You could buy a phone instead of this Pixel Watch accessory

Google has finally held its 2022 Pixel family launch, fully revealing the Pixel 7 series and the Pixel Watch. The wearable in particular has been a long time coming, but comes in at a rather pricey $349.99 starting price.

The Pixel Watch comes with a so-called Active band in the box, but Google isn’t playing around when it comes to the prices of its optional watch bands. For starters, the Stretch and Woven bands will set you back $59.99, while the Crafted Leather and Two-toned Leather options will retail for $79.99.

Perhaps the most eye-watering add-on of the lot is the metal band, coming next spring. Google says you’ll need to cough up $199 for these bands when they eventually go on sale.

In other words, you could buy three Xiaomi Mi Band 7 fitness trackers or even a cheap phone like the Redmi Note 11 or Galaxy A13 4G instead. There are also loads of smartwatches out there for the price of this strap (or even cheaper), such as the Mobvoi Ticwatch E3, Fitbit Versa 3, and cheap watches from OnePlus, Xiaomi, and others.

For what it’s worth, Google isn’t the only major tech company pushing expensive watch bands. Samsung also offers a $199 metal band for the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and an exorbitant $300 titanium band for the Galaxy Watch 5. Either way, you’ll be spending plenty of cash if you want metal bands for your Samsung or Google watch.