Google is ‘thinking’ about making the Pixel Watch repairable
If you break your Google Pixel Watch—no matter first generation smartwatch from 2022 or latest model launched earlier this month—there’s no way to get it repaired through official channels. Instead, if you’re successful in your warranty claim, Google will send you a replacement unit instead of repairing your model. This lack of repairability highlights the company’s lack of experience. in the smartwatch space. You can bring your broken Apple Watch to Apple to repair cracked glass or replace the battery, and the same is true for Samsung Galaxy Watch.
There is some good news, however. At a Climate Week NYC panel focused on repairable technology—by Market is back and operated by One5c—Nicole Azores, director of public policy and government relations at Google, said Tuesday that the company is considering designing the Pixel Watch to make it more repairable.
“Watches and wearables are still quite new, and we are thinking about how to make them repairable,” Azores said during the conference. “We are thinking about repairability at a broader scale, not just on phones and tablets, and we want to make sure that all of our products are ultimately repairable. I think watches are a fairly new category, there are some design elements that need to be considered in terms of how we make them repairable.”
When can you fix it?
Azores didn’t provide any further details, including a timeline. Consumer tech products typically have a two- to three-year development timeline. But it’s unclear whether this more easily repairable framework will appear in the Pixel Watch 4 next year, or even later. Google has stuck with the same design for the Pixel Watch for the past three generations, though Pixel Watch 3 First launched in two sizes.
This is the first time the company has publicly commented on the smartwatch’s unrepairability. Until now, Google representatives have often said the company had nothing to share when repairability concerns were raised.
The Pixel Watch is a latecomer to the smartwatch world, but the software it runs—Wear OS—has been around for a decade (formerly known as Android Wear). Google controls the operating system, as manufacturers like Fossil and LG make their own smartwatches. That changes in 2022, when Google releases its own smartwatch, after efforts to reboot the ailing platform along with Samsung and Fitbit.
Google is said to have arrested 8 percent market share of straps in Q4 2022, the timeframe when the first Pixel Watch launches. The team Canal Analysis The company said it shipped 880,000 Pixel watches during that time (the rest were Fitbit devices).
Just the starting point
Lack repairability will ruin many of these watches electronic waste to landfills, according to a recent UN climate report. has reached crisis point. In 2022, there will be an estimated 137 billion pounds of e-waste, and less than a quarter will be recycled. By 2030, e-waste is expected to increase by 33 percent, far outpacing recycling.
There are ongoing efforts to enforce repairability in technology. Last year, the European Union passed regulations that require smartphones and tablets to have longer-lasting batteries or easier ways for users to replace them with common tools starting in June 2025. While not subject to this law, Apple’s new products iPhone 16 Launched a new glue that makes Internal battery is easier to remove,
Whether it’s the Pixel Watch 4 or Pixel Watch 5, this design change is a win for consumers. Now Google needs to focus on improving the repairability of the Fitbit Wearables. Despite its popularity followerscompany has no any repair center to send your device in for repair.
