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Google’s Just-Launched Pixel Watch 5 Is Now Open for Preorders

The Google Pixel Watch 5 has landed. Well, sort of. It ships in a week, but you can preorder it now.

We knew it was coming, thanks to Google’s penchant for numbering up its Pixel Watches as they release them. Pixel Watch 3, then 4, and so we knew there would be a 5. And so here it is. Unveiled on August 12, you can preorder the Google Pixel Watch 5 now and have it as fast as Thursday, August 20. Not all that long of a wait. Set an alarm, if you must. An old-fashioned one, if need be and this will be your first smartwatch.

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The Pixel Watch 5 packs 3 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, and a tighter integration of Google’s Gemini AI than the outgoing Pixel Watch 4. You can now use gestures on any screen, not just the home screen, and Gemini will be more proactive with its suggestions when it comes to guessing which apps you might want to use at particular moments,

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There are two sizes, 41mm and 45mm, which are large by wristwatch standards but fairly standard by smartwatch standards. You need some real estate for using that touchscreen, after all. Then for each size you have a choice between WiFi-only functionality or cellular connectivity, which adds $100 to the price tag of either size.

You can use the WiFi-only model by connecting it through your smartphone, so it’s not like it’s useless if you’re out and about and away from WiFi. It’d be a pretty useless smartwatch if that were the case. The cellular connectivity just lets you hook it directly into your cellular plan and bypass your phone or leave the latter at home entirely.

more smartwatches to take a look at

Want an Android smartwatch, just one that maybe it’s as vanilla as that of Google Pixel Watch? The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 fits the bill, and it has a few more health-tracking apps and capabilities, to boot.

We’re all still awaiting the Apple Watch Series 12, but for the moment you can still buy the Apple Watch Series 11. Contrary to the Pixel Watch 5’s Android operating system, Apple’s smartwatch runs on its own watchOS operating system, which syncs particularly smoothly with other Apple devices.

Want more of a fitness-focused smartwatch than a general purpose smartwatch? The Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) Sapphire is on sale right now for a wild $450 off. It’s not the best deal I’ve seen yet on it, but it’s close. You get a titanium case, scratch-resistant sapphire glass, full topographic maps, built-in GPS, advancing training regimen planning, sleep tracking and analysis, and route tracking.

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