Pebble is replacing faulty Time 2 watches for free — here’s how

Contacted Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble and Core Devices Android Authority to help explain what happened. He shared fresh details about how many reports Pebble has received, what it believes is causing the problems, and what it’s doing for affected customers. More importantly, the company fixes things for users who experience hardware problems.

If you’ve experienced a manufacturing issue with your Pebble Time 2—whether it’s an unexpectedly cracked windshield, unusually poor battery life, or some other hardware malfunction—there’s a good chance Pebble will replace your watch at no charge. Migicovsky told us that the company has already shipped about 330 replacement units to customers. This stands in contrast to the fact that many hardware companies are quick to point to warranty limitations or classify physical damage as user error.

As for the cracked screen issue, Migicovsky told us that Pebble has received 51 reports out of about 22,000 Pebble Time 2 watches that customers have. Prior to production, the team conducted extensive testing for impact resistance, water resistance, and overall durability, and believes the limited number of failures seen so far are consistent with these results.

Of course, if you’re a cracked watch watcher, percentages don’t matter much. The good news is that every verified report resulted in a replacement. Fortunately, getting one is pretty simple. If the front glass of your watch is cracked, you must provide the following error report Along with a photo or video of the damage via the Pebble app. Once confirmed as a legitimate hardware issue, Pebble will replace the watch for free.

The replacement program doesn’t sound like it’s going away anytime soon, either. Pebble says it will continue to replace reasonable glass cases for free “as long as it can.” Down the road, it plans to move into heavily discounted replacements, while also exploring selling full front display kits for users who prefer to repair the watch themselves.

The screen isn’t the only area Pebble is focusing on. Some early users reported the buttons coming off due to an improperly assembled internal retaining clip. Migicovsky said the company has received only about 30 reports and that production changes are already being implemented to reduce the likelihood of this happening in future production cycles.

Battery life has also been a pain point for a small number of owners. Although the Pebble Time 2 is designed to last a week or more on a charge, some users have reported it taking less than three days. After investigating the returned watches, Pebble found several different causes rather than a single common defect. In response, it has beefed up power consumption checks during production, and anyone experiencing unusually poor battery life is encouraged to file a bug report through the Pebble app.

One thing we appreciated during our conversation with Mijicovski was that Pebble didn’t try to pretend these issues didn’t exist. Instead, he acknowledged that building the equipment is an imperfect process, especially for a small company where much of the assembly is still done by hand. Mistakes can happen, but the focus is on reducing those mistakes and taking care of customers when they do happen.

After seeing so many cracked screen reports over the past week, this is probably the answer most Pebble owners have been hoping for. No one expects a smartwatch to crack during normal use, but it’s reassuring to know that Pebble is supporting customers with issues rather than trying to solve them on their own.