Looks great! The very first Pebble was actually instrumental in building digitalocean - I met them at MLH hackathon at CalTech and forced one of the founders to sell me a demo unit- all I used it for was notifications on the digitalocean twitter and outages pushed from slack, I tried to reply to every single tweet at us immediately. A little memento of when I hired Mikeal Rogers: https://s.h4x.club/4guEJN95
Funny, now in 2025, 10 years later, I'm not a fan of smart watches due to their enabling bad habits, think I'll pick up this pebble and leave notifications turned off this time. :)
Agreed. I'd kill for a watch that you could hold all notifications until you decided to receive them all, ideally at a slow pace over a period of time. For now, I disable notifications but it's a shame I can't access them when I'm ready to do so. I have hopes for this pebble!
Anecdotally - I also disable most notifications, but this approach works for me.
In my case the notifications that I didn't receive are still in the relevant apps in the form of unread messages, missed calls, or similar; I can look at them later, when I have the time.
Sometimes an app would send a notification that would leave no trace in its app; e.g. a time sensitive reminder. But if the app's design assumes there's no benefit to viewing that notification later, I'm happy to trust it - and this approach acts for me as a natural filter.
PebbleOS has always had a feature called "Quiet Time" which does the same thing as "Do Not Disturb". Hopefully the new app will also respect the phone's native "Do Not Disturb" setting which has a bunch of nice automation features to e.g. turn on during meetings or at night automatically.
When you turn Notifications off for showing, they're just in the "inbox" & won't show on the watchface when received. You can then just access them whenever you want from the menu OR you can create a button shortcut that activates when pressing down.
FYI the previous generation of Pebble OS did not have a message counter, but this generation will apparently add this to its complications.
I wasn’t the one who wanted it, so you’ll have to ask them. I was just pointing out that you said “my watch accomplishes this” but it only accomplishes one of the two features they want, and honestly I’m pretty sure they know that you can silence notifications on most smart watches so the emphasis would have been on the second feature.
Apple's Focus settings let you set up special allow/deny lists for notifications and the notifications come in when you disable the focus. Unfortunately they don't have separate watch/phone settings on this although you can block apps from being able to notify on watch at all, ever. This is how mine is set, pretty much I only allow watch notifications for navigation, phone calls/DMs from known contacts.
What is the use-case now in 2025 for an e-ink watch? I have a Garmin Epix pro gen 2 which gets about a month of battery life and has a gorgeous AMOLED, has profiles for pretty much every sport ever invented, incredibly accurate GPS tracking, all day HR-tracking, ECG etc.
I understand it's about 4x the price, but there's also lower-end Garmin's that are about 2x the price with the same screen, slightly less features and similar battery life
4x the price to start off with, 51x51x15mm size, Only 11 days battery life if you use the always on display according to their site, completely locked down OS and ecosystem that puts you at 100% their mercy when it comes to EOL and updates, no idea what their privacy policy is, but you probably have to accept it if you want to use it and just put up with the fact that all your data, location, heart rate, and everything else is sent and stored and most likely used for training different AI models, and probably getting sold to different companies.
As to "why": I'm not interested at all in Garmin's sports and health features and their cloud stuff. Pebbles work well, get out of the way and have a nice, friendly and slightly quirky interface. There are many apps and watchfaces out there. As of the new ones, the OS is open source. Reasons enough for me. ;)
I likely will continue to use my Garmin watch because I rely heavily on the fitness stuff that they do so well, but outside of that the Garmin is "just OK."
If you want a fitness tracker that is also a smartwatch the Garmin is a great choice. If you want a smartwatch and don't care about fitness tracking then you're wasting a lot of money on stuff you don't care about with Garmin, for just an OK and extremely locked down device.
This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case.
Automatic illumination has never worked well for me on any watch. It seems I just don't roll my wrist to view the screen the way other people do, so this heuristic fails badly for me. I often read my watches via ambient light and the light hasn't triggered or comes later after I've already seen what I want. And on the other hand, I get annoyed by false-positives where it just lights up randomly in my peripheral vision. So I often disable the automatic light feature.
So, I enjoy the always-on but passive aspect of a transflective LCD display. It is practical like a conventional watch with physical hands. It works well in bright sunlight, well enough in other decently lit environments, and at least copes with dark via the backlight. I wish it was even more reflective for low light, but the recent LCDs are not bad.
I vastly prefer my Garmin FR255 which seems like the last of its breed. Garmin may have lost me as a repeat buyer with the changing products. I think I'd like their Enduro line, but not at those prices. I don't like many of the compromises of the Instinct line either, but it seems the only option left.
> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case.
I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes.
But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me.
iWatch and the recent Android phones have some nifty features like fall detection and heart rate alarms, but their privacy and the ease of use are deteriorating.
I've been satisfied with how well the on watch GPS and barometric sensor are used by Garmin to give clean data, including consistent ascent/descent figures.
This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all.
I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance.
I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.
I think that you can get course following to work with Bluetooth? The phone can just send a notification when it approaches the fork.
Though if you want to use your watch as a primary navigation device, you likely need to use LCD/OLED. eInk is not great for interactive map use, not a great use-case for Pebble.
For backup, I like carrying a Garmin satellite communicator. It has its own offline maps and a way to call for rescue in a pinch.
Same. Amoled watches feel like TEXT IN ALL CAPS to me, screaming for attention when all they should do is make information available, vs force-feeding data. For attention, there's the vibration buzzer (which I absolutely love, so much more personal than a phone jumping around on the table)
Garmins are incredibly expensive and not everyone wants a fitness tracker. Garmin's UX is also very disjointed between devices for how expensive they are. Plus, battery life tends to be garbage for smartwatches. I just sold my Apple Watch for a Coros because I was tired of trading battery life for features I didn't want/use and Garmins also require yet another subscription for some features. As someone who just spent the last month deciding on a new fitness wearable, much of the market is full of bloated devices that don't do everything right, but instead do a handful of things right with a laundry list of caveats.
There's still a strong market for dumb watches too, so a long-lasting "smart" device that does some things but not as much as an Apple Watch, Garmin, Coros, etc while still serving as a general information displaying wearable sounded enticing. Unfortunately Apple's lockdown of the iPhone for the previous Pebbles (which I think might still be a thing) and my need for fitness tracking are what prevented me from buying a Pebble.
> Garmin's UX is also very disjointed between devices for how expensive they are.
Yeah... I bought an Instinct 2S hoping it would scratch the same itch as Pebble, but the UX is really awful.
The Pebble OS UX is really something special because it's so... obviously correct. Vertical menus just a few layers deep. You can set shortcuts on long-press but they aren't required to do the basic functions. It boggles my mind that Garmin cannot make an interface that doesn't require a lot of memorization in remembering all the right buttons to press/hold.
I want to join in with a Garmin rant. I also made the switch to a Coros after owning 3 Garmin watches. Each Garmin seemed to last almost exactly 3 years before abruptly dying. Each time I wanted to buy essentially the same watch only to find the new watches had more features and a higher price. The last round the "upgrade" more smart watch features, fewer sport watch features, and less battery life. The lower priced watches were always carefully missing select features that I wanted. I was doing triathlons which I guess Garmin thought they could coerce me into buying separate bike/run/swimming devices or paying 3-4X to get that extra 4mm of screen to show an extra data field. Garmin priced and segmented themselves out of a customer.
The new Pebble is very similar to the Coros Pace but without the GPS but with hackability and that makes me very interested.
I have an Instinct 2 that cost me under $200 new, goes 2+ weeks between charges, and handles all activities I throw at it quite well.
I agree: their launching of a subscription service is disappointing, because (1) it was wonderful having a no-recurring-cost ecosystem before, and (2) presumably that's where they'll be investing their product dollars. But, it's not required, and to date, it's not particularly high value.
I looked at the Instinct 3 with Solar because I really wanted the best battery life out there, only to find out Garmin neglected to include topo maps (I wanted a device for hiking and backpacking so that's disappointing) in the Instinct 3 and despite being $400+ the casing is plastic. Odd choices for that price. I feel like the Garmin interfaces are also just... not great. Way too busy for such a small screen. The Coros watch face I'm using right now includes: time, date, day, elevation, steps, calories burned, heart rate and battery level all on a simple, uncrowded and easy to read b&w face... It's called Particular but I can't find a screen shot of it. It's leagues easier to read than what I've seen of Garmin and Apple (which for some reason still has their faces so locked down it's restrictive).
Personally, I try not to use screens for a few hours before going to bed. Before bedtime, I limit myself to my e-ink book reader.
The idea of having a screen on my wrist doesn't particularly appeal to me.
My partner has one and when they turn over in bed, I am sometimes blinded by the screen which still glows brightly even at the lowest setting in complete darkness.
That's why I'm considering a e-ink watch. The reason I didn't commit yet is that I fear that notifications and such before bedtime could be just as harmful to my nightline peacefulness.
You may also find interesting that in this release update he mentiones that the backlight LED is now RGB and they are toying with ideas like making the backlight blue light aware at nights, etc.
This would be interesting. I was gifted a Kindle with backlighting recently after my old first generation one broke. The backlight is useless to me because it shines blue, so I just use a candle.
Probably because the Apple Watch is effectively a modern 10 year old smart phone made tiny with an ARM Cortex A series CPU running at nearly 2GHz while the Garmin is a ARM Cortex M series microcontroller doing ~200MHz.
That is the (modern) Apple way. They optimise for smooth experience first¹, other factors second.
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[1] Actually second, their priorities are money->UX->others - hence being uncooperative with any efforts to improve standard web apps despite the potential user benefits as they could compete with their appstore
My Garmin doesn’t get 30 days but does routinely get 2 weeks, which is fine with me. The battery life is probably the only reason I have never tried the Apple Watch, and I check every generation to see if there has been an improvement. Even the large sport / epic one only gets pathetic 36 hours. It’s mind boggling how Garmin can be so good at this and Apple cannot.
Probably use-case. I only really engage with my watch to check the time and my pulse which I can do with a glance, otherwise the screen is permanently off. The other times are when I'm doing some activity (running, swimming) and GPS is on but for example with running the screen still only shows when I glance at it. Apple still has an enormous amount of room to optimise their hardware and software in this space but I've no idea why they haven't done it yet.
The Apple Watch feels like it's designed as a very small iPhone. It has a lot of unnecessary functionality on-device, like email, a separate iMessage client, and its own Focus settings, which can sync to the iPhone, possibly as a requirement to make the watch operate independently. All these things take up battery power.
Also, Apple sees no benefit having their watches last longer, so they're adding features instead of optimizing them, as long as it hits 18 hours or so.
Yea I see the Apple Watch an extension of iPhone. It's an accessory that integrates with the ecosystem and offers conveniences. I see it as a different product with different use cases that other competing watches.
For most people, the batter is enough for the day of an average use and they charge it at night with their phones.
I don't know about the Apple Watch Ultra 2 however and how it compares.
Agree with sibling comments, but I think it's a bad choice of comparison.
I'm a Garmin Venu fan, but... apparently it was a $350 watch[0], and now there's a $450 version[1] and an $800 version[2]. There's still an older one[3] available for $250 (or ~$185 on Amazon). Though I got my original Venu "refurbished" for under $100 (and it still had all the plastic wrap, etc. so was truly "like new.")
10-11 day battery when new (mine gets 6-7 days after several years of use, but I have never used always-on-display.)
If I can get a Venu 2/2S/2S Plus/3/3S as a refurbished watch for ~$200-250, then I would go that route over an inexpensive Pebble 2 Time. Love that OLED screen. But I totally get the hacker ethos favoring the Pebble OS over Garmin. (Garmin does have a pretty good watch OS, and most things work without a subscription, which was a major factor in my purchase.) For $450 (or more...) it is not comparable to Pebble's offering.
The Pebble battery life is with the display always on.
It's squarely aimed at people who want the watch functionality to be first and foremost - no dorky wrist flicks or the distraction of the screen coming on and off all the time.
> The Pebble battery life is with the display always on. … no dorky wrist flicks
My watch display (Garming Fenix 7) is always on and the battery life is great. Any dorky wrist flick or button presses are for the backlight when it is needed.
[Though as others point out, the balance of needs targetted by the two devices differ noticably]
Hmm, looks like your Garmin has somewhere between 30h (with everything turned on) to 11d of battery life, which is not bad for needing to power a bright screen. I wear a Skagen Jorn hybrid, which has physical hands over a round e-ink display, which lasts ~3w on a charge for me. I also like e-ink better in daylight, AMOLED has gotten pretty good, but it's still harder to read in bright conditions (though obviously easier in dark ones!)
Citation needed; that Garmin watch cited claims about 30 hours of life unless the screen is mostly off and you severely hamper the features (i.e. "smartwatch mode"). I wont doubt you can get it to last weeks like that.
These devices are able to always show the display, don't need to turn off features, can still show notifications, etc.
I recently switched to an AMOLED Garmin from a watch with an always-on screen (and before that, a pebble), so maybe I can weigh in.
The use-case for a transflective watch are the same as they were in 2013. I don't really care if my watch has a beautiful vibrant display, I want it to show the time, every single time I look at it. The Garmin's wrist turn gesture detection is decent, but far from perfect. I need to either poke the screen, push a button, or very deliberately raise my wrist to trigger the gesture detection. Also, it emits light every time the screen wakes, whether I'm looking or not, and whether the light from the watch will be disruptive or not.
None of that sounds convincing? Then this product probably just isn't aimed at you. And I don't mean that to be snarky, preferences around smartwatches are just really particular to the individual.
Speak for yourself. I can't wait for my Pebble to arrive so I can junk drawer my awful Garmin watch. The UI is dreadful to the point that I can't believe no one else notices. Like, doesn't anyone else notice how hard it is to get it to wake up the backlight so you can read the screen? I can shake my hand like I'm a paint mixer and it does nothing.
And that's not even talking about the software bugs that destroy a full battery in moments.
The Garmin is a sports watch, the use case is for people who want a smartwatch that is not a sports watch. Why pay 4x or even 2x the price for features you don't need?
In fact, I am tempted by the Pebble Core 2 (which is the lower-end version) because it ticks all the boxes: affordable ($150), supports notifications, vibration, good battery life (30 days), and of course it tells the time. It is also one of the most open smart watch platforms.
I am not a competitive athlete, I don't need a detailed report of my physical activity, and my idea of health is not chasing numbers unless it comes from a prescription. Not saying it is wrong, it is just not my thing. As for GPS tracking, it is a nice feature, but AFAIK, Pebble watches can use the GPS in your phone to do some limited navigation.
Pebble watches still have some basic health tracking features, like step counting, sleep tracking, heart rate. All probably inaccurate like for most watches, but considering how cheap these things are, why not put them in.
I used to love Garmin and I'll probably always use their watches for actual sports, but I don't trust the company anymore.
I heavily debated getting one of these and I bit the bullet a few days ago. The use case is I want a watch that I can tinker with and not giving Garmin my data.
Garmin introduced a subscription and you can guarantee that'll pave the way for the base experience to get shittier over time as they funnel people to it. If it works other fitness watches will follow.
As soon as someone makes a good enough fitness app for that it becomes a way better option, it could actually get better over time without breaking.
my Garmin Fenix 6 used to survive with 21 days of display always one but lowest brightness, if I didn't use any GPS.
Now, after 3 years it is somehow down to 10 days. No chance of debugging where it comes from as I haven't changed anything on my side.
But I didn't have this issue with my other garmins before.
Also, you have to consider that I charge my watch ~10 times less than my phone (roughly every 10 days). So the total amount of charging cycles was maybe ~100 times.
When Pebble died I decided that I'd rather less smart and more battery than more smart and less battery, so I got a Withings watch and have been reasonably happy since.
But this looks really good now and I'm happy to support it even if it doesn't win over my wrist space.
Hopefully they sort out Health Connect support on the Pebble Android app by January so that I can at least sync steps between watches if I'm switching between them.
Me as well, I have a drawer of watches and I want to use one but the 1-2 day battery life is just a dealbreaker .. 30 days will probably make me care to put it on again after the charge is done.
I’m always surprised by this, I charge my watch every night when I take it off for bed, I just put it on the magnet snap charger instead of on the wood itself, I’d be taking it off either way. Why is short battery life a deal breaker for people?
Because one of the best things about wearing a smartwatch is that you can use it as a silent (vibrating) alarm that doesn't wake anyone else up.
I've heard some people say that newer AWs can last indefinitely if you charge only while in the shower. That could be good enough. But I still don't want to have to bring another charge cable with me every time I take a trip. One week is good. Two weeks is great. A month is amazing (partly because after the battery degrades for years, it will still be two weeks).
That’s a fair use case I suppose, but honestly I find my smart watch a bit chunky to sleep with. I could buy a $20 smart watch or a fit bit off of amazon or something and just wear that as my bed alarm, but I totally get that has its own trade off.
Haha, I can't think of anything distinctly American about it. A cursory search suggests it's a word coined by an Austrian architect while he was working in Canada.
Clicked 6 links, googled stuff, couldn't figure this out. Makes me so, so, so irrationally upset. I do not get it. It's just basics? Thanks for sharing this.
There are a bunch of weird smartwatches that get pretty close to this - for example, the Amazfit Bip S Lite claims 30 days of battery with a similar transflective screen (albeit I think the heart rate monitor drops to once every measuring 5 minutes in battery saver mode).
Similarly, the Withings Scanwatch claims the same, although as a hybrid smartwatch, it is not driving such a power-hungry screen.
I had the OG Bip and got extremely close to 3 months at one point. Unfortunately I don't remember if I had the HR set to 5 minute intervals but if it was on, I think that was the setting.
Even with 1 minute intervals though, battery life was absolutely stellar. I'd often lose my charger, and in few days after I saw the battery dropping/low battery alerts, I'd find it too (before the watch died)!
I would expect an extremely infrequent heart rate sample rate at idle. I believe the current-gen watches only sample every 10 minutes unless activity is detected.
I guess so. I've had two previous fitbits and I believe those track every second during exercise and every five minutes otherwise. But those watches would still only get 5-7 days of battery life.
Hence my skepticism that this feature can be offered and still get 4x more life than that.
Man I loved my Pebble but I’d say the three things I use my Apple Watch for most are: telling time (++), reading notifications (~), and getting Siri to set timers or control my Home Assistant* (—-).
Since Apple simply won’t allow 3rd party apps the full api access they need to do everything, I’m stuck with my Apple Watch if I want all the Apple stuff, and I’m too lazy/annoyed to try to switch ecosystems.
You may already be aware, but Apple Home/Siri can talk to Home Assistant directly using https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit/ which is how I have it set up. You can also have HomeKit devices paired directly with an instance of the HomeKit Bridge, or expose devices in your Apple Home to Home Assistant.
Time to cut out the middle man (Apple / homebridge) and speak to HA directly? I didn't check the capabilities of Pebble, but knowing HA, there's probably a way.
There is a (relatively recent, for the Pebble-verse) Home Assistant app on Rebble that works with the current Home Assistant version. You can even do voice control and stuff.
I love that it doesn't say Pebble on the bezel! I never wanted one before, but now I do. My only issue is that I have pretty small wrists and this watch would likely be too large for me.
I have one on order and can't wait, but I'm also hoping that they are successful enough to justify developing a successor to the smallest smartwatch ever made (to this day, which is wild), the excellent Pebble Time Round. Which, of course, should be named the Second Time 'Round.
With normal watches, the straps are usually on a standard attachment, they only differ in one dimension (the width of the strap in the axis parallel to your arm) so you just need to find a strap that fits that dimension.
Unclear if Pebble 2 follows that standard but would be worth checking. I'm sure you can find a strap that fits your wrist.
Not sure if this will be answered here. But how is the repair-ability of these new pebble? I have the original pebble time steel and although it still run fine, the battery have degraded a lot without an easy way to replace them. Part of the appeal of traditional watches is that you can open them up yourself and fix them if needed. I don't see why Pebble have go glue everything together and make it so hard to repair.
In the podcast Eric said that in the current design the back is fastened with screws and no adhesive. They may end up having to add some adhesive (presumably for water resistance) but hopefully not.
I remember participating in the crowdfunding for the last Pebble. I was so excited to receive it, and it was great.
But a few months later, the company shut down, along with support for their products, and it was hard to swallow. This, combined with the fact that the buttons on my Pebble started to fall apart less than a year later (which is when the lack of support became problematic), made the experience pretty bad in the end.
But I’m really excited to see Pebble come back to life, and maybe I’ll be a customer of their watches again in the future.
My concern with the Pebble Time 2 is the lower contrast that color e-ink has compared to grayscale. I don't know how bad it is in person, but next to the Pebble 2 Duo in the video it looks much worse. If it were B&W I would have bought it immediately.
>My concern with the Pebble Time 2 is the lower contrast that color e-ink has compared to grayscale
That's not eink technology, it's most likely Sharp Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) LCD display, where the difference between BW and color isn't as bad as in eink technology which uses actual pigment particles inside the pixel cells that "cloud" the contrast.
To misquote Bernie, I am once again ~~asking~~ requesting for a single watch to have both heart rate/health tracking, as well as compass and barometer in a single watch.
I had an Amazfit Bip which, just like a Pebble, also had a transflective screen and between 1 to 2.5 months of battery life. However, it did have a compass along with a barometer, alongside HR/activity/sleep tracking.
I was (and still am) sad when my watch broke (screen pops out, known failure mode).
Since then I got a basic Band (7), and very recently, the Amazfit Active 2.
The latter is amazing on many aspects. Every sensor mentioned above of course, but a few nice add ons like continuous barometer readings for storm warnings, a thermometer, and so on.
What it notably does not have, s nither the transflective screen, nor the week to month(s) long battery life.
I searched a good bit for transflective watches, and it seems garmin is the only half-decent brand in town, and they appear to paywall nicer features to their expensive products.
In the absence of much of a budget, my choice was easy. But I really hope Pebble makes something in a single package that makes my next watch purchase a real dilemma if not an outright purchase :)
I'm sad that no product since the Microsoft Band has put a UV sensor on a watch. I'm biased because I largely designed the UV experience, but damn I miss having sunscreen reminders.
With a UV sensor you can actually tell when someone is outdoors in the sunlight. The MS Band's sunscreen experience was tailor made to automatically remind people to reapply sunscreen when needed, but it was a fair bit smarter than just a simple timer. I have a blog post about it at https://meanderingthoughts.hashnode.dev/cooperative-multitas...
The important bit is the Band knew if someone was in the sun for an extended period of time (15 minutes) and then popped up a reminder to put on sun screen, and also then prompted them if they wanted future reminders. If opted in, the timer popped up at whatever interval they asked for (ranging from 1 hour to 4 hours in 30 minute increments IIRC).
But if the person stepped inside for more than 10 minutes (e.g. went to eat, entered a movie theater, but not just going to the restroom) the reminders automatically stopped. Another 15 minutes of continuous exposure would then restart the experience again.
It wasn't an ideal setup, since you should put on sun screen 30 minutes or so before sun exposure, but it was really helpful and families loved it.
The entire "experience" was just a single dialog (How often do you want reminders? Not at all, every hour, every 90 minutes, etc) but the logic underneath was designed to ensure it wasn't intrusive and that it only came up when relevant.
Yeah because it tells you (I presume ) your actual UV rating in terms of exposure, and not just semi-useless "hey it's sunny out!" Yep we know the UV is high on sunny days but how much UV have I had so far?
The Apple Watch (and other smartwatches) probably could estimate UV exposure seeing as it has both a light sensor, used to estimate daylight time; and constantly updated UV weather information.
I still have mine. The front fell off, but I glued it back on. The battery life is not as good as it was when I got it in 2019, but it still keeps a charge for over three weeks. I keep looking for replacements, but haven't found anything that can match that lifespan while also not being huge. Maybe this Pebble is the ticket.
Same, Bip S over here. The battery life is starting to really go downhill, so I checked Amazfit and was sad to discover that they appear to have abandoned transflective watches entirely. :-( I pre-ordered one the cheaper Pebble.
I'm surprised more hasn't been made of the difference in screen resolution between this device and other Pebbles (and even the "new" Pebble 2 Duo). Old watchfaces and apps are not going to render without black borders, and given the niche market and limited run of this new model, it doesn't seem likely to attract much in the way of developer attention, so a healthy marketplace of new faces/apps may not surface.
If I could design _my_ dream watch (to borrow Eric's phrase), I'd put a larger version of the black and white MIP display in Time 2's case -- not more pixels, just bigger and easier to read.
I think they're working with a very limited selection of off-the-shelf MIP displays. (The 2 Duo itself is using new old stock of a custom display manufactured for the Pebble 2.)
There is one bright spot, which is that I believe the new Time 2's higher resolution display matches the original Time 2 specification and therefore has been supported by the SDK for years already. There were only a handful of physical prototypes, so no users of course, but some developers probably did build support for it.
You'd be surprised how many of the old devs are coming out of the woodwork to fix their old watchfaces and apps. It seems like a lot of people who were excited enough about Pebble in the past to develop apps seem to still be excited about it.
Plus, it's not particularly difficult to support the bigger screen size in the SDK.
It doesn't really need to surface. This is PebbleOS, so all the faces developed for all of the previous models will also work here. There is already a huge library of faces and I see people still making new ones.
> We’re planning to release 4 different Pebble Time 2 colourways. These haven’t been finalized yet. No names yet, we still need to pick them!
Would be great if we could vote. I am excited that there's a metallic option, but IMO the silver is too light. A dark gunmetal, or even medium-darkness silver, would be better in my book. The silver comes across as a bit flashy (which is perhaps good for the company), and I'd rather something that fades into the background a bit more.
The color-accented ones are nice, especially with matching bands. But for my taste (and the ability to wear it in more formal/dressy settings), black or metallic options will win out.
Would you use the silver with a contrasting band, as shown? Or would you try to get a band that roughly matches it?
It sounds like the colors don't add much complexity because it's just a polycarbonate piece that's sandwiched between the metal front and back. It does add complexity and and there are surely some fixed costs associated with making these and the matching bands. But it's kind of a neat innovation to have a pop of color on the side, matching the band. I think the red one could actually look nice with a plain black band.
Lack of GPS is the dealbreaker for me. Otherwise this would be an insta purchase -- I bought the Time in 2014, and was hoping for a "smartstrap" with GPS back then, but when it never came I slightly lost interest.
With a GPS (GNSS) receiver on the watch you can get instant position and speed data without having to maintain a stable Bluetooth connection to the phone. Some athletes prefer to record activities on a watch without having to bring a phone. And in certain races, such as most sanctioned triathlons, phones aren't allowed on the course at all.
Or to put it another way: a Pebble would cover more uses with a GPS. They're clearly not expensive nor necessarily profligate with battery. My now 5 year old Amazfit bip, which was cheap as chips, still gets 3 weeks of battery life with a daily gps-mapped run.
The technology exists to embed the NFC chips in the bands, but in the US this is limited to certain banks, and from what I know is largely discontinued.
Intuitively, segregating the payment processing into its own secure enclave seems to be feasible?
As I understand, the "secure" nature of iWatch means that the signature requirement is waived when you pay with it. Regular contactless cards still require you to sign (in the US).
There's secure enclave chips and there's the software you actually run on them, and convincing those who can provide you with tokens to do so with your own hardware/firmware. I'm sure this involves a lot of compliance work and it seems to be "contact sales" pricing all around. Too much for a small project like this!
It reads to me like the entity you need an agreement with is a "TSP" (token service provider), and they are at least the sort of organization that you can get a quote from. I don't know if you or the TSP needs an agreement with each bank, but given the relatively slow rollout of Apple Pay support between banks I assume someone somewhere in the chain does.
I can't see the actual specifications though, it costs at least $850/yr as an individual to view them. I did find an old FOSS EMV implementation, but I don't know how much of the spec this implements/what compliance work would be required to use something like it in an actual product: https://github.com/JavaCardOS/OpenEMV
So, thanks for sending me down this rabbit hole. It was somewhat informative at least. :)
Forgive my ignorance but I am curious if this be a good alternative for an android user who uses a Fitbit primarily for tracking sleep and heart rate and who would love a more open platform? Would something like this be usable as a reliable replacement or is it more targeted at hobbyists? What apps do pebble users use for tracking things like heart rate, sleep and steps?
I love the idea of having it, but as with every watch I ever had, I wear it, put it to charge and then eventually forget it exists. I have a couple of "smart" watches just taking space in the drawer.
Probably one I worn the most was just the Casio F-91W. I think the idea of having to charge the watch (means taking it off and not wearing it for a while) breaks the "connection".
Then another thing is that I always have a phone with me, so I just reach for it to check what time it is.
* Because its battery lasts 30 days you can use as an alarm clock that doesn't wake your wife. Unlike the Apple watch, you don't need to leave it charging overnight and you can configure it to emit light only when you press a button.
* Because you're wearing it at night and can control its light you can use it as a flashlight if you need to go to bathroom.
* Because its screen is reflexive you can store barcodes from the library and gym cards on the watch and use it to authenticate on those places.
* Reading and replying messages while driving, control music from your phone and making phone calls while driving and not getting a ticket for distracted driving.
And then there are all the other health related things: heart rate monitor, step counter that you can also use to measure swimming strokes, etc
> because its battery lasts 30 days you can use as an alarm clock that doesn't wake your wife.
That would give me too much anxiety. What if I am on 31st day and I forgot to check. Now I am late.
> Because you're wearing it at night and can control its light
That could potentially be useful, but I am used to grabbing my phone.
> Because its screen is reflexive you can store barcodes from the library and gym cards on the watch and use it to authenticate on those places.
I used phone for that without issue.
> Reading and replying messages while driving, control music from your phone and making phone calls while driving and not getting a ticket for distracted driving.
I don't do these things. I have a playlist that I never skip or put on certain radio station if I feel adventurous. I don't change anything when I drive. I don't take calls or do messages. I sometimes take a glance at missed calls when stopped and take a break if something is important.
I use step counter on my phone. I think what could sell it to me is heart rate monitor. Having this data over 30 days sounds tempting.
I also like the design, could work as an accessory.
I only have a handful of apps that I use for business. I stopped adding friends to my socials since 2015, so I don't really get much notifications anyway.
I also make sure I am not contactable by work on any other device than my laptop and only during work hours.
Preordered! I'm so excited; I had a pebble way back in the day and I remember liking the vibe of it way more than any Apple Watch/fitbit I've owned since. It feels the closest to the watch I would make if I made watches.
Where might I find the SDK or developer docs for how to make apps for this thing?
The screen is underwhelming. I was hoping it would be actual color e-ink, but the viewing angles and contrast on that LCD are horrendous. It looks like a first generation TN panel.
I hear it all the time in reviews or discussions of tech products. I don't think it really means anything other than "color" or "color scheme", it's just a more product focused way of talking about it.
>I don't think it really means anything other than "color"
I am not a native English speaker, but isn't "color" more ambiguous than "colorway"? If I say "The red color is gorgeous", I could or could not be talking about a product. If I say "The red colorway is gorgeous", I am definitely talking about the color of a product.
That's a good point. Saying you like the red "colorway" would make it clear that you're talking about the overall presentation, rather than commenting only on the red part of the overall product.
It feels to me like the conceptual ancestor of all black-square-display digital watches is the Commodore Watch, which now looks like a timeless classic. Would be cool to see a modern recreation.
Why do they never show the back of the watch? They are tempting but I'm concerned they went with the usual intrusive heart rate monitor sensor package that jabs into your wrist.
Yeah it looks pretty similar to the pebble 2 (2016) in that regard. I had an original pebble and a pebble 2, and the heart monitor on the 2 was super uncomfortable, to the point where I mostly just kept wearing my original pebble. I currently have a pixel watch, and the body is fatter but it is also way more smooth of a transition into the hr sensor.
I can see myself buying one of these new pebbles, but not the one with the hr sensor. I really just want it for the notifications support.
Yeah, I agree with that. I really like the classic Pebble look and am disappointed that they have gotten away from that for this watch. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to still get a Time 2 (for the increased durability), or switch to a Duo 2 (to get the look I enjoy).
I'm going ahead when there is general availability. I would not have liked it if I would have missed this design bump while waiting for the older model to still arrive.
If you have not seen a transreflective color LCD in person, my suggestion would be to search for reviews of the old Pebbles to get a feel for it (or just get one, they can be had for very cheap sometimes). It's very different that the LCD in a phone - and much more readable in sunlight, for example.
It's kind of a mix. You can update quickly without burning battery on changes, but it needs power to keep displaying things. On the other hand I'm not sure that's a bug on a watch; I don't want it to display the last time before its battery died indefinitely. And it does work in direct sunlight which is great
This is terrific to see. I was an original Pebble kickstarter backer and had a tremendous amount of fun developing apps for my Pebble. Also, I saw you present at a Meetup at Evernote's HQ, and the story you told about Pebble's inception was fascinating. Keep up the great work.
Pebble has a long track record of delivering. As someone who preordered and received a Pebble Time Steel before Pebble was bought by Fitbit, I can attest that their steel watches are very high-quality.
Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time?
Eric isn't in this because he want you to have a better watch, he is in this so he can sell you out at the first opportunity. It may not be FitBit or Automattic this time, but that's just what he does.
I'm a bit lost here, and to be fair my memory from that long ago is a bit hazy... but I was a initial Pebble kickstarter and also got whatever the metal one was called.
They were totally fine products, I enjoyed using them. I am no longer using them, but such is the nature of consumer gadgetry.
I don't recall getting rogered at any point in that process?
I too was part of the initial Kickstarter and I had both the first and the second version.
When FitBit bought Pebble in 2016, some may argue that this was a good thing, the development of the watch and the OS just stopped - it was dead. FitBit had no intention of keeping the Pebble and just wanted to implement the software into it's own ecosystem.
Google bought FitBit in 2019 and released the source code for PebbleOS this year - but that is kind of late now, isn't it?
I don't think anyone was arguing this - Pebble simply went bankrupt. FitBit just bought some of their IP/assets I think. There was no expectation of them buying it and continuing support or development.
Some say that if FitBit hadn't bought them, the Kickstarter supporters that still hadn't received their devices, wouldn't gotten their money refunded from Pebble.
I remember that part too, I just don't feel like any of it was particularly egregious. Disappointing sure, but I suppose I disagree that anything about it was untoward.
I'm generally pretty hostile to companies being acquired and breaking their past customers' products. Shutting down various required cloud services, making software undownloadable, etc.
But I don't think that happened? The roadmap simply ended, but every watch that was out there kept working as-advertised for a good long while?
Same attitude here (personal animosity against companies who fuck you over and do malicious sellouts but no such memories of the process Pebble went through in their last company iteration).
In fact, I still wear a Pebble daily. Both my Time and Time Steel still work great and I still strongly prefer the whole concept and the UI/UX to any other watch. As soon as they release the iOS app, my Pebble Time will become my "work watch", paired to my job-issued iPhone.
Hard disagree. For one thing, no one is "supporting" this. It's not a Kickstarter, it's pre-orders. You can get your money back (including the credit card fee, if you ordered early) before it ships.
Secondly, he has said that he's trying to build an enduring company. And thirdly, he has said that he's building these in part because he wants to have a watch for himself. That aligns incentives and means that there will be ongoing manufacturing.
Lastly, he has gotten all the software open sourced, which means that if he closes up shop in a year, then anyone else can come in and build a competitor.
The first Pebble was kind of cutting edge when it came in 2013 and it looked awesome. This new one looks like an electronic tag and is just a medium priced smartwatch with limited capabilities.
I thought Fitbit bought them out and then after the sale announced that they were shutting it down instead of doing anything with it. I’m happy to be proven wrong if this isn’t the case.
> Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time?
"How it went"? Seriously?
What about this: the Apple Watch Series 0 up to 3 no longer work with modern iPhones (or Android, anyways). Series 2 and 3 were released after Pebble went out of business.
And I still can use my old Pebbles with Android's latest phones.
TL;DR: Pebble's "sell you out" worked better than Apple's "sticking with you".
Looks great! The very first Pebble was actually instrumental in building digitalocean - I met them at MLH hackathon at CalTech and forced one of the founders to sell me a demo unit- all I used it for was notifications on the digitalocean twitter and outages pushed from slack, I tried to reply to every single tweet at us immediately. A little memento of when I hired Mikeal Rogers: https://s.h4x.club/4guEJN95
Funny, now in 2025, 10 years later, I'm not a fan of smart watches due to their enabling bad habits, think I'll pick up this pebble and leave notifications turned off this time. :)
Agreed. I'd kill for a watch that you could hold all notifications until you decided to receive them all, ideally at a slow pace over a period of time. For now, I disable notifications but it's a shame I can't access them when I'm ready to do so. I have hopes for this pebble!
Anecdotally - I also disable most notifications, but this approach works for me.
In my case the notifications that I didn't receive are still in the relevant apps in the form of unread messages, missed calls, or similar; I can look at them later, when I have the time.
Sometimes an app would send a notification that would leave no trace in its app; e.g. a time sensitive reminder. But if the app's design assumes there's no benefit to viewing that notification later, I'm happy to trust it - and this approach acts for me as a natural filter.
My Garmin watch on Do Not Disturb accomplishes this. I always forget to look at them though!
PebbleOS has always had a feature called "Quiet Time" which does the same thing as "Do Not Disturb". Hopefully the new app will also respect the phone's native "Do Not Disturb" setting which has a bunch of nice automation features to e.g. turn on during meetings or at night automatically.
Does it deliver them at a slow pace after you turn it off?
When you turn Notifications off for showing, they're just in the "inbox" & won't show on the watchface when received. You can then just access them whenever you want from the menu OR you can create a button shortcut that activates when pressing down.
FYI the previous generation of Pebble OS did not have a message counter, but this generation will apparently add this to its complications.
How would you want that feature to work? Delivered every minute? Evened delivery through the next hour?
I wasn’t the one who wanted it, so you’ll have to ask them. I was just pointing out that you said “my watch accomplishes this” but it only accomplishes one of the two features they want, and honestly I’m pretty sure they know that you can silence notifications on most smart watches so the emphasis would have been on the second feature.
Apple's Focus settings let you set up special allow/deny lists for notifications and the notifications come in when you disable the focus. Unfortunately they don't have separate watch/phone settings on this although you can block apps from being able to notify on watch at all, ever. This is how mine is set, pretty much I only allow watch notifications for navigation, phone calls/DMs from known contacts.
Apple does this with evening summaries.
I mean that's the killer app for a watch like Pebble that is at it's core open source.
> a watch that you could hold all notifications until you decided to receive them all
build it. _Even if_ you wouldn't know where to start I think a modern LLM could get you 90% of the way there.
What is the use-case now in 2025 for an e-ink watch? I have a Garmin Epix pro gen 2 which gets about a month of battery life and has a gorgeous AMOLED, has profiles for pretty much every sport ever invented, incredibly accurate GPS tracking, all day HR-tracking, ECG etc.
I understand it's about 4x the price, but there's also lower-end Garmin's that are about 2x the price with the same screen, slightly less features and similar battery life
4x the price to start off with, 51x51x15mm size, Only 11 days battery life if you use the always on display according to their site, completely locked down OS and ecosystem that puts you at 100% their mercy when it comes to EOL and updates, no idea what their privacy policy is, but you probably have to accept it if you want to use it and just put up with the fact that all your data, location, heart rate, and everything else is sent and stored and most likely used for training different AI models, and probably getting sold to different companies.
Garmin allows side loading apps and sdk is easy to use. I would not call this locked down
Also Monkey C is definitly a better language than plain old C.
It's not e-ink but a transreflective LCD.
As to "why": I'm not interested at all in Garmin's sports and health features and their cloud stuff. Pebbles work well, get out of the way and have a nice, friendly and slightly quirky interface. There are many apps and watchfaces out there. As of the new ones, the OS is open source. Reasons enough for me. ;)
Absolutely.
I likely will continue to use my Garmin watch because I rely heavily on the fitness stuff that they do so well, but outside of that the Garmin is "just OK."
If you want a fitness tracker that is also a smartwatch the Garmin is a great choice. If you want a smartwatch and don't care about fitness tracking then you're wasting a lot of money on stuff you don't care about with Garmin, for just an OK and extremely locked down device.
What is not e-ink? GP said that Garmin is AMOLED and according to [0] pebbles are e-ink/e-paper. Can you clarify?
Otherwise I agree. I would love an opensource fitness watch though, but I understand why this is not (yet?) possible.
[0] https://store.repebble.com/
e-ink is not a synonym of e-paper. Reflective LCDs are a type of e-paper.
To clarify, e-ink is e-paper, but e-paper is not necessarily e-ink (there are other technologies).
I'm still daily driving a Pebble Time. No other company has made a simple, functional smartwatch anywhere in the same league as Pebble.
This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case.
Automatic illumination has never worked well for me on any watch. It seems I just don't roll my wrist to view the screen the way other people do, so this heuristic fails badly for me. I often read my watches via ambient light and the light hasn't triggered or comes later after I've already seen what I want. And on the other hand, I get annoyed by false-positives where it just lights up randomly in my peripheral vision. So I often disable the automatic light feature.
So, I enjoy the always-on but passive aspect of a transflective LCD display. It is practical like a conventional watch with physical hands. It works well in bright sunlight, well enough in other decently lit environments, and at least copes with dark via the backlight. I wish it was even more reflective for low light, but the recent LCDs are not bad.
I vastly prefer my Garmin FR255 which seems like the last of its breed. Garmin may have lost me as a repeat buyer with the changing products. I think I'd like their Enduro line, but not at those prices. I don't like many of the compromises of the Instinct line either, but it seems the only option left.
> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case.
I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes.
But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me.
iWatch and the recent Android phones have some nifty features like fall detection and heart rate alarms, but their privacy and the ease of use are deteriorating.
I've been satisfied with how well the on watch GPS and barometric sensor are used by Garmin to give clean data, including consistent ascent/descent figures.
This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all.
I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance.
I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.
I think that you can get course following to work with Bluetooth? The phone can just send a notification when it approaches the fork.
Though if you want to use your watch as a primary navigation device, you likely need to use LCD/OLED. eInk is not great for interactive map use, not a great use-case for Pebble.
For backup, I like carrying a Garmin satellite communicator. It has its own offline maps and a way to call for rescue in a pinch.
Same. Amoled watches feel like TEXT IN ALL CAPS to me, screaming for attention when all they should do is make information available, vs force-feeding data. For attention, there's the vibration buzzer (which I absolutely love, so much more personal than a phone jumping around on the table)
Garmins are incredibly expensive and not everyone wants a fitness tracker. Garmin's UX is also very disjointed between devices for how expensive they are. Plus, battery life tends to be garbage for smartwatches. I just sold my Apple Watch for a Coros because I was tired of trading battery life for features I didn't want/use and Garmins also require yet another subscription for some features. As someone who just spent the last month deciding on a new fitness wearable, much of the market is full of bloated devices that don't do everything right, but instead do a handful of things right with a laundry list of caveats.
There's still a strong market for dumb watches too, so a long-lasting "smart" device that does some things but not as much as an Apple Watch, Garmin, Coros, etc while still serving as a general information displaying wearable sounded enticing. Unfortunately Apple's lockdown of the iPhone for the previous Pebbles (which I think might still be a thing) and my need for fitness tracking are what prevented me from buying a Pebble.
> Garmin's UX is also very disjointed between devices for how expensive they are.
Yeah... I bought an Instinct 2S hoping it would scratch the same itch as Pebble, but the UX is really awful.
The Pebble OS UX is really something special because it's so... obviously correct. Vertical menus just a few layers deep. You can set shortcuts on long-press but they aren't required to do the basic functions. It boggles my mind that Garmin cannot make an interface that doesn't require a lot of memorization in remembering all the right buttons to press/hold.
I want to join in with a Garmin rant. I also made the switch to a Coros after owning 3 Garmin watches. Each Garmin seemed to last almost exactly 3 years before abruptly dying. Each time I wanted to buy essentially the same watch only to find the new watches had more features and a higher price. The last round the "upgrade" more smart watch features, fewer sport watch features, and less battery life. The lower priced watches were always carefully missing select features that I wanted. I was doing triathlons which I guess Garmin thought they could coerce me into buying separate bike/run/swimming devices or paying 3-4X to get that extra 4mm of screen to show an extra data field. Garmin priced and segmented themselves out of a customer.
The new Pebble is very similar to the Coros Pace but without the GPS but with hackability and that makes me very interested.
Are we talking about the same Garmin?
I have an Instinct 2 that cost me under $200 new, goes 2+ weeks between charges, and handles all activities I throw at it quite well.
I agree: their launching of a subscription service is disappointing, because (1) it was wonderful having a no-recurring-cost ecosystem before, and (2) presumably that's where they'll be investing their product dollars. But, it's not required, and to date, it's not particularly high value.
I looked at the Instinct 3 with Solar because I really wanted the best battery life out there, only to find out Garmin neglected to include topo maps (I wanted a device for hiking and backpacking so that's disappointing) in the Instinct 3 and despite being $400+ the casing is plastic. Odd choices for that price. I feel like the Garmin interfaces are also just... not great. Way too busy for such a small screen. The Coros watch face I'm using right now includes: time, date, day, elevation, steps, calories burned, heart rate and battery level all on a simple, uncrowded and easy to read b&w face... It's called Particular but I can't find a screen shot of it. It's leagues easier to read than what I've seen of Garmin and Apple (which for some reason still has their faces so locked down it's restrictive).
For the moment, Gadgetbridge also exists if you want a FOSS app that can deliver much of the same functionality Garmin's own app does.
No way! Thanks for making me aware of this - first I've heard of it.
Personally, I try not to use screens for a few hours before going to bed. Before bedtime, I limit myself to my e-ink book reader.
The idea of having a screen on my wrist doesn't particularly appeal to me.
My partner has one and when they turn over in bed, I am sometimes blinded by the screen which still glows brightly even at the lowest setting in complete darkness.
That's why I'm considering a e-ink watch. The reason I didn't commit yet is that I fear that notifications and such before bedtime could be just as harmful to my nightline peacefulness.
> notifications and such before bedtime could be just as harmful to my nightline peacefulness.
If you have an Android, you can set Do Not Disturb mode on a schedule.
“Focus” achieves the same thing for iOS.
You may also find interesting that in this release update he mentiones that the backlight LED is now RGB and they are toying with ideas like making the backlight blue light aware at nights, etc.
This would be interesting. I was gifted a Kindle with backlighting recently after my old first generation one broke. The backlight is useless to me because it shines blue, so I just use a candle.
FWIW, my PocketBook (Touch HD3) can shine in red. It has a most horrible book store though and microusb charging. Not sure what newer models offer.
Recent Kindles have a warm light feature to avoid this problem
Wait an AMOLED with 30 days of battery life?
Why/how can my Apple Watch barely make it through 24 hours?
What’s the fundamental difference between these two smartwatches that accounts for a 30× decrease in battery life?
Probably because the Apple Watch is effectively a modern 10 year old smart phone made tiny with an ARM Cortex A series CPU running at nearly 2GHz while the Garmin is a ARM Cortex M series microcontroller doing ~200MHz.
And still the Garmin offers much of the same functionality. It seems Apple is wasting 30 × battery life just to be 2 × "nicer" than a Garmin.
That is the (modern) Apple way. They optimise for smooth experience first¹, other factors second.
----
[1] Actually second, their priorities are money->UX->others - hence being uncooperative with any efforts to improve standard web apps despite the potential user benefits as they could compete with their appstore
My Garmin doesn’t get 30 days but does routinely get 2 weeks, which is fine with me. The battery life is probably the only reason I have never tried the Apple Watch, and I check every generation to see if there has been an improvement. Even the large sport / epic one only gets pathetic 36 hours. It’s mind boggling how Garmin can be so good at this and Apple cannot.
Probably use-case. I only really engage with my watch to check the time and my pulse which I can do with a glance, otherwise the screen is permanently off. The other times are when I'm doing some activity (running, swimming) and GPS is on but for example with running the screen still only shows when I glance at it. Apple still has an enormous amount of room to optimise their hardware and software in this space but I've no idea why they haven't done it yet.
The Apple Watch feels like it's designed as a very small iPhone. It has a lot of unnecessary functionality on-device, like email, a separate iMessage client, and its own Focus settings, which can sync to the iPhone, possibly as a requirement to make the watch operate independently. All these things take up battery power.
Also, Apple sees no benefit having their watches last longer, so they're adding features instead of optimizing them, as long as it hits 18 hours or so.
Yea I see the Apple Watch an extension of iPhone. It's an accessory that integrates with the ecosystem and offers conveniences. I see it as a different product with different use cases that other competing watches.
For most people, the batter is enough for the day of an average use and they charge it at night with their phones.
I don't know about the Apple Watch Ultra 2 however and how it compares.
When you feel the 500+ eyes that read this and go "wow".
Just guessing, maybe Apple doesn't want that, so to not compete in a niche of demanding users with excessively utilitarian needs?
Agree with sibling comments, but I think it's a bad choice of comparison.
I'm a Garmin Venu fan, but... apparently it was a $350 watch[0], and now there's a $450 version[1] and an $800 version[2]. There's still an older one[3] available for $250 (or ~$185 on Amazon). Though I got my original Venu "refurbished" for under $100 (and it still had all the plastic wrap, etc. so was truly "like new.")
10-11 day battery when new (mine gets 6-7 days after several years of use, but I have never used always-on-display.)
If I can get a Venu 2/2S/2S Plus/3/3S as a refurbished watch for ~$200-250, then I would go that route over an inexpensive Pebble 2 Time. Love that OLED screen. But I totally get the hacker ethos favoring the Pebble OS over Garmin. (Garmin does have a pretty good watch OS, and most things work without a subscription, which was a major factor in my purchase.) For $450 (or more...) it is not comparable to Pebble's offering.
[0] https://www.techradar.com/reviews/garmin-venu
[1] https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/873008/
[2] https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1510465/
[3] https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/801643/pn/010-02701-00/
The Pebble battery life is with the display always on.
It's squarely aimed at people who want the watch functionality to be first and foremost - no dorky wrist flicks or the distraction of the screen coming on and off all the time.
> The Pebble battery life is with the display always on. … no dorky wrist flicks
My watch display (Garming Fenix 7) is always on and the battery life is great. Any dorky wrist flick or button presses are for the backlight when it is needed.
[Though as others point out, the balance of needs targetted by the two devices differ noticably]
Hmm, looks like your Garmin has somewhere between 30h (with everything turned on) to 11d of battery life, which is not bad for needing to power a bright screen. I wear a Skagen Jorn hybrid, which has physical hands over a round e-ink display, which lasts ~3w on a charge for me. I also like e-ink better in daylight, AMOLED has gotten pretty good, but it's still harder to read in bright conditions (though obviously easier in dark ones!)
Citation needed; that Garmin watch cited claims about 30 hours of life unless the screen is mostly off and you severely hamper the features (i.e. "smartwatch mode"). I wont doubt you can get it to last weeks like that.
These devices are able to always show the display, don't need to turn off features, can still show notifications, etc.
Just for context, your watch seems to cost $1,099.99 USD
I recently switched to an AMOLED Garmin from a watch with an always-on screen (and before that, a pebble), so maybe I can weigh in.
The use-case for a transflective watch are the same as they were in 2013. I don't really care if my watch has a beautiful vibrant display, I want it to show the time, every single time I look at it. The Garmin's wrist turn gesture detection is decent, but far from perfect. I need to either poke the screen, push a button, or very deliberately raise my wrist to trigger the gesture detection. Also, it emits light every time the screen wakes, whether I'm looking or not, and whether the light from the watch will be disruptive or not.
None of that sounds convincing? Then this product probably just isn't aimed at you. And I don't mean that to be snarky, preferences around smartwatches are just really particular to the individual.
Speak for yourself. I can't wait for my Pebble to arrive so I can junk drawer my awful Garmin watch. The UI is dreadful to the point that I can't believe no one else notices. Like, doesn't anyone else notice how hard it is to get it to wake up the backlight so you can read the screen? I can shake my hand like I'm a paint mixer and it does nothing.
And that's not even talking about the software bugs that destroy a full battery in moments.
The Garmin is a sports watch, the use case is for people who want a smartwatch that is not a sports watch. Why pay 4x or even 2x the price for features you don't need?
In fact, I am tempted by the Pebble Core 2 (which is the lower-end version) because it ticks all the boxes: affordable ($150), supports notifications, vibration, good battery life (30 days), and of course it tells the time. It is also one of the most open smart watch platforms.
I am not a competitive athlete, I don't need a detailed report of my physical activity, and my idea of health is not chasing numbers unless it comes from a prescription. Not saying it is wrong, it is just not my thing. As for GPS tracking, it is a nice feature, but AFAIK, Pebble watches can use the GPS in your phone to do some limited navigation.
Pebble watches still have some basic health tracking features, like step counting, sleep tracking, heart rate. All probably inaccurate like for most watches, but considering how cheap these things are, why not put them in.
I used to love Garmin and I'll probably always use their watches for actual sports, but I don't trust the company anymore.
I heavily debated getting one of these and I bit the bullet a few days ago. The use case is I want a watch that I can tinker with and not giving Garmin my data.
> https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/subscription-plans/
Garmin introduced a subscription and you can guarantee that'll pave the way for the base experience to get shittier over time as they funnel people to it. If it works other fitness watches will follow.
As soon as someone makes a good enough fitness app for that it becomes a way better option, it could actually get better over time without breaking.
I have owned a Fenix for years and have been wanting to upgrade, but I can’t make sense of the hundreds of models.
Yeah, Garmin's segmentation strategy makes Intel's marketing look sane.
Lately my Garmin comparison strategy has been:
- look at the last Garmin watch you were interested in
- see if there's been an upgrade to that model (and hope that the model numbering hasn't totally changed)
- look at prices of recent Garmin watches in the same ballpark
my Garmin Fenix 6 used to survive with 21 days of display always one but lowest brightness, if I didn't use any GPS. Now, after 3 years it is somehow down to 10 days. No chance of debugging where it comes from as I haven't changed anything on my side.
That sounds like battery degradation. If they aggressively use less than ideal batteries, ~50% degradation after 3 years is bad but not uncommon.
But I didn't have this issue with my other garmins before.
Also, you have to consider that I charge my watch ~10 times less than my phone (roughly every 10 days). So the total amount of charging cycles was maybe ~100 times.
I turned that off immediately. I don’t see the value when the gesture to wake it up works almost flawlessly.
I want to be able to watch on my watch without moving my arm. Unless it detects my eyes, it stays on :p
"What's the use case for a $150 watch when you can just buy a $1000 watch instead?"
> has profiles for pretty much every sport ever invented, incredibly accurate GPS tracking
I don't need any of this
[dead]
I've pulled the trigger.
When Pebble died I decided that I'd rather less smart and more battery than more smart and less battery, so I got a Withings watch and have been reasonably happy since.
But this looks really good now and I'm happy to support it even if it doesn't win over my wrist space.
Hopefully they sort out Health Connect support on the Pebble Android app by January so that I can at least sync steps between watches if I'm switching between them.
Me as well, I have a drawer of watches and I want to use one but the 1-2 day battery life is just a dealbreaker .. 30 days will probably make me care to put it on again after the charge is done.
I’m always surprised by this, I charge my watch every night when I take it off for bed, I just put it on the magnet snap charger instead of on the wood itself, I’d be taking it off either way. Why is short battery life a deal breaker for people?
Because one of the best things about wearing a smartwatch is that you can use it as a silent (vibrating) alarm that doesn't wake anyone else up.
I've heard some people say that newer AWs can last indefinitely if you charge only while in the shower. That could be good enough. But I still don't want to have to bring another charge cable with me every time I take a trip. One week is good. Two weeks is great. A month is amazing (partly because after the battery degrades for years, it will still be two weeks).
That’s a fair use case I suppose, but honestly I find my smart watch a bit chunky to sleep with. I could buy a $20 smart watch or a fit bit off of amazon or something and just wear that as my bed alarm, but I totally get that has its own trade off.
For those confused like I was:
> new round square look
I really like the term "squircle"
"The new pebble time 2 sports the chic squircle aesthetic"
That sounds way too American
Haha, I can't think of anything distinctly American about it. A cursory search suggests it's a word coined by an Austrian architect while he was working in Canada.
Just the way the word sounds
Did they give up on the “Core” branding?
When I was looking at this a month ago it was the “Core 2 Duo”
https://ericmigi.com/blog/introducing-two-new-pebbleos-watch...
Maybe Intel had a word?
They recently recovered the 'Pebble' trademark and thus rebranded: https://ericmigi.com/blog/july-pebble-update
And much needed, because to me at least, "Core 2 Duo" is an old Intel processor.
Check out the first 1 minute of the linked video for answers to both of these questions.
Clicked 6 links, googled stuff, couldn't figure this out. Makes me so, so, so irrationally upset. I do not get it. It's just basics? Thanks for sharing this.
I’m shocked they think they can get such long battery life with a heart rate monitor running all the time.
There are a bunch of weird smartwatches that get pretty close to this - for example, the Amazfit Bip S Lite claims 30 days of battery with a similar transflective screen (albeit I think the heart rate monitor drops to once every measuring 5 minutes in battery saver mode).
Similarly, the Withings Scanwatch claims the same, although as a hybrid smartwatch, it is not driving such a power-hungry screen.
I had the OG Bip and got extremely close to 3 months at one point. Unfortunately I don't remember if I had the HR set to 5 minute intervals but if it was on, I think that was the setting.
Even with 1 minute intervals though, battery life was absolutely stellar. I'd often lose my charger, and in few days after I saw the battery dropping/low battery alerts, I'd find it too (before the watch died)!
I would expect an extremely infrequent heart rate sample rate at idle. I believe the current-gen watches only sample every 10 minutes unless activity is detected.
it'll probably pulse on / off. The main draw would be the display but since it's e-ink it only draws when changing.
I guess so. I've had two previous fitbits and I believe those track every second during exercise and every five minutes otherwise. But those watches would still only get 5-7 days of battery life.
Hence my skepticism that this feature can be offered and still get 4x more life than that.
it's e-paper (reflective lcd), so it does draw some power at all times, but lower without an always on backlight
I don't know if it's the same thing, but Sharp Memory LCD has low quiescent consumption and memory somehow built into the display.
https://sharpdevices.com/memory-lcd/
Man I loved my Pebble but I’d say the three things I use my Apple Watch for most are: telling time (++), reading notifications (~), and getting Siri to set timers or control my Home Assistant* (—-).
Since Apple simply won’t allow 3rd party apps the full api access they need to do everything, I’m stuck with my Apple Watch if I want all the Apple stuff, and I’m too lazy/annoyed to try to switch ecosystems.
*via Apple Home via Homebridge
Fellow Home Assistant/Apple Home user here.
You may already be aware, but Apple Home/Siri can talk to Home Assistant directly using https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/homekit/ which is how I have it set up. You can also have HomeKit devices paired directly with an instance of the HomeKit Bridge, or expose devices in your Apple Home to Home Assistant.
Out of interest, what API access are you missing?
Time to cut out the middle man (Apple / homebridge) and speak to HA directly? I didn't check the capabilities of Pebble, but knowing HA, there's probably a way.
HA now supports MCP ( https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mcp_server/ ), so just connect it directly to one of the assistants.
There is a (relatively recent, for the Pebble-verse) Home Assistant app on Rebble that works with the current Home Assistant version. You can even do voice control and stuff.
You can also do timers, reminders, web searches and similar basic assistant things with Bobby - another recent addition to what the Pebbles can do: https://rebble.io/2025/03/24/introducing-bobby-our-new-pebbl...
Conversely, this argument is a good reminder to me to never brick myself in to the Apple ecosystem by buying their products.
I love that it doesn't say Pebble on the bezel! I never wanted one before, but now I do. My only issue is that I have pretty small wrists and this watch would likely be too large for me.
I have one on order and can't wait, but I'm also hoping that they are successful enough to justify developing a successor to the smallest smartwatch ever made (to this day, which is wild), the excellent Pebble Time Round. Which, of course, should be named the Second Time 'Round.
I ordered one (the screen just fell off my Apple Watch anyway) and if they do another Time Round I'd be tempted to get one of those too.
Had a Pebble Time back when those were new and after using Apple Watch for a while I think it's time to try a return to that minimalism.
I absolutely agree on that naming convention lol
Please Eric, if you are reading this, do not put branding on it where it is visible.
We have enough distractions in our lives that we don't need more advertising pushed in our faces, especially for something we already own.
With normal watches, the straps are usually on a standard attachment, they only differ in one dimension (the width of the strap in the axis parallel to your arm) so you just need to find a strap that fits that dimension.
Unclear if Pebble 2 follows that standard but would be worth checking. I'm sure you can find a strap that fits your wrist.
Not sure if this will be answered here. But how is the repair-ability of these new pebble? I have the original pebble time steel and although it still run fine, the battery have degraded a lot without an easy way to replace them. Part of the appeal of traditional watches is that you can open them up yourself and fix them if needed. I don't see why Pebble have go glue everything together and make it so hard to repair.
In the podcast Eric said that in the current design the back is fastened with screws and no adhesive. They may end up having to add some adhesive (presumably for water resistance) but hopefully not.
I remember participating in the crowdfunding for the last Pebble. I was so excited to receive it, and it was great.
But a few months later, the company shut down, along with support for their products, and it was hard to swallow. This, combined with the fact that the buttons on my Pebble started to fall apart less than a year later (which is when the lack of support became problematic), made the experience pretty bad in the end.
But I’m really excited to see Pebble come back to life, and maybe I’ll be a customer of their watches again in the future.
Having a real https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion moment! Somehow I never knew the word “colorways” existed until a few days ago and now I’m seeing it all over.
I wish I could get the specs of the time 2 in the design of the 2 duo, this just looks very generic to me design wise.
The 2 duo is at least a little bit fun aesthetically, but I would like a heart rate monitor if I’m gonna be wearing a smart watch.
My concern with the Pebble Time 2 is the lower contrast that color e-ink has compared to grayscale. I don't know how bad it is in person, but next to the Pebble 2 Duo in the video it looks much worse. If it were B&W I would have bought it immediately.
>My concern with the Pebble Time 2 is the lower contrast that color e-ink has compared to grayscale
That's not eink technology, it's most likely Sharp Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) LCD display, where the difference between BW and color isn't as bad as in eink technology which uses actual pigment particles inside the pixel cells that "cloud" the contrast.
My Pebble 2 definitely had better contrast than my Pebble Time Steel. Not sure if that's still the case with modern screens.
It looked like there was higher contrast on the posted video, but it's very hard to tell what the magnitude is on camera.
They are making a b&w one as well.
Which I preordered. However, the case looks a lot nicer on the PT2 than the P2D, and there's no HRM on the P2D.
(My personal perspective or views below.)
To misquote Bernie, I am once again ~~asking~~ requesting for a single watch to have both heart rate/health tracking, as well as compass and barometer in a single watch.
I had an Amazfit Bip which, just like a Pebble, also had a transflective screen and between 1 to 2.5 months of battery life. However, it did have a compass along with a barometer, alongside HR/activity/sleep tracking.
I was (and still am) sad when my watch broke (screen pops out, known failure mode).
Since then I got a basic Band (7), and very recently, the Amazfit Active 2.
The latter is amazing on many aspects. Every sensor mentioned above of course, but a few nice add ons like continuous barometer readings for storm warnings, a thermometer, and so on.
What it notably does not have, s nither the transflective screen, nor the week to month(s) long battery life.
I searched a good bit for transflective watches, and it seems garmin is the only half-decent brand in town, and they appear to paywall nicer features to their expensive products.
In the absence of much of a budget, my choice was easy. But I really hope Pebble makes something in a single package that makes my next watch purchase a real dilemma if not an outright purchase :)
I'm sad that no product since the Microsoft Band has put a UV sensor on a watch. I'm biased because I largely designed the UV experience, but damn I miss having sunscreen reminders.
Is having a sensor on the watch substantially better than just retrieving the UV index for your location and time of day?
It is!
With a UV sensor you can actually tell when someone is outdoors in the sunlight. The MS Band's sunscreen experience was tailor made to automatically remind people to reapply sunscreen when needed, but it was a fair bit smarter than just a simple timer. I have a blog post about it at https://meanderingthoughts.hashnode.dev/cooperative-multitas...
The important bit is the Band knew if someone was in the sun for an extended period of time (15 minutes) and then popped up a reminder to put on sun screen, and also then prompted them if they wanted future reminders. If opted in, the timer popped up at whatever interval they asked for (ranging from 1 hour to 4 hours in 30 minute increments IIRC).
But if the person stepped inside for more than 10 minutes (e.g. went to eat, entered a movie theater, but not just going to the restroom) the reminders automatically stopped. Another 15 minutes of continuous exposure would then restart the experience again.
It wasn't an ideal setup, since you should put on sun screen 30 minutes or so before sun exposure, but it was really helpful and families loved it.
The entire "experience" was just a single dialog (How often do you want reminders? Not at all, every hour, every 90 minutes, etc) but the logic underneath was designed to ensure it wasn't intrusive and that it only came up when relevant.
Thanks, now I want this!
Yeah because it tells you (I presume ) your actual UV rating in terms of exposure, and not just semi-useless "hey it's sunny out!" Yep we know the UV is high on sunny days but how much UV have I had so far?
The Apple Watch (and other smartwatches) probably could estimate UV exposure seeing as it has both a light sensor, used to estimate daylight time; and constantly updated UV weather information.
Eric said in his latest podcast that the Core Time 2 watch will hopefully be getting a (basic) compass: https://youtu.be/pcPzmDePH3E?si=LvWTdjAskxTsUNDt&t=585
> I had an Amazfit Bip
I still have mine. The front fell off, but I glued it back on. The battery life is not as good as it was when I got it in 2019, but it still keeps a charge for over three weeks. I keep looking for replacements, but haven't found anything that can match that lifespan while also not being huge. Maybe this Pebble is the ticket.
Same, Bip S over here. The battery life is starting to really go downhill, so I checked Amazfit and was sad to discover that they appear to have abandoned transflective watches entirely. :-( I pre-ordered one the cheaper Pebble.
What do you use the barometer for?
Measuring pressure
I was also initially disappointed by this but if I'm reading the announcement right, both models will now have a compass, at least.
I'm surprised more hasn't been made of the difference in screen resolution between this device and other Pebbles (and even the "new" Pebble 2 Duo). Old watchfaces and apps are not going to render without black borders, and given the niche market and limited run of this new model, it doesn't seem likely to attract much in the way of developer attention, so a healthy marketplace of new faces/apps may not surface.
If I could design _my_ dream watch (to borrow Eric's phrase), I'd put a larger version of the black and white MIP display in Time 2's case -- not more pixels, just bigger and easier to read.
I think they're working with a very limited selection of off-the-shelf MIP displays. (The 2 Duo itself is using new old stock of a custom display manufactured for the Pebble 2.)
There is one bright spot, which is that I believe the new Time 2's higher resolution display matches the original Time 2 specification and therefore has been supported by the SDK for years already. There were only a handful of physical prototypes, so no users of course, but some developers probably did build support for it.
You'd be surprised how many of the old devs are coming out of the woodwork to fix their old watchfaces and apps. It seems like a lot of people who were excited enough about Pebble in the past to develop apps seem to still be excited about it.
Plus, it's not particularly difficult to support the bigger screen size in the SDK.
It doesn't really need to surface. This is PebbleOS, so all the faces developed for all of the previous models will also work here. There is already a huge library of faces and I see people still making new ones.
> We’re planning to release 4 different Pebble Time 2 colourways. These haven’t been finalized yet. No names yet, we still need to pick them!
Would be great if we could vote. I am excited that there's a metallic option, but IMO the silver is too light. A dark gunmetal, or even medium-darkness silver, would be better in my book. The silver comes across as a bit flashy (which is perhaps good for the company), and I'd rather something that fades into the background a bit more.
The color-accented ones are nice, especially with matching bands. But for my taste (and the ability to wear it in more formal/dressy settings), black or metallic options will win out.
I really like the silver.
Red and Blue are IMO not needed as you can always add an accent using the band. Probably just makes everything more complicated.
Would you use the silver with a contrasting band, as shown? Or would you try to get a band that roughly matches it?
It sounds like the colors don't add much complexity because it's just a polycarbonate piece that's sandwiched between the metal front and back. It does add complexity and and there are surely some fixed costs associated with making these and the matching bands. But it's kind of a neat innovation to have a pop of color on the side, matching the band. I think the red one could actually look nice with a plain black band.
Yea, I’d pair it with a contrasting band. Or maybe with one that adds another accent.
True. It might be just me but I think the color makes it look cheap.
Lack of GPS is the dealbreaker for me. Otherwise this would be an insta purchase -- I bought the Time in 2014, and was hoping for a "smartstrap" with GPS back then, but when it never came I slightly lost interest.
Just out of interest, what is the benefit of GPS on your watch if you already have it on your phone?
With a GPS (GNSS) receiver on the watch you can get instant position and speed data without having to maintain a stable Bluetooth connection to the phone. Some athletes prefer to record activities on a watch without having to bring a phone. And in certain races, such as most sanctioned triathlons, phones aren't allowed on the course at all.
Sounds like a use case for a fitness watch, not a Pebble.
Or to put it another way: a Pebble would cover more uses with a GPS. They're clearly not expensive nor necessarily profligate with battery. My now 5 year old Amazfit bip, which was cheap as chips, still gets 3 weeks of battery life with a daily gps-mapped run.
Running without a phone.
Quite. Phones & watches are mutually exclusive from my pov. The whole point of the watch (especially when running) is not to have to carry a phone.
Does it at least have heart rate?
It does
Is there a possibility to add NFC payments, like on Apple/Android devices? Is it even feasible?
This is really a killer feature for me. GPS tracking would be nice to track runs, but I can live without it.
Yeah, I would wait a while for the Pebble to gain those sensors. But there is a need for a watch with a color e-ink screen.
Until then, I'm sticking with the Apple Watch.
The technology exists to embed the NFC chips in the bands, but in the US this is limited to certain banks, and from what I know is largely discontinued.
The payment processors would be your biggest hurdle.
Yes, features like this are what leads to DRM and locked bootloader requirements. It's a shame.
Intuitively, segregating the payment processing into its own secure enclave seems to be feasible?
As I understand, the "secure" nature of iWatch means that the signature requirement is waived when you pay with it. Regular contactless cards still require you to sign (in the US).
There's secure enclave chips and there's the software you actually run on them, and convincing those who can provide you with tokens to do so with your own hardware/firmware. I'm sure this involves a lot of compliance work and it seems to be "contact sales" pricing all around. Too much for a small project like this!
Although this has gotten me looking into what exactly is required to implement mobile payments, and it's given me some clarity. This doc in particular: https://www.uspaymentsforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/E...
It reads to me like the entity you need an agreement with is a "TSP" (token service provider), and they are at least the sort of organization that you can get a quote from. I don't know if you or the TSP needs an agreement with each bank, but given the relatively slow rollout of Apple Pay support between banks I assume someone somewhere in the chain does.
I can't see the actual specifications though, it costs at least $850/yr as an individual to view them. I did find an old FOSS EMV implementation, but I don't know how much of the spec this implements/what compliance work would be required to use something like it in an actual product: https://github.com/JavaCardOS/OpenEMV
So, thanks for sending me down this rabbit hole. It was somewhat informative at least. :)
Forgive my ignorance but I am curious if this be a good alternative for an android user who uses a Fitbit primarily for tracking sleep and heart rate and who would love a more open platform? Would something like this be usable as a reliable replacement or is it more targeted at hobbyists? What apps do pebble users use for tracking things like heart rate, sleep and steps?
Is the color pixel arrangement still the same as the older pebbles?
I was working on a subpixel rendering algorithm for it at the time, but then it was killed, and I shelved it.
The screen is the very same one that the Pebble Time 2 was going to use. I'm pretty sure it's the same as the other Pebbles.
I admire this dude a lot. Clearly obsessed about this product/space
I love the idea of having it, but as with every watch I ever had, I wear it, put it to charge and then eventually forget it exists. I have a couple of "smart" watches just taking space in the drawer. Probably one I worn the most was just the Casio F-91W. I think the idea of having to charge the watch (means taking it off and not wearing it for a while) breaks the "connection".
Then another thing is that I always have a phone with me, so I just reach for it to check what time it is.
What would you use this watch for?
> What would you use this watch for?
* Because its battery lasts 30 days you can use as an alarm clock that doesn't wake your wife. Unlike the Apple watch, you don't need to leave it charging overnight and you can configure it to emit light only when you press a button.
* Because you're wearing it at night and can control its light you can use it as a flashlight if you need to go to bathroom.
* Because its screen is reflexive you can store barcodes from the library and gym cards on the watch and use it to authenticate on those places.
* Reading and replying messages while driving, control music from your phone and making phone calls while driving and not getting a ticket for distracted driving.
And then there are all the other health related things: heart rate monitor, step counter that you can also use to measure swimming strokes, etc
> because its battery lasts 30 days you can use as an alarm clock that doesn't wake your wife.
That would give me too much anxiety. What if I am on 31st day and I forgot to check. Now I am late.
> Because you're wearing it at night and can control its light
That could potentially be useful, but I am used to grabbing my phone.
> Because its screen is reflexive you can store barcodes from the library and gym cards on the watch and use it to authenticate on those places.
I used phone for that without issue.
> Reading and replying messages while driving, control music from your phone and making phone calls while driving and not getting a ticket for distracted driving.
I don't do these things. I have a playlist that I never skip or put on certain radio station if I feel adventurous. I don't change anything when I drive. I don't take calls or do messages. I sometimes take a glance at missed calls when stopped and take a break if something is important.
I use step counter on my phone. I think what could sell it to me is heart rate monitor. Having this data over 30 days sounds tempting.
I also like the design, could work as an accessory.
Checking the time and specific notifications without getting distracted by apps :)
I only have a handful of apps that I use for business. I stopped adding friends to my socials since 2015, so I don't really get much notifications anyway.
I also make sure I am not contactable by work on any other device than my laptop and only during work hours.
Preordered! I'm so excited; I had a pebble way back in the day and I remember liking the vibe of it way more than any Apple Watch/fitbit I've owned since. It feels the closest to the watch I would make if I made watches.
Where might I find the SDK or developer docs for how to make apps for this thing?
The screen is underwhelming. I was hoping it would be actual color e-ink, but the viewing angles and contrast on that LCD are horrendous. It looks like a first generation TN panel.
The word "colorway" just reminds me of a dabacle with a certain browser.
Does it mean anything more than "color" or "color scheme"? Do humans use the word in real life? I've never heard it outside of marketing copy.
I hear it all the time in reviews or discussions of tech products. I don't think it really means anything other than "color" or "color scheme", it's just a more product focused way of talking about it.
>I don't think it really means anything other than "color"
I am not a native English speaker, but isn't "color" more ambiguous than "colorway"? If I say "The red color is gorgeous", I could or could not be talking about a product. If I say "The red colorway is gorgeous", I am definitely talking about the color of a product.
That's a good point. Saying you like the red "colorway" would make it clear that you're talking about the overall presentation, rather than commenting only on the red part of the overall product.
"The red one is gorgeous" would be the idiomatic way of saying that. Adding the word "colour" is redundant.
"Colourway" is just marketing-speak that is not common outside of tech reviewers.
> "Colourway" is just marketing-speak that is not common outside of tech reviewers.
This needs a big dose of YMMV, I think. I've heard the term way more outside of tech, especially for footwear and in skateboarding.
Hell yeah RGBA LED, I love all the little details Eric shares about this whole journey
Pebble Time 2 looks awesome. Shame I just bought an Apple Watch not long ago.
Did you buy it with a credit card that offers an extended return period?
I think my credit card offers a 3 month return period (2 months longer than an average store's 30 day return period).
No, unfortunately there was no such offer.
Love that they are coming back. I still think Pebble 2 Duo is a dumb name.
It feels to me like the conceptual ancestor of all black-square-display digital watches is the Commodore Watch, which now looks like a timeless classic. Would be cool to see a modern recreation.
Why do they never show the back of the watch? They are tempting but I'm concerned they went with the usual intrusive heart rate monitor sensor package that jabs into your wrist.
You can see it here: https://youtu.be/pcPzmDePH3E?si=qIbTk_6yaxXE5sIB&t=220
Yeah it looks pretty similar to the pebble 2 (2016) in that regard. I had an original pebble and a pebble 2, and the heart monitor on the 2 was super uncomfortable, to the point where I mostly just kept wearing my original pebble. I currently have a pixel watch, and the body is fatter but it is also way more smooth of a transition into the hr sensor.
I can see myself buying one of these new pebbles, but not the one with the hr sensor. I really just want it for the notifications support.
It's visible at ca 6:47 in the video.
Thanks, I went straight to the ordering page hoping for more product photos and didn't watch the video.
That backlight might be good for stargazing, could set to red.
Where is the official source repository for the OS? Can just find the outdated and non-functional Google repository.
https://github.com/coredevices/PebbleOS
NGL, kind of looks bad compared to blocky P2D. Doesn't feel charming at all, and there's budget Chinese smart watches with smaller bezels.
Exactly. I was considering it, but not if it’s ugly like this.
I don’t even care about colours. If the other one had a heart rate sensor I would’ve ordered it.
Yeah, I don't like the rounded corners.
Yeah, I agree with that. I really like the classic Pebble look and am disappointed that they have gotten away from that for this watch. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to still get a Time 2 (for the increased durability), or switch to a Duo 2 (to get the look I enjoy).
250 bucks to ship one to Brazil, yikes. I really wanted to try one, but this pricing plus customs tariffs make it very prohibitive.
I want to buy one but told myself I wouldn't until the Pebble 2 Duo shipped, which is presently delayed to late August, early September.
If I wasn't tied to Garmin for the fitness aspect I would be all over this. I really miss my original Pebble.
I am so very excited. Feels like Christmas in the 1990s all over again and I'm getting my first PlayStation.
I already have 7 Pebbles.
Now I'll have 8.
There, Eric. Take my money..
This is awesome Eric! I'd want to give something like this to my kids, any way to add a tracker?
been wearing my apple watch less and less. really miss my old pebble. might pull the trigger on this.
I'm going ahead when there is general availability. I would not have liked it if I would have missed this design bump while waiting for the older model to still arrive.
You can change your preorder without losing your place in line.
Thanx! Just placed the order, the video even says: Don't worry about the color, pick it later, which was indeed something I wondered about.
Really love this guy and Pebble!
it looks superb. I love the small bezels and E ink display.
It’s not e ink, just an LCD that they misleadingly market as “e-paper”
That helps explain all of the mentions of a "backlight" in the video.
wait, what? i specifically ordered a Pebble 2 Duo because i wanted an e-Ink smartwatch :(
If you have not seen a transreflective color LCD in person, my suggestion would be to search for reviews of the old Pebbles to get a feel for it (or just get one, they can be had for very cheap sometimes). It's very different that the LCD in a phone - and much more readable in sunlight, for example.
It's kind of a mix. You can update quickly without burning battery on changes, but it needs power to keep displaying things. On the other hand I'm not sure that's a bug on a watch; I don't want it to display the last time before its battery died indefinitely. And it does work in direct sunlight which is great
> I don't want it to display the last time before its battery died indefinitely.
That seems like an easy fix: Make the software switch to something else (like a “charge me” message) right before turning off for lack of power.
Oooo, that looks a lot better than the initial designs!
I need Pebble Time Sports.
That is one ugly watch.
Now if only they'd extend their warranty to something longer than 30 days.
This is terrific to see. I was an original Pebble kickstarter backer and had a tremendous amount of fun developing apps for my Pebble. Also, I saw you present at a Meetup at Evernote's HQ, and the story you told about Pebble's inception was fascinating. Keep up the great work.
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Congrats for actually delivering! The design looks straight out of star-trek or something super cheap, not a huge fan
Pebble has a long track record of delivering. As someone who preordered and received a Pebble Time Steel before Pebble was bought by Fitbit, I can attest that their steel watches are very high-quality.
It's a production sample, not the final quality — he mentioned this in the video
Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time?
Eric isn't in this because he want you to have a better watch, he is in this so he can sell you out at the first opportunity. It may not be FitBit or Automattic this time, but that's just what he does.
I'm a bit lost here, and to be fair my memory from that long ago is a bit hazy... but I was a initial Pebble kickstarter and also got whatever the metal one was called.
They were totally fine products, I enjoyed using them. I am no longer using them, but such is the nature of consumer gadgetry.
I don't recall getting rogered at any point in that process?
I too was part of the initial Kickstarter and I had both the first and the second version.
When FitBit bought Pebble in 2016, some may argue that this was a good thing, the development of the watch and the OS just stopped - it was dead. FitBit had no intention of keeping the Pebble and just wanted to implement the software into it's own ecosystem.
Google bought FitBit in 2019 and released the source code for PebbleOS this year - but that is kind of late now, isn't it?
> some may argue that this was a good thing
I don't think anyone was arguing this - Pebble simply went bankrupt. FitBit just bought some of their IP/assets I think. There was no expectation of them buying it and continuing support or development.
Some say that if FitBit hadn't bought them, the Kickstarter supporters that still hadn't received their devices, wouldn't gotten their money refunded from Pebble.
If this is true or not, I have no idea.
that's basically the norm for kickstarter yea. if a company doesn't succeed, there's no money to return...
I remember that part too, I just don't feel like any of it was particularly egregious. Disappointing sure, but I suppose I disagree that anything about it was untoward.
I'm generally pretty hostile to companies being acquired and breaking their past customers' products. Shutting down various required cloud services, making software undownloadable, etc.
But I don't think that happened? The roadmap simply ended, but every watch that was out there kept working as-advertised for a good long while?
Same attitude here (personal animosity against companies who fuck you over and do malicious sellouts but no such memories of the process Pebble went through in their last company iteration).
In fact, I still wear a Pebble daily. Both my Time and Time Steel still work great and I still strongly prefer the whole concept and the UI/UX to any other watch. As soon as they release the iOS app, my Pebble Time will become my "work watch", paired to my job-issued iPhone.
One big difference this time is that the source code is all open. That's the main reason I was happy to give them my money again.
Hard disagree. For one thing, no one is "supporting" this. It's not a Kickstarter, it's pre-orders. You can get your money back (including the credit card fee, if you ordered early) before it ships.
Secondly, he has said that he's trying to build an enduring company. And thirdly, he has said that he's building these in part because he wants to have a watch for himself. That aligns incentives and means that there will be ongoing manufacturing.
Lastly, he has gotten all the software open sourced, which means that if he closes up shop in a year, then anyone else can come in and build a competitor.
Maybe. I still enjoyed my Pebble till it died. I think I will enjoy the new one just as much.
The first Pebble was kind of cutting edge when it came in 2013 and it looked awesome. This new one looks like an electronic tag and is just a medium priced smartwatch with limited capabilities.
I thought Fitbit bought them out and then after the sale announced that they were shutting it down instead of doing anything with it. I’m happy to be proven wrong if this isn’t the case.
They did. Google bought FitBit in 2019 and released the source code to PebbleOS in 2025.
aren't they going with open source firmware / OS this time around? even if it gets sold, user support will be possible
I sure hope so : Android was still a reasonable option for the old Pebbles, but not any more...
They never ran Android, it was always a custom firmware.
Pebbles were supposed to be used with a smartphone.
> Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time?
"How it went"? Seriously?
What about this: the Apple Watch Series 0 up to 3 no longer work with modern iPhones (or Android, anyways). Series 2 and 3 were released after Pebble went out of business.
And I still can use my old Pebbles with Android's latest phones.
TL;DR: Pebble's "sell you out" worked better than Apple's "sticking with you".
Not sure about Series 0 to 2 but my mom uses a Series 3 with an iPhone 16 and it works just fine. The rest of your point is sound though.