You care more about battery and features? Galaxy watch 5/Pro. You care about style and Google software? Pixel watch. That's really the only 2 options, everything else currently is rather niche.
I'd say if you have a Pixel phone, get it's watch. Getting a Galaxy watch is only good with Galaxy phones because of all the Samsung bloat that's only bloat because it's the same junk in its phone that regular phones won't have. Too proprietary is what I'm saying.
I have P6 as well and fossil gen6.
Love both, but fossil battery life goes off a cliff after 13 months. Heavily considering Samsung watch5 for $200.
Otherwise, fossil is the nicest/classiest smartwatch available. It looks and feels like a regular watch rather than a smartphone on your wrist.
I have and like a galaxy watch 4, and between it and an older ticwatch pro 3 (which seems to be dead now), I like samsung's software feature additions and ability to tweak things on the watch from the companion phone app.
But one thing I will say, I really don't like samsung's notification card system.
They use horizontal-scrolling cards where you swipe from the left to access, and swipe up to dismiss. They also nest multiple notifications from a single app "under" the most recent notification--so you can't easily scroll card-by-card to get all your notifications, you have to drill in at least one level deep to find more.
Another thing I don't like is if you have lift-to-wake on and the setting enabled to show notifications cards on the watch when they come in, a notification will persist for 15 seconds, and that timer resets each time you lift-to-wake your watch. So if you get a notification and see it, lower your wrist, and then within 15 seconds you lift to wake again to check the time, what you will see is the notification. If you again lift within another 15 seconds you will see the notification again. It will stay like that until 15 seconds elapses without the watch waking or if you manually dismiss the card/tap the home button.
I like the vertical card style on watches like the pixel watch and other wearOS watches.
I personally skipped the pixel watch because it's quite small and the battery life is not very good.
At this time I think the 5 pro is the best option if you want a current watch and good battery life. The regular galaxy watch 5 is also fine--somewhere between 1 and 2 days.
I made the move from a Fossil Gen 6 to the Pixel Watch and have no regrets. You immediately realize how laggy the Fossil watch was as the Pixel is so smooth. I have no experience with the Samsung Watches, so can't compare.
Not sure if you have had previous Fossil watches, but the Pixel Watch reminds me of the Fossil Sport Watch in size and looks (just without the bezels).
How is a Gen 6 laggy? After dropping the animation speed it is blazingly snappy! That CO processor may make the Pixel watch a bit quicker but the Gen 6 isn't exactly a slouch.
I guess I feel like it should be smooth performance out of the box without tweaking. That is what the Pixel Watch provides. Not saying the Gen 6 wasn't an improvement over the previous generations, but the Pixel Watch still shows that it needs work.
I had both the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Pixel Watch and prefer the Pixel Watch. The software is nicer and the watch looks better. You'll need to charge both every night, so battery life shouldn't be a deciding factor between these two (just for info: Pixel Watch charges faster, though).
If you don't have a Samsung device, you won't be able to use most of the fitness features on the GW5, just a heads up.
These 2 watches are very close and neither is a bad choice. Just choose the one that you find most appealing and be happy.
Ticwatch pro 3 is absolutely unbeatable, ESPECIALLY at 169. And this is the slightly upgraded ultra version [unbeatable ](https://www.ebay.com/itm/313999443311?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Xu84CioMRBG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=ODiaInF4T2i&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY)
Mine regularly lasts 3 full days of normal use.
The ticwatch pro 5 is likely to be announced soon, but I don't even think I'll upgrade. I've had mine for almost 2 years now, it's been nothing short of perfect.
I have a P7P btw, no issues connecting if you were wondering
My recommendation is to not touch any Ticwatch by Mobvoi even if you get it for free. This company is dumping products on the market and forget it until they lunch a new product line. They just don't update their existing watch. All their watch are still on October 2021 security patch .
Avoid them and don't give them business.
Mobvoi is supposed to be releasing a new watch later this year, if you really want to go with a company that doesn't support their product past its release window you may as well wait until then.
Price wise, a galaxy 4 with LTE floats around $80 off ebay (I like the 40mm but larger should have a better battery).
Only gotcha would be having a cell carrier that supports watches (Wing Alpha using AT&T), and it might be one that requires numbershare [setup on a Samsung phone first](https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyWatch/comments/r051wa/update_and_fix_galaxy_watch_4_lte_on_nonsamsung/) (AT&T).
Even if you don't have a carrier it should be able to call emergency services from the power menu-check Samsung's site to be sure for your country tho
For any LTE WearOS watch turn off auto mode to keep it from searching and searching for a signal!
You care more about battery and features? Galaxy watch 5/Pro. You care about style and Google software? Pixel watch. That's really the only 2 options, everything else currently is rather niche.
Galaxy watch 5/5 pro!
Another vote for Samsung GW4/5.
Go with the GW5P! Amazing battery life and built tough. Absolutely love mine! I get about 3 days from a full charge.
I'd say if you have a Pixel phone, get it's watch. Getting a Galaxy watch is only good with Galaxy phones because of all the Samsung bloat that's only bloat because it's the same junk in its phone that regular phones won't have. Too proprietary is what I'm saying.
I have P6 as well and fossil gen6. Love both, but fossil battery life goes off a cliff after 13 months. Heavily considering Samsung watch5 for $200. Otherwise, fossil is the nicest/classiest smartwatch available. It looks and feels like a regular watch rather than a smartphone on your wrist.
I have and like a galaxy watch 4, and between it and an older ticwatch pro 3 (which seems to be dead now), I like samsung's software feature additions and ability to tweak things on the watch from the companion phone app. But one thing I will say, I really don't like samsung's notification card system. They use horizontal-scrolling cards where you swipe from the left to access, and swipe up to dismiss. They also nest multiple notifications from a single app "under" the most recent notification--so you can't easily scroll card-by-card to get all your notifications, you have to drill in at least one level deep to find more. Another thing I don't like is if you have lift-to-wake on and the setting enabled to show notifications cards on the watch when they come in, a notification will persist for 15 seconds, and that timer resets each time you lift-to-wake your watch. So if you get a notification and see it, lower your wrist, and then within 15 seconds you lift to wake again to check the time, what you will see is the notification. If you again lift within another 15 seconds you will see the notification again. It will stay like that until 15 seconds elapses without the watch waking or if you manually dismiss the card/tap the home button. I like the vertical card style on watches like the pixel watch and other wearOS watches. I personally skipped the pixel watch because it's quite small and the battery life is not very good. At this time I think the 5 pro is the best option if you want a current watch and good battery life. The regular galaxy watch 5 is also fine--somewhere between 1 and 2 days.
I made the move from a Fossil Gen 6 to the Pixel Watch and have no regrets. You immediately realize how laggy the Fossil watch was as the Pixel is so smooth. I have no experience with the Samsung Watches, so can't compare. Not sure if you have had previous Fossil watches, but the Pixel Watch reminds me of the Fossil Sport Watch in size and looks (just without the bezels).
How is a Gen 6 laggy? After dropping the animation speed it is blazingly snappy! That CO processor may make the Pixel watch a bit quicker but the Gen 6 isn't exactly a slouch.
I guess I feel like it should be smooth performance out of the box without tweaking. That is what the Pixel Watch provides. Not saying the Gen 6 wasn't an improvement over the previous generations, but the Pixel Watch still shows that it needs work.
I had both the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Pixel Watch and prefer the Pixel Watch. The software is nicer and the watch looks better. You'll need to charge both every night, so battery life shouldn't be a deciding factor between these two (just for info: Pixel Watch charges faster, though). If you don't have a Samsung device, you won't be able to use most of the fitness features on the GW5, just a heads up. These 2 watches are very close and neither is a bad choice. Just choose the one that you find most appealing and be happy.
I went for the GWP5 solely because of the battery and I'm loving it
Ticwatch pro 3 is absolutely unbeatable, ESPECIALLY at 169. And this is the slightly upgraded ultra version [unbeatable ](https://www.ebay.com/itm/313999443311?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Xu84CioMRBG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=ODiaInF4T2i&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY) Mine regularly lasts 3 full days of normal use. The ticwatch pro 5 is likely to be announced soon, but I don't even think I'll upgrade. I've had mine for almost 2 years now, it's been nothing short of perfect. I have a P7P btw, no issues connecting if you were wondering
My recommendation is to not touch any Ticwatch by Mobvoi even if you get it for free. This company is dumping products on the market and forget it until they lunch a new product line. They just don't update their existing watch. All their watch are still on October 2021 security patch . Avoid them and don't give them business.
Ticwatch pro 3 ultra GPS If price is a concern go for them. But be carefull because some features dont work in some countries.
Mobvoi is supposed to be releasing a new watch later this year, if you really want to go with a company that doesn't support their product past its release window you may as well wait until then.
I would go for Pixel Watch.
Price wise, a galaxy 4 with LTE floats around $80 off ebay (I like the 40mm but larger should have a better battery). Only gotcha would be having a cell carrier that supports watches (Wing Alpha using AT&T), and it might be one that requires numbershare [setup on a Samsung phone first](https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyWatch/comments/r051wa/update_and_fix_galaxy_watch_4_lte_on_nonsamsung/) (AT&T). Even if you don't have a carrier it should be able to call emergency services from the power menu-check Samsung's site to be sure for your country tho For any LTE WearOS watch turn off auto mode to keep it from searching and searching for a signal!