You told us: You're not sure about buying a watch that can't be repaired

The Google Pixel Watch is certainly one of the better Wear OS watches out there, but it has one glaring hardware issue. The smartwatch can’t actually be repaired, leaving you in the lurch or forcing you to buy a new watch.

Colleague Adamya Sharma felt that nobody should buy the Pixel Watch 2 unless it can be repaired. We posted a poll in the article to find out whether you’d buy a smartwatch that couldn’t be fixed. Here’s how you answered that question.

Would you buy a smartwatch if you knew it can’t be repaired?

Results

This was a popular poll, with over 3,300 votes counted as of writing. The single most popular pick? Well, it turns out that ~41% of respondents said they wouldn’t buy a smartwatch if it couldn’t be repaired. Instead, these users would look at other brands.

We can see why this was the number one choice, as smartwatches tend to be used for physical activities. So the watch will be more exposed to knocks, bumps, and the elements. Even if you don’t use your watch for activity tracking, a repairable watch would still make life easier in the event of a defect or accidental damage.

Otherwise, ~26% of polled readers said they’d maybe buy a smartwatch if it couldn’t be repaired. We’re guessing that overall durability, the availability of covers, and the feature set would be determining factors here.

Meanwhile, ~24.5% of respondents said they’d still buy a watch if it couldn’t be repaired. Finally, almost 9% of polled readers said they don’t buy smartwatches to begin with.

When we look at these results from another perspective, roughly 50% of respondents said they’d either buy a watch that can’t be repaired or would think about it. Inversely, roughly two-thirds said they wouldn’t buy a watch that couldn’t be repaired or would have to think about it first.

Comments

• Gregor Smith: What are you people doing to your watches? I’ve had mine for almost a year, never worn a case or any protective thing over it, and it’s never received so much as a scratch despite banging into door frames and table edges
• Johne-bike: My Daughter has a Samsung Galaxy Active Watch 2 and came home from school having removed her watch, someone trod on it and the back glass was broken. A replacement Original OEM Back glass was purchased online for peanuts, complete with a new sticker seal and was replaced in minutes at home very easily.
• Chad T. Keogh: I was planning on buying a protective watch band anyway. Plus, even if it was repairable, the cost to repair might outweigh just replacing it with the latest model. Cell phones and smart watches are basically disposable on a 1-2 year cycle anyway it seems.
• Kontrary: If you’re that worried about it you can buy a Spigen Rugged Armor Pro for about $15. But you’d likely need to have a rather rugged lifestyle. It does, unfortunately, totally change the appearance of the watch because it encases the watch. My bigger concern for these watches is the band breaking at the connection point. I don’t think that’s all that likely with the standard Google brand bands, as opposed to aftermarket bands, or the Samsung Watch 5, but it is something to be concerned about. I doubt any insurance covers a watch being lost due to a band breaking.