Google Unveils New Pixel Phones & First Smartwatch With Inbuilt Fitbit

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  • Google on Thursday unveiled the full details of its new Pixel Watch, as well as its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones.
  • The Pixel Watch, with Fitbit built in, starts at $349.99. The Pixel 7 phone starts at $599, and the Pixel 7 Pro starts at $899.
  • All are available for preorder today and will hit store shelves Oct. 13.

Google has announced the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones and its first watch, the Pixel Watch, reports CNBC.

The devices were first teased during Google’s developer event in May, but the company used an event in New York City to provide more details about each new product, such as what’s new, how much they’ll cost. And when can you buy them?

The fastest-selling Pixel ever

The Pixel is gaining momentum, but it still has a fraction of the phone market. During Alphabet’s earnings call for the first quarter, CEO Sundar Pichai said the Pixel Series 6 is “the fastest-selling Pixel ever” and added that the company has set an all-time quarterly sales record. The company hopes to take that momentum forward with the new Pixel 7.

Google makes most of its money from advertising and does not directly report revenue from its hardware products. The company reports an “other” revenue segment, which includes hardware, Play Store, and non-advertising YouTube revenue. In the second quarter of this year, the company said it brought in “other” revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, down slightly from the prior year’s $6.62 billion. In contrast, Apple made $50.5 billion in iPhone revenue during its second quarter.

Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch will launch on October 13.

Fitbit is built into the Pixel Watch

The Pixel Watch will embed health tracking features from Fitbit, which Google acquired for about $2.1 billion.

You can use Fitbit to track workouts, how well you slept, steps taken, and more. If you’ve already used Fitbit, it will sync properly with the existing apps already on your phone. The Pixel Watch also comes with a six-month Fitbit Premium subscription. The service includes access to more than 200 workouts, providing information on how sleep and heart rate trends have changed over time.

But, like Apple Watch, it also has smartwatch features. It runs the company’s Wear OS software, so you can download apps from the Google Play Store. And it seamlessly integrates into Google’s products like Wallet, Gmail, Calendar, and Google Home. Pixel Watch only works with Android phones.

Google says the Pixel Watch can last up to 24 hours on a single charge, which is six hours longer than the Apple Watch Series 8.

The Pixel Watch costs $349.99 for Bluetooth and WiFi and $399.99 for 4G LTE. Like Apple’s Series 8, it also has Emergency SOS. The company says it will add fall detection later this year.

Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro

The $599 Pixel 7 and $899 Pixel 7 Pro are the first phones to run on Google’s new Tensor G2 chip. It shows that Google is continuing to manufacture its own chips instead of using the chip from Qualcomm, which it abandoned when it launched the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro last year. The Tensor processor helps enable features Google said it couldn’t provide otherwise, such as camera functions, on-device translation and more.

Google said the Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch screen that is 25% brighter for better visibility than last year’s model. It will be offered with 128GB and 256GB of storage, which is plenty for most people, though those who need more space to save large files like videos should consider the Pixel 7 Pro, which packs 512GB. Comes with up to storage.

Google’s Pixel has been known to have some of the best cameras on the market over the years. We don’t know how the Pixel 7 will match up right now, but Google says it has been improved.

Google upped the resolution of the back camera to 50 megapixels, which should offer sharper images than last year’s phone. And, despite the cheaper price, the Pixel 7 has the same front-facing, main, and ultrawide sensors as the more expensive model, but no zoom lens on the back.

The Pixel 7 Pro has some other high-end trimmings. It has more memory, should make apps and multitasking feel faster, and it has a better display with a sharper resolution and higher peak brightness. Like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it also has a high refresh rate, which means scrolling through websites or playing games will feel easier.

You can order the new phones and watch them start the Thursday before their October 13th release.

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Source: CNBC