeing. 

Fixing a weakness of previous Galaxy Watches, the new one scores dual-frequency L1+L5 GPS, which promises to fix unreliable GPS accuracy in metropolitan areas with high buildings that interfere with the signal. In our experience, GPS is good, but not perfect. 

Heart rate accuracy has also been improved but we still experienced some accuracy issues and anomalies with overly high heart rate. Hopefully, a fix is coming soon. 

New on the Galaxy Watch 7 is a new Energy Score metric, which takes into account how well you’ve slept during the night and gives you an estimation as to how ready you are to tackle your day. This works similarly to Garmin’s Body Battery (for the most part), and we already mentioned that Google is likely coming with a similar feature for the Pixel Watch 3. 

Another new feature is AGEs index, which takes into account your dietary habits and lifestyle in order to measure your biological aging and how at risk you are to contract age-related diseases. 

Interestingly, the Pixel Watch 3 will score 20% faster charging, but only on the small model. The large one will certainly take longer to charge,

The Galaxy Watch 7 takes around an hour or so to get fully charged. 

The Galaxy Watch 7 is available in 40mm and 44mm versions. The watch comes in Wi-Fi-only and LTE+Wi-Fi versions. Prices start at $300 for the small Wi-Fi model and $330 for the large one. For LTE connectivity, think $50 more: $350 for the small and $380 for the large watch.