A Pixel Owner's Black Friday Wishlist: Fossil's Style or Fitbit Sense 2's Stress Tracking

A TechRadar writer who received a Google Pixel 7 from Google, along with a Pixel Watch, has a verdict on the watch: it is among the best smartwatches he has used, stylish and slick, but not reliable. The battery could be better, and he doesn't trust the step count. That is why, with Black Friday approaching, he is shopping for another wearable to pair with his newest Android phone.

The Pixel Watch first arrived as a bundle with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, but that offer ended when pre-order season did. With the shine off Google's first major smartwatch, he writes, it is time to look at alternatives. The Pixel works with a wide range of watches. He has already considered the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro for his Galaxy Z Flip 4 work phone, but the Pixel 7 is his phone for travel, photos and fun. He plans to wear the watch on hikes and in the woods, and also in the city and on business trips. He wants either some style or a genuinely useful feature if it can't look cool.

The first candidate is a Fossil running Wear OS, such as the Fossil Gen 6 or the new Wellness Edition. Both run Wear OS 3, which Samsung and Google co-designed and which should behave the same on any watch. He has heard that some features are missing, Assistant among them. He uses Google Assistant on his watch to control his lights and TV, so he would miss it, though he guesses it will arrive soon. What appeals is the look: Fossil watches resemble ordinary watches rather than a computing platform strapped to the wrist. He already owns a fancy watch he wears often, and a smartwatch with a metal band, or at least a design that doesn't announce his geekiness, would suit the days when he doesn't want to stand out.

There is a catch. Fossil's Wear OS smartwatches are not currently part of the company's Black Friday deals. Only hybrid watches are on offer, essentially normal watches with a basic smartwatch hidden under the hands. He wants something more robust, running Google's Wear OS.

The second candidate is the Fitbit Sense 2. It does not run a full smartwatch OS like Wear OS, but it comes from Google, which bought Fitbit early in 2021, and Fitbit wearables work with both iPhones and Android phones. The Sense 2 costs much less than the Pixel Watch yet packs in more fitness and wellness features. It senses skin temperature, though it won't report an actual body temperature, only changes over time.

What draws him most is its tracking of stress and mood. Over the summer he trained to recertify as a Red Cross lifeguard for the first time since college, wearing a Garmin Swim 2 and then a Galaxy Watch 5. He enjoyed reviewing his heart rate data, not only during swims but between workouts. In those months he started a relationship, interviewed for and accepted a new job, and moved to a new city, and he says those moments show up in his health graph. He already linked his mood to that data; the Sense 2 makes it a primary feature. He is willing to give up some smart features for it.

The pricing picture is mixed. Amazon sold the Sense 2 in the US for under $80 for a single day, and since the start of November the price has stayed under $200. In the UK, the original £269.99 price has not moved. He admits he may have missed his best chance, and that he already owns too many wearables to justify buying one he doesn't need. But if Amazon or another retailer returns the Sense 2 to that rock-bottom price, he says, passing it up would be too stressful.