The smaller a device is, the harder it tends to be to repair. Just look at Apple's AirPods Pro 3, which look more or less impossible to open up without causing irreparable damage to the inner workings. Smartwatches often fall into this same trap, but it looks like Google is changing the narrative with the Pixel Watch 4.
iFixit just tore down the Pixel Watch 4, and gave the watch an unprecedented 9/10 for repairability — something no other smartwatch has achieved so far.
As the repair team put it, the watch has "a complete rethink of smartphone design" and it looks as though Google built the watch with repairs and serviceability in mind.
The big change is that there's absolutely no glue involved in this year's design. Instead, the Pixel Watch 4 holds itself together with screws, which makes opening it up an absolute breeze. All you need is a screwdriver, so your heat gun can stay firmly packed away where it belongs.
Better still, the two exterior screws have their own O-ring to seal the body and maintain the Pixel Watch 4's IP68 water and dust resistance. Just make sure not to lose them during your own teardowns.
The internals feature more screws, alongside a press connector and the occasional ribbon cable — but nothing too fiddly or taxing to deal with.
Another internal gasket seals off the screen and chipset, helping to maintain that IP68 rating even further — something iFixit likens to the design of dive watches. They also note that the watch's circular design makes this significantly easier than rectangular and square-shaped watches. Which I think is as good a reason as any to dislike that particular design choice.
All in all, the conclusion from this teardown is that Google has gone out of its way to make the watch easy to repair. There are no traps or hidden screws, nor is there any glue that would instantly make the teardown more complicated.
Not only does that make it easier for Google technicians to fix broken watches, it means you've actually got the choice to make those repairs yourself. Or, at least you will once those spare parts are available to purchase. Which, if the Pixel phones are anything to go by, should happen fairly soon.
How does this compare to other smartwatches?
Other smartwatches generally suck when it comes to making teardowns and repairs viable.
None of this really means anything unless you know why the Pixel Watch 4's design is potentially so revolutionary. Well, it's because other smartwatches generally suck when it comes to making teardowns and repairs viable.
The last Pixel Watch iFixit tore down was the Pixel Watch 2, which got a repair score of 4/10 because of the custom adhesive that meant the watch couldn't be "reliably reassembled." Likewise, the Pixel Watch 3 is apparently such a pain to fix that Google flat-out said that it would replace broken models instead of fixing them. Which is pretty wasteful if you ask me.
The most recent Apple Watch torn down by iFixit, the Apple Watch Series 10, got a measly 3/10 repair score, for many of the same reasons that plague other small Apple devices. Key parts are difficult to access, official parts and instructions aren't available and the reliance on glue makes it all very difficult to pull off.
The only watch that seems to have come close to the Pixel Watch 4's score is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra — gaining a 7/10 for many of the same reasons. There's no internal glue; Samsung also employed internal gaskets to preserve the seal, while both the battery and screen are independently accessible. However, some design choices, like the exterior tri-point screws, can make the process a little harder than it needs to be.
In any case, Google seems to be showing that smartwatch repairs could be a lot easier than they have been to date. Provided that the companies in question put the effort into making them that way. Here's hoping the rest of the best smartwatches, especially those made by Apple, follow that example in the near future.
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