I decided to buy a Pixel watch, mainly to get quick notifications and ultimately to possibly not need to be around a phone to make or receive calls (with the LTE version). Wanted to stay with Google since they are an American company and I trust them more.
The smartwatch arrived on Oct 21st. It was a busy day, that also included taking delivery of my brand-new Forester SUV, but maybe more on that in another post.
I put the watch on and started to use it. It was a great experience. I found some real benefits that I did not anticipate. I really like the step counter, heartbeat info and being able to get information any time I want with the Google Assistant.
First day went mostly well and so did the second day, until at the very end. At the end, I started to experience some serious wrist pain. I had to take it off. The pain continued hours after taking the watch off. It sometimes got hard to bear. The next day it got better and eventually went away.
I knew the watch was causing the pain but did not know why. Maybe it was because the band was too tight, but I suspected it was the LED light underneath that was taking heartbeat measurements. So, I decided to block it.
First attempts at solving the problem
I first thought to make a plastic printed mating part underneath the whole watch. Had never done something like this before and it would take some time to do. I wanted something faster.
It has a curved bottom so I needed a plastic mating part that would fit under my watch. I had an extra Pixel watch charger that I decided to break and just use the curved top.
Took a while and I got the top plastic off and put two layers of aluminum foil underneath it and put it underneath the watch.
The heartbeat sensor was still working. Somehow it was seeing through it. So, I put more aluminum foil underneath. Still, this was not enough. I was shocked that the heartbeat sensor could see through this.
So, I decided to look for another solution. I believed I needed a big metal disk. So, I looked around the house for this. A long look and I was not finding anything good. But I come across a roll of tar paper, the kind that is used for roofing. I had it from my work on a shed that I built over the summer. Doubted that it would work but this was the best that I could come up with.
So I ripped of a piece and then cut it up into several one-inch squares and put them underneath the watch. The heartbeat sensor was not seeing through this. It turned off.
But then something unexpected happened. When there is no heartbeat detection, the phone displays a lock screen. I sign in and then it signs me out. A heartbeat is needed to be signed in.
Well, I though this is over. I cannot use the watch. So, I wiped the watch, planning on returning it. But then I decide to keep it in a drawer, maybe there would be some future solution.
I did some research and found out that Apple’s and Samsung’s smartwatches allow the heartbeat sensor to be turned off. Well, that would be nice, but the Pixel watch offers no same feature, there is no way to turn it off. Still, I was not willing to switch to those.
Breakthrough
A day later, as I lay on my bed, a thought occurred to me, was what if I turned off the screen lock, the pin, or the pattern? So, I quickly setup the watch again but this time without a screen lock. Put the light block underneath and now the watch was usable. Well, this brought the watch back from the dead.
It needed another very fortunate setting, this one to allow to send sound and vibration while it is not being worn. Without this setting, the sound and vibration would not work, because the watch would think that it is not being worn without a heartbeat. Another lifesaver.
I tried to make the band looser, but at a certain point, I could not feel the vibration alerts, so there is a limit.
I figured that having the tar paper next to the skin, is not healthy. Already it was itching, so I took some clear plastic (a cut Ziplock bag) and wrapped it around the tar paper to protect my skin. The watch with this development was able to detect a heartbeat. I now realized that the light was traveling not through the tar paper but channeled along the plastic and around the tar paper and reaching my skin that way. The Pixel watch heartbeat detector is very sensitive.
So, I decided to put the tar paper next to the watch but put the film underneath it. This worked: no heartbeat detected.
So, I have worn this and checked if the wrist pain would come back. It did not.
With this setup there are several disadvantages. Obviously, the watch has no protection. Anyone finding it would be able to fully use it. Second, is that Google Pay does not work without a screen lock. I was not using it, so this was not important to me. I would have to use the phone for this if I ever wanted it.
A more permanent solution
A simple solution to this would be to put some tape on the back of the watch. But this risks falling away over time and depending on the tape, the heartbeat detector may be able to see through it.
I started to look for a more permanent solution. I bought a piece of leather on Amazon and a leather hole puncher. My plan was to make a strip of leather to go underneath the watch and have the watch straps go through the leather on both ends. This would make it firmly underneath my watch in all cases. I did not want something that would slip out of my watch without me noticing and then have to experience the pain later.
I was able to do this, make the leather backing and life was good from that point on. No pain and I am able to use the watch safely.
I really like the quick notifications, remote media control of my phone, the unmissable timers when cooking, and other little things. Now the watch is saved.
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