Battle of the smartwatches: Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Pixel Watch 5

Michelle Brändle

14/9/2026

Translation: Natalie McKay

The latest smartwatches from Samsung and Google only run on Android and last a good two days. While I rate the Pixel Watch 5 for its fast charging, the Galaxy Watch 9 impresses with its large, bright display.

Which of the latest smartwatches would you pick – the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 or the Google Pixel Watch 5? Based on looks alone, you probably chose a favourite right away, but what’s under the dial is just as important – if not more so.

Only a few details separate the two smartwatches. I’ve hardly spotted any major differences compared to their previous models – the Pixel Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 8 – either. Here are the specs of the two gadgets I’m testing:

For the purposes of my test, I’m awarding one to five stars (⭐) for each of the criteria and adding them up to give the final rating.

Design and display: futuristic vs. sleek

Samsung and Google each offer the watches in two sizes – 40 and 44 millimetres for the Galaxy Watch, and 41 and 45 millimetres for the Pixel Watch. I used the smaller version of each for my test.

Samsung’s design blends round and angular elements. The Galaxy Watch does look bulky and heavy, though, and it feels that way on my slim wrist, too. Yet its display is almost the same size as that of the Pixel Watch, and it weighs the same (31 grammes). I like the display itself – it’s flat and extremely bright, with up to 3,000 nits. The watch displays apps and notifications in a large and sharp format.

The Pixel Watch is pretty much the exact opposite – its design is sleek and organic, with rounded edges. It also feels light on my wrist. Having said that, the display lets it down. In bright sunlight, the curved screen is very reflective.

One thing that both smartwatches have in common is that their wristbands seem ultra robust. They feel comfortable and stay securely in place. The strap on the Google watch is a little easier to put on and take off compared to Samsung’s.

Google: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐⭐⭐

Poor battery life on both

The batteries in both watches last just under two days. Sure, an Apple Watch Series 11 only lasts a day, but watches from Huawei, Garmin and Polar offer up to a week of battery life. If I also use GPS for an hour, the devices will struggle to make it to 24 hours.

There is, however, one important difference – it takes me about 1.5 hours to charge the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9. The Google Pixel Watch 5 only needs 30 minutes of charge time. So if I notice in the morning that the battery’s dead, I can quickly bring the Pixel Watch back to life before leaving the house. With Samsung’s model, I can forget about that.

The watches have slightly different charging mechanisms. The Samsung Watch charges on the back. But the curvature of the strap prevents the watch from lying flat on the charging dock, so I have to prop the it on its edge to charge.

I intentionally charge the Google Watch on its edge, which is handy. The watch also stays firmly in place as I do so. My colleague Philipp told me that it sometimes took several attempts to charge the previous model correctly. With my watch, it’s always worked right away.

Google: ⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐

Control via buttons, swiping and voice commands

The major advantage of the Google Pixel Watch 5 is its twist-and-press button on the side. I regularly press Samsung’s buttons by accident during a workout, causing me to end my session unintentionally. That doesn’t happen to me with Google’s gadget. That’s partly because the rotating crown is less sensitive, but it’s also because of how I end a workout. With the Pixel Watch, I end it on the display, not using a button.

Alongside the buttons, I can also control both watches using gestures. For example, I answer calls by double-tapping, while shaking the watch declines them. When I tap the Galaxy Watch, I trigger the quick start – in my case, for a workout. Gesture control doesn’t always work right away on either device.

I often use my smartwatch to track my fitness activities. I want it to be as easy as possible. On both watches, I start my session by swiping left twice. Ideal. Both watches list the most popular sports right at the beginning. Anything else I can choose from the workout lists. But I can’t use the Google model for my favourite activity – skipping.

Gemini is easy to open on both watches. I just have to raise my wrist to activate the watch and then say, «Hey Google.» After that, I can set an alarm or start a route on Google Maps. It works reliably on both watches.

Google: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Comprehensive sleep and health tracking on both

Both watches track a wide range of health metrics, but their readings don’t always quite match reality. Samsung’s model, for example, estimates calorie burn very optimistically – up to 500 kcal more per day than Google’s watch and my Garmin. Step counts often differ, too.

That’s why I use the data as a guideline more than anything else, rather than treating these readings as absolute figures. I don’t care whether I’ve taken 5,000 or 6,000 steps – as long as I have a rough idea and stay active and healthy in my daily life.

I find it fascinating how the watches process the data:

• The Pixel Watch 5 combines heart rate, resting heart rate and heart rate variability to reliably detect changes such as poor sleep or alcohol consumption. Weather and exercise are also brought together – when the weather is nice, the watch encourages you to go for a walk.
• The Galaxy Watch 9 assesses heart health based on sleep, exercise, vascular load and BMI (although this is a somewhat controversial metric). Vascular load, in turn, is determined based on optical measurements of blood volume and stress levels during rest periods (i.e. while sleeping). This shows you how ready you are for your next workout.

When it comes to sleep tracking, the Pixel Watch 5 does a slightly worse job of tracking my waking periods in bed than Samsung. On the other hand, both of them reliably detect afternoon naps. But the Samsung Galaxy Watch has an ergonomic issue – it’s simply too big and uncomfortable for me to wear in bed. Since consistent data is important for accurate sleep tracking, the system isn’t very useful to me in practice. Still, the Samsung app logs sleep metrics even without my watch and asks if they’re roughly accurate.

The menstrual cycle is getting more and more attention in the world of smartwatches, which I’m pleased about. Both watches have their advantages on this front. The Pixel offers detailed tracking, including symptom logging and automatic display of my current phase and my next period. Nighttime skin temperature is directly factored into the prediction.

With the Galaxy watch, logging is faster, but the data is less detailed because I can’t enter any symptoms. In addition to measuring basal body temperature, Samsung provides easy-to-understand explanations about each phase of the menstrual cycle. I can’t say at this point how accurate the predictions are, because I’d need to test them for a few more months to find out.

Google: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐⭐⭐

Samsung’s app does almost too much

Both watches have their own smartphone apps for logging data and providing a clearer overview than the watch itself. The apps are free of charge and, in principle, work with any Android or iOS smartphone. But I’ve noticed that some of the Samsung gadget’s additional features are only available on Galaxy devices – I’m talking ECG, blood pressure monitoring and sleep apnoea detection. Personally, though, I didn’t miss them.

Google’s Health app has a very clear and organised home screen. Here I can see my daily step count, calories burned and how well I slept. With the AI premium model, I receive two or three written summaries every day about my current health and activity levels, as well as personalised workout recommendations. But the AI program is prone to errors and isn’t absolutely necessary.

The other categories in the app – Fitness, Sleep and Health – are a bit confusing. When it comes to health, I can choose to display or hide data depending on what’s important to me. I also rearrange the order of the information however I choose. That’s just how I like it.

Samsung has designed the app to be easy to navigate, and I can find a lot of things right on the home screen. The icons at the very top list Activity, Sleep, Vitals and Mindfulness, as well as a nutrition tracker. I never use the last two.

With Samsung, I can track a whole host of additional metrics, such as blood sugar, vascular load and blood oxygen levels. But I have to search for a lot of it and activate it manually or enter it by hand. It soon gets time-consuming and complicated.

Google: ⭐⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐⭐⭐

Sports and GPS: accurate, with a few exceptions

When it comes to heart rate monitoring, both smartwatches provide reliable readings that are almost identical to the results I get from my Garmin. When I do interval training, I often notice that the watches tend to lag a bit when displaying my heart rate. But that doesn’t tend to bother me much.

Minor errors creep in a bit more often with the Galaxy Watch 9, even though Samsung uses the same sensors as in the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. For example, the readings make it look like my heart rate keeps spiking and dropping too much. Also, it’s way too optimistic when it comes to counting calories compared to Google’s model.

Automatic sport detection is reliable on both the gadgets I tried out. Both watches quickly recognise and track walks, jogs or lengths in the pool.

I don’t have much to complain about when it comes to GPS. Reception is relatively accurate on both devices. When running laps on a track, the watches do deviate slightly from the actual distance, but by no more than a metre. For personal use, that’s more than acceptable. I find that Samsung’s deviations are more pronounced than Google’s. Both routes are then displayed on a Google map.

The GPS also comes in handy in everyday life for getting navigation directions via Google Maps right on my wrist. Although both the Pixel Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 9 occasionally get confused for a few seconds about which direction I’m moving in, they quickly correct their location each time. I think this discrepancy is about half a metre too.

Google: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Samsung: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Conclusion: Google wins by a narrow margin thanks to its convenience for everyday use and fast charging

Both smartwatches offer an impressive overall package and demonstrate just how good Android wearables have become. In a head-to-head comparison, the Google Pixel Watch 5 came out on top in my hands-on test with 21 stars, compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9, which scored 18 stars.

Google really shines where it matters in everyday life. The organic, lightweight design means I hardly notice I’m wearing the watch, even while sleeping; the rotating crown prevents accidental inputs during exercise; and thanks to the extremely short charging time of 30 minutes, the modest battery life is hardly an issue.

Samsung offers a stunningly bright display, extremely detailed health tracking and precise sensors. But it’s let down by its bulky size on the wrist, long charging times and buttons that get in the way during workouts. Still, at the time of this review, its price tag is much lower.

Google Pixel Watch 5

Smartwatches

−9%

EUR419,– was EUR460,55

Google Pixel Watch 5

41 mm, without a SIM card

9

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

Smartwatches

EUR376,02

Samsung Galaxy Watch9

40 mm, without a SIM card

21

Pros:

• Flat, extremely bright display (up to 3,000 nits)
• A feature-rich app with many additional metrics
• Highly accurate heart rate monitoring thanks to state-of-the-art sensors
• Many sports are available by default (including skipping)

Michelle Brändle

Editor

Michelle.Braendle@digitecgalaxus.ch

Ever since I learned how to hold a pen, I've been doodling away in bright colours. Thanks to my iPad, digital art has also become part of my life. That's why I love testing tablets – from the graphic design range to the regular kind. When I feel the urge to express my creativity without lugging lots of equipment, I go for the latest smartphones and start snapping away. more

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