I'm a bit annoyed by the space between the case and the plots. Is this normal? I don't remember my v7 having this... then again, it's been awhile since I had it.
I too got the 9.5 and was annoyed with the size of gap( from photos of gens and even in person the gap is not as large) and also the movement of the links, so I made a very simple mod. I glued 2 very small pieces of shrink wrap to the end links. They close the gap a little but not completely which is what I was after, it also stops the strap felling so flimsy. I don't recommend this mod if you have a smaller wrist size than and 7" unless you have wide thin wrists. This mod is done with only superglue and shrink wrap and is completely reversible .
https://picr.me/image/VWXyr8
https://picr.me/image/VWXJw3
https://picr.me/image/VWXUzb
As you can see below, most of the AP's (gens) have this gap between the case and the plots, which is completely normal.
P.S photos are taken by me