Good news for original Pixel Watch owners who are disappointed that a second-generation wearable is being released just 12 months after its launch. The company has announced that Wear OS 4 will be rolling out to the first-generation smartwatch, along with a number of features that were previously exclusive to the Pixel Watch 2.

"All supported Pixel Watch devices running Wear OS 3.5 will receive the October 2023 software with the Wear OS 4 upgrade starting today," Google's head of devices and services Social and Community Manager Stefanie Frederick wrote." The rollout will continue in phases over the next few weeks, depending on carrier and device"

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When the update is ready, you will receive a notification on your watch, giving you access to the new features that Pixel Watch 2 users are already enjoying.

The most useful of these are the Google Calendar app and the introduction of Safety Check. If you are doing something dangerous, such as walking home alone after a night out, the watch can automatically send a message to your GPS coordinates and emergency contacts if you are not sure you are safe when the selected timer expires.

Wear OS 4 also includes the ability to transfer Pixel Watch data to a new phone without a factory reset, allowing you to back up wearable data and settings when you are ready to upgrade to a new model.

Accessibility has also been improved, with "a new text-to-speech engine supports a faster and more reliable TalkBack experience on the watch, text is bolded, magnification is new and improved, and audio balance adjusts sound intensity between right and left audio channels."

Finally, Pixel Watch 1 owners will get improved notifications with "Smart Link recognition of phone numbers and addresses. This means they can tap to call, send a message, or get directions. Images and GIFs now also appear as media previews in the notification panel.

This is a very welcome upgrade for Pixel Watch owners, but it is not fully equivalent to the Pixel Watch 2.

For one thing, there is a safety feature that was not present on the original wearable: safety signal, available on the Fitbit Premium submodel of the Pixel Watch 2, which allows users to connect to an LTE network in an emergency without a carrier plan. This appears to be intentional, as the original Pixel Watch is not listed on the support page for this feature.

More fundamentally, while the two wearables appear similar, the Pixel Watch 2 is a significant internal upgrade over the original model.

The original Pixel Watch used an Exynos 9110, but this chipset is four years past its release date and does not look any more healthy today. The Pixel Watch 2, on the other hand, uses last year's Qualcomm SW5100. This chipset has been on the market for only a year and offers more nimble performance and better efficiency to keep its promise of all-day battery life.

In her 4-star Pixel Watch 2 review, wearables expert Kate Kozuch commented that it "feels more like a Fitbit in many ways" and called it "a big improvement for wellness tracking." However, she felt that the lack of size options and the persistence of the thick bezel were annoyances that kept it from full endorsement.

"If I had to guess, I would say that next year will be a big year for Google smartwatches. The type of upgrade that will directly challenge the Galaxy Watch and maybe even the Apple Watch," she concluded.