Google’s Pixel Watch 5 isn’t some radical new redesign, but it does bring about some welcome enhancements. And while I’m still wrestling with mixed feelings around the use of generative AI nowadays, the Pixel Watch 5’s AI watch face generator has been a surprising delight.

I’m a smartwatch wearer for a number of reasons, from notifications to health tracking, but a pretty big part of it is customization. If I was a traditional watch guy, I’d probably have dozens of watches to swap out depending on the day. But, with Pixel Watch, I’ve really just settled into swapping watch faces and bands to suit whatever I’m feeling on that particular day.

So when Google first showed me this new feature that lets me create a new watch face from just a voice command, I was immediately intrigued to try it in person.

This is an extension of Gemini Intelligence on the Pixel Watch 5 and, unlike the rest of the catalog, it’s a point that Google isn’t really talking about all that much. It’s not mentioned anywhere on the Google Store listing, for example. It works more or less how you’d expect. Go to switch your watch face, tap the big ol’ “Create” button, and Google will either let you describe your desired face or pick from a variety of guided categories. In that sense, it’s not all that different from AI-generated wallpapers on Pixel phones.

But “Create your own” is where this really shines. Using voice commands, you can just describe what it is you want and Google will give you the result within about 10-20 seconds. While the core styles are always either a vertical digital face, a vertical digital face with complication arcs, or a horizontal face with a single complication, the actual digits and theme are up to your imagination. You can get surprisingly specific with the design. If you don’t like the results, a “Try again” button will retry your existing prompt and spit out a new result.

I’ve had a lot of fun with this, matching my watch face to my band or to some vibrant-colored shirts. Here are a couple of the creations I’ve been using this week. The blue face was generated using the prompt “make a watch face using blue and white colors in a marbled pattern” while the yellow and purple one was “make a watch face with yellow and purple colors with a dotted pattern kind of like lava.”

The biggest problem is really just that this is locked into a specific layouts. Even if you specifically ask, there’s no way to get an analog watch face. I’m sure this can be added later, but it seems like a pretty big oversight on Google’s part.

Still, this has been a nice refresh to the experience. Outside of the updated gestures that really change the way you use the Pixel Watch 5 – more on that in Abner’s review – I think it’s my favorite update this year.

Technically speaking, I’m sure Google could implement a version of this feature on existing hardware. The extra horsepower and memory on Pixel Watch 5 surely plays a role in making this feature usable on the actual smartwatch, but there’s nothing saying you can’t just offload this to the phone, creating the face over on the Pixel Watch app and then sending it over. If Google ever expands this to prior generations, that’s the only way I can see it happening.

Pixel Watch 5 is available now starting at $399.

  • Pixel Watch 5 (41mm):Google Store | Amazon
  • Pixel Watch 5 (45mm):Google Store | Amazon

More on Google Pixel:

  • Pixel Watch 5 (41mm) Initial Review: New watch alert, actually
  • Pixel Watch 5 comes with ‘2nd Gen Active Band’ – here’s what changed, and why you should care
  • I really want to love the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, but it’s not off to the best start

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