Pixel Watch 5 starts at $399, and its emergency call feature arrives in Europe first

The number worth checking first is battery. Google rates the Pixel Watch 5 at up to 40 hours on the 45mm and 30 hours on the 41mm, both with fast charging, and in The Verge's testing the 45mm model ran roughly 36 to 40 hours on a single charge.

Pricing is $399 for the 41mm and $429 for the 45mm. Pre-orders opened August 12 and the watch reaches shelves August 20. The Stephen Curry Special Edition also went up for pre-order on August 12, at $579, arriving on shelves September 3.

The headline safety feature is breathing emergency detection: if the watch detects a breathing emergency and the wearer does not respond, it can place a call to emergency services on its own and transmit the wearer's exact location, and Google is launching that capability in Europe first. The reason for the split is regulatory. Google says it has not yet gained FDA clearance for use in the US, and according to The Verge the feature remains pending there.

Google also claimed the GPS on the Pixel Watch 5 outperforms the GPS on the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. Reviewers did not have a Fenix 8 Pro on hand to test that side by side.

On internals the accounts do not line up. Google says the watch packs 50 percent more RAM and a 12 percent CPU boost, making it 20 percent faster. One hands-on report says you still get the same 2GB of RAM as before.

One of the fitness additions is not ready at launch. Real-time information on your workout arrives in September, after the watch is already in buyers' hands.