Are you the Pixel Watch Google’s answer to the Apple Watch? In that they are both smartwatches tied into their respective ecosystems, yes, but if you solely consider the design, the Pixel Watch doesn’t come close to Apple’s wearable. It has missed an opportunity to create the iconic round smartwatch that would be the Apple Watch of Android. Instead, it is being too Google-centric about the design.
Square has worked well for Apple
It doesn’t have to be round. The Apple Watch didn’t follow the trend when it first came out. However, square watches are not uncommon. Casio G-Shock 5600 and 5000 seriesThe Tag Heuer Monaco watches. The Apple Watch was launched in 2015. It has quickly become the most recognized, easily identified and widely used square watch in all of the world. Counterpoint ResearchThe Apple Watch is at the top of the company’s wearable shipment estimates with a 30% market share for 2021. Apple doesn’t release sales figures, but some reports claim it now Apple Watches are sold annually at 40 million.
The Apple Watch has been a success because it is square. While functionality is the most important feature of a smartwatch, many will place design at the top of their list. Anything we put on our bodies has to have some kind of aesthetic appeal, and although it took some a while to get out of the mindset watches have to be round, it’s clear that it’s no longer an issue for most. The Apple Watch Series 8It looks great and feels amazing, and Apple has arguably refined the almost perfect shape of the Series 5 since its launch.
Apple’s wonderful design works because it doesn’t look like all the other smartwatches out there. The company was really the first to popularize the shape (let’s not talk about the hideous PebbleOder LG G Watch) and now absolutely owns it. The square smartwatch will be available for purchase when the new Square Smartwatch is launched. Amazfit GTSseries or the Oppo Watch, it’s called out for being an Apple Watch copy. The square shape is so iconic in smartwatches that no one wants to wear an imitation.
The Apple Watch’s shape is distinct and well-judged, and now so intrinsically linked with the brand, that most have accepted that square is a great shape for a watch. Apple Watch is a classic. Its basic shape was not reinvented but has been refined over time.
It’s so beautiful!
Apple took a calculated risk in making the Apple Watch Square. This has paid off. Google has taken no such risks with the Pixel Watch. It’s as round as round can be, it has a crown on the side, and it has a system for attaching different straps. It’s absolutely the definition of what most would think of when asked, “what does a watch look like?”
This is the problem. It doesn’t have any identifying features to make it clearly a Pixel Watch. From a distance (if you’re so inclined to check out other people’s wristwear), you may ask yourself if it’s an original Skagen FalsterAnonymous Amazfit Zepp E Circle?, Sequent SuperCharger 2Or perhaps a first-generation Moto 360. Any circular watch, really. I’m not saying it’s badly designed — the opposite, as the curves look great and it also looks set to be very comfortable — but I am saying it’s very safe indeed.
However, this safety has taken away its individuality. Many people look at the Apple Watch and can easily identify what it is. This is mostly due to its squareness, and the fact Apple has remained loyal to it since its inception. The design was even redesigned with the release of the Apple Watch 2. Apple Watch Ultra, but didn’t, as it knows the value in sticking with what has turned out to be a fantastic overall style and design for a smartwatch.
Google is going to find it very hard indeed to get the public to recognize the Pixel Watch as a Pixel Watch, not just because it’s round, but because the safe design doesn’t really have any immediately identifiable visual features.
An opportunity missed
What would Google have done differently? It certainly couldn’t have made a square smartwatch. It would have been a grave mistake to try and compete with Apple in design. While Android and iPhone owners must use the smartwatch from the respective ecosystems, Google will always be the imitator, if nothing else than the Pixel Watch, which was released seven years after the original Apple Watch.
Because there are only so many watches, going around was the best solution. There are many Swiss watch manufacturers who can make watches that look very different from one another. Many have built huge empires using just a few highly-respected silhouettes. A Deloitte report60% of Swiss watch industry leaders feel that the smartwatch industry has failed them.
It is a sure bet that this is one of them. I would have leapt at the chanceGoogle collaborated with us to create what could be the first ever iconic round smartwatch. Google has created something that is instantly recognisable, desirable, and unique. The Rolex Submariner is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or the Omega Speedmaster smartwatch.
The Pixel Watch looks like a piece of tech, which on one level is fine as Google is a technology company, but technology is forgettable in a way that truly great watch design isn’t. In the past, Google has had a problem with forgettable mobile tech. But the Pixel Watch is a new solution. beautiful Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro designAlong with the natural Nest designs, it seemed to be moving past it. The Pixel Watch certainly isn’t ugly, but it really could have been so much more. Google missed the chance to make the Apple Watch the Android watch, at least in design.
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