In the event you crack the display screen on the Pixel Watch, getting it formally repaired by Google isn’t within the playing cards.
A number of Pixel Watch homeowners have vented their frustrations in regards to the incapability to interchange cracked screens, each on Reddit and in Google support forums. The Verge has additionally reviewed an official Google help chat from a reader who broke their Pixel Watch show after dropping the wearable. In it, a help consultant states that Google “doesn’t have any restore facilities or service facilities” for the gadget.
“At this second, we don’t have any restore possibility for the Google Pixel Watch. In case your watch is broken, you possibly can contact the Google Pixel Watch Buyer Help Crew to test your alternative choices,” Google spokesperson Bridget Starkey confirmed to The Verge.
This Restricted Guarantee doesn’t apply to wreck brought on by: (1) regular put on and tear; (2) accidents; (3) misuse (together with failure to comply with product documentation); (4) neglect; (5) disassembly; (6) alterations; (7) servicing apart from by Google-authorized technicians; and (8) exterior causes comparable to, however not restricted to: liquid injury, publicity to sharp objects, publicity to extreme drive, anomalies within the electrical present equipped to the Google product, and excessive thermal or environmental situations.
That guarantee leaves homeowners on their very own to cope with injury brought on by drops or unintended strikes, and based on Google’s Store, there isn’t any possibility for an prolonged guarantee to go along with a Pixel Watch. In case your Pixel Watch is by accident broken, that’s it.
That is although a restore would technically be attainable. iFixit notes in its Pixel Watch teardown that whereas the display screen isn’t simply accessible, the watch itself holds promise for future repairability. The positioning additionally has a detailed how-to for changing a cracked, damaged, or {dead} display screen. Nevertheless, it’s unclear the place the common individual would supply a alternative half, particularly as Google doesn’t supply restore choices for the gadget. One commenter on the iFixit information suggests shopping for an intact Pixel Watch off eBay, however that solely appears mildly cheaper (and maybe extra wasteful) than shopping for a used or new Pixel Watch alternative.
That is troubling, contemplating the Pixel Watch incorporates a round domed glass show. Whereas it’s a beautiful design, it may be simply cracked in the event you’re not cautious. Throughout our assessment interval final 12 months, my colleague Chris Welch cracked his inside a number of days — although he hadn’t accomplished something out of the abnormal or banged the gadget towards exhausting surfaces. I’ve not skilled a crack regardless of dropping mine a number of occasions, however our differing experiences are extra possible because of luck than the rest.
Google just isn’t the one one responsible of creating smartwatch repairs tough. Repairing an Apple Watch has traditionally been an costly and tough endeavor. For instance, with out AppleCare Plus, Apple cites a flat $299 estimate for a Sequence 8 and $499 for an Apple Watch Extremely. With AppleCare Plus, that value drops to $69 for the Sequence 8 and $79 for the Extremely, not together with the cost of AppleCare itself. That stated, a minimum of you can ship in an Apple Look ahead to restore, even when shopping for a brand new one could be less expensive in the long term.
This isn’t nice, contemplating that Google is anticipated to launch a brand new Pixel Watch 2 in October with what appears to be a nearly identical design. The excellent news is that Google might not have a lot alternative about this observe going ahead. Earlier this week, California handed a right-to-repair bill that requires firms to make alternative components for electronics out there for 3 years in the event that they value $50 and up, and 7 years for units costing $100 or extra.