Pixel Watch 4 Faces Software Shortcomings Despite Design Success

The Google Pixel Watch 4, released today, boasts a striking design and improved battery life, but early reviews indicate significant deficiencies in its software and functionality compared to competitors like the Apple Watch.

Users report a limited selection of just 12 native watch faces, many of which are described as monochrome or poorly designed, lacking the customization options and variety available on Apple’s platform. The always-on display also falls short, reverting to a stripped-down time and date view rather than a dimmed version of the full watch face. This disparity in software features is particularly notable as smartwatch software is a key differentiator in the competitive wearable technology market.

Concerns also extend to workout detection and Google’s “Body Responses” feature, which utilizes a continuous electrodermal activity sensor to monitor stress levels. Testers found the automatic workout detection to be consistently delayed, and the stress alerts unreliable, often triggering during periods of calm while missing genuine moments of stress. For more information on wearable technology and health tracking, see the Food and Drug Administration’s resources. Battery life, however, is a clear win, with the Pixel Watch 4 offering up to two days of use on a single charge – a feature long requested by Apple Watch users.

Google acknowledged the feedback and stated they are committed to ongoing software updates and improvements to address the reported issues and enhance the overall user experience.

. In many ways, I actually do. It’s elegant, light, thoughtfully designed, and finally repairable. The “Moonlight” color is gorgeous, and its minimalist aesthetic makes it a genuine conversation starter. For once, Google nailed the look of a smartwatch.

But once you get past that shiny exterior, the experience still feels… incomplete.

Also read: Google Pixel Watch 4 vs Apple Watch Series 11: Wear OS is mounting up some real competition

Watch Faces: Minimalist, but missing depth

All shades of monochrome in Pixel Watch watchfaces

After wearing the Pixel Watch daily, one thing is clear: the Apple Watch is far ahead in watch face variety and customization. You get an enormous selection of built-in faces, from classic analog styles to digital options, modular designs and playful animated faces like Mickey Mouse, Snoopy and Toy Story. Each face can be customized with different colors, complications, and rich layered information such as weather, calendar events, activity rings, heart rate or shortcuts.

For years, my default watch face was the Solar Graph where a quick glance allows you to see how far you are from the peak sun hour, plus you can easily see sunrise and sunset times. You guessed — there is no such option on the Pixel Watch.

The Reflections and Solar Graph watch faces on the Apple Watch feel way more refined

Apple also has the Face Gallery section in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, where you can browse hundreds more options, including animated faces and some truly unique themes. 

By contrast, the Pixel Watch selection feels very limited. I counted only 12 native faces, and most look monochrome, boring or sometimes just poorly designed. The constantly moving ring around some watch faces in particularly gives me a headache the moment I look at it.

Plus, most are tied to Google or Fitbit services like steps, heart rate, and basic notifications. You don’t have anything more playful like Apple’s Snoopy or Toy Story options, and while third-party faces are growing, the ecosystem is still small. 

Always-On shouldn’t mean “Barely On”

The always-on display adds insult to injury. On the Apple Watch, the feature is subtle but powerful, as your chosen watch face stays visible, but just dimmed.

On the Pixel Watch, however, “always-on” feels like a technicality. The moment the screen dims, your watch face transforms into a stripped-down, almost barren version of itself with just the time and date.

Always-on displays are supposed to enhance the illusion that your smartwatch is a real watch and/or give you all the useful info without having to flick your wrist. On the Pixel, it’s just a disappointment reminding me that there is still work to be done.

Workout Detection Problems

Then there’s automatic workout detection on the Pixel Watch. It is consistently late to notice when I start moving. Bike rides, walks, even runs sometimes go unrecorded until long after the workout. I understand that Google has adopted this different philosophy of only bringing you a summary of your workout after you are done, but this comes with two big problems.

First, you are never sure whether the Pixel Watch will actually record your workout or not. The Apple Watch approach makes a lot more sense as the notification appears after about five minutes, and if it does not you kind of know that a workout is not automatically detect it and you still have time to fix that. Plus, if you accept the reminder you get to see useful stats as you work out.

That’s how it should be. On the Pixel Watch, I am never sure whether a workout will be automatically detected and often it wasn’t in my experience.

What’s up with Body Responses?

Google’s “Body Responses” feature sounds great on paper — a window into your emotional and physical state. Starting with the Pixel Watch 2, a unique continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor, which essentially is a sweat‑detector, works alongside heart rate, HRV and skin temperature measurements to give you the body response alert when you are stressed.

But in real use, this feels like nothing more than a random buzz multiple times a day. I get this “elevated stress” alert while sitting quietly at my computer probably five or six times every day. Meanwhile, real moments of stress often go unnoticed. It’s absud.

It’s not that the feature is useless, but it’s just not trustworthy. And once you stop trusting your data, you stop checking it.

The Bright Side: Battery, Charging and Design

I have to also give credit where it’s due: the Pixel Watch 4‘s two-day battery life is a huge win. 

Apple Watch users have been begging for battery life improvements in the last decade. Here, I can comfortably go a full two days without thinking about power.

And charging is also surprisingly quick. I get about 70% charge back in 20 minutes. Plus, the magnetic cradle is both practical, and it’s one of those small design touches that makes you smile every time you drop the watch, and you can glance at the time while charging.

Final words

The Pixel Watch 4 looks every bit like a premium smartwatch, and I love the round, pebble-like shape. It also feels premium-made.

But that’s also the most frustrating part. Google has clearly built a beautiful foundation, it just hasn’t filled in all the gaps yet. The hardware is ready, the software is not polished enough.