The Pixel Watch 5 brings new tricks, but not new hardware

(Image credit: Google) What you need to knowThe Pixel Watch 5 looks almost identical to the Pixel Watch 4 and keeps the same W5 Gen 2 chip.Google calls it the W5 Gen 2 Accelerated, but the underlying hardware remains essentially unchanged.You still get 41mm and 45mm models, with Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, and LTE options.New tools for insulin and blood pressure management add meaningful functionality.Google's smartwatches are slowly gaining momentum, but you wouldn't be able to tell each model apart. That's particularly true this year with the Pixel Watch 5; I read the press release Google shared ahead of launch, and I still don't understand what's new.The Pixel Watch 5 looks identical to last year's Pixel Watch 4. It has the exact same hardware as well, and Google didn't bother using Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite Wear platform, which is short-sighted. It instead has the same W5 Gen 2 as last year, but it's now called the Gen 2 Accelerated, so make of that what you will.Like previous years, you get two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. There's Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, and Satellite SOS in select countries, and Google will continue to sell cellular-enabled LTE models. You get similar colors as last year, and the chassis is made out of recycled materials, just like Google's phones. There are new bands though, and they're in vibrant colors.You still get 5ATM and IP68 water resistance, and it should hold up to everyday wear and tear just as well as its predecessors. (Image credit: Google)That doesn't mean there isn't anything new. Google is debuting features to manage insulin and blood pressure resistance, and they're bound to be useful. There's a slate of new Gemini features as well, along with everything new in Wear OS. Here's the full list of the watch's health and fitness features:Health Guardian suite (Irregular Rhythm Notifications / AFib, high/low heart rate alerts)Monthly blood pressure trends & insulin resistance trendsMulti-path optical heart rate sensor & SpO2 monitoringECG app & Skin conductance (cEDA) trackingFar-field skin temperature sensorGoogle Health Coach integration (powered by Gemini)50+ tracked exercises with custom HIIT/strength routine syncingReadiness Score & Key Metrics post-workout viewSleep Breathing Quality (minute-by-minute SpO2 analysis)Stage tracking (Awake, REM, Light, Deep) & Sleep ScoreBedtime Automations, Smart Wake Alarms, Morning BriefBreathing Emergency Detection (EU only)Loss of Pulse alertsSatellite SOS communicationSafety Check, Emergency Sharing, Fall Detection, Car Crash DetectionOh, and I like the feature that lets you generate watch faces using AI, and it is pretty cool. But that alone doesn't justify buying a new watch, and the Pixel Watch 4 should get the feature anyway at some point in the future.If the Pixel Watch 5 doesn't look particularly noteworthy, it's because the hardware itself hasn't changed to any measurable degree. This is like the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 all over again, and Google needs to do better to differentiate its smartwatch -- as AC EiC Shruti Shekar said in her hands-on post, it's time we got a Pixel Watch Pro.Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android Harish Jonnalagadda is Android Central's Senior Editor overseeing mobile coverage. In his current role, he leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, networking products, and AV gear. He has been testing phones for over a decade, and has extensive experience in mobile hardware and the global semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.