The Pixel Watch 3 is using its battery for more features, like Loss of Pulse Detection

Earlier this year, the first Wear OS devices that touted up to 100 hours of battery launched. This was made possible by the Wear OS hybrid interface built on top of dual-chipsets. Google’s wearables have long used a hybrid architecture and the Pixel Watch 3 uses that for richer experiences and more features, like Loss of Pulse Detection, over battery life. 

Like last year, the Pixel Watch 3 is using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5, while the Cortex-M33 co-processor dates to the original. While older, Google has been continuously offloading more and more functionality to it, like the always-on display (AOD), connectivity, health tracking, and ML algorithms. As such, the main processor doesn’t have to activate unless it’s a more intensive task, like the new ability to stream live video from a camera on the Nest Doorbell.

This comes as the bigger Pixel Watch 3 displays — which go from AMOLED to LTPO —  are brighter at up to 2,000 nits, while being able to go down to 1 nit on the AOD. The dynamic refresh rate of 1-60 Hz also helps power efficiency, with last year’s watch not dropping below 30 Hz. Overall, it’s a better screen while being more power efficient. Other hardware additions include Ultra-Wideband (UWB) for better phone unlock and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

24 hours of battery with the AOD enabled is once again the estimate on both the 41 and 45 mm models. Overall, Google believes that you’re more likely to get that on the Pixel Watch 3 even with more intensive tasks. 

On the Pixel Watch 3, new features include Auto Bedtime Mode, more accurate heart rate tracking when running, and Loss of Pulse Detection. This is a new feature for any wearable that uses the heart rate monitor and other sensors to see if you’re having a loss-of-pulse event. This can include cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning.

Loss of Pulse Detection may not detect every instance of a loss of pulse and is not intended for users with pre existing heart conditions or those who require cardiac monitoring. It does not diagnose or treat any medical condition or provide follow-up care.

Google

Once detected, it will prompt users to confirm they are okay. If there’s no response or motion, the Pixel Watch 3 will place a call to emergency services with your location and context. This feature is launching first in Europe (Austria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) this September with regulatory approval in other countries coming. 

This product has not been cleared or evaluated by the US FDA. CE marked – Will be available in certain European markets g.co/fitbit/lossofpulse.

This is joined by existing health and safety features like Fall and Car Crash Detection. 

Meanwhile, Google is now saying battery saver on the Pixel Watch 3 will give you 36 hours of use (when enabled from 100%). While the AOD gets disabled as always, new is how tilt-to-wake will be enabled so you can still easily check the time. 

Overall, with the Pixel Watch 3, Google is prioritizing smarts and other helpful features over extended battery life. Targeting a full day of usage is inline with most other smartwatches, and what most people still expect. It will be interesting to see what better chips and batteries will deliver in the future, but we’re not there just yet.