- Google has just launched the Watch 4 smartwatch pixel
- It allows you to contact emergency workers via satellite connectivity
- This means that Google beat Apple on this particular feature
Satellite connectivity can be a vital way to get you out of a tight spot, especially if you are out of network without mobile phone signal. Many of the best intelligent watches can call emergency services for you, but none is able to do so by fully based on orbit satellites.
Now, however, Google says that its new Pixel Watch 4 watch is the “very first intelligent watch with autonomous emergency satellite communications”. This means it will work even when you have left your phone or if it is not available.
Here’s how it works. If you are in a non -cellular area, you will have to deal with 911 directly from the watch interface. You should then specify what your emergency is – an illness, an injury, a flight, etc. – Before the watch shows you a quick tutorial on how to connect to a satellite. You will have to guide your wrist as guided on the watch, which will help him align with a satellite and send your message to emergency respondents.
When you use the emergency satellite system, the Watch 4 Pixel goes into battery saving mode to keep the device as long as you need help.
You must also have the LTE version of the Pixel Watch 4, according to the content creator DC Rainmaker, although you don’t really need to have a LTE service plan. Google says you will get satellite connectivity for free for two years, but we will see if it is extended as it was with Apple’s emergency satellite service.
Beating Apple with a punch
Google did well to bring satellite connectivity to the Watch 4 Pixel before its rivals, but the proof is in pudding.
After all, being the first is all good, but we will have to see how it works in practice to find out if the functionality is up to par. That said, I would like to see more watches win this feature, because everything that can save your bacon when you are far from cellular services should be welcomed.
Apple will add satellite connectivity to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which should be launched in September. When (or if) this happens, it will be interesting to see if Apple does something different from the approach of Google, or if the functionality is generally similar between the devices.
The Google Pixel Watch 4 starts at $ 349 / £ 349 / $ 579 at, although you will have to pay $ 449 / £ 449 / $ 749 to the most affordable LTE version with satellite connectivity. You can order one now, but it will not start shipping before October 9.
