
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
As somebody who sports activities a number of the finest smartwatches primarily for well being metrics, the lackluster enchancment in battery life within the class has lengthy been a pet peeve of mine. These well being metrics will solely be nearly as good as the quantity of information I’ve. If the watch says 24 hours on the field, it ought to go 24 hours. However as everyone knows, that’s hardly ever the case for many customers, not to mention these like me who push their smartwatches with GPS-based exercises and a wholesome quantity of notifications.
It’s an issue that significantly plagues Put on OS wearables just like the Pixel Watch, although the Apple Watch isn’t solely proof against it both. In truth, I’d been eyeing the Pixel Watch ever because it was introduced however opted for the Apple Watch Extremely primarily for the super-sized battery. Regardless, vary nervousness on smartwatches is actual, and it makes me lengthy for my outdated Fitbit that would simply go every week or extra on a cost.
However what if there was a manner to make use of my outdated Fitbit alongside the Pixel Watch on the identical account? That might draw me proper again into the ecosystem. Right here’s why it must occur and the way it may work.
In case you may use a Fitbit together with the Pixel Watch, would you do this?
167 votes
One account for Pixel Watch and Fitbit: Comfort and flexibility

Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I like health-first smartwatches. They’ve democratized well being monitoring and incentivized every day put on because of the additional benefit of non-intrusive notifications and easily-reachable apps. However with nice capabilities comes nice battery drain, and most smartwatches simply can’t go over a day of intensive use. Furthermore, if I’m carrying a full-sized wearable, I need the entire performance as a substitute of a smartwatch-lite expertise like that supplied by Amazfit or Garmin’s long-lasting wearables. That mentioned, there are events after I don’t want all that energy.
I do not want a full-blown smartwatch after I’m sleeping.
Living proof: after I’m sleeping. Already heading in the direction of zero by the top of the day, there’s hardly ever sufficient juice for a full evening of sleep monitoring left over — a ache level for many smartwatches. As a lifelong insomniac, I take advantage of sleep monitoring to actively monitor sleep zones and enhance my sleep high quality. That mentioned, sleep monitoring doesn’t require a full-blown smartwatch. Why can’t I simply swap out the Pixel Look ahead to a Fitbit to trace my nightly sleep or lack of it? All whereas my Pixel Watch fees on a nightstand.
Formal outings are one more event the place I’d respect the power to swap out my smartwatch for one thing a bit extra inconspicuous. I’m the type of man who will whip out a mechanical watch when dressing up and I’m not alone on this. Nevertheless, a proper event doesn’t imply I wish to miss out on fundamentals like step or coronary heart fee monitoring. A smaller health tracker strapped onto the opposite wrist is way extra acceptable than dual-wielding watches.
Equally, I don’t wish to child the glass-encased Pixel Watch when out on a path. I’d a lot quite swap over to a extra strong, normally cheaper, and comparatively dispensable health tracker that does all of the health monitoring I want.
Making use of that Fitbit integration

Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
To me, a big a part of the Pixel Watch’s attraction is its deep integration with Fitbit. I’ve used the corporate’s merchandise for years. It’s received granular particulars of my weight reduction journey, my first marathon, and years of exercises. It’s why I’ve been eyeing Google’s watch over different Pixel Watch options. Having my health knowledge go into the identical acquainted knowledge financial institution with years of traits to pore over is interesting.
Fitbit used to permit a number of trackers to pair to a single system. It is time to contemplate bringing again the function.
It additionally makes me marvel why it’s so arduous for Google to permit knowledge from the Pixel Watch and Fitbit to sync to the identical account. Certainly, it’s simply the small job of information classification and segregating step counts by timestamps? Furthermore, it wouldn’t be new for Google. Fitbit used to supply this performance. In truth, it was doable to pair a number of trackers to a single account for a number of years. Fitbit would then robotically sync over knowledge primarily based on the final system used. The corporate canned the performance when it launched merchandise that supported the Fitbit app gallery, however maybe it’s time to contemplate bringing it again.
In truth, Samsung’s wearables can do that with out a difficulty. In a current dialog, my colleague Calvin talked about how the Galaxy Wearables app lets him robotically change between any wearable paired with the app utilizing pores and skin detection. It lets him seize his older Gear S3 on the best way out if his Galaxy Watch 4 is on cost. If Samsung has figured it out, why can’t Google do it too?
If Samsung can use pores and skin detection to robotically change between two wearables, why cannot Google do it too?
Look, anyone contemplating the Pixel Look ahead to its spotlight function — Fitbit integration — has probably been within the Fitbit ecosystem for some time. I’ve received a field stuffed with outdated Fitbit trackers mendacity round unused. Permitting customers to reuse their outdated health trackers alongside the Pixel Watch is greater than a goodwill gesture. It might be a improbable transfer for sustainability and it might alleviate the most important ache level of the Pixel watch — battery life. Moreover, it’d spur customers preferring a devoted health tracker to select up a Fitbit to go alongside the Pixel Watch. That’s a straightforward win for Google.
Why restrict it to only Fitbit?

Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Up to now, I’ve approached the issue from the lens of a long-time Fitbit consumer. Nevertheless, Google has all of the instruments in place to unravel this drawback for any mixture of smartwatches and health trackers. Google’s Well being Join platform was designed to let disapparate health apps communicate to one another. Higher Well being Join and Google Match integration with the broader ecosystem of health trackers will allow simply that. With health knowledge being routed by means of Well being Hook up with Google Match, all of the app must do is type knowledge primarily based on time stamps and combine it with the remainder of my well being metrics.
Permitting customers to pair a Fitbit with a Pixel Watch is a no brainer for extra causes than simply battery life.
I do know, I do know. I began off the function request with a view towards fixing the issue of battery life on the Pixel Watch. Nevertheless, there’s far more to it. The Android ecosystem is all about freedom of alternative and expression. I don’t wish to be locked into only one wearable. Certain, utilizing a Fitbit alongside the Pixel Watch would alleviate my issues round battery nervousness however it might additionally open choices for utilizing different {hardware} primarily based on the place I’m or enable me to substitute my Pixel Look ahead to a rugged tracker when engaged in a rigorous exercise.