Switching from the Galaxy Watch 9 to the Pixel Watch 5 made me realise just how differently the two companies think about what a smartwatch should actually do. Samsung wants you to look at your health data. Google wants to just tell you about it.

I had also used the Pixel Watch 4 before this, so I wasn't expecting the Watch 5 to feel like a huge leap on paper, the hardware looks almost identical to the last generation. But Google has upgraded it with more storage, a new chip, and built it around the new Google Health app experience.

The same Pixel Watch, and that is fine

The first thing anyone will notice about the Pixel Watch 5 is that they've seen it before. Google has stuck with the same rounded case, the crown sitting at the 3 o'clock position, and that distinctive domed glass. Both the 41mm and 45mm sizes carry over too. This design has been around since the very first Pixel Watch at this point, but I still like it, and going back to it after the Galaxy Watch 9 only made me appreciate it more.

The Galaxy Watch 9 leans into looking like a traditional smartwatch. The Pixel Watch 5's curved glass flowing over the edges of the display gives it more of a pebble-like look, which comes across as a bit more stylish on the wrist and less like a piece of fitness gear. The trade-off is that the glass sits more exposed, so a flat display like Samsung's gives you a bit more peace of mind if you knock your wrist against a table. It also doesn't help that Google skips sapphire crystal here, something Samsung does offer on the Galaxy Watch 9.

I've been wearing the 41mm model, and on my wrist it does run slightly small, which is where the 45mm option makes more sense for most people. One small thing I appreciated is that Google puts two different strap sizes in the box, so you're not immediately stuck buying another strap just to get a proper fit.

The display itself is excellent, a 1.4-inch LTPO AMOLED panel at 456 x 456 resolution that hits up to 3,000 nits. Reading it in bright sunlight was never a struggle, and the refresh rate can drop all the way to 1Hz when it doesn't need to keep refreshing constantly.

And then there's the crown. I didn't realise how much I'd missed having a physical, rotating crown until I spent time with the Galaxy Watch 9. Being able to scroll through menus by turning something in your fingers still feels more satisfying than swiping around on a tiny screen, and I'm glad Google has kept it around. The haptics are also as good as they were in Watch 4.

Google has figured out a better way to show health data

Health and fitness tracking on the Pixel Watch 5 sits in roughly the same territory as what I got on the Galaxy Watch 9. Heart rate, sleep, workouts, GPS, and the usual spread of health metrics are all present and accounted for.

Where the two really diverge is in what happens once that data has been collected. Samsung tends to throw more of the raw numbers at you directly, with graphs, charts, and scores that let you inspect things yourself, almost like looking at a dashboard, and I did find that useful when I wanted to dig deeper into my own numbers. Google, through the Google Health app, takes the opposite approach and tries to summarise and explain the data for you instead of just presenting it.

For someone who just wants a general sense of how they're doing, I think Google's approach is the easier one to live with day to day. You open the app and get a read on your health rather than being handed a stack of charts to interpret yourself. The trade-off is that when I actually wanted the specific numbers, I often had to dig a bit further into the app to find them, whereas Samsung puts that information right in front of you.

That makes the Pixel Watch 5 feel better suited to casual health tracking, while the Galaxy Watch 9 feels like the better fit if studying your own data is something you actually enjoy doing. That distinction carries over into the feature set too. Google has ECG and irregular heart rhythm notifications on the Watch 5, but there's no blood pressure monitoring here, an area where Samsung's package is broader, even though some of its features depend on pairing with a Galaxy phone specifically.

Google has announced blood pressure trends and insulin resistance trends for the Watch 5 as well, but neither of those was available at launch.

Google also claims improved sleep tracking on this generation, and the feature that stood out most for me is the new Smart Wake alarm. Instead of setting an exact wake-up time, you set a duration for your sleep, and the watch uses your movement and heart rate to wake you within a 30-minute window whenever you're in a lighter sleep stage.

One place the Watch 5 did fall noticeably behind the Galaxy Watch 9, though, is automatic workout detection. There were a few occasions where it simply didn't pick up on a walk, and I had to log it manually myself.

The battery finally stops being a Pixel Watch problem

The Pixel Watch 4 was never unbearable on battery for me, but it was a strictly single-day watch, which meant charging it before bed every single night without exception. The Watch 5 is a genuinely different experience. I've been comfortably getting around a day and a half of use, and I can stretch that closer to two days if I'm not actively tracking sleep, though it's worth noting I kept the always-on display switched off throughout.

That changes how I actually use the watch. I can put it on in the morning, wear it through the entire day, sleep with it on, and then charge it whenever it's convenient, instead of constantly doing battery math in my head. Charging itself is quick too, with Google claiming around 15 minutes to reach 50 per cent and roughly an hour for a full charge.

The gestures turned out better than I expected

Google's gesture controls sounded, on paper, like one of those features you'd play around with for a day and then completely forget about. That's not how it played out for me. Being able to pinch your fingers together to interact with the watch is genuinely handy, especially when your other hand is busy with something else, and on the Watch 5 the gesture recognition felt noticeably more reliable than I expected. Pinching to accept or reject a call worked consistently for me, even with gloves on, which is a clear step up from the Galaxy Watch 9, where the same kind of gesture control could be hit or miss.

Gemini helps, but I still don't talk to my wrist much

Gemini gets a bigger role on the Pixel Watch 5, and the most useful change is that basic commands can now run directly on the watch itself, without needing a connected phone, an internet connection, or even Bluetooth. Setting timers, starting a workout, opening apps, controlling music, and tweaking certain settings all work locally, which is genuinely handy if you head out for a walk or a workout without your phone on you.

What I still haven't warmed up to is Raise to Talk. The idea itself is sound, you raise the watch towards your mouth and just start speaking instead of using a wake word, and when it works, it feels natural. The problem is it doesn't work often enough, and I've found myself standing there with my wrist raised, waiting for Gemini to catch up with what I'm trying to do. That happens frequently enough that I still default to other ways of triggering Gemini instead.

Should you buy the Pixel Watch 5?

Having used the Pixel Watch 4 and then spent real time with the Galaxy Watch 9 in between, I came away liking the Pixel Watch 5 more than I expected going in.

The design remains one of my favourites on an Android smartwatch and the rotating crown with great haptics is a cherry on top. The gestures have genuinely become useful rather than gimmicky, and the battery has finally reached a point where it isn't something I worry about constantly. Google's way of presenting health data is also easier to live with if you're not the type who wants to stare at graphs every single day.

Samsung still holds the edge if health tracking is a proper hobby for you and you want to dig into detailed numbers, and it offers features the Watch 5 simply doesn't have yet, like blood pressure monitoring. But if what you want is a smartwatch that quietly keeps tabs on your health, handles your notifications and calls well, gives you useful information at a glance, and doesn't lock you into a specific phone brand, the Pixel Watch 5 makes a strong case for itself.

• Price: Rs 42,900 onwards

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