Pixelated - Watches and Earbuds and Foldables, Oh My

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Welcome to episode 73 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. Abner, Damien, and Will jump on their respective mics to talk over their experience with Google's second round of 2025 Pixel hardware, including the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the Pixel Buds 2a, and the Pixel Watch 4. Is one of these Google's standout products of the year? Can we be wowed by a minimal upgrade over last year's foldable? Subscribe YouTube Podcasts Pocket Casts Spotify Apple Podcasts Overcast Timecodes 00:00:00 - Intro and Pixel 10 Pro Fold 00:09:27 - Pixel Watch 4 hardware 00:30:31 - Pixel Watch 4 software 00:43:27 - Pixel Buds 2a 00:58:08 - Wrap-up Hosts Abner Li Damien Wilde Will Sattelberg Read more Pixel 10 Pro Fold Initial Review: Small changes more fitting of Google’s ‘Pro’ title Pixel Watch 4 (41mm) Review: Phenomenal in all ways but one Review: Google’s Pixel Watch 4 puts the ‘smart’ in smartwatch Google Pixel Buds 2a review: The Pixel 10 of headphones Listen to more 9to5 Podcasts The Sideload 9to5Mac Happy Hour Electrek Space Explored Feedback? Drop us a line at [e-mail], leave a comment on the post, or reach out to our producer.

Welcome to Pixelated episode 73. I'm your host, Will Saddleberg. This week, Abner, Damien and I are talking through the second wave of Google products all launching this week, including the Pixel10 Pro Fold, the PixelBuds 2A, and the main focus of our conversation, the Pixel Watch 4. It's a pretty meaty episode, so without further ado, consider this round two of Made by Google Reviews. So we have more pixel hardware.

This is signifying, I guess, the end of the made by Google cycle for 2025, but I think maybe some of the most interesting products, pixel fold, let's get this one out of the way early. The second wave. So the pixel fold, our review is on the site, but it is exactly like the Pixel 9 Pro fold visually, though Andrew notes that it is like a millimeter thinner, but the hinge, the hinge has some upgrades

in terms of allowing it to be IP68, which, yeah, I think I would at least need that level of comfort knowing that it can survive any splashes of water. Do you think the kind of person who's going to be using a foldable is worried about the durability now, or we're kind of at a phase where I guess it's almost proven that you can use these for a number of years now. Or are we just going to get to the point where we get a rugged foldable?

Because, I mean, I don't think people would do it. Yeah, probably done. I think we're, I think it's enough of most people for. Yeah, I agree. And what about like, I mean, I know IP 68 rating is, is that kind of, how does that work then? How have the meddies changes? So the hinge is the biggest thing in terms of smaller hinge, which reads to a nicer hand feel. The outer display is slightly bigger.

in terms to your durability point I think, what is it, Google said 10 plus years of folding, which is quite something. Of course,

nobody is going to have this for 10 plus years. I feel like with these foldables, though, there is an opportunity for someone to use it for a number of years as like an almost a productivity tool.

So maybe there is some kind of reasoning behind that. But they kind of, they say 10 years, but how do we know what 10 years of folds looks like? Like, is there, we put numbers on it, but I would love to know the mathematics behind it and the calculations for that because it kind of seems a bit crazy that they say 200,000 folds, but somebody might do 20, like I'm the kind of person I fidget. I could, I would unfold my pixel 9 profile all the time.

I definitely feel that's out of age. Yeah, like 200,000 folds. I think I could probably do that in three years if I really wanted to. But yeah. I guess we haven't, luckily we haven't seen anybody complaining about it with the Pixel 9 Pro fold or the original fold. So I suppose Google's in good company in terms of like durability for those. Do you think there's, like my question is just widely to kind of everybody is, do we genuinely think that the pixel fold has caught on the way that Google maybe have hoped that it has?

Because having this delayed launch feels really strange for them to do. And I don't know if that's maybe as a result of it needs to stand on its own or maybe they just don't have enough of a reason to, kind of put it alongside the pixel 10, which they've been very, very confident in. I think in, looking back earlier to even the Nexus era, as called the very early days of the pixel, Google has a history of December. They would have, like, save one product for December or not be able to launch a product into December.

I'm thinking of the Pixel C for some reason. So this fragmented thing is powerful. for the course for them historically. It is, of course, a bit annoying in terms of, it's nice to have a full family, a full range. But I think in the case of this, I think it just came down to manufacturing. I will talk about the Buds 2A in the second,

but I think the manufacturing of that on mine is August, just at the end of August. So after everything was announced. So I think this year it just came down to, production timelines and prioritizing the phones, which I think we're all in agreement, those three main phones is the right call. Yeah, 100%. We'll get the watch, which I disagree with.

But yeah. Yeah, the watch one feels really weird, doesn't it? I'm a little, I think Abner is probably correct because I, otherwise I would be stumped a little bit on Google's strategy. But I do kind of feel like I don't have enough evidence to like... fully understand what Google wants to do with its foldables, right? We had the first gen pixel fold was kind of like its own thing, right? Separate I.O. announcement came out in the summer.

You know, the pixel eight was the next generation and that was like three months later. And then the pixel nine pro fold was part of the that was folded in, no pun intended, folded into the generation, right, into the nine generation. And then with the pixel 10 pro fold, it's obviously part of the lineup, but is launching at the separate second launch event. And I don't think that, you know, especially because of something like the Pixel Watch 4, I think it's clear that that's not meant to like signify anything about it's about how Google thinks of it. But combined with the like complete, well, not complete lack of upgrades,

but the largely speaking lack of upgrades minus the, you know, improved water and dust resistance. Like I struggle to fully see where Google, wants to take its foldables, not that it's not a priority for them or not that they're going to drop out of the market next year. They obviously care or they wouldn't be doing this work on like the hinge, for example. But like, I don't know, at Gen 3, like I'm already kind of like wanting to know what Google wants this to be in the future. And I don't think we're going to know that until next year. I think this is, this feels a little bit like a placeholder launch. And

that might not be a bad thing. I felt like the Fold 6 for Samsung was a little bit of a placeholder phone. as well. And they followed that up with, inarguably their best foldable to date. And certainly their fastest selling. So yeah, like I do wonder, I do, yeah, you put you, you hit something a little bit deeper there. I do wonder if the pixel temporal fold having this distance a little bit between the seven galaxy, was it

galaxy fold seven? I can't remember the names of them anymore. There's so many. Going a little bit away from that in terms of launch kind of gives them a little bit more of a window to kind of stand on its own a little bit. because I do think when you look at the Samsung's effort this year versus what Google have done, which is, I guess, a retread of the 9 Pro Fold, which was fantastic. I still like the 9 Pro Fold.

And I'm guessing the improvements, according to Andrew, seem to have made enough of a difference to maybe not warrant, it's definitely not warrant an upgrade, but for anyone with the pixel fold original, this might be the one to make Switch to. But, yeah, having this little kind of launch window on its own away from Samsung might be a sensible thing,

and it might help get a few more eyes that maybe would have been looking to upgrade to a different one and they want that pixel experience. So yeah, I mean, I don't have any judgments, obviously. I'm going on secondhand information from Andrew because I haven't actually had much time apart from my hands-on session with this device.

So I feel a little bit like I'm trying to like quantify it from pixel 9 profile and that feels a bit unfair because I do think, I think we're probably all in agreement right that with the pixel 10 we didn't expect a huge upgrade from pixel 9 and in theory it isn't. But there's a lot of little mini changes that do make a big difference.

So I was kind of hopeful that that would be the same here. And it does look like some of the changes that have been made do improve upon the formula, which is, I guess, all we can ask for in some respect. Like the smartphone space is so mature at this point in time that even minor gains are still gains, which is a win is a win, if that makes sense. I wish I had more to say about the fold. I truly, it is one of those interesting things, right, where it's like, it's not a bad phone by any means, but it's just kind of, it's like, did you not buy last years? Like,

do you, have you been waiting to upgrade, like, maybe your original pro fold or maybe an older Samsung, uh, device, Samsung foldable? Like, I think it's like a good upgrade for that, but, but there's nothing excite. Like, I don't, I don't think this is going to convince somebody who's been been on the fence about foldables to finally make the plunge. I think that's coming from Google. Like I said, like I think that's next year. Um, but, but yeah, it makes it for a really weird. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, It's probably the most boring foldable I've ever seen launched just because it's so similar to last years. And we are really starting to have this product lineup hit like maturity in a way that makes it so that these just feel like any other smartphone.

I think that's, yeah, I think that kind of sums it up a little bit. But when we look at, let's look at the wider portfolio that's been released today. Then let's look at the, let's get into the pixel watch because I think this is the one which, and I think Abner definitely agrees with me on this is that this is the product that feels the most improved in the most meaningful ways. I mean, Abner, you've been using the 41 millimeter. I've been using the 45. Tell me about the 41 because I'm really interested to see how you feel about this smaller size at this point in time because there's been some decent improvements over there as well, right? Yeah. So I, I'm a small watch person. I've, for the playing the pixel watch, I've picked the 41 that I've, I've,

I've used the smaller Samsung Galaxy watches, on and on. I like small watches. It looks better on my wrist that way. It's stylistic, just pure style. But I spent the last six months with the 45-millimeter pixel watch three. And I did appreciate the biggest screen, but what I loved was the battery. The way I use it, I could easily get two days of usage,

three nights of sweep tracking before having to put it back on the charger. And going back with the Pixel Watch 4, I tried to do at least two nights of wires, two nights before I had to recharge. But no, it's a one, I could only really comfortably take it to one day. And that, the battery is the biggest thing to note about the 41. but design-wise, and as emphasized in the 45, this is a fantastic display. It's a very interesting display.

Yeah, I think this is one of those things that you don't necessarily, you can't tell this from renders, you can't necessarily tell this from videos initially. This is one of those products that you have to see in person to kind of really understand, if that makes sense. Like the difference is if you have a, if you're out with someone out there who already has a Pixar Watch 3, the Pixar Watch 3 is. fantastic and I don't think anybody in reality should look to upgrade. But if you if if you have an inkling to, I don't think you're going to be disappointed. It's one of the few

things where the changes to the displays made such a big difference to how it feels. It's almost like it's tape the software is finally tailored to the hardware in a way that it was not that it wasn't there before is that this just feels like the missing puzzle piece. You know it's clearly this was the fun. This is the design that Google has wanted from the beginning when they started their water drop with inspired design. So the screen is domed. It's higher at the center, it's lower at the edges. You feel it when you swipe, you absolutely fear it. But you can also see how it impacts the display, which is also domed. Both the grass, both the cover grass and the actual display underneath are domed. And that results in optical illusion where everything at the center

is closer to you. And I think where I've noticed that, where I've really appreciated that, is at angles. When your wrist is down or if you're sitting or whatever, you can view the time much better at an angle without you having to turn your wrist towards you. It's, it's, it's, It feels so much like a physical watch. That's like a depth in the way that physical watches have dials of that three-dimensional and that helps you check out the time. And that effect is replicated here. It just feels like a physical watch.

Yeah, the display is one of those things. Like I say, you kind of have to see it. And I agree with you with like the small camber that you have when you can kind of slide your finger across in ways. It's like, and I think this gets at a different. problem entirely is that it almost feels like this is the perfect example of a curved screen on a curved device feels well tailored whereas a flat screen on a flat screen on a device that probably shouldn't be curved feels out of place and this yeah I didn't think it would make a difference but it it really does like

the interactivity like you say there's certain elements that feel more 3D the screen is closer to the display at the top the actual glass so it's like yeah it feels like a like you say a traditional a wristwatch as opposed to a smart watch. And I mean, I'd be interested to see how Samsung and other companies follow up because they now look a little bit dated. Not necessarily dated, but the display tech feels a little bit dated as a result

because it feels more like a life. Yeah, when you go to a flat display, it feels, I don't know, boring is the light word, but it feels the shift, like going back between the pixel arch four and the pixel watch trees past during the review period, it's different, and you can tell that there's a different thing on your list, and that was unexpected. Because with the first three generations, you can't tell the difference. Yeah, there's a review in your photo, or a photo in your review, Abner, I should say,

that is, that shows it, like, perfectly. Like, as someone who has not used the Pixel Watch 4 yet and has a Pixel Watch 3, like it really does look like it's printed right on like a bubble in a way that like I'm not seen from other other smart watches. And it does end up looking like a more, you know, even if it doesn't quite like hit like this is fully, and it's going to depend on your watch phase, but fully, you know, analog watch that is actually secretly a smart watch or something.

Like it certainly looks like the hybrid of the two categories that I think lots of us have wanted out of a smart watch forever. And it is interesting that, you know, Google seems to be kind of the only company chasing this trend anymore, right? Like Apple has never tried to look like a traditional launch, in my opinion. Like they lead into the like, it's a computer on your wrist thing for better or for worse. And I think, I think Samsung has bounced in and out of it. And right now, I think the Galaxy Watch 8, regardless of how you feel about like its overall design.

Like I think it's like trying to do its own thing in a way that like I think makes this very distinct, like, design-wise from, I don't know, it's just, it's interesting that these two companies that have worked so closely together on where it was have such distinct, uh, different ideas on what the actual watches should look like beyond just being a watch, being like the big similarity, obviously. But like, this looks nothing like the, the galaxy watch rate. And I think that's a good thing. I think that there are going to be people who, who maybe bounce off the, the ultra-minimalist design here and go towards Samsung or vice versa. And I think that's, that's really interesting. Yeah, it's a timepiece, isn't it? It's more than a smart watch. I'd call it a timepiece.

And there was an elegance in a design. I think I'm glad Google stuck with it because there are lots of rugged, like it's almost like everyone seems to converge on Apple's design a little bit, and then there's obviously been a pushback, and then we've seen people go down the rugged route, or they've gone down the chorus slash Garmin route. And I think this is very, very different to those. And I know that there are going to be people who are disappointed because they want to something a little bit more rugged. I don't think so far, I mean, how are you getting on in terms of like use and abuse abner? Like I haven't had any touchwood, any major issues. I haven't like snagged or anything. I do think there's a very, very minor. I know it wasn't necessarily a big problem

with the original Pixel Watch right through to last year's Pixel Watch 3. It doesn't seem to snag as much on shirts. And I don't know if that is something to do with the dome shape. I think it just could be placebo, to be honest. But because this is a brand new watch. that is like got a perfect screen with no damage on it, if that makes sense. But I don't think, I haven't had any issue so far. We've been wearing it at the gym a little bit and it seems to be okay. I'm really enamored by the more closely aligned tying of the software and the hardware, though. It almost feels like that is that another link that's knitting together of things

because it arrives in the same color, the color scheme that you have, of the color watch you've chosen, which I thought was really, really, I didn't anticipate that for some reason. before we jump into the software and just to round out the physical stuff so the one thing I'm mech about is the side button is so much thinner the button above the crown they made it from a thick pill

into a thin swiver I'm seeing you looking at it right now I'm like do you know what I keep forgetting that it's there half the time yeah it's I'm surprisingly adopt multitask. I use it for multitasking more than I expected. But yeah, that's a tins shiver.

And I guess the big hardware thing is the charging thing. Yeah. Oh, yeah. The pins. So there are two pins franking the speakers. And I feel them. So when I press the side buttons, I use my four thing. I press the crown and the side button.

my thumb and I use my forefinger the side of my four fingers the brace and that's when I come into contact with the pins. It's there are tiny bumps you barely feel them. But in that scenario, the F's near her I just described. I kind of wonder if it would be better if they were a bit wider or something because it's tiny bumps, they feel like, I don't know, they feel like some dirt on or something. do you think this is something you're noticing because you're reviewing the product or do you think

this is something that like anybody who buys this watch is going to to I think you'll forget about it but for the start that you feel like oh this shouldn't be thing should be smooth you're scaring me abner you're making me think they're going to change the charger next generation again so yeah the charger I am a once a day charger at night before going to bed So I The fast charging I have noticed as fast Altar fast

That's what they're using But so how do you charge Damien So I'm the opposite I could not be further from you In terms of my charge cycle I charge in the morning I don't really often I have for the duration

of the review period worn my watch to bed I haven't got the full seven nights yet weirdly because there was one night where the battery ran out in the middle of the night so it didn't capture my sleep my full sleep cycle

so it didn't count but yeah the charge cycle that I have is which which hasn't really changed for any smart which I've used actually for a long time because now we're getting two days of battery I charge in a morning take it off give my watch a little bit of a clean and put it on the charger for 20 minutes or so and then get a little bit of battery I hardly ever go from zero to 100% and I'm kind of the same with all of my devices anyway I don't very often charge to 100%.

But the fast charging has changed the game. But it's so fat, like 15 minutes you're getting like 50, 60%. I know Google, I think Google says 50% in 15 minutes, but in my experience is a little bit faster than that. No, yeah. It's the thing they're trying to get you, they feel like this chart, charging stand, doc, whatever. They feel like this is that plus the auto fast charging. They feel it's like a habit changing kind of thing. It's so fast that you might be in device to charge, let's say, if the charges at your desk, you're working throughout the day, you take it off for a few minutes, you get a full charge, you put it back on. They're imagining

that since it's so fast and that the charging mechanism is more convenient, it's a dock, it's a traditional dock, that you'd be more likely to just top up throughout the day. But for me, it's, I don't like losing any sense of heart rape or the notification. I know, I kind of feel like what's happened to me is like if I take off my watch, sometimes I forget to put it back on, even if it's right next to me. Like if I need to take it off for a break to free up my wrist or whatever, I sometimes forget to put it back on for like an hour, so I just don't risk it anymore.

That's such a first world problem. I don't get your heart rate data for an hour. I mean... I have 14 years of heart rate data. I'm not, okay, that's crazy. Okay,

yeah, that's, that is impressive. I mean, for me, it's a case of I put it on the dock, and what I will say

about the dock is, the dock itself is, it's way better. If anyone out there's worrying about the switch, yes, I'm very annoyed that some of the accessory docs

that I bought, which support the Pixar Watch 2 through to the Pixel Watch 3. Did you know. And now, like, it's a waste a waste of time. That's disappointing.

But this new charging methodology is so much better. Like you say, you drop it in, it's weighty as well. So like the little, the little stand thing has its own little rubbery, it's like a rubber base with the G logo on it. It's almost like, how would I describe it? I guess it is like a pixel stand in some respects.

And it's on a smaller scale and it's really like dense and it feels really well made because I think the ones were a bit cheap. Oh, that's the past two and three, far cheap. And lining up the pins was always annoyance because it was like, like, oh, you could sometimes have it like, you had to have it a certain way. Yeah, for one side, don't we. And the pins would get dirty

and all that kind of stuff. I think in hindsight, this should have been the way they went from the beginning, but yeah, understandably, understandable it's taken them four generations to do it. They need to stick with this design because I think they could add software-baked features into this. Like, I like the fact that when you put it in,

it changes orientation of the screen. It shows up the time to charge along the almost the crown side, is the crown side. And then you have like almost like a little flip clock. It's its own clock, right? I don't think that's, you don't think you can set that one,

which is a bit weird, which is a bit disappointing because I quite like it. It's like a classic, I don't know if anyone knows, like a folio style clock. They're like an analog style one that flips. That in and of itself is a really good way to do things.

I just wish they will, they'll add some more, maybe they will with pixel drops, feature drops, whatever on the call them nowadays. We could get certain functions, mini nest-up functions, Gemini functions with this. I think that could be amazing for your desk or your bedside table,

your bedside cabinet, whatever it is. And all it took was changing the charger again. Yeah. In that respect, I can't follow it. It's, again, like, I saw it during the testing period, but I don't benefit from any of these changes, given how I charge. Yeah.

Maybe now that the review is over, I'll test, I'll try different charging routines or whatever, but it's, it's, I, I'm glad they put all this work into it. And you are somebody that doesn't wear your watch to bed to get sweeptracking. So there are people that will benefit it from if they put it on the side of the bed table or whatever. but I don't know. It's a shame that I didn't get to really appreciate that or the auto fast charging. Yeah, it's physically. It's interesting. Real quick, Abner, sorry.

It's interesting that we've now seen Google do this twice where they make a device that turns into like some kind of smart display, whether it's the pixel tablet in a big smart display or the pixel watch in a little smart display. And that both times we've been like, yeah, it's not bad. Wish it was a little, like, wish that. they would add a little more to it. It could do so much more.

And I do wonder if maybe we just won't see any improvements of the way that, like, I didn't feel the pixel tablet really got like a lot better as a smart display over time. It's a really small screen. It's a really small display. I'm with you, but I am like, man, it's not enough to be a bad side clock. It's not.

That's probably true. But Damien's saying it is. I don't know. I'd be curious to see them experiment with it, I guess is where I'm at. I wish Google would be a little more brave on this stuff because it was how I felt about the pixel tablet too, which is like, just swing for the fences.

And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I'd rather see Google do too much and have things not, not maybe be what you wanted them to be than have them, then have us be like, ah, there were some ideas they clearly left on the table here. Oh, well, like, maybe they'll add them later. I don't know. Like I, because I, again, haven't used the Pixel Watch for. But my first smartwatch was the Moto 360,

which had like the exact same doc idea. And I also used that, because I don't even think sleep tracking was really a thing in 2014 with watches. Battery life wasn't good enough. But like I would, I also used that thing like a little, like clock next to my bed when I was in college. Like I'm kind of with Damien. That you have an inch pixel tap, but I have one next to my bed. And I don't think that's a big enough clock at night. I love it.

You don't think an 11 inch. You want a 55-inch TV at the side of your bed? What's going on? I'm from a Ness 7-inch Nest-tub, the Nest-Tub max, and then to the pixel tab of it. And it's, no, I could go bigger. He basically wants a TV at the side of your bed. I was going to say you're looking, you're looking for Google TV's like screen-sreensaver mode just all night. I love it.

That's great. But on that, I think, okay, in terms of Google sustainability promises, right? The fact of the matter is, if they can reduce e-waste in any way possible, and if a watch, what's a lifespan of a smart watch? I don't actually, this is a thing, and now I feel a bit detached from reality and from the in-aircuts average person, because I don't, most people I know will keep an Apple watch for four to five years. I don't know the app.

I don't know enough people with the pixel watch to know how long they keep a pixel watch. And it's mostly people in this industry are very, very hardcore tech people who are switching on a regular basis. But if you are in, well, the repairability is increased, which I massively applaud. I think that Google needs to keep doing that. In the long term, if you could potentially use it as a watch, sorry, a clock at the side of your bed, years down the line, I think that would be good. You can keep the annual crop.

Mine is at least 15 years old. One that I have in the home is 15 years old. It's not big enough. I just imagine it with the 45 I just don't think it's big enough So okay What we want then It's a horrible tinny speaker

For alarms You're grabbing Like your mad ring You could I could easily knock it off I can see myself knocking it off So we want to get you a big I don't know if you hope this I hope this lands

Because this is show my age now Are you aware of the rapper Flav He used to wear a He used to wear a clock around his neck. You want that at the side of the bed. So when we get Googles, they go from 45mm to 11-inch watch, the pixel watch 11-inch is what we want next year.

But yeah, yeah, now they've proven that they can make these sizes work. I do wonder if they're going to go a bit bigger. I do think if we get a 49-inch, 49-millimeter display on a watch, they've proven that they can make this curve now. They can reduce that. I wonder if they're going to start motoring and really, start pushing this pushing the envelope

with this design. And for me, with that dock, that opens up the opportunity to replace an analog clock at the side of my bed. And I'm here for it. I like dual purpose devices, but again,

if something becomes defunct in what do you get, three, four years of updates, if we hit the end of that and I can leave it at the side of my bed plugged in constantly with no fire risk, obviously,

then I probably would do that. I probably would do that genuinely. And I think that would be good for keeping it out of landfill. So I'm trying to give Google credit there. Avna, before you say you want a 55-inch TV. I found a 30-inch wall-mounted clock on Amazon.

It's on sale for Prime Day. I think Abner should buy it. So, yeah, that's the hardware. So software, as you were ruling to Damien, material to expressive. To me, it is really the best. It's a, this, like, smart watch UI is very simple. And it's pure material to expressive.

expressive to me. It is, it is, every surface has been redesigned. It is whimsical. It is delightful all around. There's touches. Like, when you turn it off, it says by. There's a hello greeting too, when you turn it on. It's quick settings updated. Dynamic color. That's what you were saying. It took four years, shamefully. It took Google four years from the announcement of material and dynamic color to bring it beyond the phone, which is incredible. But yeah, no, that dynamic color plays a big role. Themes your notifications. It just makes it align with your watch face, which I think is really what needed to happen all this time. I think that's where the big extension of your phone is really, really pronounced as well. Like, we've waxed, I feel like I will constantly wax lyrical

about material very expressive because we hit a point with material you that was just kind of, I don't want to say Google were phoning it in, but it felt like that. It felt like we kind of hit a point where there was, not running out of ideas, but they were saving this big, big home run here. It felt a little stagnant.

Whereas I have compared the Pixel Watch 3 to the Pixel Watch 4. And currently the Pixel Watch 3 as of recording is running ROS 5. We don't know, I'm guessing in the next week or so, a couple of months or so. I feel it's the same about this one.

Okay, well, if it's a few months and it's a few months, genuinely, while I think the Pixar 3 is still fantastic, it does feel dated in the software now. Like it feels,

it feels like a step back. No, that's said, all your tiles have been updated in the past few weeks, so that's something. True. But in everywhere else, it just feels like

the interactions are different. Notifications don't look as good. Notifications just feel like, I mean, there's definitely an element of one UI to some of them. They feel a bit one UI oxygen OSI,

but in a good way, if that makes sense. Like there's some, there's extra color added it. And even the, I don't know, you're using the 41 millimeter, but the previews for applications are so good. Yeah, when message notifications come in, there's like a temporary screen that just shows the name, a large profile picture and all that. That is a good use of M3E. It's, I don't know, it's just pure distillation of what Material Tree wants to do.

Where with no craft, everything is delightfully anima. that everything is rich. Tiles, they get the biggest usability upgrade. And again, like, people with all the, underwear, OS 5 have been getting these benefits. But you can see so much more info, even under 41. It's the weather is pretty rich. Pixel weather is a good app.

It's, I don't know, what tiles do you use both of you? I'm just looking through mine currently, and I think I've kept it default. If I'm, that sounds really boring. No, I added the Gemini. I added the Gemini one, the quick Gemini one to turn off my lights. I've also always kept my default.

I know that's a boring answer. The most leftmost and light most. What's that for all of us? Okay, let's see my most. Right most is Google Fit, which I do, is it Google Fit Fitbit? Sorry, I mistook that. And then far left is the weather

because I just go between those quickly. And I think they might actually be default. I don't have my pixel watch on. I'm sorry. What would you have? I don't remember. Mine is a new pixel weather. And a timer and a timer one because I have been embracing quick naps.

I'm the boring guy who is mostly wearing a smart watch for like just just notifications and fitness tracking, which I know is not an exciting. But like that's part of why I don't upgrade very often anymore. Like I don't. You know, we were talking about when people upgrade their smart watch and like as much as I am obviously a tech writer, even I struggle to really see justification beyond every three years or so. And even then I feel like that's, that's fairly rapid compared to the rest of the market. Yeah.

So it's a terrible answer for, but it, yeah, I don't know. To me, it's like primarily there to track when I go for a run or, or even just a walk or what I'm doing throughout the day and then notifications. Yeah,

for me, it's still a bridge to notifications first and foremost. But the tile system is something that I never really, I never, I can't say I was a huge tile user. But over the last few years since I've been using the Pixel Watch 2, 3 and now the 4, and I've switched in between with Samsung and One Plus a couple of times. I'm trying to use them more. I think they're really, really useful for starting a quick fitness routine. I wish it could be more customization there for that.

I like the fact you can get a step counter there because I think with the Pixel Watch hardware being the way that it is, I kind of like. the old school analog watch faces, like the replicate analog watch faces, and they don't have as much data on them. And so I've been using the tile, I've been trying to force myself to use tiles more to get that information

that the whole point of owning these, right? So I find that I'm getting the classic timepiece that I want with all of those data points as well. So I think with tiles, it's just a case of like majority fitness, majority health, majority weather. Beyond that, yeah, some of the quick actions have been really useful. I'm going to get rid of the Google Maps one

because I think that auto launches now anyway, so it feels a bit redundant, but for the most part, pretty standard with a few tiny tweaks just to kind of speed general day-to-day tasks out so I don't need to use my phone all the time. Yeah. Which I guess is the main thing for a smartwatch, right?

It's a bridge to the accessibility things that you have on your phone. So I guess in that respect, Google's done a really good job, and Longmate continued with WearOS 7 or whatever they want to call it in the future, I think they've done a fantastic job so far. Like you said, there's so many little playful touches, and it's mostly down to haptics as well.

Like there's haptics more in areas. We forgot about the hardware. The haptics this year is, they say, Gen 3 premium haptics. I don't know if they've ever given it a versioning before in the past, but with this one,

it feels like pinplex. Like scrolling the crown feels so much more distinct than what came before. Like in comparison, last years felt like a, a general buzz, like your entire list was buzzing. This feels like a fine pin trick. Yeah, it's like, I would say for your Americans, the Z or the Z axis, there's definitely more

bump in the Z axis. So it's like, and I think that's one thing that Apple does fantastically. I don't think their haptics are the best in the industry anymore. I think Opper does that, but I think the fact that you have Z axis deep vibrations with this watch and it's like they're crisp as well. And that seems really disrespectful to the Pixel Watch 3 because the Pixar Watch 3 has fantastic haptics, some of the best on a wearable. I'm surprised to hear that you guys think it's such a leap forward

because I was thinking right now of like I have had zero complaints about the haptics and my Pixel Watch 3. I do wonder if they'll tune some of the thing because obviously they can tune it. I'm guessing it's a graph that they use for easing of a haptics and using their taptic engine or whatever they want to call it. I don't know what they call it to be honest,

but I get the impression that they will be able to tune that with WearOS 6 update 4 PixelWatch 3. But I just think the, like you say, they feel a lot more crisp. And I guess that ties into the display as well. The display feels so much closer to your finger, which is ridiculous against say. But it feels like there's more interactivity there.

At best, it's a millimeter, but I just can't emphasize, like at the best the screen's a millimeter close to you at the center. But that sense of depth, everything is on virtual. displays, they're flat. Everything is flat. We're used to just everything flat. And the minute you add some real depth that's not a curve away from you, it feels different from everything you've used.

And the novelty there should not be dismissed. Yeah. What do we think in terms of like battery life, though? I know we talk briefly about it. I just wanted to go back to it for a moment because how are you finding when you have all of these things that we mentioned active fitness tracking heart rate maybe always on display because i've been like and even i haven't turned off haptics and stuff i've turned off the sound but for me i've been really really impressed i'm able to use all of these features and still get the same battery life as last year in some cases a tiny tiny bit longer yeah the 45 millimeter is absolutely a tank it's you it's it's again with my thing it's the 41 it's just the size is constraint.

And I guess to start wrapping this up, I'd say that I think the 41 needs to grow, be it a millimeter or two or one and a half millimeters. I think the battery life, where multi-day battery life, even if it's just two days, feels so much different for how you use your watch. No anxiety about to charge every day

or not to have another, not to have a second phone, basically, that you have to manage and charge every day. I think that is a big coquivnessy difference. And I think as with 45, I love everything about the 41. I think this is a January good design that I hope they continue. But I just think it needs to get bigger. Yeah.

I think that what we're trying to say, Will, is that you need to go out tomorrow and buy the 45mm pixel watch four. Because this is, I think this is a start. Personally, I think this is the star of the show. I don't know if you're the same. Abner, I think this is the product of this made by Google series. And in some respects, again, what I alluded to slightly earlier in the pod is that having this separation between Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch 4 now means that we have this marquee

product in its own footing. Yeah. And so it probably would have been lost in the deluge of Pixel 10 content because people are in smartphone brain. We only care about smartphones. And auxiliary products and accessories don't necessarily get the fanfare that they deserve. maybe on Apple's side of the fence they do but I mean that's to speak of Apple fans

is very very they're very different audience I yeah I think it's a in hindsight it probably is a good idea that this had this minor delay we don't know the reason right there was no reason particularly given for it but it's that it definitely now means that coming up into that holiday period there is a product now which you can have on your radar

and be like this is a this is a decent leap over the predecessor, an even bigger leap over the previous, previous generation. Let's talk about upgrades. I think if you have a pixel watch absolute, the original pixel watch absolute upgrade, pixel watch two, absolute upgrade. So the pixel watch three, the 45 millimeter, since all the people bought that for the first time for the size, it's probably a harder sell. But I'd say for 41 pixel watch three people, the street, so they've been container

is shrinking the bezel. And I think this year at the 41, in addition to the dome, I kind of feel like this is, you're getting so much, it feels like you're getting so much more screen. So my test for this has been a lot of the watch, newer watch faces grew introduced. They add an arc style complication to the very perimeter. To me, that has always looked weird on the 41 last year. But on this year's Pixel Watch 4, it looks pretty good. It doesn't look squish. It doesn't look too compact. So I think this with if you are a small watch person and you want, but you want a bigger screen. I think this year's 41 is a pretty good step up in terms of it's a meaningfully different in addition to the dome. Yeah. I'm interested to see what happens with sales of

the 41 versus 45. I still feel like the 45 is that. Absolutely. It's the one. It has the aura. That said, I think I am sticking to the, I don't see myself going to the 45. I think I'll try out the 41 for a bit longer.

And at that point, it might not keep wearing it until the next one. But again, I love my time at the 45. The battery was genuinely. I didn't have to, I never thought about the battery. So, yeah.

Yeah, okay, so that's Pixel Watch 4. Now let's get into some earbuds because it feels like we've neglected your experience of no Pixel Watch 4, Will, but you are very, very experienced in the Pixel Watch. PixelBuds 2A, if I can even say it. Yeah. Just call them Buds, just don't call them. We need to get rid of this silly naming convention. I'm bad at it.

I should know by now. But yeah, PixelBuds 2A, I've been using them, you've been using them. Have you been using them, have? Yep, I have. How do we feel about these buds in comparison to other buds? How do we feel about them in just in isolation? Yeah. I think the short version of my review is basically,

if these were $100 MSRP, I would be giving them like two big thumbs up, go rush out and buy them. Great, $100 earbuds. At 1.30, I know that's not a huge difference, but it does, you do think a little bit more about it when you hit like the true triple digit figure. They're not they're not bad.

It's just that like Google took four years off from the mid range earbud market. And I think more than anything, it's the mid range earbud market we've seen accelerate the fastest of, you know, of if you're looking at budget mid range and high end earbuds, I think I think mid range are the ones that have come along the farthest in that span of time. these feel like they would have been a really good upgrade over the original A series in 2023 or maybe even last year. This year, you know, there's a lot of, you can get a lot of really good earbuds for like $130, $150 that maybe outshine these in a specific way, right? Whether it's better audio quality, maybe a better fit, better mic quality, better controls. I think these are really good jack-of-all-trade earbuds, though.

Like, there's nothing wrong with them. I don't know if they totally shine in any specific way but that's kind of what the A series is supposed to be for anyway I will say the biggest thing of them by far and I'll be curious to see what you guys think is their comfort level I think these are a huge upgrade over the comfort of the original A series I think the tail the you know the hook to I wrote it a hundred times in my review and I can't think of the proper word I think it's Finn right yeah finner Stabilizer or stabilizer.

Ear wing, I think, is what I referred to it. But the wing is so much smaller and so much more comfortable. And yet actually feels, you know, I went on a run yesterday evening and wore these, you know, it wasn't a super long run. But I think I maybe adjusted them once or twice and otherwise totally stable in my ear. And that's honestly like a hard, you know, when you're moving and sweating like that, like a difficult barrier to cross. and these totally nail it.

So that's my favorite aspect beyond the size in shape of the case as well, which feels so easily pocketable. But otherwise, the sound is good, not great. The ANC is good, not great. Pass through is probably the weakest element of these. Did these need ANC? Did these $130 earbuds need ANC?

Would it have been drastically cheaper if there were no ANC? That's a good question, isn't it? Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure how much ANC is ANC the reason these are $130 and not 100 because the first 10 was, was 100. I don't know. I'm happy it's here, I think, overall.

It's not great ANC, but it's, it's, it definitely blocks up more noise than when I have it just in the off default position. So I'm happy it's here. It's mostly, it mostly works with white noise or white noise adjacent sound. So air conditioners and if you're on a plane, these should work fairly well. I'll know, I'll know soon. And, you know, it'll tamper down on like if you're vacuuming or something. But as far as people goes, this is conversational sounds around you.

It more muffles them than completely removes them. But I don't know. I'm happy it's here. I think if we're spending over $100 on earbuds in 2025, 2026, I want ANC. even if it's not like remarkable, but it's good. It's comparable to what I remember, like, earlier flagship ANC equipped earbuds sounding like at obviously a cheaper price point than what you used to have to pay. So I guess I'm happy it's here, even if you're probably right, Abner.

It probably would have brought the price down a significant amount without it. Yeah, to me, I would, I'd rather have touch control. I'd rather be able to change the volume rather than have A&C. $30 to me would be better well spent upgrading whatever that few cents sensor is to allow you to change the bloody volume on the buds. And honestly, you say that, and I said there wasn't anything bad about these earbuds, and I take it back. The controls are bad.

That's the one thing I would say. Go ahead. Yeah, I mean, like Apple doesn't have it on, they don't have volume control on their buds. It seems like that's the distinction thing. Oh, to the basic AirPods not have volume? I've never used a basic pair of earbuds of AirPods. I did not know that. Okay.

Interesting. Yeah, it's, it's just, yeah, it's, I feel like that's what everybody has consolidated around for the cheap, the cheap earbuds. But yeah, I haven't had any issues with taps, but I can see how it's, it's such a small touch target. Yeah. You have to make sure you're hitting it and not that your ear. I see that absolutely.

The most frustrating part for me is been sometimes when I tap and it thinks I've held and I can't figure out why. So I'll tap to player pause and it'll do nothing for a couple seconds and then switch A&C on or off and I'm like, that's my finger has not been,

I did not, that was not a hold. And sometimes vice versa as well where I'm trying to hold it and it thinks I'm just tapping. Yeah, I have not had a great time with the controls, to be honest. I would say they're more reliable than not, but they're unreliable enough

that it's going to be apparent, I think, to even people who aren't reviewing them. I get the impression with the PixelBuds A series in general, though, they've almost been like a consolidation for the first-gen pixel buds, the first true wireless ones, were really, really finicky, really kind of disappointing,

they're being completely honest. And then the A-series fixed a lot of the issues that we had with the main ones. Yeah, the PixelButs, too. Yeah, and the pixel... Yeah, sorry, Yeah, and then the PixelBuds 2 Pro are pretty solid. I think they go on sale regularly for about $160, $160, $160.

So you kind of, I do think you're probably better off going that route if you really care about having earbuds that match your device. But personally, I think this is one of Google's weakest areas. I think audio is still something that they just can't seem to, they can't really seem to match everybody else in every single area. I think the pixel buds Pro 2 are about the closest they've come. They have the best transparency mode I've ever used on earbuds,

but there's just some little problems here in there. Yeah, it's audio quality. I think they care more about seeing these as smart earbuds rather than a pure audio device. I think their interest is seeing what kind of augmented experiences they can offer from Gemini to whatever that they can, versus pure audio, which is fair.

That's what the specialty is. They're not a headphone company or whatever. Yeah. I think, and I told you this, Damien, but that makes this a really good pair of like secondary earbuds. I don't, I think $130 is way too much to pay for a second pair of earbuds. But I and Damien, I know you've told me the same thing. These, you, these are easily, you know, you can easily foresee these being given

away as bonuses as, you know, a holiday deal, like buy a pixel 10 and we'll give you a pair of A series, like, for, like, and if, good, go ahead. Yeah. And if you get these for free or significantly reduced, I think you're going to be really happy with them. It's just a matter of like, are these good enough to be your main pair of earbuds? It depends on what you want out of earbuds. But, but, you know, again, they're well-rounded, but they're not, I don't think they're really excelling anywhere specific. Yeah, but I guess the main thing is they're reliable. there are a reliable pair of ear buds. You can get better options out there.

I do think the gold standard on Android is still OnePlus Buzz Pro 3. I think they're the best pairing with any smartphone in terms of price to performance. But yeah, they're pretty solid. I don't really have as much to say about the Buds 2A. No, that's kind of it. I think that's kind of a good thing, right?

A good thing and a bad thing in some respects. I think maybe my experience has been tempered by the fact that the Pixel Watch 4 has impressed me so much more than I expected and these have let me down a little bit in that respect. That's fair. I listen to podcast. Music's been pretty okay.

I'm not, I wouldn't necessarily, I hate saying, I'm not an audiophile. I know what good things sound like. I know what bad things sound like. And these sound like six and a half, seven out of ten.

I agree. Sound is good, but like, I, you know when you get a pair of new earbuds, especially high end earbuds or high end headphones, and you're like, wow,

you know, you pick an album, maybe like a reason album you like or something and you know, is something you have not noticed before. I did not have that moment. That happened for me in years. Exactly.

And it's not happening here. Like this sounds, it's not going to impress you. But I don't think it's going to annoy you either. I don't think, you know, the worst thing, I think my biggest critique about the sound

was that it's sometimes, depending on the sound and the EQ settings you have it on, sounds a little muffled in certain, especially like the lows, I think sounded a little muffled to me. I don't think it's bad. And I don't think I'd even notice

if I wasn't like really, really listening to it to like try to review these. I'm going to keep using them. And I think that's probably the highest praise I can say. Like I find the comfort level is so nice on these that like that I can forgive a little bit more on the rest of the device because they fit my ear so well. And I'm really particular about about earbuds. And so, you know, what I say, I didn't really have any comfort issues with these. at all beyond occasional ear fatigue after a couple hours, I think that's pretty impressive. Yeah, I think at 70, 70 pounds, $70, which I think the original Bud's A series were down

at pretty much all the time. I think I saw them as low as 59 pounds here in the UK. These are well worth it. 130, I think, $1.29. Yeah, wait for a sale. I think you're going to get a big product. I suppose you can apply that to everything in life, but I think these specifically fall into that category.

But I want to pose one more question before we're kind of, because I don't know, I don't know what you guys have had in terms of like battery, like battery expectancy with these. Have these been as good for you as they have with the previous version? Because I thought the previous version were very, very good. The new smaller case is a, I love the smaller case,

but that comes with its own compromise. It's like, how are you guys finding that? Like, because I'm getting four hours or so with each bud maybe on a, at the long end and that's like 30%. I'm fine on the buds themselves. I have not killed them in a session, but I've certainly worn them for like three or four hours and thrown them back in the case and they're at like 50, 60%.

And that's with ANC usually on. So I'm hitting, I think they're rated for seven hours with ANC enabled. And I think I'm around there. I think I'm hitting that. The case, the case is battery life is bad. I'm charging like every other day, basically. And I, that's, and I'm not, that's, I'm using them how I use other earbuds. and that is not how I charge other earbuds.

I think even right now my case is down to like 20% and I charged it two days ago. You know, it's the trade-off for having such a pocketable case. And I like that these do kind of feel like earbuds. I would just throw in my pocket just to have, even if I don't think I'm going to need them. But you're going to need to monitor the battery. Go ahead.

That line struck me in your view. Do you not carry earbuds with you all the time regardless anytime you're outside the house? I don't, no. Really? It depends on what I'm doing, right? Basically, if I think I'm going to a thing where I'm going to be social, you know, the entire time,

never not carry. Never. Yeah, I guess. I think we're heathens. No, we carry them everywhere and we have them in all the time. I don't have them in all the time, but I... You never know when you have like five minutes or whatever. Yeah, same.

That's fair. I guess maybe it's just like it's it's just a matter of like you know, I'm usually I usually drive to places so I have audio in the car and then I then I'm at the active whatever the thing is. I'm there and so I carry them more when I'm traveling or something like that when I'm totally solo and I'm in a city where I'm taking a lot of public transit or or ubers or anything. But yeah, they're not I'm not a grab them all the time kind of thing. I usually grab them if I think I'll need them. And honestly, I think that's partially because I just don't want to lose any of my earbuds. And I'm usually like, if I have too much in my pocket, I'm going to drop my wallet or something. And yeah, it's a, have you had, find my device. Final question. Have you

ever lost an earbud? No. No. It was just great. I've been using true wireless earbuds basically, you know, I think my first pair was the Jopra elite 65T. So whenever those came out, you know, maybe a little, maybe six months after that. But we're coming, I'm coming up on like pretty close to a decade of using wireless earbuds. I'm shocked. I've never lost. I've certainly had to look for a bud before, right?

Been like, oh, I don't, you know, especially the, I have a pair of anchor sleep buds. Those I have to pretty frequently look for in the morning. But, you know, otherwise, I've never, I've never been like, oh, yeah, I need to replace these because I lost the left earbud, and I've had, you know, 10, 12 pairs of True Wearerix earbuds now. I'm surprised. I'm as surprised to you guys.

Crazy. Yeah. I think a good, a good solid product, maybe a little bit of a price, which is a little bit like a lot of pixel products anyway. I think that kind of wraps up, I guess,

the launch window for Google's products, hardware products this year. Which is, it's crazy, right? It feels like a long, time coming and we've talked about it incessantly. Sorry, my dog is barking. Oh, you're fine. Damien, if you'll indulge me coming out Monday afternoon, you know, as we're recording this, you and I recorded an additional hour of us just kind of talking big picture pixel thoughts for

this launch on the side load. So go listen to the side load when that comes out next Monday, because if you want another hour of pixel thoughts. Yeah, I think what are we, 10 months into the year now. We've talked pixel, well, we talk pixel a lot. It feels like the end of an era until the next era, which I guess is Pixel 10A launch cycle.

But yeah, a really decent, surprisingly decent launch period and launch window for Google. I think the hardware has very much consolidated the good work that it did last year. I'm excited to see what they do next year with the hardware, but yeah, go check out all our reviews out on site.

Read Will's fantastic review about the 2A. I've read bits and pieces here and there. I haven't read the full article, so I'll be doing that as soon as humanly possible. Abner's fantastic review on the 41mm, which I have picked to pieces over on video, over on the YouTube channel, so go check out our video reviews as well. I'm kind of hoping that people resonate with the pixel watch this year. I think it's, like I say, it's the marquee one. It's the standout product by, for me, a wide margin, and I do think the pixel tends to.

I cannot believe you guys have me thinking about spending like 400 of them. Roshes here. I'm so annoying. Thank you for joining me, guys. I mean, we love talking hardware here. And review cycles are always good fun for that. And I think we've had some good products to talk about, good, bad, indifferent. And, yeah, as always, thanks for listening to us here on Pixelated.

And we'll speak to you in the next one. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to Pixelated, a 9 to 5 Google podcast. If you enjoyed the show, we ask that you rate and review it on the podcast platform of your choice, and help spread the word by sharing the show with friends or on social media.