Pebble also gets battery life. Pebble's 2 weeks compared to 1 day on my pixel watch 3. Want to use that cool sleep tracking feature on your smartwatch? Guess what? Its on the charger.
For the sake of fair comparison, my wife had an Apple watch, which looked better and had way more features, but the 1 day battery life became such a frustration it sat in a dresser drawer. My last Garmin lasted 5 years with daily use and sports, and only died because I took it into the sea on vacation after the waterproof seal failed on the screen. I replaced it the day I got back with the successor model and couldn't be happier.
I'm not shilling for Garmin (or at least not being paid to), I love the Pebbles and I'm very much looking forward to the launch as I want a more fashionable smartwatch. Apple, Samsung et al have kinda tainted the smartphone market with feature vomit, when in fact there's a lot of good stuff out there, it's just not as hip.
Same deal with the watch of the article. It uses the same display: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471292
The difference between such Garmin watches and Pebble Round 2 seems to be trading off hardware like built-in GPS and NFC for open source software and thinness. 100% worthwhile trade IMO.
Double-check this because they have a lot of OLED models now alongside their MIP ones. Battery life is more or less the same either way with AOD off, but with AOD enabled the OLEDs fall behind the MIPs.
But they were all ass ugly, too big, or both. I ended up buying a Pebble because Garmin just never made anything I actually wanted to put on my wrist.
However, I think Garmin has made the flaw of overcomplicating their product offerings. I ended up pre-ordering a pebble because I implicitly don't like a company that tries to segment their market that hard on smart watches.
I'd love an alternative, but from the models I've tried I don't think Garmin is anywhere near what I liked about Pebbles. Closer than some brands, but not anywhere near what I'd consider "close". Bangle.js is closer, for all its (many) flaws.
To each their own, but it sounds like your wife just couldn't get into the "happy path" routine of an Apple Watch user.
I've been using an Apple Watch since Series 5 introduced the always-on display. I wear it for roughly 23 hours a day, and charge it whenever I'm in the bathroom. I'm fine with this routine 99% of the time, but I'm also not someone who'd camp or stay outdoors for more than a night.
Before that, I was using a Amazfit Bip and was really proud of its 30+ day battery life. I very much prefer the features the Apple Watch has.
I did previously have a smartwatch which did heart rate monitoring, but really, once I'd confirmed that when I exercised harder my heart rate went up, I lost interest in it.
Separately, it baffles me that Garmin, despite them having also built a watch OS from the ground up, never understood watch/limited-button UX. Their Instinct and Forerunner watches have all sorts of wonky, hidden and arcane interactions with buttons (long press this to X, press this here to Y). Pebble proves that a simple, shallow, and linear menu system works great!
Hard to say this is true when Garmin watches are far more successful than Pebble. That aside, the forerunner is a sports watch first where you want lots of physical buttons that don't get bothered by sweat. The better Garmin comparison is the Venu series which only have two buttons https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/wearables-smartwatches/?serie....
I worked on a prototype of this idea back in school[0]
Does Pebble support this?
[0]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lTOxHxHFjwJXeCLROAPf6OJD...
The media controls might be able to do the volume part automatically out of the box though? I forget exactly what their UI did when I had music playing, but I think it had volume and skip controls. That's nowhere near arbitrary control though.
The set of pre-installed apps, integration with watch messages, call notifications and media controls are enough.
However maybe I am old fashioned, the oldie Timex and Casio smartwatches were also good enough for me.
So, why do you think Pebble didn’t succeed? I think that’s because you’re a minority, and demand for a Pebble-like product is too low at the price point where it would be a viable business.
He's self-funding this company and doing pre-orders, which means that risk should not exist this time around.
But to GP's point, I agree that Pebble knows what smartwatches are, and they make the best ones. But it turns out that lots of people want (or have been convinced by marketing that they want) a wrist-worn computer, which has been a boon for Apple/Google.
I think the new Pebbles will convert a lot of people because the battery life skips two orders of magnitude (in the time sense), going from ~1 day to ~1 month. That and the slick user interface should be attractive to folks who are considering upgrading their AWs as the battery degrades. Some will realize that they don't need all the computer-y functionality that the AW provides and just go with a Pebble. The fact that they're a bit cheaper, and available in a nice-looking round case is an added bonus.
Like a lot of people, I assumed I would like AWs, and that they would continue to evolve to better and better battery life. But they haven't approached Pebble territory and I can see that the functionality they provide is not worth the tradeoff for me. I just don't care to tap at a computer on my wrist. Maybe other people do, but I'd bet that Eric's going to win over a lot of AW users who realized they are overkill.
Doesn't the fact that you are connected and communicable make whatever device you choose to use essentially a phone?
I will say, if it is possible, going out without any form of internet/comms enabled device can be very liberating. We all used to do it, and I think many of us have gotten used to the idea that we need to be on call or have some sort of utility in case of emergencies that are very unlikely to happen.
Not that I am unaware of the immense difference in scale and influence between Apple and Pebble, and the different nature of these regulations in this light.
I'm still willing to take the risk because Pebble smartwatches are the only ones I like and wear. I managed to give my OG Steel another life by replacing the battery. Unfortunately that seems to be harder with the Round 2 as there won't be any screws. I'm still a bit split on whether to change my Time 2 pre-order for a Round 2.
[0] https://bsky.app/profile/ericmigi.com/post/3maubss6mqc25
lol, wouldn't that go for any product?
We are excited to make new devices, but wary about over-promising. We'd rather under-promise and over-deliver. So far, we have only received a few requests for warranty support for our first new watch (Pebble 2 Duo) and we have provided support for everyone who has asked.
Just for my understanding: so full notification support would essentially only apply to anyone in the EU willing to import from the US (or directly from the country you're manufacturing these devices in).
It's illegal in advanced societies, but americans call these things "communism" (the rest of the world uses "regulations")
I would agree that a product that supposedly has a 30 day battery life (PT2) should have a warranty that lasts longer than 30 days. This is especially true if the software optimizations haven't been completed at the time the watches ship. Otherwise it's just impossible to reliably assess whether the product is actually defective during the return window.
Recently, EU pressure might mean that Apple will open that ability up to non-Apple watches as well.
That aside, Android wear being a complete OS is a waste of power. There aren't any useful apps for it that take advantage of the watch running a full OS.
I'm also miffed that OS updates have dropped by pixel watch's battery life from 3 days down to 1 and a half.
Good on Pebble for taking a reasonable approach to watch OS design. I presume apple decided they are minting money with a 2-ish day battery life so why bother improving things, but it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore.
The market is very different nowadays than when the Pebble came out.
All I want from a smart watch:
- Waterproof, wireless charging, at least a week of battery life
- Automatically track exercise and sleep, let me update the data if needed.
- Track my fitness trends over time, looking at you resting heart rate
- Optionally, learn a couple of recurring patterns to improve automatic exercise assignment. If I hike twice a week and you see an exercise session with a consistent heart rate profile you better believe I am hiking
It's waterproof. Unfortunately no wireless charging (proprietary cable) but it charges 2 weeks worth in about 2 hours.
It doesn't automatically track exercise, but it does collect a lot more (and higher quality) data than Withings for activity. Automatic sleep. The app has the trends and such, and there's no subscription (they recently added some AI stuff you can pay for but which is optional).
My Amazfit lasts weeks on a single charge, and besides I don't need an app store on my phone.
PS: why is this even an issue? How hard is it to make straps with batteries in them..
> it is sad that most companies don't care about doing the right thing anymore
Throw rocks once you’ve stopped the windows 11 spam machine.
Currently running Linux on my home PC because I can't stand windows 11.
I had the first Pebble Time Round and it's my favorite smart watch I've ever owned, but these days the things I want from a watch are to tell the time and collect biometrics. Taking a step back in biometrics feels like a bummer. I also totally buy that it would increase the foot print in a way that would feel way less slim.
Also unfortunate that it's missing the RGB backlight of the Time 2. I can think of a few good use cases for it, but if it's only on the Time 2 that means fewer apps would use it.
(Pebble founder)
That said: I can't find full dimensions for the new round 2. I can guesstimate that it should be 10-20% smaller in diameter and less than 2/3 the thickness.
Would you mind sharing full dimensions or even update the post?
And congratulations! I really like this. I hope there will be enough of a market to support this project long term.
Honestly, even with a PT2 on order, I would consider getting one of these for the occasions (1x/wk?) where I am wearing a dress shirt or otherwise want to look a little more dressed up. It honestly would probably also be a nice conversation starter because you can set it up with a traditional watchface, but then when you get a notification it would obviously not be a traditional watch. And it's so much thinner than Google/Samsung and other round smartwatches, it wouldn't be confused with those.
Also, while watching the announcement video, I noticed that the pixels are quite a bit more visible on the Round 2 on the same watchface, when compared to Time 2 — on the Time 2, the image is a lot more crisp. Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
Nope! No screws on this one.
> Is that a matter of adapting the watchfaces to the bigger screen?
Yes, exactly.
Was the decision to not sell that color based on expected demand for the color or did it not work for some other reason?
Are you planning something like this but with a rectangular screen? I have Time 2 on pre-order, but I'd love to buy a water-resistant watch.
You can read the code and see how the sleep tracking algorithm works here - https://github.com/coredevices/PebbleOS/blob/main/src%2Ffw%2...
There are also (currently) no sleep metrics on app itself; you can only see them on the watch, which doesn't show much besides the sleep duration and an abstract representation showing where you might have woken up in the night.
is positivity the only valid emotion for a product launch?
how do you balance your experience with the rewards of taking risks?
Core Devices pushed out modularity updates to be less dependent on Rebble's app store and started their own.
That's the latest public information.
They share a lot of similarities:
- Round dial
- Analog hands (though Round 2 simulates this with e-ink)
- Long battery life (Round 2 is ~2 weeks. I remember Withings lasting months on a coin battery)
- Thin and light
- No speaker, so no noise
These are the features I appreciate. I love gadgets, but for smartwatches, I want them to maintain a classic watch appearance. I don't want to worry about charging it every day, and I don't want too many features and notifications to distract me.
As for the "smart" part, I want the tech to focus on sensors, i.e. recording movement and sleep. The rest goes for aesthetics, like changing interesting watch faces now and then. That's really it. Most products on the market are no what I want because what the tech brings on them are interference and inconvenience.
Once my original broke and I realized they weren't making that specific design anymore, I just lost interest in buying from the brand. The new models just don't have the same appeal.
What is that warranty though? 30 days is pretty rough for a new and untested product. It's definitely enough to make me hold off for a year just in case.
I believe things could go wrong, but I'm not sure what sort of latent errors would make sense to worry about. The battery life dropping precipitously? (Why would it do this?) Sensors breaking within a couple months? (Again, what would lead to this?).
I'm curious to know what you are concerned about. I agree that a year of track record would be great, but IMO a Pebble will be such a big upgrade over pretty much anything else out there (AWs etc. that need charging all the damn time), that I'd rather not wait a year for the additional data to come in.
I assume it would actually be replaceable if one were sufficiently motivated, but the fact that it's not meant to be replaceable is not so great.
Honestly if the PT2 weren't replaceable I wouldn't mind so much, since starting of with 30 days of battery means it can degrade a lot before it hits a threshold I care about (1 week, roughly). But if the PR2 starts off around 10 days, it doesn't have far to fall before it hits that threshold.
Perhaps the biggest reason I didn't swap my order, though, is that I don't want to wait several more months to get my Pebble!
Is it a technical limitation of some sorts? (E.g. cannot be made water resistant?)
Because right now it is my biggest pain - one more cable that one needs to carry all the time, and if it is lost, you cannot borrow from a friend.
I loved my original Pebble. I remember how great the quick shortcuts to control my music were without having to look down from driving.
All else aside I hope this might inspire Apple to try with their watch design. The first watch felt lazy and it’s basically unchanged since then.
One of my main uses for my Pixel Watch is reading notifications, and even for a 2-3 line text message I have to scroll to read it because it gets cut out by the roundness.
I've been holding out for a refresh that can compete with the look of the Time Steel, basically the design of the original Time 2. I might go with this one, but that would mean having to abandon the square watchface I've grown fond of. Maybe there are some nice round ones. The two weeks of battery life and activity tracking are greatly appreciated!
> Touchscreen (but you don’t have to use it!)
What a ride. I hate touchscreens with a burning passion. I hope it can be disabled.
IIRC, pebble had a "vibrate on BT-loss", which could remind you to go retrieve the phone when ranging outside to rake leaves (or forgetting your phone in a restaurant or something).
not trying to start a flame-war, but i can imagine that you get quite some range in the US, if you live in one of those cardboard-inner-walls houses.
in the 30cm thick solid wall apartment i live in my pebble looses connection the next room over, i almost need line-of-sight for it to work. working at my desk, get up, walk 5 meters to the bathroom, watch looses connection.
maybe my smartphone has a weak bluetooth receiver, compared to other models, who knows...
Maybe I'm looking at the wrong image, but I see a silver bezel going all around the watch screen.
I thought "no bezel" on a screen means the screen goes all the way to the edges of the device.
Still want one tho.
My guess is that part of the reason they decided to make the round is that they got so much interest in Pebbles in general, and so many requests for the Round specifically. I don't think they would have wanted to take the risk from the beginning without knowing the demand.
Still, I'm sure this will appeal to many people.
But no heart rate monitor.
* The official weather app on the old Pebble used a weather server they ran, and stopped working when that service shutdown.
* The old faces did not use that service, but instead each one wrote their own code to fetch weather information from a variety of sources, most of which have since shutdown or changed in incompatible ways, however some faces have been maintained to continue working.
* Rebble created a replacement weather server compatible with the old Pebble one, and patched the weather app, and several watch faces to use it. This service requires a subscription.
* The few weather faces in the Repebble appstore that I spot-checked all appear to be using weather sources that are still active. I know that this appstore is curated by Repebble and presumably they verified that these faces still have working weather feeds.
* During the Rebble/Repebble drama Eric mentioned "We’re planning to include weather for free in our app and make the data available to all watchfaces so you don’t need to configure each one separately."[1], but I don't know if that is planned to be ready when the Time2 or Round2 launch, or some time later.
[1]https://ericmigi.com/blog/pebble-rebble-and-a-path-forward
> …iOS in EU soon
Just a reminder for all the Apple fanbois whining over how EU users miss out on Apple features (undoubtedly because Apple is behaving like a whiny 10 year old throwing a tantrum, but whatever), in reality, the EU rules allows companies like Pebble to offer functionality on iOS that they cannot elsewhere.
If, every time you powered on the phone, you knew you were draining from its finite battery life? I would probably think twice before doing any kind of software updates at least!
I'm expecting that by the time I use up the first version ring's battery, a better version (maybe rechargeable) will be released.
[Gemini 3 Pro Query] "Which smartwatches have at least 1 week of battery life?"
- Garmin Instinct 3: Provides up to 18 days (45mm) or even 40 days (50mm) of battery life. It features a robust design and a bright AMOLED display.
- Garmin fenix 8: A premium multisport watch that lasts up to 29 days in smartwatch mode, featuring advanced mapping and a built-in LED flashlight.
- Amazfit T-Rex 3: A rugged, budget-friendly alternative with an impressive 27-day battery life and military-grade durability.
- Garmin Forerunner 165: Offers 11 days of battery life with a focus on running metrics and accurate GPS tracking.
- Garmin Venu 3S: A stylish lifestyle watch with a vibrant display that lasts up to 10 days.
- Amazfit Bip 6: A highly affordable option that delivers a solid 14 days of typical use.
