I have zero Apple Watch 12 envy, and it’s thanks to the Pixel Watch 5

Published Sep 10, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT Rita is a Senior Writer at Android Police. Her love story with Android started in 2010 and has been going stronger with every update, device, tip, app, and game. She's a huge Pixel fan and has spent an inordinate amount of time using and testing Google's ecosystem, apps, and services. She lives in France, speaks more than three languages, follows Real Madrid, and spends any free time she has traveling. Once upon a time, she was a pharmacist as well. As I watched Apple announce its latest Apple Watch 12 and Ultra 4 yesterday, I had a concrete realization that had been lurking in the back of my mind for a while: I'm no longer envious of the Apple Watch and everything it offers. For several years before Google released the Pixel Watch and before Samsung switched to Wear OS on its Galaxy Watches, I'd looked at Apple's wearables jealously and wanted something similar on Android. Android Wear watches existed then, but they didn't feel as good or as finished. But then things got better on Android, year after year, and we're now at a point where I see the Apple Watch as something I definitely do not want. Not just because it sits within Apple's ecosystem, but because Apple's entire approach to a watch is not centered around what I value most. Apple's and Google's approaches to a "smartwatch" are different One is an extension of my phone, the other is not Apple spent half of its new Watch 12 and Ultra 4 presentation yesterday focusing on the new smart audio features, and that's when it dawned on me: Apple sees its Watch as a quintessential smart device, or at least it's trying to make it one now, more than in previous years. The Apple Watch is an extension of the iPhone; it's another Apple device on your wrist, with all the Apple-y apps and features. That's a perk if you're firmly into the company's ecosystem and want a mini-iPhone experience on your body at all times. I am not and I don't. The new audio features are creepy, too. They sound genuinely useful, but no matter how much Apple emphasizes privacy, I don't want something that's always listening on my wrist. Or worse, on other people's wrists when I'm talking to them. I do not consent to having all my words saved and transcribed. Meanwhile, Google's Pixel Watch feels to me like a Fitbit with smart features tacked on. Yes, I can read and reply to my emails, control my smart home, check my calendar, and use a bunch of third-party apps, but to me, as Google-y as the Pixel Watch is, the Google parts are the least interesting. That's a distinction that Apple doesn't have. It's easy to explain it by saying that the Pixel Watch only exists because Google bought Fitbit, so it's normal for it to feel more like a Fitbit than a smartwatch, but there's more to it because of the way Google has developed its Watch. The Pixel Watch cares more about my safety than the Apple Watch Apple had a head start and squandered it For several generations, Apple had cornered the health market with its Watch. Closing the circles became a mission, and tracking and keeping an eye on all kinds of health metrics became a sport in its own way. But Google has caught up pretty quickly. The Pixel Watch 5 is a very complete health tracker now, with super accurate sleep and heart rate tracking, more precise GPS tracking than ever, and all of the usual metrics you can find on Apple, Samsung, or any other smartwatch or wearable. What Google did, and what I love and appreciate the most as someone in my very early 40s, are all the added safety features that few others have — or no one else has. I'd take the Pixel Watch's loss of pulse and breathing emergency alerts over any smart feature, ever. Although Google started them, fall detection and car crash detection have spread to other watches. Loss of pulse detection and the new breathing emergency detection are still unique to the Pixel Watch, and these make the difference between life and death. You're telling me I can strap a smartwatch on my wrist, and on my husband's wrist, and have a better chance of being alerted if the unthinkable happens? Where do I sign up, again and again? I'd take this over all the apps, all the smarts, and every other feature, ever. That's why the Pixel Watch 5 remains firmly strapped to my wrist, and the Pixel Watch 4 to his. As much as I care about the notifications, apps, and smarts, personal safety and emergency help are much more valuable to me. Google won me over with those. I'm also very interested to see the first monthly health report on my Pixel Watch 5, and how it surfaces information regarding blood pressure risk and insuline resistance trends. That's one more check in Google's health safety column versus Apple's. My Pixel Watch can literally save my life. Why would I look elsewhere? We all have different priorities. Mine is my life and the life of the people I love. Year after year, Google keeps giving me reasons to strap the Pixel Watch to my wrist daily, even if I sometimes don't care for most of its smart features or wonder what it'd be like to switch to an Apple Watch. And look, honestly, there are days when I use my Pixel Watch a lot, and days when I don't even unlock it or touch it. But do I still wear it? Yes, yes I do. I'd rather have it on and not need it or any of its emergency and safety features than not have it on and suffer some sad accident. Apple can market all of its smart audio features, all of its tight ecosystem integrations, all of its half-decent new health features, but as long as it's not doing much to save my life? I'm sorry, but Google has an objectively superior product. You can't put a price on a life. Google Pixel Watch 5 9/10 Case size 41mm / 45mm Case Material Aluminum Display 1.2-inch / 1.4-inch Display resolution 408 x 408 / 456 x 456