The Pixel Watch 3 is now official and the big news is that it comes in two sizes, gets a potentially life-saving feature that can detect loss of pulse, and Google is also beefing up the Pixel Watch’s fitness tracking capabilities.
Google is betting big on runners like me, for whom wearing a watch is a type of person. While previous Pixel smartwatches covered the basics of running tracking, it’s a whole different story with the Watch 3.
This will make it easier to implement interval training, which is the type of short, intense workouts that can help you improve your running pace and build cardiovascular fitness. This is the type of training you’ll want to include in any half marathon or marathon training plan.
There’s more. Google is adding real-time haptic and audio feedback during runs to make sure you’re sticking to those workouts closely, it lets you upload zones to Google Maps to make sure you have a clear idea of your running environment, and it promises improved heart rate tracking accuracy over the Pixel Watch 2.
Google could have gained an edge over the competition by doing more to help users understand how to work on their running form.
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One of the new features that piqued my curiosity is the introduction of advanced running metrics, which provide runners with data on running form and technique. These advanced metrics have been available on sports watches for some time and were recently introduced to the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
According to the blog post announcing Google’s Pixel Watch 3, these new advanced running metrics, which include cadence, stride length and height, and ground contact time, will be provided by “advanced motion detection.” This is combined with machine learning to analyze the data, which is presented in the Fitbit app for review.
Google has offered a sample of what this analysis will look like (image below), suggesting that it can tell you if your running cadence is low, but what’s not clear is whether the Fitbit app will show you how to improve your running form based on the data it can record.
It’s something that Apple, Samsung, and sports watch makers like Garmin and Coros are also missing when it comes to offering these advanced running metrics on the wrist. Yes, they capture them and plot them in a range of interesting graphs, but when it comes to taking that information and telling you what to do with it, it’s sorely lacking.
Which is why I’m surprised that a company whose last I/O developer conference was so largely dominated by machine learning didn’t seem to seize the opportunity to use it for this particular feature.
It’s certainly not ignoring the use of AI for some of the Pixel Watch 3’s new running features entirely, and will use it to help power its daily running recommendations, which are based on Google’s machine learning technology as well as your training history and workout readiness, among other data points like cardio load.
However, Google could have gotten a leg up on the competition by doing more to help users understand how to work on their running form with these advanced running metrics. Activities like the “couch to 5K” are so popular these days that anyone picking up a Pixel Watch 3 could be in for a real bargain.
The idea of bringing a coaching touch to things has been used before in the world of running and wearables. Back in 2017, I tested a device called Lumo Run. It was a device that you attached to the back of your shorts and used the kind of motion sensors that are commonly found in today’s smartwatches.
It has an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. It was also capable of capturing the kind of running metrics that Google is promising on the Pixel Watch 3. Beyond that, it offered simple pre- and post-run exercises tied to your running form data. It even looked to improve things in real-time, using audio cues to tell you to do things like keep your chin up or roll your arms back to improve your form during runs.
The Lumo Run, which sadly no longer exists, required the device, a smartphone for GPS tracking, and headphones to use it at its best. Google has GPS and the ability to track these additional metrics built into its smartwatch, so it could have considered providing similar workouts in the app if it didn’t want to try to provide this form correction during a run.
I think the steps Google is taking to make the Pixel Watch 3 more runner-friendly are generally positive. I shouldn’t rule out that it may choose to bring AI and these advanced running metrics even closer together in the future.
From a distance and without having it on your wrist, Google at least seems to be going beyond what Apple and Samsung offer in terms of analyzing this running form data. It may seem like a niche feature in the grand scheme of what the new Pixel Watch 3 is capable of, but Google may have missed a good opportunity to do things differently. Hopefully, that will always be the case.
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