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Some Pixel Watch 2 buyers are seeing long setup times

Google’s second Pixel Watch is way better than its first, but some early buyers are seeing that the Pixel Watch 2 is struggling to get through the setup process. Thankfully, Google is aware of the problem.

The setup process for Pixel Watch 2 is largely similar to the first generation. Boot up the watch (and ideally charge it), open the Pixel Watch app on your phone, and then follow a few steps to get your accounts linked and your apps installed, and you should be good to go. All in all, the process is only supposed to take around 10-20 minutes at most.

Some early Pixel Watch 2 buyers, though, are seeing the setup process drag on for far longer than it’s supposed to.

One example on X/Twitter shows the Pixel Watch 2 attempting to be paired to a Pixel 8 Pro, but both devices get stuck at a “connecting” screen for over 10 minutes. Another example saw the connection begin but then be stuck waiting for over an hour. Users on Reddit report similar behavior.

Top comment by John Vincent

Liked by 4 people

My entire setup took less than ten minutes to connect to my Pixel 7. I skipped the connect to fitbit part Wednesday night because I knew the servers were down, but the next morning it only took 30 seconds to finish that part.

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When this happens, users are often stuck in a loop where the watch eventually asks you to reset it or it resets itself. It’s obviously quite frustrating, but it does usually work given enough time and attempts. For some, having the watch fully charged does seem to help the situation, though Google doesn’t state this.

This actually doesn’t seem to be new to Pixel Watch 2, as we noticed the same problem last year, primarily due to mismatched app versions. The same cause could be true this time around, but there’s no official word on what the root cause is.

Google confirmed in a reply on X that it has received multiple reports of the problem and that the “team is already investigating it.” There’s no word on a potential fix and no mention of any troubleshooting steps in the meantime, but there’s at least hope that things will get better with time.

If you’re affected by this problem, let us know in the comments below.

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.


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