/images/ppid_59c68470-image-179197267524890007.webp)
When a new smartwatch comes out, there is usually plenty to talk about. More features, better sensors, a brighter screen. Battery life gets a mention too, especially if it has improved.
But what happens when that battery starts wearing out a few years later? That part is less exciting, so it tends to get less attention.
I was reading iFixit’s teardown of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, published on 6 October. Both received a repairability score of 4 out of 10. The Series 12 has an improvement that helps remove the battery, but you still have to open the display to reach it. The Ultra 4 also requires going in through the screen.
That sounds like quite a job for replacing something we know will eventually wear out. There is an expensive screen
between you and the battery, and damaging it would make the whole exercise rather less worthwhile.
There has been some progress. iFixit found battery adhesive pull tabs and a simpler display connection in the Series 12. Those are useful changes. But they do not make it an easy device to open.
The same report gives the Pixel Watch 5 a repairability score of 9 out of 10, describing access through screws and a gasket. So, there are different ways of approaching this, even within the same category of gadget.
I would not choose a watch on that score alone. How well it works, which phone it works with and whether its features are useful would all matter. Nor does an easier repair automatically mean that parts will be cheap or readily available here in India.
Still, it is something worth knowing before buying.
We talk quite a lot about whether a gadget will last. Usually, we mean whether it will keep working properly, receive updates or feel slow after a few years. Being able to replace a battery should be part of that discussion too.
A watch could still be doing everything its owner needs, apart from holding enough charge. Replacing the whole thing at that point seems a pity. Especially if the owner has got used to it and has no particular interest in the latest model.
I would like reviews to spend a little more time on this. Along with what has been added this year, tell us what can be repaired later, where we can get it done and roughly what it will cost.
It might not make for a very exciting launch presentation. But a few years after buying the watch, it could become the most useful information of the lot.
