Skip to main content

The Pixel Watch just got an important safety feature it’s been missing for months

The Google Pixel Watch launched with a solid list of health and wellness features, but it’s not getting one that it’s been missing since launch. With this update, the Pixel Watch now understands if you have a serious fall and will contact the emergency services if you injure yourself in the process, or if it doesn’t get a response from you.

The feature, which was announced with the Pixel Watch in 2022 and began testing at the beginning of 2023, should arrive on all Pixel Watch smartwatches from February 28.

The Google Pixel Watch on charge.
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends / Google

Your watch will let you know the feature has arrived by showing you a card, prompting you to head over to the correct menu to enable Fall Detection. It’s not a feature you’re required to have active all the time, and it doesn’t automatically switch on. However, Google has worked to make the feature as reliable as possible, so it knows the difference between exercise or a stumble compared to an actual, potentially serious fall.

What happens if you fall? The Pixel Watch will understand if it’s a “hard fall,” and if it doesn’t detect any movement after 30 seconds, it will go through a series of steps. First, the watch will vibrate and sound an alarm, and the screen will show a notification asking if you require help. It can be dismissed at this time if you’re fine, but if you need assistance, there’s the option to call the emergency services immediately.

If you are unable to respond to the notification at this time, the alarm continues for about a minute, before the watch will automatically place a call to the emergency services. The clever part here is that it plays an automated message to the operator with your location and a request for help. Alternatively, if the call has gone through and you can speak, the watch will connect you too. You can read more about how Fall Detection on the Pixel Watch works.

Fall Detection has been a long-awaited feature, and it brings the Pixel Watch in line with the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, both of which have similar safety features as standard.

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
I did a Pixel 7a camera test — and it’s bad news for Samsung
Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54 cameras

Every smartphone manufacturer updates its flagship lineup annually, packing in all of the best components that are available. For Google, this is the Pixel 7 lineup, and Samsung has the Galaxy S23 series.

However, not everyone wants to — or can afford — to pay flagship prices all the time. Thankfully, both Google and Samsung have more budget-friendly options with the Pixel A-series and Galaxy A-series devices. If you want a good smartphone without paying too much, then these are both pretty good phones to check out.

Read more
The Google Pixel Watch is finally getting a long-awaited feature
Daily steps shown on the Google Pixel Watch.

The Google Pixel Watch has been routinely adding new features for owners to enjoy ever since it first launched last year, and now it appears that it'll be getting a long-requested health feature.

Spotted first on Reddit, it seems like the Pixel Watch is now able to track blood oxygen levels (SpO2.) SpO2 tracking is a pretty common health feature on most other flagship smartwatches like the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, so the fact that it wasn't included at launch on the Pixel Watch made it feel like it was missing a major feature.

Read more
This Pixel Watch 2 leak just made it the 2023 smartwatch I can’t wait for
The Pixel Watch on a person's wrist.

Google’s first attempt at the smartwatch ecosystem was the Pixel Watch, which served fine hardware and rewarding software married to underwhelming battery life and some missing health-tracking features. It looks like Google will address all the damning foibles in one fell swoop later this year with the Pixel Watch 2.

According to 9to5Google, Google is switching away from Samsung’s Exynos processor fitted inside the Pixel Watch. Instead, the company is sourcing Qualcomm’s W5 series flagship smartwatch chip for the second-gen Pixel Watch. That’s great news — not just for the Pixel Watch legacy, but also for the whole ecosystem.

Read more