Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]
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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. :)
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.
FYI the previous generation of Pebble OS did not have a message counter, but this generation will apparently add this to its complications.
> 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.
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
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.
Otherwise I agree. I would love an opensource fitness watch though, but I understand why this is not (yet?) possible.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you have an Android, you can set Do Not Disturb mode on a schedule.
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?
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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
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.
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.
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/
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.
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]
These devices are able to always show the display, don't need to turn off features, can still show notifications, etc.
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.
And that's not even talking about the software bugs that destroy a full battery in moments.
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 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.
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
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 don't need any of this
Pebble is very different product. It's a watch for tinkerers with some fitness features added to it.
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.
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).
- Pebble 2 Duo: $149, B&W, original Pebble look
- Pebble Time 2: $225, color, new round square look
* both with intended IPX8, 30-day battery, "e-paper" aka gameboy style LCD, suite of sensors, Pebble app compatibilityI really like the term "squircle"
"The new pebble time 2 sports the chic squircle aesthetic"
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?
Similarly, the Withings Scanwatch claims the same, although as a hybrid smartwatch, it is not driving such a power-hungry screen.
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)!
Hence my skepticism that this feature can be offered and still get 4x more life than that.
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
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?
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...
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.
We have enough distractions in our lives that we don't need more advertising pushed in our faces, especially for something we already own.
Unclear if Pebble 2 follows that standard but would be worth checking. I'm sure you can find a strap that fits your wrist.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
storm warnings
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.
Red and Blue are IMO not needed as you can always add an accent using the band. Probably just makes everything more complicated.
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.
True. It might be just me but I think the color makes it look cheap.
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.
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.
Plus, it's not particularly difficult to support the bigger screen size in the SDK.
This is really a killer feature for me. GPS tracking would be nice to track runs, but I can live without it.
Until then, I'm sticking with the Apple Watch.
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).
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. :)
I was working on a subpixel rendering algorithm for it at the time, but then it was killed, and I shelved it.
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?
* 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
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 also make sure I am not contactable by work on any other device than my laptop and only during work hours.
Where might I find the SDK or developer docs for how to make apps for this thing?
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 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.
"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.
I think my credit card offers a 3 month return period (2 months longer than an average store's 30 day return period).
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.
I don’t even care about colours. If the other one had a heart rate sensor I would’ve ordered it.
Now I'll have 8.
There, Eric. Take my money..
Really love this guy and Pebble!
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.
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.
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?
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.
If this is true or not, I have no idea.
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?
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.
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.
"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".