Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Smartwatch Showdown video

Two Android smart watches. Vying for your attention. Samsung's Galaxy Watch seven and Google's pixel watch three. How do you choose? I've worn them both for several weeks to compare everything you need to know like the screen differences, health sensors and battery life to help you decide. Hi, I'm Lexi. Welcome to your weekly dose of all things. Mobile, both watches run the latest version of ware Os have round displays and work with pretty much any Android phone with some exclusive features tied to their respective ecosystems. So your first decision might come down to price and size. The Galaxy Watch seven starts at $300 for the 40 millimeter version or $330 for the 44 millimeter version. While the pixel watch three is 300 $50 or $400 for the 41 millimeter and 45 millimeter versions respectively. My wrist is 100 and 52 millimeters and I'll be wearing the smaller size of each watch in this video and I'll put a note on screen if I'm showing you the larger watch. Yes, they're both round watches, but the pixel watch has to my eye, at least a more sophisticated look with curved edges, a crown and a side button. The Galaxy watch has a flat screen with two side buttons. Only comfort is subjective, but both of these are hardly noticeable when I wear them all day. And at night for sleep tracking, both watches have a moled screens and go up to a maximum 2000 knits brightness. Now, I've had no issues seeing either of these in sunlight, but I do find the flatter display on the Galaxy Watch seven is a little less reflective. Overall durability is something else you probably want to factor in the Galaxy watch. Seven uses sapphire crystal glass while the pixel watch uses Gorilla glass five. I haven't had any issues with scratching on the Galaxy watch, but I was wearing a 45 millimeter version of the pixel watch for a while and I did develop a pretty deep scratch right down the middle and I didn't do anything dramatic with it either. I did get a replacement unit which has been totally fine to date, but I will keep you updated on longer-term durability down in the comments and the Galaxy watch has the most screen real estate to work with. Even on the smaller 40 millimeter size, you can see when I put these two smaller sizes side by side, you are getting more on the screen on the Samsung watch. This watch also has a haptic touch, Bezzel. You can use to navigate menus. But I do prefer the crown on the pixel watch as I don't feel like I need to be as precise with my movements. I often overshoot menu items when I'm using the touch Bezzel on the Galaxy watch. Also don't forget a physical is gonna be easier to control if your hands are sweaty or wet. Unlike the touch bezel that will really not work well at all with any moisture. Speaking of all things damp, both are dust and water resistant so they can track swimming or survive the occasional shower. And of course, there is a speaker and microphone on both. So you can take calls, dictate messages and have notifications, read aloud, but only the Galaxy watch lets you play back music from the speaker. So let's get into some of these specific smartwatch features. I mentioned both of these run ware Os. So that means native support for apps in the Google ecosystem like gmail calendar and wallet. Of course, the Google Assistant is on both or you can select Bixby on the Galaxy Watch. If you are all in on Samsung's ecosystem, you can also spend a little bit more cash to get LTE or cellular options on both of these watches that will let you use the watch away from your phone and still be able to get call and read messages. But the pixel watch has a few extra tricks up its sleeve. You can see your nest cameras use it as a remote control for a Google TV and unlock a compatible pixel phone or certain cars using ultra wideband and both can act as a remote control for your phone's camera. Now, performance wise, both watches are responsive, but I am gonna give this one to the pixel watch. It has been slightly faster in start up time, navigating menus and opening apps. Now it's health and fitness time. The pixel watch tracks all of your metrics through the Fitbit app. While the Galaxy Watch uses Samsung Health. Let's go down the laundry list of health sensors on each. Both have an ECG or electrocardiogram app, blood oxygen and a skin temperature sensor. But the Galaxy Watch also has a body composition sensor that might be helpful if you're trying to balance weight loss or muscle mass. And it also has FDA author sleep apnea detection. So you wear the watch to bed for two nights and it can detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Now you do need a Samsung phone to take advantage of this feature. Although you can side load the Samsung health monitor app on other Android phones, but you didn't hear that from me not to be outdone on potentially life saving features. The pixel watch has loss of pulse detection available in certain countries around the world. Both watches track sleep and give you a sleep. I compared the results from both with the eight sleep and on bed sleep tracker. And I found that the results were pretty similar, but the Galaxy Watch actually did line up a little bit closer to what the bed tracker was giving me in sleep time, rem and deep sleep. There's also the Samsung energy score, which takes into account your sleep and activity levels and gives you an idea if you're up for a workout or if you should take it easy and have a rest day. The pixel Watch has a readiness score, which is basically the equivalent of that Samsung energy score. The Galaxy Watch also has something called an ages index, which is an indicator of metabolic health. But this is confusing and I really hope Samsung works on making it easier to interpret in the future. Generally, I found that the Fitbit App suggestions and the interpretation it gives me of the scores are a little bit more helpful than what I get from the Samsung Health app. These watches both have automatic workout detection for a range of cardio based exercises like walks and runs. I did find that each watch picked up my workout within about 10 minutes. And the pixel watch also offers cardio load which is a new measurement that estimates your exertion during a workout. These both have GPS. So you don't need a phone to track your workout route information and both generally lock onto a signal within about five seconds of being outside, which is great. But for overall fitness tracking accuracy. I am giving this one to the pixel watch. It was actually closer to the distance that I tracked on a control phone when I did an outdoor run and when I compared the heart rate readings against a chest strap, this was slightly closer than the Galaxy Watch seven and a quick note on Fitbit premium. This is a $10 a month subscription for the pixel watch that unlocks workout plans and in depth sleep metrics. You can totally use this watch without the subscription. But I also need to mention that the Galaxy Watch doesn't need a subscription to unlock any additional data. Battery life is a really important factor in smart watches because charging every day is a bore or at least it is for me. Now, the bad news first, both of these watches on the smaller size at least will last a maximum of 24 hours on one charge. The pixel watch three in the larger 45 millimeter size though actually lasted me almost 2.5 full days, which was a nice, pleasant surprise. Now, these metrics take into account doing things like a 30 minute gps workout sleep tracking and getting notifications from my phone. I also tested how long it takes to charge the smaller versions from flat to full and it was one hour 14 minutes for the Galaxy Watch and 59 minutes for the pixel watch. And it is a bummer but the Galaxy watch no longer supports the cool party trick of reverse wireless charging from the back of your phone. So make sure you always bring your charger with you and you can just plug it into your phone and charge it that way. Just not as cool. Too long. Didn't watch. Well, when it comes to the winner, this one is dependent on the phone that you have and what must have features you need on your wrist. It's a no brainer to get the Galaxy watch. If you have a Galaxy phone and the pixel watch, if you have a pixel for the seamless ecosystem experience, but that's the cop out answer. Even though the pixel watch is more expensive, I would recommend it if you want the additional flexibility of fitbits, health tracking features, which right now are a little bit more robust and accurate than on Samsung's watch, especially if you want lots of running metrics, but it is hard to go past the Galaxy Watch seven for price and its overall feature set, especially if you want sleep apnea notifications. Thanks so much for watching. Let me know which one of these watches is on your list. And of course, if you have any extra questions about them, you can drop me a comment down below. See ya.