Google’s $200 metal Pixel Watch band is very premium, very expensive

When the Pixel Watch got here out in October, it appeared like a decent-but-first-generation swing at a smartwatch (though Android Wear got here out about 9 years in the past). Part of what provides off the first-generation vibe is the Pixel Watch’s lack of watch band selection. Eight months after the watch’s launch, Google is taking a giant step towards fixing that downside by introducing metal watch bands. The “Google Pixel Watch Metal Links Band” was briefly on the market on the Google Store Friday earlier than being bought out.

Google’s metal watch band is $200, which could appear expensive for a $350 watch, however that is on par with what Samsung prices, and Apple’s metal hyperlink band is $350. We have one in all these bands in individual now, and it is value each little bit of the $200 price ticket. Google’s watch band feels simply as premium as a band from a luxurious watchmaker, with an unbelievable quantity of weight and a solid-feeling clasp part. With the default quantity of metal hyperlinks (you get six additional within the field), the Pixel Watch plus a metal band weighs 145 g, which is mid-weight luxurious watch territory.

The band hyperlinks have an fascinating attachment mechanism. I’m used to bands that both have a protracted screw operating via every hyperlink or a pin you slide in from the aspect, however the hyperlinks on the Pixel every join with an inner spring bar system. Fold one of many hyperlinks in half, and you may reveal a set of openings to insert a particular pair of included tweezers. Squeeze the tweezers, and you may compress the spring bar, retracting the 2 pins and disconnecting the hyperlink from the watch band.

Spring bars can usually be fiddly because you often should compress them after which make them hit left and proper holes within the watch band. But on the Pixel Watch band, a small ramp is milled round every gap, which is able to deal with the spring compression, and you’ll simply click on the band hyperlinks collectively. The entire system feels safe and simple, and all these holes and ramps within the hyperlinks handle to be fully hidden from any regular view. Everything concerning the watch band feels nice. It’s actually as good as you would hope for.

Like any actual watch, smartwatches are half know-how, half vogue accent, however the Pixel Watch has struggled with that final half. Apple and Samsung perceive the necessity for a smartwatch to look good and match a person’s fashion; Samsung has round a dozen types of watch bands, and Apple provides an almost limitless choice of bands from itself and licensed third-party designers like Nike and Hermès. The Pixel Watch launched with 5 completely different watch bands, all of which had been rubber, material, or leather-based. The conventional metal watch band hasn’t been an choice from Google till now.

Google’s preliminary lack of number of watch bands was simply one of many provide chain points the corporate had with its first first-party smartwatch. The indisputable fact that the metal hyperlink band is already bought out, with solely a “waitlist” to affix, nonetheless does not appear to be all of Google’s points have been ironed out. Google’s different metal watch band fashion promised at launch, the “Metal Mesh Band,” was imagined to launch in “Spring” alongside this hyperlink band, however the itemizing was faraway from the Google Store in April. A Google spokesperson tells us the metal mesh band “didn’t meet our high quality requirements, so we is not going to be making them accessible for Pixel Watch, sadly.”

Eight months is a very long time to attend for an adjunct, and we’re already speaking concerning the Pixel Watch 2 rumors. This watch band makes use of a proprietary connection system, so hopefully Google will use the identical connector for the second version.

Listing picture by Ron Amadeo