A few years back I bought an Apple Watch. I didn’t buy what was then the current model. I bought an older model, a Series One in fact, to save a buck. To save even more bucks, I got it refurbished.
I have worn that watch every single day for three years. It has never given me a moment’s trouble. I can see who’s texting me, and even do a quick reply, without taking my phone out of my pocket. I can see who’s calling and dismiss it without hauling my phone out. I can see who’s calling and answer it on the watch if, say, I’m driving. On top of all this, it unlocks my laptop for me. Entering passwords at the lock screen of my Macbook is pretty much a thing of the past. For these and other reasons, it made the Apple Watch a nice thing to have. Maybe not an essential, like a smartphone, but very nice indeed.
Which is why I looked into replacing it once the battery started going south. It still worked perfectly. It’s just that it only worked perfectly for about 15 hours on a charge. I could see the writing on the wall. I would get rid of it.
But I didn’t want to spend $350 or more to replace it. What was the cheapest replacement I could get? Maybe I should just go watch-less now and forget about it. But then I saw a Series 3 on Amazon. Space Gray, 42mm, GPS-only, with a black sport band. And it was used. $205. This was the one.
One thing, though. It wasn’t “refurbished.” That term is referred to a used and returned, but Apple-certified, item. One that came with an Apple warranty on it. No, this one was described as “renewed.” That means someone other than Apple say’s it’s A-Ok. I bought it anyway.
On the first day I notice something strange. There’s a weird pale white dot in the upper right corner of the glass of the watch face. It is a perfect circle. It is visible at all times, even when the watch face is dark and sleeping.
Then I notice that the entire glass face does not seem to fit the watch. There is overlap on three sides, only the side where the crown is sits flush to the aluminum body. The others have a very pronounced overhanging edge that you can easily pick at with a fingernail.
It’s almost as if this Apple Watch has non-Apple Watch glass on it. Like as in glass made for a different brand of smartwatch.
I chatted up an Amazon support person to explain my situation and see if they could shed any light on the situation. They could not. But they did offer me $30 not to return it. But the more I think about it, the more certain I am that this thing is a lemon. How long before this non-Apple part falls off? It’s got to be more likely to catch on things, the edges of tables and such. And could I really live with the mysterious white dot with no purpose? No, I had him send me a return shipping label.
And then I ordered the exact same watch, only brand new, for just $229, only $24 more.
Sometimes you try to save a buck and it works out, other times it bites you in the ass.
Anyone know what the true story is with this apple watch and it’s weird screen? I’m dying to know the real story of my Franken-Watch.
Update: about thirty minutes after I wrote this blog, the watch screen cracked down the middle. I had been striding through a friend’s hallway and accidentally knocked it on a doorknob and that was that. Just think. I’ve probably walked through that hallway a thousand times with my Series 1. Probably knocked that watch on that same doorknob more than a few times, not to say other random objects in my life, and it doesn’t have a scratch on it. The Franken-Watch didn’t last one day.