Pebble Round 2(repebble.com)
repebble.com
Pebble Round 2
https://repebble.com/blog/pebble-round-2-the-most-stylish-pebble-ever
302 comments
Pebble seems to be the only watch company that I feel understands what a smartwatch should be. It feels like everyone else is trying to make a phone replacement. Pebbles are more of an extension to your phone. Sure it can do some things without the phone, but it isn't trying to make calls, access mobile data with its own sim, use GPS. Those kinds of watches feel like they are designed for athletes who want to leave their phone at home. I'm not that guy. My phone comes with me everywhere, so why would I want phone-light on my wrist when my phone in my pocket can do it better?
Pebble also gets battery life. Pebble's 2 weeks compared to 1 day on my pixel watch 3. Want to use that cool sleep tracking feature on your smartwatch? Guess what? Its on the charger.
Pebble also gets battery life. Pebble's 2 weeks compared to 1 day on my pixel watch 3. Want to use that cool sleep tracking feature on your smartwatch? Guess what? Its on the charger.
I'm a runner, so obviously biased, but I implore everyone (to the point of annoyance) to check out some of the cheaper Garmin smart watches. They use MIP displays so the battery life runs about 2 weeks, you get phone notifications, the ability to find your phone, sleep scoring, step counting, heart rate monitoring. Then there's the obvious GPS run recording which you don't have to use. There's more stuff as well but I don't really use that like NFC card payments, music controls, but overall it hits a nice balance of features versus battery life.
For the sake of fair comparison, my wife had an Apple watch, which looked better and had way more features, but the 1 day battery life became such a frustration it sat in a dresser drawer. My last Garmin lasted 5 years with daily use and sports, and only died because I took it into the sea on vacation after the waterproof seal failed on the screen. I replaced it the day I got back with the successor model and couldn't be happier.
I'm not shilling for Garmin (or at least not being paid to), I love the Pebbles and I'm very much looking forward to the launch as I want a more fashionable smartwatch. Apple, Samsung et al have kinda tainted the smartphone market with feature vomit, when in fact there's a lot of good stuff out there, it's just not as hip.
For the sake of fair comparison, my wife had an Apple watch, which looked better and had way more features, but the 1 day battery life became such a frustration it sat in a dresser drawer. My last Garmin lasted 5 years with daily use and sports, and only died because I took it into the sea on vacation after the waterproof seal failed on the screen. I replaced it the day I got back with the successor model and couldn't be happier.
I'm not shilling for Garmin (or at least not being paid to), I love the Pebbles and I'm very much looking forward to the launch as I want a more fashionable smartwatch. Apple, Samsung et al have kinda tainted the smartphone market with feature vomit, when in fact there's a lot of good stuff out there, it's just not as hip.
> check out some of the cheaper Garmin smart watches. They use MIP displays so the battery life runs about 2 weeks
Same deal with the watch of the article. It uses the same display: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471292
The difference between such Garmin watches and Pebble Round 2 seems to be trading off hardware like built-in GPS and NFC for open source software and thinness. 100% worthwhile trade IMO.
Same deal with the watch of the article. It uses the same display: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471292
The difference between such Garmin watches and Pebble Round 2 seems to be trading off hardware like built-in GPS and NFC for open source software and thinness. 100% worthwhile trade IMO.
No HRM on the pebble which makes it a totally separate use case and can't be compared at all with the Garmin ones.
The Pebble Time 2 has a heart rate monitor
Isn’t this thread about the pebble round 2 which is the closest from form factor to a garmin ? Moreover, GPS is lacking on any pebble anyhow which is also a major use case and again therefore, garmin’s and pebble’s can’t be compared, 2 different use cases for me.
The round 2 is round similar to a Garmin but the Garmin watches are significantly thicker,.more similar to the time 2.
Even the PT2 is significantly thinner than Garmins, roughly 2mm. That's about 15% thinner, which is a big deal in my book. Not as thin as AWs though, but not off by too much. Based on photos, it looks like the PR2 will be 2mm thinner than the PR2, which would make it thinner than AWs.
Even the OLED Garmin watches last much longer than a day. My Venu 3 lasts for about 4 days with me running every day.
Not a worthwhile trade if you want to run / exercise with metrics.
Seconding the Garmin watches, been using a Forerunner for years and the battery still lasts over a week with an always-on display. Does about as much as a Pebble and even has a documented SDK with sideloading. The refresh rate is very low but totally fine for a watch, I think newer models have much better displays. The only thing I wish were better is exporting all the tracked health data in a format I can use myself. Using the official tool for that I couldn't even get heart rate data.
Maybe the (partial) support of Gadgetbridge is sufficient: https://gadgetbridge.org/gadgets/wearables/garmin-watches/
> They use MIP displays so the battery life runs about 2 weeks
Double-check this because they have a lot of OLED models now alongside their MIP ones. Battery life is more or less the same either way with AOD off, but with AOD enabled the OLEDs fall behind the MIPs.
Double-check this because they have a lot of OLED models now alongside their MIP ones. Battery life is more or less the same either way with AOD off, but with AOD enabled the OLEDs fall behind the MIPs.
OLED is also a heck of a lot less readable in sunlight. They're constantly improving, but the brightness they need to pump out to actually compete is extreme and they're still nowhere near that.
Yes, and they are outright removing the LCD displays from some of their major lines, (e.g. Fenix 8 Pro). The writing is on the wall.
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I find the Garmin UI to be awful, and the Pebble UI to be a breeze. Also, Garmins are pretty bulky compared to Pebbles, and many of them don't have buttons that can be used to control music, for those of us who find touchscreen interfaces to be lacking.
If you don't want to use the touchscreen (I'm in the same boat, totally get it) you need to avoid their "lifestyle" ranges (Venu, Vivoactive, etc) and stick to the "outdoors"/"sport" ranges (Forerunner being the most entry-level of these), these have 5 side buttons (3 left/2 right) and the UI is designed around button-only use.
Man I wish the Garmin UI was better. I have a vivomove luxe that looks absolutely gorgeous (more hybrid smart watches PLEASE!) but the UI is so hard to navigate that I wear my ugly old Apple Watch much more.
Granted, the UI for Garmins is pretty clunky compared to the Pebble interface :(
Huh? Are you sure you aren’t thinking of another brand? Literally every garmin watch I can find on their site has buttons.
The size is also very much watch specific. They will all be thicker than a pebble, but they’ll also all have far more features. Like pulse ox, which is one of the main drivers of thickness.
The size is also very much watch specific. They will all be thicker than a pebble, but they’ll also all have far more features. Like pulse ox, which is one of the main drivers of thickness.
Nope, some are touch screen only or with only 1-2 buttons. The Garmin's with 5 buttons (eg: Forerunner 55 at ~$170) are decent once you get used to the button-mechanisms, but pebble's UX for "productivity notifications" has always been top-tier.
I seriously cannot understand how to see old notifications on my Garmin. On the Pebble it was just "scroll up" (or down, I don't remember). But on the Garmin it's like multiple button pushes, and even then the list of notifications is not complete. I basically figure if I don't see a notification when it comes in I won't be able to find it in the Garmin's history.
Old notifications, assuming a 5 button watch, tap the middle button, then select notifications which on my watch is the first option in the list.
Appreciate the help! That contains some notifications, but not all. For example, none of my text messages or emails are there. It's mostly a bunch of alerts from my security system/cameras, for some reason.
> Nope, some are touch screen only
Which ones are touch screen only?
Which ones are touch screen only?
Garmin Lily 2 Classic (shazam!). Certain Venu and VivoActive seem like 1-button or 2-button.
And also by "touch screen only", I mean like: "can you set an alarm with the buttons like a CASIO from 1982?" ...if you have to use the touch-screen for swiping like a monkey in a one square inch area to set (or turn on) an alarm, then the watch "doesn't have buttons" IMHO.
Pebble had Up/Ok/Down on the right side, and "Android-Back" on the lower-left. So you just generally navigated tree-like menus, and you could set shortcuts to long-presses of up/ok/down (ie: start/request Uber, next train from nearest station, music controls).
I can't wait to have it again, as while Apple says "you don't need to be tied to your phone!" with their watches, Pebble actually delivered on it. You still needed your phone nearby or in bluetooth range, but you could comfortably "leave it" on the table, or in the bedroom or whatever and not worry about missing an important phone call, and still get "just enough" connectivity to drip out of the internet that you didn't need your phone unless you were transitioning into "using your phone for a task".
And also by "touch screen only", I mean like: "can you set an alarm with the buttons like a CASIO from 1982?" ...if you have to use the touch-screen for swiping like a monkey in a one square inch area to set (or turn on) an alarm, then the watch "doesn't have buttons" IMHO.
Pebble had Up/Ok/Down on the right side, and "Android-Back" on the lower-left. So you just generally navigated tree-like menus, and you could set shortcuts to long-presses of up/ok/down (ie: start/request Uber, next train from nearest station, music controls).
I can't wait to have it again, as while Apple says "you don't need to be tied to your phone!" with their watches, Pebble actually delivered on it. You still needed your phone nearby or in bluetooth range, but you could comfortably "leave it" on the table, or in the bedroom or whatever and not worry about missing an important phone call, and still get "just enough" connectivity to drip out of the internet that you didn't need your phone unless you were transitioning into "using your phone for a task".
When I was looking a couple years ago, most Garmins had at least 2 buttons, but only those with 5 supported music control via buttons.
I think I have used the pulse oximeter maybe 1x/year, and that's counting during COVID shutdowns, when people talked about pulse ox more than in normal times.
I will keep my Garmin and will use it when exercising. But I would never buy another one as long as I can get Pebbles instead.
I think I have used the pulse oximeter maybe 1x/year, and that's counting during COVID shutdowns, when people talked about pulse ox more than in normal times.
I will keep my Garmin and will use it when exercising. But I would never buy another one as long as I can get Pebbles instead.
I've waited for years to get a Garmin, ever since Google started removing features from FitBit. The specs are great for many of the models.
But they were all ass ugly, too big, or both. I ended up buying a Pebble because Garmin just never made anything I actually wanted to put on my wrist.
But they were all ass ugly, too big, or both. I ended up buying a Pebble because Garmin just never made anything I actually wanted to put on my wrist.
I had two pebble watches, and I used them daily for years. I rarely use my pixel watch 3, mainly because of charging. I only have one proprietary charger for the watch and sometime it is on my desk, sometimes near my bed, sometimes somewhere I can't find. I don't need my watch, but I do need my phone, so I charge the phone, and forget that my watch exists for a few months at a time. I think the biggest hurdle for me and watches is daily charging. I will not buy another smartwatch unless the battery is at least a week. Pebble round 2 having two week battery is great!
I've looked at Garmin, because I have the fitbit sense 2 and was looking for something with a reasonable battery life.
However, I think Garmin has made the flaw of overcomplicating their product offerings. I ended up pre-ordering a pebble because I implicitly don't like a company that tries to segment their market that hard on smart watches.
However, I think Garmin has made the flaw of overcomplicating their product offerings. I ended up pre-ordering a pebble because I implicitly don't like a company that tries to segment their market that hard on smart watches.
Every Garmin I've tried has been a complete mess, laggy, and deeply unstable in its connection and what notifications it supported (if any), whether it was cheap or expensive.
I'd love an alternative, but from the models I've tried I don't think Garmin is anywhere near what I liked about Pebbles. Closer than some brands, but not anywhere near what I'd consider "close". Bangle.js is closer, for all its (many) flaws.
I'd love an alternative, but from the models I've tried I don't think Garmin is anywhere near what I liked about Pebbles. Closer than some brands, but not anywhere near what I'd consider "close". Bangle.js is closer, for all its (many) flaws.
I switched over to Coros devices and have been fairly impressed with the performance over the last 5 months. Excellent battery life on the APEX series.
> For the sake of fair comparison, my wife had an Apple watch, which looked better and had way more features, but the 1 day battery life became such a frustration it sat in a dresser drawer.
To each their own, but it sounds like your wife just couldn't get into the "happy path" routine of an Apple Watch user.
I've been using an Apple Watch since Series 5 introduced the always-on display. I wear it for roughly 23 hours a day, and charge it whenever I'm in the bathroom. I'm fine with this routine 99% of the time, but I'm also not someone who'd camp or stay outdoors for more than a night.
Before that, I was using a Amazfit Bip and was really proud of its 30+ day battery life. I very much prefer the features the Apple Watch has.
To each their own, but it sounds like your wife just couldn't get into the "happy path" routine of an Apple Watch user.
I've been using an Apple Watch since Series 5 introduced the always-on display. I wear it for roughly 23 hours a day, and charge it whenever I'm in the bathroom. I'm fine with this routine 99% of the time, but I'm also not someone who'd camp or stay outdoors for more than a night.
Before that, I was using a Amazfit Bip and was really proud of its 30+ day battery life. I very much prefer the features the Apple Watch has.
That happy path works okay for a while but provides very little margin for when the battery inevitably starts to degrade. I’m a few years in and now every few days it’s started to die at around 8pm (yet claims the battery health is still just barely outside replacement range which is … quite convenient for Apple).
as someone who only recharges their garmin watch maybe once a month(with dozens of hours of activity tracking), lol at daily recharging of a watch. that completely eliminates it as a possible product for me.
even after a few years with battery degradation I rarely recharge my watch more than once every 2-3 weeks.
it's kind of wild to me that folks would daily recharge a watch.
even after a few years with battery degradation I rarely recharge my watch more than once every 2-3 weeks.
it's kind of wild to me that folks would daily recharge a watch.
As a reluctant runner, I still don't see any value in a smartwatch. I just use my phone and it does everything I want, which is basically, play podcasts and record my run for Strava.
I did previously have a smartwatch which did heart rate monitoring, but really, once I'd confirmed that when I exercised harder my heart rate went up, I lost interest in it.
I did previously have a smartwatch which did heart rate monitoring, but really, once I'd confirmed that when I exercised harder my heart rate went up, I lost interest in it.
I dont see the point of smart watches either. I wear a casio / gshock with the backlight button that sticks right up on the front of the watch. i am on my second watch now cz my sister gifted it to me. the first is ticking away happy with 0 charging , battery changes to date.
0 reasons to change.
my sister otoh has an apple watch that she never charges, lies in a drawer which i hear about when she's trying to find her phone. conversation ends with "eh i should charge it maybe"
if i ever buy a smart watch, will likely be the pebble
0 reasons to change.
my sister otoh has an apple watch that she never charges, lies in a drawer which i hear about when she's trying to find her phone. conversation ends with "eh i should charge it maybe"
if i ever buy a smart watch, will likely be the pebble
I tried a Garmin for a while but the UI bugs/inconsistencies/onboarding process put me off a lot so I eventually got rid of it. Using an old Apple watch SE at the moment and apart from the minor inconvenience of charging it overnight (no need for sleep tracking) it does everything better.
not defending garmin, but they completely redid the onboarding process last year. watch data and everything transfers right over to new devices now. I took me like 10 minutes to setup my new fenix a few months ago.
The problem I have with Garmin is lack of support for older devices. They practically bricked my old bike computer. Unfortunately it's been awhile and I can't recall the details of the issue. I have since switched to Wahoo but have only had it for about 3-4 years now.
Can you get turn-by-turn navigation with Google Maps on these watches?
Exactly this. Pebbles feel like they were built from the ground up to be a watch, whereas the Apple Watch and Android Wear feel like they started from a phone and stripped things away until it became a watch.
Separately, it baffles me that Garmin, despite them having also built a watch OS from the ground up, never understood watch/limited-button UX. Their Instinct and Forerunner watches have all sorts of wonky, hidden and arcane interactions with buttons (long press this to X, press this here to Y). Pebble proves that a simple, shallow, and linear menu system works great!
Separately, it baffles me that Garmin, despite them having also built a watch OS from the ground up, never understood watch/limited-button UX. Their Instinct and Forerunner watches have all sorts of wonky, hidden and arcane interactions with buttons (long press this to X, press this here to Y). Pebble proves that a simple, shallow, and linear menu system works great!
> Pebble proves that a simple, shallow, and linear menu system works great!
Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble. That aside, the forerunner is a sports watch first where you want lots of physical buttons that don't get bothered by sweat. The better Garmin comparison is the Venu series which only have two buttons https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/wearables-smartwatches/?serie....
Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble. That aside, the forerunner is a sports watch first where you want lots of physical buttons that don't get bothered by sweat. The better Garmin comparison is the Venu series which only have two buttons https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/wearables-smartwatches/?serie....
I'm making a subjective comparison here, true. But spend fifteen minutes with each company's watches and you'll see what I mean.
> Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble.
A company's success != UX efficacy. That's like saying Apple's products had terrible UX in 1997 because they were flailing up against their Microsoft counterparts of the same era, despite the fact that Apple's UX guidelines of the nineties are regularly raised here as a rubric for UX evaluation, even against Apple's own modern products!
> The better Garmin comparison is the Venu series which only have two buttons
I'm not sure you've ever used a Pebble, but Pebble OS is entirely button-driven with four buttons, whereas the Forerunner and Instinct have five. I've never used a Venu, but isn't it primarily touchscreen-driven?
(yes, the upcoming pebble watches do have touchscreens, but I believe that's just for use in apps and watchfaces, not navigating the system)
> Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble.
A company's success != UX efficacy. That's like saying Apple's products had terrible UX in 1997 because they were flailing up against their Microsoft counterparts of the same era, despite the fact that Apple's UX guidelines of the nineties are regularly raised here as a rubric for UX evaluation, even against Apple's own modern products!
> The better Garmin comparison is the Venu series which only have two buttons
I'm not sure you've ever used a Pebble, but Pebble OS is entirely button-driven with four buttons, whereas the Forerunner and Instinct have five. I've never used a Venu, but isn't it primarily touchscreen-driven?
(yes, the upcoming pebble watches do have touchscreens, but I believe that's just for use in apps and watchfaces, not navigating the system)
> Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble
This may not be true for long, honestly. Pebble hasn't made watches in years, and I wouldn't be surprised if within 2-4 years they were selling more units than Garmin. The Pebble UI is a dream, especially compared to Garmin. I could never get my parents to get a Garmin, but a Pebble could totally work for them. Super intuitive, hardly needs charging, gives them notifications when they're in a different room than their phone, always-on/always-readable screen.
This may not be true for long, honestly. Pebble hasn't made watches in years, and I wouldn't be surprised if within 2-4 years they were selling more units than Garmin. The Pebble UI is a dream, especially compared to Garmin. I could never get my parents to get a Garmin, but a Pebble could totally work for them. Super intuitive, hardly needs charging, gives them notifications when they're in a different room than their phone, always-on/always-readable screen.
Very unlikely. The reason Garmin watches are successful is because they've carved out an audience (athletes, health and exercise focused). Pebble might have a nice UI but most people would be better off with an Apple Watch or whatever the current flavour of the week is on Android
I think a lot of people bought AWs because they seemed like the right thing to get, integrated easily, and were more or less easy to use.
But most people I know who have AWs don't use most of the functionalities they provide. If you went up to 20 random AW wearers and ask them if they would give up a bunch of features they don't use (like the awful Siri assistant) in exchange for 15-30x the battery life, I think a lot of them would say yes.
Add onto that the fact that Pebbles are cheaper than AWs, and I think we're going to see a non-trivial number of people "upgrading" from AWs to Pebbles when the batteries start to degrade.
But most people I know who have AWs don't use most of the functionalities they provide. If you went up to 20 random AW wearers and ask them if they would give up a bunch of features they don't use (like the awful Siri assistant) in exchange for 15-30x the battery life, I think a lot of them would say yes.
Add onto that the fact that Pebbles are cheaper than AWs, and I think we're going to see a non-trivial number of people "upgrading" from AWs to Pebbles when the batteries start to degrade.
> like the awful Siri assistant
Ironically, I just talked to all my mates about our Apple Watches, and universally Siri on your wrist for setting timers and replying to messages with voice, completely hands free, was the killer app that everyone agreed on.
Setting a timer is as simple as bringing your wrist to your face and saying the amount of time.
Ironically, I just talked to all my mates about our Apple Watches, and universally Siri on your wrist for setting timers and replying to messages with voice, completely hands free, was the killer app that everyone agreed on.
Setting a timer is as simple as bringing your wrist to your face and saying the amount of time.
I literally only use Siri on my Apple Watch, I’ve only triggered it accidentally on my iPhone and have the hot word disabled on all my other devices. Of course, all I ever use it for is setting timers and alarms on the watch, but still…
Well, Garmin is a GPS company, not a watch company. The watch is simply the most popular form factor.
Pebbles were originally built to be bicyclist accessories but they pivoted to smart watches when they realized that the market opportunity was larger.
You might be talking about Garmin now-smartwatch devices. The first Forerunners look like something you'd strap on a bike's handlebars. They weren't referred to as smartwatches, but as "personal trainers" and didn't seem to display the time-of-day to classify as a watch. Pebbles and the predecessor InPulse seem to always have been smartwatches, though the need seems to have started by wanting to avoid taking out one's phone while on the bike. Garmin pivoted, but I don't think Pebble did.
How was the Pebble born? - Twitch https://share.google/jEulfpqJNh6S5yBuL
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What I want is a smart watch that lets me map hardware buttons and rotary knobs to arbitrary actions on my Android phone. For example I want to be able to use the knob to control the volume of whatever I'm listening to on my phone.
I worked on a prototype of this idea back in school[0]
Does Pebble support this?
[0]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lTOxHxHFjwJXeCLROAPf6OJD...
I worked on a prototype of this idea back in school[0]
Does Pebble support this?
[0]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lTOxHxHFjwJXeCLROAPf6OJD...
No rotary dial, and... I think no, the closest you'd get is to run an app on the watch (so you can capture the three not-"back" buttons) plus a companion app on your phone to receive events from it and do [stuff]. But that'd mean you'd have to open the app on your watch to control what's on your phone.
The media controls might be able to do the volume part automatically out of the box though? I forget exactly what their UI did when I had music playing, but I think it had volume and skip controls. That's nowhere near arbitrary control though.
The media controls might be able to do the volume part automatically out of the box though? I forget exactly what their UI did when I had music playing, but I think it had volume and skip controls. That's nowhere near arbitrary control though.
I love the bells and whistles watches and I'm not an athlete. I love it in case I forget my phone, I still get all the notifications. I can pay with it. I can watch my home security. Something like the pebble wouldn't work for me anymore. Despite being a first day Kickstarter backer. The charging doesn't bother me because for me a watch is mainly for when I'm not home.
Garmin has been doing this for years now. The watches are built incredibly well and are well worth the cost.
I use a Fenix 7x pro solar and it's one of my favorite pieces of hardware right now. I dread having yet another item to charge and keep track of, but this thing lasts a full month if I'm not actively tracking workouts. My only complaint is it's not hackable like a pebble, but honestly I'm not sure what functionality I'd add to it, other than Doom for lols. I really just use it to tell the time, see phone notifications as they arrive, altitude/baro/compass when outdoorsing, and for heart rate tracking. Works great with Gadgetbridge, handles the abuse of my physical job, and doesn't get in my way like other smart watches I've tried, where I had to remember to charge it every other day or I couldn't track my sleep. This watch lives on my wrist and tells me days in advance when it needs a charge!
I've never tried Pebbles but Huawei also has the same philosophy, mine has 2 weeks battery life and does all I need (which also doesn't include replacing the phone). I don't understand why people would buy watches with 1 or 2 days of battery life.
I would say Amazfit are great, I don't need an app store and a programmable watch to do cool stuff in whatever programming language on weekends.
The set of pre-installed apps, integration with watch messages, call notifications and media controls are enough.
However maybe I am old fashioned, the oldie Timex and Casio smartwatches were also good enough for me.
The set of pre-installed apps, integration with watch messages, call notifications and media controls are enough.
However maybe I am old fashioned, the oldie Timex and Casio smartwatches were also good enough for me.
I like Amazfit well enough but I found the UI to be English-second and therefore a bit confusing. Also, I don't trust a company like Amazfit to have my GPS location at all times.
It works alright for me.
I would rather not trust non-European companies with my data, given current geopolitics, but here we are.
I would rather not trust non-European companies with my data, given current geopolitics, but here we are.
> Pebble seems to be the only watch company that I feel understands what a smartwatch should be.
So, why do you think Pebble didn’t succeed? I think that’s because you’re a minority, and demand for a Pebble-like product is too low at the price point where it would be a viable business.
So, why do you think Pebble didn’t succeed? I think that’s because you’re a minority, and demand for a Pebble-like product is too low at the price point where it would be a viable business.
IIRC they got out over their skis financially. Eric did a podcast interview where he talked about what went wrong, I think it was this one. [1]
He's self-funding this company and doing pre-orders, which means that risk should not exist this time around.
But to GP's point, I agree that Pebble knows what smartwatches are, and they make the best ones. But it turns out that lots of people want (or have been convinced by marketing that they want) a wrist-worn computer, which has been a boon for Apple/Google.
I think the new Pebbles will convert a lot of people because the battery life skips two orders of magnitude (in the time sense), going from ~1 day to ~1 month. That and the slick user interface should be attractive to folks who are considering upgrading their AWs as the battery degrades. Some will realize that they don't need all the computer-y functionality that the AW provides and just go with a Pebble. The fact that they're a bit cheaper, and available in a nice-looking round case is an added bonus.
Like a lot of people, I assumed I would like AWs, and that they would continue to evolve to better and better battery life. But they haven't approached Pebble territory and I can see that the functionality they provide is not worth the tradeoff for me. I just don't care to tap at a computer on my wrist. Maybe other people do, but I'd bet that Eric's going to win over a lot of AW users who realized they are overkill.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc5I0rM2ORc
He's self-funding this company and doing pre-orders, which means that risk should not exist this time around.
But to GP's point, I agree that Pebble knows what smartwatches are, and they make the best ones. But it turns out that lots of people want (or have been convinced by marketing that they want) a wrist-worn computer, which has been a boon for Apple/Google.
I think the new Pebbles will convert a lot of people because the battery life skips two orders of magnitude (in the time sense), going from ~1 day to ~1 month. That and the slick user interface should be attractive to folks who are considering upgrading their AWs as the battery degrades. Some will realize that they don't need all the computer-y functionality that the AW provides and just go with a Pebble. The fact that they're a bit cheaper, and available in a nice-looking round case is an added bonus.
Like a lot of people, I assumed I would like AWs, and that they would continue to evolve to better and better battery life. But they haven't approached Pebble territory and I can see that the functionality they provide is not worth the tradeoff for me. I just don't care to tap at a computer on my wrist. Maybe other people do, but I'd bet that Eric's going to win over a lot of AW users who realized they are overkill.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc5I0rM2ORc
The finance comments may be right. Another factor would be marketing budgets and existing brand recognition. The watches are marketed as having all of these features, and I think customers got lost in the feature comparison instead of thinking if they really want a smart watch to do that. Many customers aren't thinking if they really want to pay another monthly for a watch data SIM. I think people lost sight that their phone can do all that stuff, and they are going to be bringing their phone with them so why would they need redundant functionality generally worse than than what their phone can do. If pebble gets a marketing budget, I would hope they focus on messaging of what makes their watches stand out.
Google bought them and killed them. The same thing is happening to Fitbit
Google did not buy and kill them. They died (for financial reasons) before they were sold for parts to Fitbit, who were later bought by Google.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_(watch)#Closing_of_Pebb...:
“On December 7, 2016, Pebble Technology filed for insolvency[82] with Fitbit acquiring much of the company's assets and some employees.”
“On December 7, 2016, Pebble Technology filed for insolvency[82] with Fitbit acquiring much of the company's assets and some employees.”
Love my core 2 duo. I’m a light user so my battery pulls almost 3 weeks. It’s fun to use too tbh
I'm not much of an athlete, and I don't have a smartwatch, but the idea of leaving my phone at home sometimes without being totally disconnected from comms does appeal to me somewhat.
Would that not just be replacing a phone with another smaller phone strapped to your wrist?
Doesn't the fact that you are connected and communicable make whatever device you choose to use essentially a phone?
I will say, if it is possible, going out without any form of internet/comms enabled device can be very liberating. We all used to do it, and I think many of us have gotten used to the idea that we need to be on call or have some sort of utility in case of emergencies that are very unlikely to happen.
Doesn't the fact that you are connected and communicable make whatever device you choose to use essentially a phone?
I will say, if it is possible, going out without any form of internet/comms enabled device can be very liberating. We all used to do it, and I think many of us have gotten used to the idea that we need to be on call or have some sort of utility in case of emergencies that are very unlikely to happen.
Google has really stepped up their game with the Pixel Watch 4 in terms of battery life. I easily get at least 3 days, compared to < 1 day for my Pixel Watch 3.
exactly this. My Galaxy Wear sits in a drawer 10 months per year, as I only use it as a wrist-strapped mini-smartphone when I go to the beach. It's too bulky and cumbersome to wear every day. The Pebble Time 2 I plan to use every day, as it does exactly what I want in a smartwatch sans wireless payments
Garmin does this too, but for a completely different demographic
Looks great, but a mere 30 day warranty for manufacturing defects is kind of insane. I'm glad they're planning to fully support notifications on iOS in the EU due to the DMA, but that warranty wouldn't even be legal if they sell directly within the EU.
They'll likely be shipping to EU from outside, not selling them directly.
Makes sense for a smaller company. Though proudly advertising a feature you may implement thanks to EU regulation, while avoiding compliance yourself, seems in somewhat bad taste.
Not that I am unaware of the immense difference in scale and influence between Apple and Pebble, and the different nature of these regulations in this light.
Not that I am unaware of the immense difference in scale and influence between Apple and Pebble, and the different nature of these regulations in this light.
That would be fine if it was a kickstarter or some "sold as is" prototype. But looking at the page and pitch, it's sold as a regular product backed by a regular company.
We're not talking about free returns or costly perks, but manufacturing defects that got passed their QA process or resulted from design issues. Leaving the customer holding the bag for these is kinda crap, even (especially?) for a small company IMHO.
We're not talking about free returns or costly perks, but manufacturing defects that got passed their QA process or resulted from design issues. Leaving the customer holding the bag for these is kinda crap, even (especially?) for a small company IMHO.
Pebble also has a bad track record of making lasting products.
The original Pebbles had a zebra strip connector to the display which had problems; and their last product, the Pebble 2, had buttons made of a soft silicon rubber which quickly fell apart. The fact that the new Pebble company sold a brand new product (the Pebble 2 Duo) with the same defective design is worrying.
The original Pebbles had a zebra strip connector to the display which had problems; and their last product, the Pebble 2, had buttons made of a soft silicon rubber which quickly fell apart. The fact that the new Pebble company sold a brand new product (the Pebble 2 Duo) with the same defective design is worrying.
Exactly. I've bought custom keyboards off individuals under such limited expectations, but everything makes this watch otherwise look like a proper product release.
Just to spare people reading this a few clicks (from their FAQ):
> Yes, we warrant against manufacturing defects for 30 days after you receive your order. Ship us the defective watch, and after we receive it back, we will ship (no charge) you a replacement.
Full warranty as of now: https://archive.is/HxXvL
Just to spare people reading this a few clicks (from their FAQ):
> Yes, we warrant against manufacturing defects for 30 days after you receive your order. Ship us the defective watch, and after we receive it back, we will ship (no charge) you a replacement.
Full warranty as of now: https://archive.is/HxXvL
That means a painful order + customs paperwork for every european who orders it.
Not really, merchants can pay everything on your behalf. Amazon US, Amazon UK, AliExpress and eBay US all do that. There are companies who you can outsource all the shipping, taxes and duties logistics. Even Amazon itself does that.
Eric's answer is just don't buy it if you're not happy with the warranty [0].
I'm still willing to take the risk because Pebble smartwatches are the only ones I like and wear. I managed to give my OG Steel another life by replacing the battery. Unfortunately that seems to be harder with the Round 2 as there won't be any screws. I'm still a bit split on whether to change my Time 2 pre-order for a Round 2.
[0] https://bsky.app/profile/ericmigi.com/post/3maubss6mqc25
I'm still willing to take the risk because Pebble smartwatches are the only ones I like and wear. I managed to give my OG Steel another life by replacing the battery. Unfortunately that seems to be harder with the Round 2 as there won't be any screws. I'm still a bit split on whether to change my Time 2 pre-order for a Round 2.
[0] https://bsky.app/profile/ericmigi.com/post/3maubss6mqc25
> Eric's answer is just don't buy it if you're not happy with the warranty [0].
lol, wouldn't that go for any product?
lol, wouldn't that go for any product?
Here's my answer (as the founder of Pebble - both eras!) on this. We're a small company this time (standing on the shoulders of giants by using open source PebbleOS - thank you google!).
We are excited to make new devices, but wary about over-promising. We'd rather under-promise and over-deliver. So far, we have only received a few requests for warranty support for our first new watch (Pebble 2 Duo) and we have provided support for everyone who has asked.
We are excited to make new devices, but wary about over-promising. We'd rather under-promise and over-deliver. So far, we have only received a few requests for warranty support for our first new watch (Pebble 2 Duo) and we have provided support for everyone who has asked.
Thanks for the reply. Are you therefore not planning to sell within the EU for now?
Just for my understanding: so full notification support would essentially only apply to anyone in the EU willing to import from the US (or directly from the country you're manufacturing these devices in).
Just for my understanding: so full notification support would essentially only apply to anyone in the EU willing to import from the US (or directly from the country you're manufacturing these devices in).
oof, 30 days is not good. I had a couple early pebbles from a decade ago and both had various issues within 1-2 years of use. the first was the original pebble and the screen basically had broken lines of pixels. can't recall the second, newer one's issue.
> Looks great, but a mere 30 day warranty for manufacturing defects is kind of insane.
It's illegal in advanced societies, but americans call these things "communism" (the rest of the world uses "regulations")
It's illegal in advanced societies, but americans call these things "communism" (the rest of the world uses "regulations")
Apple is forced to offer longer warranties in some non-US countries. In these countries, the price of the product is simply higher, to account for this. So basically consumers are forced to pay for an extended warranty in those countries, whereas if they bought them in the US (as some do on vacation), they get them cheaper but without the extended warranty.
I would agree that a product that supposedly has a 30 day battery life (PT2) should have a warranty that lasts longer than 30 days. This is especially true if the software optimizations haven't been completed at the time the watches ship. Otherwise it's just impossible to reliably assess whether the product is actually defective during the return window.
I would agree that a product that supposedly has a 30 day battery life (PT2) should have a warranty that lasts longer than 30 days. This is especially true if the software optimizations haven't been completed at the time the watches ship. Otherwise it's just impossible to reliably assess whether the product is actually defective during the return window.
> In these countries, the price of the product is simply higher, to account for this
Maybe on the individual level, but the aggregate effect is that manufacturers are incentivised to save money by increasing reliability. Which is a good thing for everyone.
Maybe on the individual level, but the aggregate effect is that manufacturers are incentivised to save money by increasing reliability. Which is a good thing for everyone.
I mean, it's good for the people in America and other shorter-warranty countries, who get to free-ride on any enhanced reliability that this results in.
But honestly I've had Macs that still work 15 years after I bought them, and iPhones that work for easily 6 or 7. That's not because AU or EU require a somewhat longer warranty, I don't think.
But honestly I've had Macs that still work 15 years after I bought them, and iPhones that work for easily 6 or 7. That's not because AU or EU require a somewhat longer warranty, I don't think.
> good for America and other shorter-warranty countries, who get to free-ride on any enhanced reliability that this results in.
The EU mandates that in the EU you can change your default navigation app from Apple Maps to Google Maps.
The US isn't getting to free-ride on that, that only works if you move to an EU country.
Why wouldn't apple do the same for US vs EU, if EU has a longer required warranty period, apple can bin processors so the US gets more likely to fail processors and the EU gets more stable chips.
It would be the sort of vindictive malicious compliance apple has been doing with everything else, so I wouldn't put it past them.
The EU mandates that in the EU you can change your default navigation app from Apple Maps to Google Maps.
The US isn't getting to free-ride on that, that only works if you move to an EU country.
Why wouldn't apple do the same for US vs EU, if EU has a longer required warranty period, apple can bin processors so the US gets more likely to fail processors and the EU gets more stable chips.
It would be the sort of vindictive malicious compliance apple has been doing with everything else, so I wouldn't put it past them.
> But honestly I've had Macs that still work 15 years after I bought them [...].
2002 PowerBook user checking in. Not great for "modern" work, CPU gets really hot compiling "simple" stuff like git or libressl, but OSX 10.5 is a superior user experience to macOS 15. Still great for lightweight web browsing (disable JS!), some coding (Python 2.7.14!), classic games (StarCraft! from a *box*!).
2002 PowerBook user checking in. Not great for "modern" work, CPU gets really hot compiling "simple" stuff like git or libressl, but OSX 10.5 is a superior user experience to macOS 15. Still great for lightweight web browsing (disable JS!), some coding (Python 2.7.14!), classic games (StarCraft! from a *box*!).
Amazing. I have a 17 year old iMac that still works OK. I don't use it often, but I remember the first time I booted it with an SSD over FW800 and I was like damn, this is a brand new machine.
Just so I understand; this watch does not show notifications when paired with an iPhone?
It shows them just fine -- the issue is that on iOS, only Apple Watches are permitted to perform notification "actions" (e.g., replying to a message, etc).
Recently, EU pressure might mean that Apple will open that ability up to non-Apple watches as well.
Recently, EU pressure might mean that Apple will open that ability up to non-Apple watches as well.
I think Apple lets third party watches show notifications but they're not allowed to take any action in response (eg having a snooze button when your alarm goes off or whatever). Next version of iOS will allow interaction for a single smart watch at a time in the EU. I think it's still unclear if Apple will enable that feature outside of where it's legally required.
Interestingly a Garmin can turn off an alarm on an iPhone. Not sure if this counts as an action in response to a notification, exactly.
ANCS lets bluetooth devices trigger basic positive/negative actions on notifications.
Stop alarm is presumably one of those basic actions.
But it doesn’t support custom actions that the app developer might have registered.
Stop alarm is presumably one of those basic actions.
But it doesn’t support custom actions that the app developer might have registered.
It's been always kinda weird to me that BT spans four layers, from antennas to volume controls. You'd think all the vertical integration should make it reliable and interoperable, yet in practice it's the exact opposite.
BT is one of my least favorite techs that took over. Every damn little thing now has a BT antenna that constantly wants to advertise and connect to something. I'd be willing to use corded headphones again to be rid of it. Might even plug my phone directly into my car... Life would be really hard, but at least we would be free from BT.
I have no idea how the 2 major smart watches (android wear, apple watch) have such horrible battery life. Microsoft Band had a 3 day battery life that would've been 5 days if we weren't forced to use a trash accelerometer that drained our battery by a crazy amount.
That aside, Android wear being a complete OS is a waste of power. There aren't any useful apps for it that take advantage of the watch running a full OS.
I'm also miffed that OS updates have dropped by pixel watch's battery life from 3 days down to 1 and a half.
Good on Pebble for taking a reasonable approach to watch OS design. I presume apple decided they are minting money with a 2-ish day battery life so why bother improving things, but it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore.
That aside, Android wear being a complete OS is a waste of power. There aren't any useful apps for it that take advantage of the watch running a full OS.
I'm also miffed that OS updates have dropped by pixel watch's battery life from 3 days down to 1 and a half.
Good on Pebble for taking a reasonable approach to watch OS design. I presume apple decided they are minting money with a 2-ish day battery life so why bother improving things, but it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore.
garmin is arguably one major smart watch vendor and has a great battery life
Garmin is more fitness tracker than smartwatch.
I take it you don’t have a garmin? You can play music directly from it (spotify, YouTube music, etc apps). You get phone notifications, can respond to text messages, make payments, and newer versions include LTE. They are absolutely a smart watch.
Does it last 2 weeks with that kind of usage?
My Enduro 2 lasts around that long, with about 1.5-2 hours of daily GPS tracking for running, part of 4 hours total exercise tracking per day, and underlying background fitness data collection (HR, respiration, temperature etc. including sleep).
As I write, it's at 37% with 6 days left of charge. And it charges 0 to 100% in around 2 hours.
I used to use a fancy Movado / Android Wear watch that without word of a lie could die before 8pm on almost minimal use. It was an absolutely redundant item to own.
As I write, it's at 37% with 6 days left of charge. And it charges 0 to 100% in around 2 hours.
I used to use a fancy Movado / Android Wear watch that without word of a lie could die before 8pm on almost minimal use. It was an absolutely redundant item to own.
Yup. Garmin battery life is insane. I keep seeing people comment how they charge their watches on a near daily basis and that's just insane to me.
I charge my fenix 7 solar maybe once a month. My use case is about 10 hours a week of activity tracking, usually trail runs. This goes up to about 20 hours a week in the summer but i dont recharge much more often. I use garmin pay and occasionally listen to podcasts on my watch while running. I also use the on-watch maps quite a bit on my trail runs.
I charge my fenix 7 solar maybe once a month. My use case is about 10 hours a week of activity tracking, usually trail runs. This goes up to about 20 hours a week in the summer but i dont recharge much more often. I use garmin pay and occasionally listen to podcasts on my watch while running. I also use the on-watch maps quite a bit on my trail runs.
I get notifications for text messages, phone calls, and emails on my VivoActive 6. There are also good apps; for instance, the built-in (free) golf app is great. Battery lasts over a week, too. So far, I'm pretty happy with it and don't feel the need to get an Apple Watch which requires charging every day.
I'd say Garmin has all of the features a smartwatch typically has that are worth having (notifications, fitness tracking, basic controls ie. music).
For anything else, smartwatches are simply too awkward and small for any real use. Better just to spend a second or two to get your phone out.
For anything else, smartwatches are simply too awkward and small for any real use. Better just to spend a second or two to get your phone out.
I can get days out of my Samsung Watch 7 if I turn off everything like the always on display, constant health tracking, Wifi, etc. But I don't.
The Nothing CMF Watch has a true (two?) week-long battery life due to its RTOS, but it's kind of mediocre otherwise. More like a souped up Casio.
Oppo and OnePlus have around 10 days with a full Android Wear system using a clever hybrid technologie running another low powered OS when Wear is not required.
The market is very different nowadays than when the Pebble came out.
The market is very different nowadays than when the Pebble came out.
Withings smart watches are kind of insane with 30 day battery life, but the subscription farming in the app is infuriating.
All I want from a smart watch:
- Waterproof, wireless charging, at least a week of battery life
- Automatically track exercise and sleep, let me update the data if needed.
- Track my fitness trends over time, looking at you resting heart rate
- Optionally, learn a couple of recurring patterns to improve automatic exercise assignment. If I hike twice a week and you see an exercise session with a consistent heart rate profile you better believe I am hiking
All I want from a smart watch:
- Waterproof, wireless charging, at least a week of battery life
- Automatically track exercise and sleep, let me update the data if needed.
- Track my fitness trends over time, looking at you resting heart rate
- Optionally, learn a couple of recurring patterns to improve automatic exercise assignment. If I hike twice a week and you see an exercise session with a consistent heart rate profile you better believe I am hiking
Not just subscription farming, you cannot use the latest mobile app versions without agreeing to data mining. Their business model now is literally collecting user health and usage data to resell to other companies and of course for AI training. Avoid.
Garmin are pretty decent. I have an Enduro 2 which lasts a fortnight on a charge (currently 37% with 6 days of charge left).
It's waterproof. Unfortunately no wireless charging (proprietary cable) but it charges 2 weeks worth in about 2 hours.
It doesn't automatically track exercise, but it does collect a lot more (and higher quality) data than Withings for activity. Automatic sleep. The app has the trends and such, and there's no subscription (they recently added some AI stuff you can pay for but which is optional).
It's waterproof. Unfortunately no wireless charging (proprietary cable) but it charges 2 weeks worth in about 2 hours.
It doesn't automatically track exercise, but it does collect a lot more (and higher quality) data than Withings for activity. Automatic sleep. The app has the trends and such, and there's no subscription (they recently added some AI stuff you can pay for but which is optional).
Easy, as you point out, they are using the wrong OS stack.
My Amazfit lasts weeks on a single charge, and besides I don't need an app store on my phone.
My Amazfit lasts weeks on a single charge, and besides I don't need an app store on my phone.
Pixel fan here: I think the Pixel Watch 1, 2 and 3 were a big disappointment in terms of battery life. I was barely getting 1 day out of them, many times less than that. Pixel Watch 4 has significantly improved the situation. Now I routinely get at least 3 days out of it (and this is the 4G LTE variant). Still someways to go, I think the holy grail is one week, but at least it is now quite usable.
PS: why is this even an issue? How hard is it to make straps with batteries in them..
PS: why is this even an issue? How hard is it to make straps with batteries in them..
For what it does, the battery life of the Apple Watch 11 is not that bad. It typically lasts more than 48h for me and charges very quickly. Putting it to charge when taking a shower is enough to not have to think about battery life.
Fair, but that means you have to bring a special purpose charger with you anytime you go somewhere for more than ~36 hours. For me, that's the bigger issue. If I could charge inductively on the back of my iPhone, for example, I wouldn't mind as much.
I hear you, personally grabbing the charger for overnight stays hasn't been a problem but there are a few compact/inexpensive third-party dongles that are like the official charging cable but without the cable[0]. They can be stay in a car, laptop bag, etc. and charge the watch from an iPhone or another usb-c power source.
[0] Random example for illustration https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKV9JBR4
[0] Random example for illustration https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKV9JBR4
Huh interesting, I guess that would help somewhat. But for me, I prefer to pretty much never have to worry about charging my watch.
As a kid, I had watches that didn't need new batteries for years. As an adult, I was willing to trade off some battery life (down to a week or so) in order to get notifications my wrist, music controls, and activity tracking.
Although I can see some benefit in being able to see my Uber status in real time, or other app-related functionality, I am not interested in charging a wearable every day or two. I don't want to have to worry about whether I'm "using my watch too much" to be able to make it through a short trip, or until the end of my second day.
I know some people have different preferences on this, but for me a watch should be something that doesn't require any maintenance for weeks at a time.
As a kid, I had watches that didn't need new batteries for years. As an adult, I was willing to trade off some battery life (down to a week or so) in order to get notifications my wrist, music controls, and activity tracking.
Although I can see some benefit in being able to see my Uber status in real time, or other app-related functionality, I am not interested in charging a wearable every day or two. I don't want to have to worry about whether I'm "using my watch too much" to be able to make it through a short trip, or until the end of my second day.
I know some people have different preferences on this, but for me a watch should be something that doesn't require any maintenance for weeks at a time.
> As a kid, I had watches that didn't need new batteries for years.
Haha, my kid just got his first watch for Christmas. A Casio. He loves it.
On the box, it’s written « 10 years of autonomy » and I was like « oh, I forgot it was a thing ».
Haha, my kid just got his first watch for Christmas. A Casio. He loves it.
On the box, it’s written « 10 years of autonomy » and I was like « oh, I forgot it was a thing ».
I use a solar-powered Casio wave ceptor.
No batteries ever, and the time is always accurate. I haven't touched a button on the watch in years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_Wave_Ceptor
No batteries ever, and the time is always accurate. I haven't touched a button on the watch in years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_Wave_Ceptor
Samsung had this reverse charging from the phone but they also dropped that function with the watch 7 :(
Having said that I did use it but it was terribly slow and both the phone and watch heated up too much. And the positioning was very finicky. A whole charge would last 3-4 hours where the official charger is 30-40 minutes.
Power banks with watch charging also exist and cheap aftermarket charging pucks. Not as fast as the included one but not bad.
Having said that I did use it but it was terribly slow and both the phone and watch heated up too much. And the positioning was very finicky. A whole charge would last 3-4 hours where the official charger is 30-40 minutes.
Power banks with watch charging also exist and cheap aftermarket charging pucks. Not as fast as the included one but not bad.
48 hours is bad. Newer garmin watches measure their battery life in weeks, not hours. It's crazy how behind on this apple is.
48h is still pretty bad honestly.
> works at Microsoft
> it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore
Throw rocks once you’ve stopped the windows 11 spam machine.
> it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore
Throw rocks once you’ve stopped the windows 11 spam machine.
I haven't worked at Microsoft since 2015.
Currently running Linux on my home PC because I can't stand windows 11.
Currently running Linux on my home PC because I can't stand windows 11.
Would buy this in a heartbeat (pun intended) if it came with a heart rate monitor.
I had the first Pebble Time Round and it's my favorite smart watch I've ever owned, but these days the things I want from a watch are to tell the time and collect biometrics. Taking a step back in biometrics feels like a bummer. I also totally buy that it would increase the foot print in a way that would feel way less slim.
I had the first Pebble Time Round and it's my favorite smart watch I've ever owned, but these days the things I want from a watch are to tell the time and collect biometrics. Taking a step back in biometrics feels like a bummer. I also totally buy that it would increase the foot print in a way that would feel way less slim.
Same! I've already signed up for the Time 2 and super stoked for it, then I saw the announcement for the Round 2 and I was about to switch over until I noticed it didn't have a heart rate sensor. I know its sleek and elegant, but that slight bulk would be worth it in my opinion. And who knows, with the extra thickness they might've been able to squeeze in more battery to get it to the 30 days battery life cited for the Time 2.
Also unfortunate that it's missing the RGB backlight of the Time 2. I can think of a few good use cases for it, but if it's only on the Time 2 that means fewer apps would use it.
Also unfortunate that it's missing the RGB backlight of the Time 2. I can think of a few good use cases for it, but if it's only on the Time 2 that means fewer apps would use it.
Get the Pebble Time 2 instead?
Yeah it would’ve been an instant buy for me if it did HR monitoring, even if it meant a thicker base. Now it’ll probably just be a fairly quick buy as my Apple Watch s7 can hardly last a day.
The PT2 is thicker than the PR2 and has the HR monitor (it also costs $25 more). If you have an AW, then you're already used to the rectangular form factor of the PT2.
Proud of this one! Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
(Pebble founder)
(Pebble founder)
I pre-ordered because I loved the Pebble Round - especially the size and look. My intended use case is for formal dress codes and special events (weddings, new years, ...) wheretny fennix 51mm does not fit in (literally and figuratively).
That said: I can't find full dimensions for the new round 2. I can guesstimate that it should be 10-20% smaller in diameter and less than 2/3 the thickness.
Would you mind sharing full dimensions or even update the post?
And congratulations! I really like this. I hope there will be enough of a market to support this project long term.
That said: I can't find full dimensions for the new round 2. I can guesstimate that it should be 10-20% smaller in diameter and less than 2/3 the thickness.
Would you mind sharing full dimensions or even update the post?
And congratulations! I really like this. I hope there will be enough of a market to support this project long term.
You can see the dimensions in the full spec table on the preorder page
https://repebble.com/watch
https://repebble.com/watch
Oh great, I missed that end of the page. The "Round 2 details" links back to the blog and it is hard to see the FAQ on mobile (needs manual scrolling to the end).
Google search and Perplexity failed when I tried, too. Google search has caught up now (haven't retried Perplexity)
A 41.5mm diameter sounds good. That's a whopping 10mm/20% smaller than my current watch. Should be really neat given the thickness.
Google search and Perplexity failed when I tried, too. Google search has caught up now (haven't retried Perplexity)
A 41.5mm diameter sounds good. That's a whopping 10mm/20% smaller than my current watch. Should be really neat given the thickness.
Yes, the slimness and ability to dress up are certainly huge selling points. It does look about 1/4 thinner than the PT2, which is presumably much thinner/smaller than your fennix.
Honestly, even with a PT2 on order, I would consider getting one of these for the occasions (1x/wk?) where I am wearing a dress shirt or otherwise want to look a little more dressed up. It honestly would probably also be a nice conversation starter because you can set it up with a traditional watchface, but then when you get a notification it would obviously not be a traditional watch. And it's so much thinner than Google/Samsung and other round smartwatches, it wouldn't be confused with those.
Honestly, even with a PT2 on order, I would consider getting one of these for the occasions (1x/wk?) where I am wearing a dress shirt or otherwise want to look a little more dressed up. It honestly would probably also be a nice conversation starter because you can set it up with a traditional watchface, but then when you get a notification it would obviously not be a traditional watch. And it's so much thinner than Google/Samsung and other round smartwatches, it wouldn't be confused with those.
Is the Round 2 also going to have screws to potentially replace the battery, like Time 2 does?
Also, while watching the announcement video, I noticed that the pixels are quite a bit more visible on the Round 2 on the same watchface, when compared to Time 2 — on the Time 2, the image is a lot more crisp. Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
Also, while watching the announcement video, I noticed that the pixels are quite a bit more visible on the Round 2 on the same watchface, when compared to Time 2 — on the Time 2, the image is a lot more crisp. Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
> Screws
Nope! No screws on this one.
> Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
Yes, exactly.
Nope! No screws on this one.
> Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
Yes, exactly.
Why no screws when you specifically called out that there ARE screws on the Time and Duo 2s for the sake of longevity of hardware even if the company goes away?
Are you saying there's no access into the watch or that it's more like a traditional circular watch where you can twist off the back?
Are you saying there's no access into the watch or that it's more like a traditional circular watch where you can twist off the back?
Dang, I really liked that there were screws on the Time 2. Does that at least mean waterproofing will be better? :p For instance, would it be a good idea to swim with the Round 2 on?
Still doing our water resistance testing on Round 2, but that is the target (30m water resistance)!
What is the breakdown of customers who care about advanced water resistance versus screws/repairability?
I imagine most want some water resistance (e.g. 1m), but people may be torn on 30m if it means they lose out on screws. I'm in that category.
It would be really cool to see data
I imagine most want some water resistance (e.g. 1m), but people may be torn on 30m if it means they lose out on screws. I'm in that category.
It would be really cool to see data
30m (3 bar) basically means splash-proof, not even your stated 1m (activity while submerged, I suppose). Like, 30m is IPX4-5, 50m is IPX6 (very rough equivalence), so 30m is the barest minimum expected from a watch.
I wouldn't care so much about WR for a round Pebble, which I'd wear on nicer occasions. I would care more about WR for a watch that I'd wear at the beach or pool, as a way of getting notifications when not carrying my phone.
But screws might add thickness/weight to the watch, compared to glue.
But screws might add thickness/weight to the watch, compared to glue.
The specs link directly to the Pebble Appstore, which showcases a bunch of really cool watchfaces that are... all for the square screen. I think it would be wonderful to land the user on a showcase of faces specifically adapted for the round screen.
Is a normal (non-rose) gold (or even a brass) color something we could look forward go in the future?
Was the decision to not sell that color based on expected demand for the color or did it not work for some other reason?
Was the decision to not sell that color based on expected demand for the color or did it not work for some other reason?
No plans to offer more SKUs, sorry. Already have enough to manage.
How did you decide which colors/sizes to offer this time around? Seems like a reasonable mix, but I also wondered if regular gold could have broader appeal. Perhaps it wouldn't help though, since you'd have to make different SKUs based on band width, assuming women would get the narrower one and men would get the wider one?
I like everything about Pebble Round 2, except that it's round. I _HATE_ round watches with a passion, it's just form over function for electronic watches. Coincidentally, that's also why I still have an iWatch even though my phone is Android. There are _no_ good rectangular Android watches.
Are you planning something like this but with a rectangular screen? I have Time 2 on pre-order, but I'd love to buy a water-resistant watch.
Are you planning something like this but with a rectangular screen? I have Time 2 on pre-order, but I'd love to buy a water-resistant watch.
The time 2 is water resistant.
The Round 2 is supposed to be diveable up to 30 meters. The Time 2 is merely resistant, so you can't dive or swim with it.
While the original announcement just said ipx8, the chart at https://repebble.com/watch says the target for both watches will be 30 meters (search for "30m"). (note: even though the duo is rated for 20m, they've said specifically not to dive with them: https://ericmigi.com/blog/pebble-2-duo-is-in-mass-production)
This is awesome, congrats Eric. Almost makes me wish I hadn’t switched from Android -> iOS last year before the Pebble announcements started coming out. Any idea if we might see more compatibility with iOS in the near future as Apple is forced to open up the ecosystem a little due to EU regulations? I know they had to allow reading iMessages on 3rd party smartwatches recently which sounds promising for Pebble. Apologies if you already blogged about this and I missed it!
still works fine with iOS, will work even better in EU next year when Apple is forced to comply with the DMA.
It's not too late to switch back! I'm running GrapheneOS on a Pixel, but supposedly GrapheneOS is working with an OEM to have a GrapheneOS-native phone if you want to wait a little longer.
@erohead: do the new Pebbles still support the strap interface? With the screen now being 1.5" and the resolution being much higher than the original ones, they would make great little retro gaming consoles with the control buttons on the strap. Similar to a funkey-s console.
Unfortunately no - it basically had zero usage
On the repebble compare chart the round is marked as having both a speaker and mic, that’s incorrect right?
I'm guessing he updated the chart? The chart at https://repebble.com/watch shows mic-only.
As someone who had the original Pebble Steel, and then moved to the Pebble Round (20mm) until it literally stopped working, I'm super happy you've done this, and incredibly happy that you let me change my pre-order from my Time 2 to the Round 2. Can't wait!
What kind of “sleep tracking” can you really offer with no heart rate monitor?
Generally most sleep tracking products use actigraphy (measurements of your movement) to track sleep. Pebble partnered with researchers at Stanford back in the day to produce an algorithm for our operating system, which worked quite well and is now open source!
You can read the code and see how the sleep tracking algorithm works here - https://github.com/coredevices/PebbleOS/blob/main/src%2Ffw%2...
You can read the code and see how the sleep tracking algorithm works here - https://github.com/coredevices/PebbleOS/blob/main/src%2Ffw%2...
I own the Pebble 2 Duo and the answer is "almost none". It basically just tells you how long you were still/not moving much in the evening, as you'd expect. It's a pretty good proxy for what time you went to bed and got up, and that's about it. It can't actually tell if you're asleep.
There are also (currently) no sleep metrics on app itself; you can only see them on the watch, which doesn't show much besides the sleep duration and an abstract representation showing where you might have woken up in the night.
There are also (currently) no sleep metrics on app itself; you can only see them on the watch, which doesn't show much besides the sleep duration and an abstract representation showing where you might have woken up in the night.
It's been a long time since I used my Pebble Time Steel, but I remember the alarm feature to wake you up when you were in a light phase of sleep worked very well. I didn't do any sleep tracking personally, but the watch seemed to be able to tell.
From an old Kickstarter:
"Pebble Health tracks when you fall asleep, wake up, and how much deep sleep you’re getting (that’s the really good stuff). Smart Alarms determine your optimal wake-up time based on your sleep cycle, so you’re less groggy and more energized to tackle the day."
From an old Kickstarter:
"Pebble Health tracks when you fall asleep, wake up, and how much deep sleep you’re getting (that’s the really good stuff). Smart Alarms determine your optimal wake-up time based on your sleep cycle, so you’re less groggy and more energized to tackle the day."
Haven't watched the video yet, but I don't see the vibrating motor/linear actuator mentioned. I'm assuming this is still included? I'll be switching my Pebble Time 2 order over, these look fantastic.
The chart at https://repebble.com/watch shows it has a "Linear resonance actuator (vibrator)"
How does the sleep tracking works on the Round? Is it reliable? I'm currently using a Mi Band 7 and it works great with gadgetbridge and it has a heart-rate monitor.
Sleep tracking works well on all Pebbles!
Hi erohead, the Round 2 looks beaut! But why on Earth doesn't it have a heart rate monitor?
this is supposed to be the part where i say something about the smart watch. i own a $20 Casio F91 that should cost $3 at retail, which is to say, i'm not really your intended audience. is performative positivity an obligation for interesting questions? is it the only framework to figure out products? do you see?
is positivity the only valid emotion for a product launch?
how do you balance your experience with the rewards of taking risks?
is positivity the only valid emotion for a product launch?
how do you balance your experience with the rewards of taking risks?
Is the situation with Rebble solved?
Rebble apologized, withdrew claims, and left the door open for future collaboration. They are restructuring/reorganizing.
Core Devices pushed out modularity updates to be less dependent on Rebble's app store and started their own.
That's the latest public information.
Core Devices pushed out modularity updates to be less dependent on Rebble's app store and started their own.
That's the latest public information.
Understand, no, it didn't.
Rebble forced their hands and the community is as good as dead.
Rebble forced their hands and the community is as good as dead.
Dude you are an inspiration. So amped on the Pebble 01 I sent a multi-paragraph screed to your team lol.
Just pre ordered one. It reminds me of my first and favorite smartwatch - Withings Activité. Sadly, that one broke after 2 or 3 years, and since then I haven't found a smartwatch I'm willing to wear daily. My Apple Watch is now strictly used for workouts only.
They share a lot of similarities:
- Round dial
- Analog hands (though Round 2 simulates this with e-ink)
- Long battery life (Round 2 is ~2 weeks. I remember Withings lasting months on a coin battery)
- Thin and light
- No speaker, so no noise
These are the features I appreciate. I love gadgets, but for smartwatches, I want them to maintain a classic watch appearance. I don't want to worry about charging it every day, and I don't want too many features and notifications to distract me.
As for the "smart" part, I want the tech to focus on sensors, i.e. recording movement and sleep. The rest goes for aesthetics, like changing interesting watch faces now and then. That's really it. Most products on the market are no what I want because what the tech brings on them are interference and inconvenience.
They share a lot of similarities:
- Round dial
- Analog hands (though Round 2 simulates this with e-ink)
- Long battery life (Round 2 is ~2 weeks. I remember Withings lasting months on a coin battery)
- Thin and light
- No speaker, so no noise
These are the features I appreciate. I love gadgets, but for smartwatches, I want them to maintain a classic watch appearance. I don't want to worry about charging it every day, and I don't want too many features and notifications to distract me.
As for the "smart" part, I want the tech to focus on sensors, i.e. recording movement and sleep. The rest goes for aesthetics, like changing interesting watch faces now and then. That's really it. Most products on the market are no what I want because what the tech brings on them are interference and inconvenience.
I assume Withings' ScanWatches are not fine for you?
From a basic feature perspective? Sure, they work. But the original Activité is incomparable by design, it’s the only one I really loved.
Once my original broke and I realized they weren't making that specific design anymore, I just lost interest in buying from the brand. The new models just don't have the same appeal.
Once my original broke and I realized they weren't making that specific design anymore, I just lost interest in buying from the brand. The new models just don't have the same appeal.
I'm a staunch believer that watches should be small enough to never annoy, always show the time, and never have to be charged but I think this finally does all those things well enough that it's a legitimate option.
What is that warranty though? 30 days is pretty rough for a new and untested product. It's definitely enough to make me hold off for a year just in case.
What is that warranty though? 30 days is pretty rough for a new and untested product. It's definitely enough to make me hold off for a year just in case.
I hear you, but the first new Pebble is getting good reviews. It's been out for months and I've not heard anything bad about it. While the upcoming models are a bit less derivative of past watches, they are still pretty well-grounded in prior Pebbles. The software is the same as the P2D, and the hardware is pretty similar to the prior rect/round Pebbles.
I believe things could go wrong, but I'm not sure what sort of latent errors would make sense to worry about. The battery life dropping precipitously? (Why would it do this?) Sensors breaking within a couple months? (Again, what would lead to this?).
I'm curious to know what you are concerned about. I agree that a year of track record would be great, but IMO a Pebble will be such a big upgrade over pretty much anything else out there (AWs etc. that need charging all the damn time), that I'd rather not wait a year for the additional data to come in.
I believe things could go wrong, but I'm not sure what sort of latent errors would make sense to worry about. The battery life dropping precipitously? (Why would it do this?) Sensors breaking within a couple months? (Again, what would lead to this?).
I'm curious to know what you are concerned about. I agree that a year of track record would be great, but IMO a Pebble will be such a big upgrade over pretty much anything else out there (AWs etc. that need charging all the damn time), that I'd rather not wait a year for the additional data to come in.
As an anecdotal story of one, I know someone who has the currently out new pebble and they're already looking to replace the buttons.
Yikes, that sounds awful. I know that was an issue on the old Pebbles, and the ones that are out have some old hardware. The Pebbles that aren't out yet don't share any parts, so presumably this won't happen to them.
My case full of mechanical watches need to be “charged” every 30-50 hours. At least they do indeed tell time.
If the production is similar to the PT2 watches, then there will be public beta testing before watches are shipped.
hard to beat a solar quartz movement if those are the criteria! no need to charge or service it for up to 20 years.
I just placed my pre-order. I never bought the original Pebble Round because it didn't look that good in my opinion, but this one looks great! I like that there is no huge bezel anymore, and that the battery life is now an estimated 2 weeks instead of 3 days. It looks more classy and less like a smartwatch.
I had pre-ordered a Time 2, but I switched to the Round 2 because it's cheaper and I don't really care about the features it is missing (heart rate monitor and speaker) or the shape of the face. It's awesome that they let you switch without losing your place in line, very customer-focused of them.
I thought about it but didn't because the battery life difference is pretty big (10-14 vs 30), and according to his comment below, apparently the battery is not replaceable.
I assume it would actually be replaceable if one were sufficiently motivated, but the fact that it's not meant to be replaceable is not so great.
Honestly if the PT2 weren't replaceable I wouldn't mind so much, since starting of with 30 days of battery means it can degrade a lot before it hits a threshold I care about (1 week, roughly). But if the PR2 starts off around 10 days, it doesn't have far to fall before it hits that threshold.
Perhaps the biggest reason I didn't swap my order, though, is that I don't want to wait several more months to get my Pebble!
I assume it would actually be replaceable if one were sufficiently motivated, but the fact that it's not meant to be replaceable is not so great.
Honestly if the PT2 weren't replaceable I wouldn't mind so much, since starting of with 30 days of battery means it can degrade a lot before it hits a threshold I care about (1 week, roughly). But if the PR2 starts off around 10 days, it doesn't have far to fall before it hits that threshold.
Perhaps the biggest reason I didn't swap my order, though, is that I don't want to wait several more months to get my Pebble!
Yes, your calculus is exactly like mine - there are things to like about the Round (personally I just find round watches more aesthetically pleasing, we've had a couple hundred years of mostly round cases...), but I want longer battery and a shorter wait to get my watch.
Damn that's a nice looking watch! Really feels like they got to build what they wanted to 10 years ago but the tech wasn't there. Can't wait to build some sleek round watch faces once I get mine (unless there's an emulator already?)
When it comes to such watches, I am always puzzled why there cannot be a USB-C port for charging.
Is it a technical limitation of some sorts? (E.g. cannot be made water resistant?)
Because right now it is my biggest pain - one more cable that one needs to carry all the time, and if it is lost, you cannot borrow from a friend.
Is it a technical limitation of some sorts? (E.g. cannot be made water resistant?)
Because right now it is my biggest pain - one more cable that one needs to carry all the time, and if it is lost, you cannot borrow from a friend.
Even if they can't have usb-c because of space limitation or water resistance, why not simply offer a tiny adapter from their proprietary pogo pin connector to female usb-c? That would be way more portable.
I lost the cable for my original Pebble and 3D printed a clip on housing with wires bent to contact the pens on the watch. It worked for charging. I haven’t worn it again because I don’t have a band and my battery needs replacing.
I loved my original Pebble. I remember how great the quick shortcuts to control my music were without having to look down from driving.
I loved my original Pebble. I remember how great the quick shortcuts to control my music were without having to look down from driving.
I still consider the original Pebble Time Round to be the best smartwatch ever made, even 10 years on. Until now. This is everything I ever wanted in a watch. I can't wait to get mine! I may have to spend some time doing remakes of my favorite watch faces for the new screen resolution.
Sorta wish they would ship the last watches before announcing more that are months away. I’m pretty sure I preordered 9 months ago and still have nothing to show for it.
They're announcing now so that you can switch your preorder if you want. I got my Pebble 2 Duo a while ago and have been wearing it ever since.
Also ordered a pebble 2 duo, and haven't been wearing it ever since.
I think CES might have had something to do with this.
I’m an OG Pebble user converted to Apple Watch… couldn’t resist placing an order for the Round 2 because it looks amazing but I worry I’ve grown too accustomed to the feature set of the Apple Watch (deep OS integration, contactless payment). Maybe it’ll be my “dress” watch.
All else aside I hope this might inspire Apple to try with their watch design. The first watch felt lazy and it’s basically unchanged since then.
All else aside I hope this might inspire Apple to try with their watch design. The first watch felt lazy and it’s basically unchanged since then.
Somewhat unrelated but as a Pixel Watch user (since I'm in that ecosystem), I envy the Apple Watch just for the square display. It is just the fundamentally correct design for text imo (which is a large part of what is going to appear).
One of my main uses for my Pixel Watch is reading notifications, and even for a 2-3 line text message I have to scroll to read it because it gets cut out by the roundness.
One of my main uses for my Pixel Watch is reading notifications, and even for a 2-3 line text message I have to scroll to read it because it gets cut out by the roundness.
For a while I’ve wanted a smartwatch that’s not too smart, and is more focused on looks… I think this might be the watch I finally keep
This almost feels like planned obsolescence, with my Pebble Time Steel just recently starting to give up =) I'm joking, the thing has held up amazingly well under all the stress I have put it through for a remarkably long time. It's just pretty well timed, in a way.
I've been holding out for a refresh that can compete with the look of the Time Steel, basically the design of the original Time 2. I might go with this one, but that would mean having to abandon the square watchface I've grown fond of. Maybe there are some nice round ones. The two weeks of battery life and activity tracking are greatly appreciated!
> Touchscreen (but you don’t have to use it!)
What a ride. I hate touchscreens with a burning passion. I hope it can be disabled.
I've been holding out for a refresh that can compete with the look of the Time Steel, basically the design of the original Time 2. I might go with this one, but that would mean having to abandon the square watchface I've grown fond of. Maybe there are some nice round ones. The two weeks of battery life and activity tracking are greatly appreciated!
> Touchscreen (but you don’t have to use it!)
What a ride. I hate touchscreens with a burning passion. I hope it can be disabled.
What's to hate about them?
What’s the maximum range to your phone to get notifications? I’ve been trying to cut back on my reflex to look at my phone every few minutes. It’d be great if I could keep my phone on a charging stand and be able to walk around my house and still get notifications.
Exactly the killer use-case for pebble! It's "blue-toothy" range, so it'll mostly work in adjacent rooms but might have difficulty going diagonally upstairs v. downstairs, or ranging too far outside.
IIRC, pebble had a "vibrate on BT-loss", which could remind you to go retrieve the phone when ranging outside to rake leaves (or forgetting your phone in a restaurant or something).
IIRC, pebble had a "vibrate on BT-loss", which could remind you to go retrieve the phone when ranging outside to rake leaves (or forgetting your phone in a restaurant or something).
I think Eric posted about this, and it was an impressive distance. Obviously YMMV based on the size of your house and how thick the walls are, but my old Pebble worked in much of my house and I would expect that as BT has gotten better (on both the phone and watch) in the last decade, the new versions will have even more range.
also probably depends on the building you live in.
not trying to start a flame-war, but i can imagine that you get quite some range in the US, if you live in one of those cardboard-inner-walls houses.
in the 30cm thick solid wall apartment i live in my pebble looses connection the next room over, i almost need line-of-sight for it to work. working at my desk, get up, walk 5 meters to the bathroom, watch looses connection.
maybe my smartphone has a weak bluetooth receiver, compared to other models, who knows...
not trying to start a flame-war, but i can imagine that you get quite some range in the US, if you live in one of those cardboard-inner-walls houses.
in the 30cm thick solid wall apartment i live in my pebble looses connection the next room over, i almost need line-of-sight for it to work. working at my desk, get up, walk 5 meters to the bathroom, watch looses connection.
maybe my smartphone has a weak bluetooth receiver, compared to other models, who knows...
bluetooth is 2.4ghz so if you're in a super congested area(lots of wifi) bluetooth can often struggle.
Is this an old Pebble or a new one?
One of the new ones. Or I guess old ones? I mean I bought it new from Core Devices / RePebble, but it's the OG model. Pebble 2 Duo.
Huh interesting, those have new BT guts, so should have as good of performance as any. I guess 30cm thick solid walls are not common enough for BT to be designed to go through them?
i think it's the by now internet-meme worthy difference between walls in the US compared to most of Europe. i've never lived somewhere which didn't have thick brick or concrete walls. 30cm was a bit high, more like 20cm.
i've seen tons of americans making holes in their walls by punching or falling into them. could never relate myself, i'd have a broken hand or concussion :D
my phone is not very powerful, maybe that's a factor.
i've seen tons of americans making holes in their walls by punching or falling into them. could never relate myself, i'd have a broken hand or concussion :D
my phone is not very powerful, maybe that's a factor.
I loved my Pebble back in the day, but honestly Garmin overtook it by a long shot. Very similar philosophy
> No more bezel
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong image, but I see a silver bezel going all around the watch screen.
I thought "no bezel" on a screen means the screen goes all the way to the edges of the device.
Still want one tho.
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong image, but I see a silver bezel going all around the watch screen.
I thought "no bezel" on a screen means the screen goes all the way to the edges of the device.
Still want one tho.
I think pretty much all watches have some sort of raised dial/edge in order to protect the glass. This one is not as small as some, but compared to the original round pebble, this is much, much smaller.
All the (fancy, mechanical) watches I had within reach seem to actually have the crystal slightly protruding out of the case.
I don't have any fancy watches in reach, but was just talking about watches in general. I think it makes sense to compare $200 Pebbles to similarly-priced watches (smart and otherwise) in this regard. I can imagine that diamond-encrusted or otherwise dearly-priced watches differ in terms of use case and design tradeoffs.
My Seiko Kinetic that I got for around $100 has the crystal surface about 1mm above the case (it is beveled though, so slightly narrower on top than where it meets the case; I assume a right angle would be both unpleasant to touch and more liable to break the glass; it's too cheap to be a mineral crystal.
I'm very minorly into watches and $200 is very "mid/base" for watches.
My most expensive watch is a Fenix7 (used) @ $300. Then ~$150 for a "Svalbard" single hand automatic (winding) watch, and a smattering of "$50-80, used off eBay" watches.
I had two (used) pebble watches back in the day, pre-ordered the PT2 before they went bankrupt, and have preordered the "new" PT2 (at ~$200 price range).
Freaking Timex Expedition is costing $60-80 on sale nowadays. No smart stuff, just "chunky Casio vibes" and it's $80. Timex "Transcend" is a fun one in the $100 price range.
Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed!
I hate to say that Pebble Round 2 is "almost an impulse buy" (prior to Time2 shipping), but there are occasions (eg: last night) where my Garmin was out of battery, I went to a friends house, so I pulled out my slightly fancier round-dial analog watch.
The fact that pebble is hitting $200 price points is actually an incredible (and hopefully sustainable!) value for what they offer!
My most expensive watch is a Fenix7 (used) @ $300. Then ~$150 for a "Svalbard" single hand automatic (winding) watch, and a smattering of "$50-80, used off eBay" watches.
I had two (used) pebble watches back in the day, pre-ordered the PT2 before they went bankrupt, and have preordered the "new" PT2 (at ~$200 price range).
Freaking Timex Expedition is costing $60-80 on sale nowadays. No smart stuff, just "chunky Casio vibes" and it's $80. Timex "Transcend" is a fun one in the $100 price range.
Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed!
I hate to say that Pebble Round 2 is "almost an impulse buy" (prior to Time2 shipping), but there are occasions (eg: last night) where my Garmin was out of battery, I went to a friends house, so I pulled out my slightly fancier round-dial analog watch.
The fact that pebble is hitting $200 price points is actually an incredible (and hopefully sustainable!) value for what they offer!
> a "Svalbard" single hand automatic
nice, so i'm not the only one with a single hand Svalbard watch :D one day i thought "i wonder if there's a watch with one hand and 24h", pretty soon landed on the Svalbard website and ordered one. i must say that i rarely wear it as it's pretty hard to get an accurate time reading from it, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of a watch.
but i did get lots of comments when wearing it...
nice, so i'm not the only one with a single hand Svalbard watch :D one day i thought "i wonder if there's a watch with one hand and 24h", pretty soon landed on the Svalbard website and ordered one. i must say that i rarely wear it as it's pretty hard to get an accurate time reading from it, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of a watch.
but i did get lots of comments when wearing it...
I call it my "weekend watch". Specifically taking off the "notifications" watch, a few quick turns to "take the approximate time" with me and it's perfect! I have the 12hr (not 24hr) which effectively gives you "metric" minute markings (10 min increments instead of 15/5). https://svalbard.watch/pages/Svalbard_Gauge_FK21.html
My next "grail" watch is something pilot-y, with inverted hour/minute markings (ie: 55m on the outer rim of the face/dial, 12h on the inner), eg: search "Laco Men's Pilot Aachen Automatic Watch", but obviously not that expensive. I just can't justify "yet another watch" and since getting the garmin (w/ sleep tracking, heart-rate, and notifications) it's even less justifiable.
When this one went on sale during prime for $15, I couldn't resist it though! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCPX9L1
Strap is trash, whole thing is very much lightweight/flimsy, but it has a similar semi-minimalist vibe.
My next "grail" watch is something pilot-y, with inverted hour/minute markings (ie: 55m on the outer rim of the face/dial, 12h on the inner), eg: search "Laco Men's Pilot Aachen Automatic Watch", but obviously not that expensive. I just can't justify "yet another watch" and since getting the garmin (w/ sleep tracking, heart-rate, and notifications) it's even less justifiable.
When this one went on sale during prime for $15, I couldn't resist it though! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCPX9L1
Strap is trash, whole thing is very much lightweight/flimsy, but it has a similar semi-minimalist vibe.
Ah I see, your model gives more details in a simple way. The one I bought is veeery barebones[0], I basically have to stop what I'm doing and look at the watch for a couple of seconds to figure out approximately what time it is...
> I just can't justify "yet another watch"
Same, there's a watch I find absolutely beautiful[1] since years, but it costs around 3.5k, could never justify spending that much for a watch.
The other two watches you posted are interesting, fun to meet another person who likes cheap and/but quirky watches. Took longer than I'd like to admit to understand how the SHENGKE works :D
Since getting my RePebble a couple weeks ago I haven't worn another watch.
[0]https://svalbard.watch/pages/Svalbard_Singly_AA29.html
[1]https://www.longines.com/de-ch/p/watch-longines-master-colle...
> I just can't justify "yet another watch"
Same, there's a watch I find absolutely beautiful[1] since years, but it costs around 3.5k, could never justify spending that much for a watch.
The other two watches you posted are interesting, fun to meet another person who likes cheap and/but quirky watches. Took longer than I'd like to admit to understand how the SHENGKE works :D
Since getting my RePebble a couple weeks ago I haven't worn another watch.
[0]https://svalbard.watch/pages/Svalbard_Singly_AA29.html
[1]https://www.longines.com/de-ch/p/watch-longines-master-colle...
I change my Garmin watchface to be something different during nights/weekends, as a reminder that I'm off the clock. I hope that Eric offers a way to automate this in PebbleOS!
I made that same comment!
https://ericmigi.com/blog/how-to-build-a-smartwatch-software...
...fingers crossed or "patches welcome" I'm sure.
https://ericmigi.com/blog/how-to-build-a-smartwatch-software...
...fingers crossed or "patches welcome" I'm sure.
Indeed, and thanks for flagging the 'disable wrist backlight trigger' in sleep mode as well. I like that Garmin does this. It's nice to use Pebble as a dim light when stumbling around in the dark, but it's easy enough to press a button to turn on.
> Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed!
I have wondered why Eric didn't price them higher, and I think it comes down to wanting to make sure there is sufficient demand to justify production runs, and staving off competition that could front-run him and use his open source software too.
I am genuinely curious to see what competition emerges, and how long it takes to appear.
I have wondered why Eric didn't price them higher, and I think it comes down to wanting to make sure there is sufficient demand to justify production runs, and staving off competition that could front-run him and use his open source software too.
I am genuinely curious to see what competition emerges, and how long it takes to appear.
Except, of course, the most popular smartwatch (Apple Watch) which extends the glass above the case, giving it zero protection against impacts from the front.
FWIW the same is true of the Rolex Daytona and Patek Philippe Nautilus.
There’s probably an actual reason for why this is done. On a mechanical watch I’d often prefer for the crystal to be damaged rather than the case, though I’m not sure that the same logic works for Apple Watches.
There’s probably an actual reason for why this is done. On a mechanical watch I’d often prefer for the crystal to be damaged rather than the case, though I’m not sure that the same logic works for Apple Watches.
Does one ever polish a crystal? Having it raised would make that much easier (also if one does, tell me who can do it to mine, my crystal is scratched to the point where I can't read my watch if the main lighting is behind me).
Having a soft but easily polishable crystal made of acrylic was a feature of old military watches. The softer crystal was more easily scratched, but fixable; and less prone to shattering, which would completely break the watch.
It might be possible, but I’m quite sure nobody does it with newer crystals. The replacement costs just aren’t high enough to justify the effort
Also, they just don’t really scratch.
Also, they just don’t really scratch.
> Also, they just don’t really scratch.
Do I need to take a photo of my crystal? Maybe mineral crystals don't scratch but glass ones certainly do.
Do I need to take a photo of my crystal? Maybe mineral crystals don't scratch but glass ones certainly do.
Sure, but I was referring to new high-end watches which mostly use sapphire crystals.
If you have a glass crystal, you can easily polish that at home. There’s a polywatch polishing paste you should look at.
If you have a glass crystal, you can easily polish that at home. There’s a polywatch polishing paste you should look at.
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I don’t get why you’d want no bezel on a watch. Look how big the bezel is on a Rolex GMT Master 2, or an Omega Seamaster.
The bezel is kinda functional on these watches, also they need it for huge water resistance. This Pebble is more comparable to traditional dress watches which don't have a prominent bezel.
Yes, no more bezel cuts off the details. What is meant is that does not have the big bezel of the original Pebble Round.
The original round Pebble had an octogonal screen with a big chunky ring overlapping all the edges making it look round. I guess there are rounder display options now so the screen can go to the edge of the case.
I'm an og Pebble fan, I owned every one of the originals, but I'm PISSED because last year they ran a Kickstarter for the recently released Pebble Time 2 and Pebble 2 Duo; I spent $300+ to get both even though I'm not really that thrilled about them I just wanted to support the project. Now after those two have started shipping and I just got the 2 Duo they announce THIS which is way better! Wtf why didn't they tell us in the beginning that they were planning the Round 2? I would have just held off and only ordered that instead. Feels like I got scammed
You can switch your order. They anticipated that some folks would want the Round instead and said that entire reason they announced this before the Time 2 is shipped is so you can change your order to Round if you want to
https://youtu.be/NaDPMZKXcBU?t=393
https://youtu.be/NaDPMZKXcBU?t=393
Why is it way better? I like the 2 Duo and I'm sad it's sold out. Would happily buy it off you if you'd like to email me.
Huh? There was no Kickstarter, just pre-orders. And when they announced the Round they said that anyone who preordered a PT2 can flip their pre-order and keep their place in line.
My guess is that part of the reason they decided to make the round is that they got so much interest in Pebbles in general, and so many requests for the Round specifically. I don't think they would have wanted to take the risk from the beginning without knowing the demand.
My guess is that part of the reason they decided to make the round is that they got so much interest in Pebbles in general, and so many requests for the Round specifically. I don't think they would have wanted to take the risk from the beginning without knowing the demand.
It sure looks nice but I'm keeping my Time 2 order as it's got a much better battery life.
Still, I'm sure this will appeal to many people.
Still, I'm sure this will appeal to many people.
I'm also going for Time 2 because heartrate monitor. Round 2 looks so nice, gratz on design! That Mario watchface is so fun on it.
How are they reusing the mechanical design from the original Pebble Round when they sold it to Google?
I don't think they're reusing any of the CAD. Just the design concept. All of the parts are different.
Technically sold to Fitbit, which sold to Google, but I think it was all open-sourced. What aspect are you wondering about? I can't tell what mechanical design aspects would remain proprietary.
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> Dual microphones for speech input (eg interacting with AI agents) and replying to.
But no heart rate monitor.
But no heart rate monitor.
Use the microphones
Bring back Pebble Steal.
I lost my original and got the pebble time 2 but its just not the same.
You can get a Pebble Steal next time you see someone wearing one in public...
eBay has them (used).
So there is no way to get weather on this? That's conspicuously absent from the features.
Yeah, I'm curious about that as well. This is what I think the history is:
* The official weather app on the old Pebble used a weather server they ran, and stopped working when that service shutdown.
* The old faces did not use that service, but instead each one wrote their own code to fetch weather information from a variety of sources, most of which have since shutdown or changed in incompatible ways, however some faces have been maintained to continue working.
* Rebble created a replacement weather server compatible with the old Pebble one, and patched the weather app, and several watch faces to use it. This service requires a subscription.
* The few weather faces in the Repebble appstore that I spot-checked all appear to be using weather sources that are still active. I know that this appstore is curated by Repebble and presumably they verified that these faces still have working weather feeds.
* During the Rebble/Repebble drama Eric mentioned "We’re planning to include weather for free in our app and make the data available to all watchfaces so you don’t need to configure each one separately."[1], but I don't know if that is planned to be ready when the Time2 or Round2 launch, or some time later.
[1]https://ericmigi.com/blog/pebble-rebble-and-a-path-forward
* The official weather app on the old Pebble used a weather server they ran, and stopped working when that service shutdown.
* The old faces did not use that service, but instead each one wrote their own code to fetch weather information from a variety of sources, most of which have since shutdown or changed in incompatible ways, however some faces have been maintained to continue working.
* Rebble created a replacement weather server compatible with the old Pebble one, and patched the weather app, and several watch faces to use it. This service requires a subscription.
* The few weather faces in the Repebble appstore that I spot-checked all appear to be using weather sources that are still active. I know that this appstore is curated by Repebble and presumably they verified that these faces still have working weather feeds.
* During the Rebble/Repebble drama Eric mentioned "We’re planning to include weather for free in our app and make the data available to all watchfaces so you don’t need to configure each one separately."[1], but I don't know if that is planned to be ready when the Time2 or Round2 launch, or some time later.
[1]https://ericmigi.com/blog/pebble-rebble-and-a-path-forward
There's a ton of apps and watchfaces on the Pebble that show the weather
There's a ton of apps and watchfaces on the existing Pebble appstore that showed the weather back when the earlier Pebbles were new. I don't think any of them still work, because they depend on being able to access services that were around back then. These new Pebbles conspicuously don't list the ability to show the weather.
It has a built in weather app and hundreds of watchfaces that show weather as well.
I wish I didn't have to use an account to start using my Pebble watch.
May the build quality and customer support be better this time around vs. last time.
Anybody know how much the price goes up, typically, after the preorder phase?
Design looks similar to my Amazfit balance 2, which I recommend
> Dual microphones for speech input (eg interacting with AI agents) and replying to messages (currently Android only…
> …iOS in EU soon
Just a reminder for all the Apple fanbois whining over how EU users miss out on Apple features (undoubtedly because Apple is behaving like a whiny 10 year old throwing a tantrum, but whatever), in reality, the EU rules allows companies like Pebble to offer functionality on iOS that they cannot elsewhere.
> …iOS in EU soon
Just a reminder for all the Apple fanbois whining over how EU users miss out on Apple features (undoubtedly because Apple is behaving like a whiny 10 year old throwing a tantrum, but whatever), in reality, the EU rules allows companies like Pebble to offer functionality on iOS that they cannot elsewhere.
Pebble Round 2 looks great. I would definitely had purchased it if it was released instead of the Pebble Time 2, 10 years ago, when it was still relevant.
I am not falling for Eric's pump'n'dump schemes once again.
I'm sorry for the sour grapes, but the recent ring announcement - disposable, single-charge electronics - soured me on the entire brand in a "never meet your heroes" sort of way. Somehow it makes the idea of wearing one of the watches a negative statement piece.
If you've ever thrown out a single smartphone, by weight you've created more ewaste than a lifetime of those rings. There's more ewaste in a single AA battery, surely you must complain about those in every comment thread they're mentioned?
I get OP's point though -- yes, all smartphones do tend to end up as e-waste in the end, but would you buy a smartphone if it couldn't ever be charged?
If, every time you powered on the phone, you knew you were draining from its finite battery life? I would probably think twice before doing any kind of software updates at least!
If, every time you powered on the phone, you knew you were draining from its finite battery life? I would probably think twice before doing any kind of software updates at least!
The miniscule ring? That size/time doesn't bother me. Now if it was something the size of a phone, that would bother me.
I'm expecting that by the time I use up the first version ring's battery, a better version (maybe rechargeable) will be released.
I'm expecting that by the time I use up the first version ring's battery, a better version (maybe rechargeable) will be released.
The problem isn't the form factor, it's that it's guaranteed e-waste. Once it runs out of battery, that's it. I think the pebble guy said that it should last a few months with regular usage but like... What a waste of materials.
I'm curious how you feel about AirPods, for example. They also do not have replaceable batteries, and after a few years of regular use they become increasingly unusable for their intended purpose.
I have a different memory than you regarding the expected lifespan of the ring, which I think was 1-2 years with normal usage. I don't plan to get one, but it certainly hasn't soured me on the brand. There's pretty clear tradeoffs involved with putting replaceable or rechargeable batteries in such a small device.
Some people were very upset that iPhones didn't have replaceable batteries like Blackberries. But it would seem that pretty much everyone got over that. With even tinier devices like AirPods and smart rings, it would seem like even less of an e-waste issue. I say this as someone who has no plans to get one of these things, FWIW.
I have a different memory than you regarding the expected lifespan of the ring, which I think was 1-2 years with normal usage. I don't plan to get one, but it certainly hasn't soured me on the brand. There's pretty clear tradeoffs involved with putting replaceable or rechargeable batteries in such a small device.
Some people were very upset that iPhones didn't have replaceable batteries like Blackberries. But it would seem that pretty much everyone got over that. With even tinier devices like AirPods and smart rings, it would seem like even less of an e-waste issue. I say this as someone who has no plans to get one of these things, FWIW.
The ring doesn't just have irreplaceable batteries, it cannot be charged. You get it charged and once it's empty, it's obsolete. The more you use it, the faster this happens, and the usage they advertised was very much not using it very regularly at that.
I'm not tilting at the "the battery cannot be removed!" windmill. This is a whole new low. It's consumable consumer electronics.
The only thing that will prevent this from becoming a cautionary tale for the ages, a Juicero of e-waste, is its lack of cultural relevance.
I'm not tilting at the "the battery cannot be removed!" windmill. This is a whole new low. It's consumable consumer electronics.
The only thing that will prevent this from becoming a cautionary tale for the ages, a Juicero of e-waste, is its lack of cultural relevance.
I get that, but if the question is about e-waste volume, don't we have to compare the amount of e-waste that results from tossing a non-rechargeable ring after it's depleted versus making all of the rings larger and creating chargers for them?
It's like the argument about reusable grocery bags: they can have a smaller carbon footprint than disposable ones, but only if you use them like 120 times (most people don't come close).
How big would the charger be, how much bigger would the ring be, and how many charge cycles would it have to undergo in order for the e-waste math to be favorable? And does that solve the issue, or will people still be complaining that it's not a replaceable battery?
I guess I just tend to give a little more benefit of the doubt to the creator, who has presumably thought about these things and at any rate is making a niche product that is physically very small. It seems like this could only reach a reasonable volume of waste if it were mass-market or much larger per-unit.
It's like the argument about reusable grocery bags: they can have a smaller carbon footprint than disposable ones, but only if you use them like 120 times (most people don't come close).
How big would the charger be, how much bigger would the ring be, and how many charge cycles would it have to undergo in order for the e-waste math to be favorable? And does that solve the issue, or will people still be complaining that it's not a replaceable battery?
I guess I just tend to give a little more benefit of the doubt to the creator, who has presumably thought about these things and at any rate is making a niche product that is physically very small. It seems like this could only reach a reasonable volume of waste if it were mass-market or much larger per-unit.
Yeah, it's the principle that gets me. "By the time it run out of power, there will be a new version" does nothing to make it better, either. That's like Planned Obsolescence 2.0.
I just don't think we should make stuff like this, and I definitely don't want to signal support for it on my wrist.
I just don't think we should make stuff like this, and I definitely don't want to signal support for it on my wrist.
The older I get the more my mind shifts toward consume less, away from consume differently. The commenter above you is right that the math is complex and not a straightforward assessment. So the simple fix is to abstain.
Totally agree even though it is apparently one of the better rings I can't understand why they don't have a mail-back-to-factory plan for battery service just on principal. It's stories like this that almost make the case for regulation if that wasn't such a slippery slope.
Nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia, though we should be aware that a 14-day battery life is no longer a competitive advantage.
[Gemini 3 Pro Query] "Which smartwatches have at least 1 week of battery life?"
- Garmin Instinct 3: Provides up to 18 days (45mm) or even 40 days (50mm) of battery life. It features a robust design and a bright AMOLED display.
- Garmin fenix 8: A premium multisport watch that lasts up to 29 days in smartwatch mode, featuring advanced mapping and a built-in LED flashlight.
- Amazfit T-Rex 3: A rugged, budget-friendly alternative with an impressive 27-day battery life and military-grade durability.
- Garmin Forerunner 165: Offers 11 days of battery life with a focus on running metrics and accurate GPS tracking.
- Garmin Venu 3S: A stylish lifestyle watch with a vibrant display that lasts up to 10 days.
- Amazfit Bip 6: A highly affordable option that delivers a solid 14 days of typical use.
[Gemini 3 Pro Query] "Which smartwatches have at least 1 week of battery life?"
- Garmin Instinct 3: Provides up to 18 days (45mm) or even 40 days (50mm) of battery life. It features a robust design and a bright AMOLED display.
- Garmin fenix 8: A premium multisport watch that lasts up to 29 days in smartwatch mode, featuring advanced mapping and a built-in LED flashlight.
- Amazfit T-Rex 3: A rugged, budget-friendly alternative with an impressive 27-day battery life and military-grade durability.
- Garmin Forerunner 165: Offers 11 days of battery life with a focus on running metrics and accurate GPS tracking.
- Garmin Venu 3S: A stylish lifestyle watch with a vibrant display that lasts up to 10 days.
- Amazfit Bip 6: A highly affordable option that delivers a solid 14 days of typical use.
The Pebble offers multiple weeks of battery life with an always-on display. There are very few other watches that offer this. Looking at the above stats, I would guess that almost all of them are quoting battery life when AOD is disabled.
Unless you're going on a back country camping trip, I don't really see what difference it makes if the battery life is 3 days or 30. I have a Garmin Vivoactive 4. It's a generation or 2 old. The battery lasts 2 to 4 days, depending on the features I'm using. I take it off and charge it each day while I shower.
I go on 3-4 day trips all the time and don't want to have to worry about bringing another charger. I rarely go on trips that last more than 2 weeks, so I would never have to bring a charger for the PR2. This is even more true for the PT2, which is supposed to last 4 weeks.
The main advantage of Pebble watches was their battery life. If 3 days works for you then there are more sophisticated solutions out there, including the "Garmin Vivoactive 4" which looks great. I'm personally happy with the 3 days I'm getting out of my Pixel Watch 4. For folks that consider 14 days to be a plus, I'm simply mentioning that, 10 years later, it's no longer a differentiator.
The other big differentiator is the fact that you can do anything on the watch with just buttons. Some Garmins let you easily control music without using the touchscreen, but I think it's just the 5-button ones.
This is great for when you want to give the watch input signals without looking at the screen and hitting specific tap targets, or when your hands are wet/gloved/etc.
This is great for when you want to give the watch input signals without looking at the screen and hitting specific tap targets, or when your hands are wet/gloved/etc.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/02/pebble-reboots-its-thinnes...