Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra buyer finds major hardware flaw — should you be worried?
Serious omen or unfortunate lemon?
![The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra on an orange rubber strap worn on the wrist of a user](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Xuu3RjPP846oJwdfZfJuo8-320-80.jpg)
Not to sound the doom alarm, but at least one buyer of Samsung's new Galaxy Watch Ultra is experiencing a significant design flaw with their new smartwatch. Could it be foreshadowing akin to the company's issues with the quality control on the Galaxy Buds 3 earbuds?
Maybe. Or it could just be a lemon that Android Police spotted.
The new watch is one of several new Samsung devices hitting shelves this week: the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Z Fold 6, Galaxy Watch 7 and the all-new Galaxy Ring.
The flawed Galaxy Watch Ultra, which appears to be a direct answer to Apple's smartwatch of the same name, was posted to Reddit in the Samsung subreddit.
The issue concerns the bezel, which features etched hour markings with enlarged etchings for the 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours. Unfortunately, the bezel is misaligned on the Reddit user's watch, meaning that the numbers don't align with their appropriate etchings when the watch is on.
The Redditor, who goes by lbuddhaa, suggests they bought the watch directly from Samsung. It has to be infuriating, considering the starting price for a Galaxy Watch Ultra is $650.
They posted a few images and mentioned that every watch face they tried was misaligned, meaning the flaw had to be a hardware issue.
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It has been suggested that it may be an issue with the display, possibly that the glass was glued on crooked, which is kinking the bezels.
Hopefully, they can get their watch replaced quickly.
Is this an unfortunate anecdote of a lemon that made its way off the production line? It is something that does happen. Or is it similar to the ongoing Galaxy Watch Buds 3 debacle? We checked our Galaxy Watch Ultra review unit and it looks correctly aligned (see above).
It's unclear if the Galaxy Watch Ultra is manufactured by the same companies producing Buds 3. However, Samsung's Galaxy Watch lineups appear to have more companies in the manufacturing setup across the globe, so the hiccups may not be as common, whereas the Buds 3 all appear to be made in the same place.
As of this writing, there is only this one concerning story from a user on Reddit, but we'll keep an eye out if more reports roll in as the watches make their way on more wrists.
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Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him.