Google Pixel Watch 2
Shorter battery, more features
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is a solid smartwatch that also boasts Fitbit integration. With a full suite of health-tracking features including continuous heart rate and EDA monitoring, it’s a solid fitness tracker, but its 24-hours-and-change battery life may irritate some.
Fitbit Sense 2
A premium fitness tracker
The Fitbit Sense 2 is Fitbit’s latest premium fitness tracker. It tracks all the same fitness parameters as the Pixel Watch 2 and lasts longer on a charge, but it runs Fitbit’s proprietary software and doesn’t have many apps.
Both theGoogle Pixel Watch 2and its predecessor come with built-in Fitbit health tracking, but Google-owned Fitbit still makes and sells its own dedicated fitness trackers. TheFitbit Sense 2is Fitbit’s latest premium tracker, coming in at a spendy $300 MSRP. The Pixel Watch 2 and the Fitbit Sense 2 share similar health-tracking hardware and use the same Fitbit app, and with similar pricing between the two, it might not be easy to tell at a glance which is right for you. We’re here to help.
Price, availability, and specs
The Google Pixel Watch 2 retails for $350, with a version with LTE connectivity available for $400. You can pick one up direct from Google or from Fitbit, or from Google’s normal retail partners like Amazon and Best Buy. The second-gen Pixel Watch hasn’t been available long, so we haven’t started seeing sales for it yet, but it’s possible the price might come down closer to Black Friday.
At retail, the Fitbit Sense 2 goes for $300, but it’s been available for more than a year now, and it’s frequently sold at a discount. It’s not unusual to see prices around $250, and we’ve seen it fall down to $230 more than once. You can get one from Google, from Fitbit, or from the same retailers as the Pixel Watch.
Hardware and design
The Pixel Watch 2 and the Fitbit Sense 2 clearly share some DNA. Each one has a pillowed display that curves to meet its aluminum body, and while the bands use different connectors, the default sport-style bands each comes with are otherwise almost identical. The two devices' pin-based chargers are even interchangeable.
But the Pixel Watch has a rotating crown that can be used to scroll through its interface; the Fitbit Sense 2 instead has a single hardware button positioned on its left edge. And while both devices feel high quality, the Pixel Watch 2 has the edge when it comes to build — it’s just a more solid and refined piece of hardware. The Pixel Watch 2’s haptics are also feel firmer, and Google sells more types of bands for it than it does the Sense 2.
Each wearable is about the same width and thickness, and both of them are water-resistant. The Pixel Watch 2 is IP68 certified and water-resistant to 50 meters; the Fitbit Sense 2 doesn’t have an official IP rating, but Google says it’s also good in up to 50 meters of water.
Software is the biggest differentiator between the Pixel Watch 2 and the Fitbit Sense 2. The Pixel Watch 2 runs Wear OS 4, the latest wearable version of Android. The Fitbit Sense 2, meanwhile, runs the proprietary Fitbit OS. Moment to moment, Wear OS and Fitbit OS aren’tthatdifferent; if you’ve used one at all, it won’t take you long to get used to the other. Settings, notifications, and other features are all similarly placed in each OS.
But while Wear OS has access to the Play Store to install additional apps, Fitbit OS does not. So while you can install apps like Spotify, Google Keep, Google Home, and more on the Pixel Watch 2, you can’t get any of those services on the Fitbit Sense 2. There are versions of both Google Maps and Google Wallet for the Fitbit Sense 2, at least, but app selection ismuchbroader on the Pixel Watch 2. Wear OS also means a bigger selection of watch faces, plus the option to make your own relatively easily.
Health and fitness
On both the Pixel Watch 2 and the Fitbit Sense 2, the health tracking experience is very similar. Each tracks the same health parameters, including activity, exercise, heart rate, sleep, stress, temperature, and blood oxygen saturation. Stress tracking is made possible by each wearable’s continuous electrodermal activity sensor — a feature that we’ve found to be questionably useful, but is nonetheless available on both devices. Both devices also have GPS hardware built in to track walks and runs without your phone, and each is capable of taking ECG measurements.
Health info from either wearable is managed in the Fitbit app. The app is in a sort of transition phase between design paradigms, with many views sporting a polished,Googleylook while others still appear a bit dated. But generally speaking, the Fitbit app is a functional, flexible way to view and manage your exercise, sleep, and health data. Paying for Fitbit Premium with either device will unlock some additional functionality, including on-demand video workouts, stress management content, and Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Score that aims to quantify how ready for activity your body is each day.
Battery life and charging
The Fitbit Sense 2 delivers excellent battery life. With always-on display functionality enabled, it’s not unusual to see the Sense 2 last three days on a charge. Without AOD, it can make it six or more days, depending on your usage.
The Pixel Watch 2, meanwhile, can only manage about a single day on a charge with AOD enabled. It should comfortably see you through one day of normal use plus one night of sleep tracking, but you probably won’t make it much past that without babying the watch’s battery.
Both the Fitbit Sense 2 and the Pixel Watch 2 use pin-based chargers; the Pixel Watch actually borrowed the design from Fitbit, so the Sense 2’s charger works to top up the second-gen Pixel Watch. Charging the Pixel Watch 2 from zero to 100 takes a little over an hour; charging the Sense 2 takes closer to two hours.
Which is right for you?
For most people, with the Pixel Watch 2 and the Fitbit Sense 2 at or near their MSRPs, the Pixel Watch 2 is likely going to be a better buy. At $350, it’s an investment, but Wear OS is a much more flexible platform to build a wearable on, with access to a considerably broader selection of apps and watch faces. And while style is subjective, we generally think the Pixel Watch 2 has a more striking appearance, and with a wider array of bands available, it’s easier to personalize it to match your style. It’s also just areally good smartwatch.
The Fitbit Sense 2 is a pretty tough sell for $300 — Fitbit itself sells many less expensive trackers that do many of the same things, and even lots of fully fledged Wear OS watches go for less. But at a sale price of $250 or lower, it might make sense instead of the Pixel Watch 2 for some buyers. If you value long battery life and you genuinely don’t care whether you can install more apps — the Sense 2 does have Google Maps and Wallet, after all — the Sense 2 could be a good option.
