Google Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 are Wear OS based smartwatches. Samsung Watch 5 was unveiled in August 2022 and Google Pixel Watch has been released in October 2022. Which of these two smartwatches will be more suitable and provide more value for your money? Let us review this in a short post.
What makes Samsung Watch 5 a better watch than Google Pixel Watch?
For a start, Samsung Watch 5 is a fifth-generation Galaxy watch. It is based on Wear OS 3.5 which has been developed by Google. The biggest upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is the Sapphire glass for the display lens.
We know that Sapphire is the second hardest naturally mined crystal. Sapphire glass watches are considered virtually scratch-proof. While the Sapphire glass does pose some challenges in display glass’s readability, it is still considered as a premium glass over the Corning Gorilla Glass for display lens material of the smartwatches.
Galaxy Watch 5 offers Sapphire glass for all editions. For the price of the watch, Samsung Watch 5 has done a commendable addition to the Galaxy Watch 4.
The other major advancement on the Galaxy Watch 5 is the suite of heart tracking features. Google Pixel Watch lacks extensive heart rate monitoring and tracking.
Samsung Watch 5 can track irregular heart rhythm and send in alerts. This can be very useful in detection conditons of Afib or Atrial Fibrillation. Already, we can see that Samsung Galaxy watch users have left postive reviews about the heart rhythm notifications as per the below review.
Would never have realised how much I needed this device a couple of days ago. Out of the blue I had an irregular heart beat and was able to perform an ECG to confirm I had atrial fibrillation. A trip to A&E was able to give consultants there information needed to speed up diagnosis. I was always sceptical how accurate the heart monitoring would be but the watch has more than paidxfor itself after that scare.
Source – Samsung UK Website
Additional to the Afib notifications, a Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 can monitor heart rate and share high and low heart rate alerts.
Blood oxygen saturation levels can be tracked with a Samsung Watch 5 through the SpO2 sensor on the wrist.
In terms of health tracking, Samsung Watch 5 has Afib alerts or irregular heart rate notifications, continuous SpO2 monitoring and high-low heart rate alerts. Google Pixel Watch lacks these features.
For the physical size of the watches, we find that Samsung Watch 5 is more flexible as it offers 40 mm and 44 mm smartwatch variants. Google Pixel watch comes in a single size of 41 mm as we write this. Aside from the physical parameters and attributes, do bear in mind that the Google Pixel Watch is a first generation watch. So, it is a first smartwatch product released by Google.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 also has the latest processor Exynos W920. In comparison, Google Pixel Watch has an Exynos 9110 processor. Samsung used Exynos 9110 processor in the Galaxy Watch series 3 smartwatches. Exynos 920 is faster than the Exynos 9110 by a marginal score.
Finally, Google Pixel Watch is available in limited countries as we write this. It was launched or released in nine countries that include – US, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and Taiwan. More countries are likely to be added to the list in the next few weeks and months.
To summarize, I would buy a Samsung Watch 5 for the following reasons:
- Afib or irregular heart beat alerts
- High and low heart rate alerts
- SpO2 monitoring on continuous basis
- Sapphire glass on the display
- 40 mm and 44 mm variant options
- Latest Exynos processor W920 that is marginally faster than Exynos 9110 processor
- Extensive global availability
How is Google Pixel Watch better than Samsung Galaxy Watch 5?
Pixel Watch has a much better hardware configuration than the Galaxy Watch 5. It has 2 GB internal memory and 32 GB device storage. Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has 1.5 GB internal memory and 16 GB device storage.
Google Pixel Watch also has a Corning Gorilla 3D glass. Most people would have preferred the Sapphire glass over a Corning Gorilla Glass. But, Corning Gorilla Glass is brighter than Sapphire glass and affords a better display readability experience, especially in sunlight.
Quick Summary of Comparison
The table below lists the main features of the Samsung Watch 5 and the Google Pixel Watch. This is a sort of ready reckoner for speedy reference points.
| Features | Samsung Watch 5 | Google Pixel |
|---|---|---|
| iOS Compatible | No | No |
| Android compatible (version 8 or higher) | Yes | Yes |
| Operating System | Wear OS | Wear OS |
| Size | 40 mm, 44 mm | 41 mm |
| Display | Super AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Display Glass | Corning Gorilla 3D Glass | Sapphire glass |
| Water Rating | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Dust Resistance | IP68 | Not Available |
| Storage | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Processor | Exynos 920 | Exynos 9110 |
| Memory | 1.5 GB | 2 GB |
| Battery Size | 294 mAH for 40 mm, 410 mAH for 44 mm | 294 mAH |
| ECG | Yes | Yes |
| Afib or Atrial Fibrillation | Yes | No |
| High low Heart Rate alerts | Yes | No |
| Blood Oxygen Saturation | Yes | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou |
| LTE or Cellular | Yes (in LTE model) | Yes (in LTE model) |
| Fall Detection | Yes | Yes |
| In-built Speaker | Yes | Yes |
| In-built Microphone | Yes | Yes |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer | Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Cadence Sensor |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 | 5 |
| ANT+ Wireless | No | No |
| Wi-Fi | Yes | Yes |
Closing thoughts
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 offers more valuable features and a faster processor than the Google Pixel Watch. Additionally, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has a much better and refined suite of heart tracking.
Over the past 5 generations, Galaxy Watches have evolved from Tizen based operating system to the Wear OS based smartwatch. It has had a past performance record that can be validated and tested by users all over the world. Pixel watch is the first generation Google watch. It shares many features with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.
But, we would prefer a Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 over the Google Pixel watch as of now.
Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].