
Ron Amadeo
Here’s one of the improvements Google wants to see for the Pixel Watch 2: better adhesive. Android Police has seen some reports of the back panels of some Pixel Watches just falling off. Several posts on the PixelWatch subreddit contain photos of this event; Many commenters say this happened to them too.
It seems like this is something that Google should cover under warranty, and with the device being less than a year old, everything should be under warranty. You also have a strong argument if you contact Google support about a broken device. The scary thing is that it also compromises the device’s water resistance, and we doubt Google covers every instance of water damage. Most reports indicate that Google is taking care of the problem, but some users were initially threatened with a $300 repair fee, which was later waived.
Thanks to my excessive sweating (I believe) the glue on the back of my pixel watch melted and the back exploded. pic.twitter.com/ltUQauXC4I
β SuperSanusi (@supersanusi) May 30, 2023
When iFixit tore apart the Pixel Watch, it noticed that the back adhesive was a novel “liquid gasket” that the site hadn’t seen before. The report says, “The back glass appears to be held in place by some sort of liquid gasket that seals tightly, but opens cleanly. It also peels the glass off with almost nothing left.” It looks like Google’s fancy glue is coming off too easily. Poor adherence to back panels is also a recent problem with Fossil watches, and with the “Gen 6” versions, Fossil has acknowledged the problem and says it has been fixed.
We all know that manufacturers like to build completely fastener-free smartphones, but it is not unusual to see visible screws on the back of a traditional watch. Some watches turn the entire back panel into one giant screw, with a threaded edge running along the back cover, and the whole thing screws into the body of the watch. Maybe a real fastener would help the Pixel Watch.