Pebble defends its 30-day smartwatch warranty

Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky says the company’s 30-day warranty is built around trust, not a promise to match the support infrastructure of larger consumer-electronics brands.

“I think the most important thing is trust. Do people trust the product that we’re making and do they trust the company and the people behind it?”

Migicovsky revived Pebble early last year, after the original company shut down in 2016. The new e-paper watches retain Pebble’s familiar design while adding updated hardware, including larger displays. The Pebble Time 2 can run for about 30 days on a charge—roughly the length of its warranty.

That policy has prompted concern, particularly after reports of early hardware problems such as cracked front glass on the Time 2. In a blog post earlier this week, Pebble said it had replaced 330 Time 2 watches for free out of more than 19,000 watches “in the field.”

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Pebble’s replacement policy

Pebble says it will “continue replacing reasonable reports of glass cracking for free as long as we can.” Eventually, it may switch to offering replacements at a “highly discounted amount.” The company is also “looking into” replacement parts for customers who want to carry out DIY repairs.

Migicovsky did not provide a timeline for that change, but said the cracking issue affects “an immensely small percentage” of watches. For now, he said, free replacements are not a significant burden for Pebble.

The company has warned buyers that its Pebble 2 Duo and Pebble Time 2 are not intended for customers who need a “perfectly polished smartwatch,” and that “Things could not last as long as you’d like.”

“You can expect a product that’s going to work great, and something that will make you smile, but we can’t guarantee it for maybe the length that other companies or other consumer product companies could with their supply chains and networks of stores all around the world to help with replacements. We just don’t have that.”

Migicovsky described the relaunch as grassroots and said the new watches are “a Pebble, through and through”—but not exactly the same as the company’s first era.