Google’s $200 metal Pixel Watch band is very premium, very expensive

When the Pixel Watch came out in October, it seemed like a decent but first-gen swing at a smartwatch (even though Android Wear came out about nine years ago). Part of what gives off the first-generation vibe is the Pixel Watch’s lack of watchband variety. Eight months after the watch’s release, Google is taking a big step to solve that problem by introducing metal watch straps. The “Google Pixel Watch Metal Links Band” was on sale on the Google Store for a short time Friday before selling out.

Google’s metal watch band is $200, which may seem expensive for a $350 watch, but that’s on par with what Samsung charges, and Apple’s metal link band is $350. We have one of these bands in person right now, and it’s worth every bit of the $200 price tag. Google’s watch strap feels as premium as a strap from a luxury watchmaker, with an incredible amount of weight and a solid-feeling closure section. With the standard number of metal links (you get an extra six in the box), the Pixel Watch plus a metal strap weighs 145g, which is midweight luxury watch territory.

The bracelet links have an interesting fastening mechanism. I’m used to bands that either have a long screw through each link or a pin that you slide in from the side, but the links on the Pixel are each connected with an internal spring bar system. Fold one of the links in half and you will see a number of openings to insert the specially supplied tweezers. Squeeze the tweezers and you compress the spring bar, retract the two pins and disconnect the link from the watch band.

Spring bars can often be inconvenient since you usually have to compress them and then make them touch the left and right holes in the watch band. But the Pixel Watch band has a little ramp milled around each hole that can handle the spring compression, and you can just snap the links of the band together. The whole system feels safe and easy, and all these holes and slopes in the links manage to be completely hidden from any normal view. Everything about the watch strap feels great. It really is as beautiful as you could hope for.

Like any real watch, smartwatches are part technology, part fashion accessory, but the Pixel Watch has struggled with the latter. Apple and Samsung understand that a smartwatch should look good and match a user’s style; Samsung has about a dozen watch strap styles, and Apple offers an almost unlimited selection of straps from itself and licensed third-party designers like Nike and Hermès. The Pixel Watch launched with five different watch bands, all of which were rubber, cloth or leather. The traditional metal watch strap wasn’t an option from Google until now.

Google’s initial lack of watch strap variety was just one of the supply chain issues the company had with its first first-party smartwatch. The fact that the metallink band is already sold out, with only a “waiting list” to join, still doesn’t seem like all of Google’s problems have been solved. Google’s other metal watch band style that was promised at launch, the “Metal Mesh Band”, was supposed to launch alongside this link band in “Spring”, but the listing was removed from the Google Store in April. A Google spokesperson tells us that the metal mesh band “didn’t meet our quality standards, so unfortunately we won’t be making them available for Pixel Watch.”

Waiting eight months for an accessory is a long time, and we’re already talking about the rumored Pixel Watch 2. This watch band uses a proprietary connection system, so hopefully Google will use the same connector for the second edition.

Frame image by Ron Amadeo