Google’s first Pixel Watch was fashionably late to the wrist computing party, arriving in 2022 when the market was already quite mature. And while the smartwatch has since cemented its place among top-tier wearables, it has one red flag: It isn’t repairable.
For the past three generations, Google has been replacing broken Pixel Watches instead of repairing them. “Watches and wearables are still fairly nascent," a spokesperson explained at a 2024 Climate Week panel when asked why the watch wasn't repairable. Meanwhile, Apple recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Apple Watch.
The good news is that repairability is one of the top improvements Google has made to the new Pixel Watch 4, which was announced today alongside the Pixel 10 phones. The Pixel Watch 4 retains its domed glass design but can be disassembled with a screwdriver, and it uses largely the same-size screws throughout its construction. A customer won't void the one-year warranty if the watch is disassembled for screen or battery repairs, and Google will sell replacements for those components at iFixit.
There are several other small improvements to the smartwatch, like longer battery life and a new gesture that lets you talk to Gemini by raising your wrist. The Pixel Watch 4 starts at $349 for the 41-mm Bluetooth model, while the 45-mm variant is $399. (The versions with LTE connectivity cost $100 more, respectively.) You can preorder it now, but unlike the Pixel 10 phones that are available this month, the watch won't be available until October 9.
Watch Repair
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Google invited me to its Mountain View, California, offices to take an exclusive look at a teardown of the Pixel Watch 4. (Google paid for a portion of my travel expenses to see its research facility.) Junyong Park, an industrial designer who worked on the device, began disassembling it, manicured nails and all. Park says it was a “tremendous collaboration” between the design and engineering teams. “We're pretty proud of how this turned out.”