Exclusive: Google Pixel Watch 4 Teardown Shows Easy Repairability

Google’s archetypal Pixel Watch was fashionably precocious to the wrist computing party, arriving in 2022 erstwhile the marketplace was already rather mature. And portion the smartwatch has since cemented its place among top-tier wearables, it has 1 reddish flag: It isn’t repairable.

For the past 3 generations, Google has been replacing breached Pixel Watches alternatively of repairing them. “Watches and wearables are inactive reasonably nascent," a spokesperson explained astatine a 2024 Climate Week panel erstwhile asked wherefore the ticker wasn't repairable. Meanwhile, Apple precocious celebrated the 10th day of its Apple Watch.

The bully quality is that repairability is 1 of the apical improvements Google has made to the caller Pixel Watch 4, which was announced contiguous alongside the Pixel 10 phones. The Pixel Watch 4 retains its domed solid plan but tin beryllium disassembled with a screwdriver, and it uses mostly the same-size screws passim its construction. A lawsuit won't void the one-year warranty if the ticker is disassembled for surface oregon artillery repairs, and Google volition merchantability replacements for those components astatine iFixit.

There are respective different tiny improvements to the smartwatch, similar longer artillery beingness and a caller motion that lets you speech to Gemini by raising your wrist. The Pixel Watch 4 starts astatine $349 for the 41-mm Bluetooth model, portion the 45-mm variant is $399. (The versions with LTE connectivity outgo $100 more, respectively.) You tin preorder it now, but dissimilar the Pixel 10 phones that are disposable this month, the ticker won't beryllium disposable until October 9.

Watch Repair

Google invited maine to its Mountain View, California, offices to instrumentality an exclusive look astatine a teardown of the Pixel Watch 4. (Google paid for a information of my question expenses to spot its probe facility.) Junyong Park, an concern decorator who worked connected the device, began disassembling it, manicured nails and all. Park says it was a “tremendous collaboration” betwixt the plan and engineering teams. “We're beauteous arrogant of however this turned out.”

There are 2 T2 screws located nether the ticker set pocket—unscrew those, and you tin entree the internals of the Pixel Watch 4, nary request to fuss with immoderate adhesives. At this stage, the Biosensor Hub, which houses the bosom complaint show and different sensors connected the backmost of the watch, is inactive connected. Google intentionally made it truthful that this connector doesn't request to beryllium removed for artillery replacements. Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, which has partnered with Google to merchantability the spare parts for the watch, says these kinds of connectors tin beryllium fragile, truthful it's ever amended if the device's plan lets you regenerate components without having to unplug them.

To region the battery, region the haptic centrifugal with the T2 caput connected a Torx screwdriver. Two much screws clasp the battery, but erstwhile they're out, you tin disconnect the artillery from the committee and beryllium done. You'll announcement that Google utilized T2 screws passim that full process. This is intentional, arsenic you tin usage the aforesaid Torx screwdriver for artillery replacements, reducing the fig of tools needed for repairs. (A Torx screwdriver is commonly utilized successful electronics repairs and is included successful the repair kits sold by iFixit.)

To regenerate the display, you'll request to unplug the Biosensor Hub. Then disconnect the artillery brackets, unplug the show connector, and unscrew the 4 screws that clasp the solid to the housing. (These are a premix of T2 and T5 screws.) Overall, it looked reasonably simple, and it took Park little than 13 minutes to region these components portion talking astir the process and answering my questions.

Francis Hoe, elder merchandise manager for the Pixel Watch, says the Pixel Watch 4 should inactive support the IP68 water-resistance rating aft servicing. A silicone O-ring helps make a seal erstwhile the 2 halves of the ticker are placed backmost together. Hoe, who has been the merchandise pb since the Pixel Watch 2, says Google ever wanted to marque its smartwatch repairable. “It has taken america a small spot longer to get to this place—it required a batch of alteration internally successful the product; those types of large architecture changes instrumentality aggregate years.”

The Fix Is In

The plan changes successful the Pixel Watch 4 are a large measurement guardant for smartwatch repairability. While you tin regenerate immoderate components successful an Apple Watch oregon Galaxy Watch, they're not arsenic casual to repair yourself. Apple's Self Service Repair programme doesn't screen the Apple Watch, and connected iFixit's repairability rankings, the Apple Watch Series 10 scored a paltry 3/10. (The Pixel Watch 3 earned a 4/10.) Samsung tells WIRED that idiosyncratic repair is supported connected its Galaxy Watches (the Galaxy Watch Ultra earned a respectable 7/10 connected iFixit), but this doesn't see the artillery owed to information reasons.

“Smartwatches ought to beryllium a mature merchandise astatine this point,” Wiens says, though helium notes that challenges astir serviceability are harder connected a smartwatch compared to a smartphone owed to its smaller size. Repairability “should beryllium possible; it's conscionable a substance of will,” Wiens says. “It's going to beryllium much challenging. It's going to beryllium easier and little outgo to marque it little repairable.”

That echoes what Anna-Katrina Shedletsky says. Now the CEO of Instrumental, Shedletsky spent six years astatine Apple and was 1 of the merchandise plan leads connected the archetypal Apple Watch. She says the precedence astatine the clip of the Apple Watch's debut was to plan thing radical would really privation to wear, not repairability. Other concerns took precedence too, similar h2o absorption and figuring retired the intricacies of wherever to spot the Wi-Fi antenna connected the metallic framework of the watch.

“I deliberation we did a beauteous bully job—it's overmuch harder to marque than a phone, but it had overmuch little instrumentality rates," Shedletsky says. “It's truly hard to get each the worldly successful determination that you need; astir of the worldly that you'd necessitate for repairability requires other space.” She besides noted that the quadrate signifier of the Apple Watch made it much challenging to seal. “There's a crushed astir watches are round, due to the fact that you tin marque a amended seal that way. You couldn't usage an O-ring connected a plan similar this; it wouldn't work.”

Timely Update

What other is caller with the Pixel Watch 4? While it whitethorn triumph points for repairability, Google's latest wearable isn't earning immoderate plaudits for biology impact: For the 3rd clip successful 4 generations, Google is changing the charger. The smartwatch present charges connected its side, allowing it to remainder sideways, similar a clock. It's not conscionable for show—charging is faster, too, going from 0 to 50 percent successful 15 minutes. There aren't galore third-party chargers for the Pixel Watch astatine the moment, but Google says we'll spot much options with the latest generation.

The plan is mostly the same, but the Actua 360 show is domed for the archetypal time, resting nether the domed glass. It somewhat improves the visibility of the ticker look astatine assorted angles, and it looks spectacular. The bezels are 15 percent slimmer, meaning you get 10 percent much screen, and that surface tin deed 3,000 nits of brightness, making it 50 percent brighter than the Pixel Watch 3. The watch's haptic motor is stronger, truthful you tin consciousness much precisely erstwhile there's a notification oregon alert, and the clearer customized talker should marque it easier to perceive answers from the Gemini dependable assistant.

Speaking of, 1 of the caller capabilities connected the ticker is simply a motion to activate Gemini. Just rise your wrist, and Gemini volition aftermath up and listen, eliminating the request to accidental a hotword oregon property a button. The institution had to bid the algorithms to differentiate betwixt a wrist rise to cheque the clip and a wrist rise to talk to Gemini. (There are settings to crook disconnected this diagnostic oregon set the sensitivity.)

The Pixel Watch 4 besides has a redesigned astute reply system, utilizing a caller on-device Gemini tiny connection exemplary optimized for the smartwatch. These astute replies aren't personalized to you, but they'll amusement up much consistently arsenic reply options erstwhile you person a message. Google says they make 80 percent of the time, whereas the erstwhile speedy replies lone showed up 20 percent of the time.

You'll spot a show boost acknowledgment to the caller dual-chip architecture—Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 paired with a machine-learning microprocessor—delivering much processing astatine fractional the power. That besides means 25 percent longer artillery life, bumping Google's assertion up to 40 hours of tally clip for the 45-mm ticker and 30 hours for the 41-mm model.

Google says the Pixel Watch 4 is the archetypal smartwatch with SOS outer communications, allowing you to link to exigency services straight via the ticker alternatively of a phone. Several smartphones have this capability, including Pixel phones, but this whitethorn beryllium utile for folks who thin to permission the telephone astatine location erstwhile going connected a run.

As for wellness features, Google focused connected upgrading slumber tracking this year. It says the ticker is much close astatine classifying your implicit slumber cycle, precisely detecting erstwhile your assemblage is successful REM, light, oregon heavy sleep. A caller tegument somesthesia sensor tin observe erstwhile your temps veer retired of your accustomed range, which could assistance you place if you're nether the weather. It maintains galore of the aforesaid features arsenic before, including Cardio Load, Loss of Pulse Detection (which became disposable successful the US earlier this twelvemonth connected the Pixel Watch 3), Fall Detection, and Car Crash Detection.

Fitness-wise, you tin watercourse cycling workouts to your phone, turning it into a bike computer of sorts, and the caller dual-frequency GPS vigor allows for much close way tracking. There's a caller “AI-powered enactment designation system,” meaning if you forgot to way a workout, the ticker volition inactive way your enactment successful the inheritance and springiness you recognition for it—it classifies the enactment and volition nonstop a summary afterward with your cardio load, calories burned, and different metrics.

In October, Google volition present a redesigned Fitbit smartphone app with a caller AI Health Coach, powered by Gemini. Google says you'll beryllium capable to “ask virtually immoderate wellness and fittingness question,” and this is disposable for older Pixel Watches and Fitbit devices. It'll motorboat arsenic a preview—sort of similar a beta—and is lone disposable successful the US astatine the commencement for Fitbit Premium subscribers. Google says this wellness and fittingness manager is built with “leading manufacture experts and done technological research,” though support successful caput it was conscionable implicit a twelvemonth agone that Google’s AI Overviews recommended adding glue to pizza sauce.