Pebble Time review: an underdog among smartwatches(engadget.com)
engadget.com
Pebble Time review: an underdog among smartwatches
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/27/pebble-time-review/
96 comments
Have you owned an original Pebble, and if so can you comment on the vibration motor in the new Pebble compared to the old one?
I owned an original Pebble for a while, and the vibration motor was absolutely awful. It felt bad on the wrist, and it was very audible. In quiet meetings, people would hear it and it would make me look like an idiot with a childish toy. I stopped using the Pebble after a week or two for a number of reasons, but this was the main one.
I owned an original Pebble for a while, and the vibration motor was absolutely awful. It felt bad on the wrist, and it was very audible. In quiet meetings, people would hear it and it would make me look like an idiot with a childish toy. I stopped using the Pebble after a week or two for a number of reasons, but this was the main one.
This is my question as well; I do enjoy my original Pebble but end up turning notifications off half the times because it's WAY too audible so everyone near me hears each notification I get (and with work using Google Hangouts sometimes I get far, far too many notifications in quick succession).
If the Pebble Time has a better, lighter vibration (or better yet adjustable; the original Pebble's vibration as an alarm clock is perfect but not at all for notifications). then I may be tempted to pick one up.
If the Pebble Time has a better, lighter vibration (or better yet adjustable; the original Pebble's vibration as an alarm clock is perfect but not at all for notifications). then I may be tempted to pick one up.
I do own an original Pebble, but haven't worn it for a long enough time that I don't remember how the vibration compares.
The Pebble Time's vibration is much more subtle (but still strong). A big improvement over the original Pebble.
I have an original Pebble and love how powerful the vibration is. I never miss an alert and it wakes me up every time.
> 7 day battery life: Don't care. I don't sleep with my watch on and with wireless or magnetic charging it's not a hassle to charge nightly.
For me, that's actually a pretty big selling point for a variety of reasons (namely that charging isn't always going to be a possibility - i.e. if I'm out hiking/camping or otherwise "off the grid").
For me, that's actually a pretty big selling point for a variety of reasons (namely that charging isn't always going to be a possibility - i.e. if I'm out hiking/camping or otherwise "off the grid").
> I still prefer the Moto 360's design over any other smartwatch including Pebble Time. Most people assume it's an Apple Watch.
Given that people are thinking a round watch is an Apple Watch, I'm not sure that says much about their judgment in watch design.
Given that people are thinking a round watch is an Apple Watch, I'm not sure that says much about their judgment in watch design.
I have the Moto 360 as well, and on most of your points I agree.
On the 7 day battery life though... The Moto 360 battery life sucks. I can't make it from sun-up until bed time without the Moto 360 dying if I try to actually use it for anything useful such as using the music streaming or even the stopwatch when I'm at the gym.
I have had to revert to using my iPod for music at the gym and an old fashioned stop watch.
As the health aspects of the Moto 360 were the primary selling points to me; it's really been a waste of money.
On the 7 day battery life though... The Moto 360 battery life sucks. I can't make it from sun-up until bed time without the Moto 360 dying if I try to actually use it for anything useful such as using the music streaming or even the stopwatch when I'm at the gym.
I have had to revert to using my iPod for music at the gym and an old fashioned stop watch.
As the health aspects of the Moto 360 were the primary selling points to me; it's really been a waste of money.
Have you received latest updates. I would say I'm on the higher end of usage with all notifications from personal and work emails, messaging services, calendar updates.. and mine easily lasts a day and half. I don't need always on, as its really pointless for me to have it on, if I'm not actively looking at it.
Yes; I have the latest updates.
With only the notifications you mention the Moto 360 will last about a day and a half.
Music streaming over bluetooth from the watch or the screen being continuously on will chow through the battery in less than 2 hours. So if I get up in the morning and work out for an hour, using the watch to play music and time my set and rest intervals the watch will be at around 33% life when I'm done at the gym. This is not enough remaining battery life to get through the work day.
If I go to the gym after work then the watch will die 20 minutes into my workout.
With only the notifications you mention the Moto 360 will last about a day and a half.
Music streaming over bluetooth from the watch or the screen being continuously on will chow through the battery in less than 2 hours. So if I get up in the morning and work out for an hour, using the watch to play music and time my set and rest intervals the watch will be at around 33% life when I'm done at the gym. This is not enough remaining battery life to get through the work day.
If I go to the gym after work then the watch will die 20 minutes into my workout.
Most people think my first gen pebble is an apple watch, too.
This is an advantage of advertising when the competition doesn't.
I backed the Pebble Time on kickstarter but recently canceled the pledge due to privacy concerns.
Why do companies think that it is okay that devices, that customers carry all day long on them, phone anywhere unless they are told so and controlled by the user?
By default, I do not agree to collection of any data about me, not even anonymised.
I'm increasingly concerned that it seems that hardware companies try not to only sell the product, but also to never give up control of the individual products. What can we do about that?
I'd happily buy an even considerately more expensive iPhone, if it'd only put me in ultimate control.
Why do companies think that it is okay that devices, that customers carry all day long on them, phone anywhere unless they are told so and controlled by the user?
By default, I do not agree to collection of any data about me, not even anonymised.
I'm increasingly concerned that it seems that hardware companies try not to only sell the product, but also to never give up control of the individual products. What can we do about that?
I'd happily buy an even considerately more expensive iPhone, if it'd only put me in ultimate control.
Gadgetbridge is a FOSS companion app for Pebble and other devices that seeks to put users back in control of their data. I don't believe it has Pebble Time support yet,and the feature set is limited, but it looks promising.
https://fossdroid.com/a/gadgetbridge.html
Thanks for pointing out Gadgetbridge. While informing myself before deciding to cancel my order of the Pebble Time I already found it. However, afaik the Pebble Time is not supported by Gadgetbridge and I didn't want to buy a product I maybe can't use.
Thank you for sharing this! I had no idea it existed before, but this sounds like exactly what I've been looking for.
I want to find out if it needs to make the same requests to zalew.net.pl as the official Android app in order to configure my Pebble!
I want to find out if it needs to make the same requests to zalew.net.pl as the official Android app in order to configure my Pebble!
I agree. It worries me that finding out exactly what data your device or software shares with whom is very hard to find nowadays. You buy something without really knowing what it does.
This is not really new (how many people, even today, are aware that most color laser printers embed their serial number on every page they print?) but the rise of ubiquitous mobile computers equipped with a camera, an always-on microphone and permanent net access raises grave privacy concerns.
This is not really new (how many people, even today, are aware that most color laser printers embed their serial number on every page they print?) but the rise of ubiquitous mobile computers equipped with a camera, an always-on microphone and permanent net access raises grave privacy concerns.
Can you elaborate on what data you think Pebble is collecting?
Yes, sure. From http://pages.getpebble.com/pages/privacy I quote
We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code,
area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone
where a Pebble product is used.
We also may collect information regarding customer activities on
our website, Pebble Android App, Pebble iOS App, account.getpebble.com
services and from our other products and services.
We may collect smartphone device-specific logs which, for example,
include your hardware model, operating system version and unique
device identifiers.
Did you know that if you attempt to configure your pebble from your phone, that requires a connection to some server hosted under a domain name that as far as I can tell has nothing to do with pebble?
Use a MITM proxy and see for yourself.
My firewall blocks outbound requests by default so when I found I wasn't able to configure my pebble without allowing this traffic, I just said fuckit and left my pebble unconfigured. If I knew about this before I bought it I never would have agreed to the purchase.
Edit: Pulled the host that it wants to talk to from DNS logs, zalew.net.pl. If I don't allow traffic to that domain, I can't configure my pebble.
Edit: This is from an Android phone, I can't speak for the iOS app.
Use a MITM proxy and see for yourself.
My firewall blocks outbound requests by default so when I found I wasn't able to configure my pebble without allowing this traffic, I just said fuckit and left my pebble unconfigured. If I knew about this before I bought it I never would have agreed to the purchase.
Edit: Pulled the host that it wants to talk to from DNS logs, zalew.net.pl. If I don't allow traffic to that domain, I can't configure my pebble.
Edit: This is from an Android phone, I can't speak for the iOS app.
Might that be related to a watchface that you already installed on your watch / downloaded to your app, perhaps the Modern watchface? http://www.mypebblefaces.com/apps/1486/1299/
The domain name seems belong to this gentleman: http://forums.getpebble.com/discussion/4453/light-enable-int...
The domain name seems belong to this gentleman: http://forums.getpebble.com/discussion/4453/light-enable-int...
There must be a relationship here because I do indeed have that watch face installed.
Though, without allowing that traffic, I don't seem to be able to remove that watchface, and cannot get into the Settings screen in the Pebble Android app to configure anything else.
Though, without allowing that traffic, I don't seem to be able to remove that watchface, and cannot get into the Settings screen in the Pebble Android app to configure anything else.
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Huh. Well, I don't really have a problem with any of those except maybe location, and that's behind a privacy setting in iOS. Pebble also provides an option to opt out of sending the anonymized data, which puts them on better footing than most apps and websites these days. Thanks for actually posting info though :)
I understand, accept and respect your point of view, but I don't share it.
I want devices I bought to solely work in my interest. So, the system must not send data on its own anywhere unless I was notified and I agree. Please note, this issue is ideally orthogonal to software freedom, even though in practice they correlate positively.
Not everybody agrees with me on this and it's fine. However, there could be a more diverse market, I think. I could imagine two versions existing: one "normal" and one privacy-respecting version. I wouldn't even mind if the latter would be more expensive.
I want devices I bought to solely work in my interest. So, the system must not send data on its own anywhere unless I was notified and I agree. Please note, this issue is ideally orthogonal to software freedom, even though in practice they correlate positively.
Not everybody agrees with me on this and it's fine. However, there could be a more diverse market, I think. I could imagine two versions existing: one "normal" and one privacy-respecting version. I wouldn't even mind if the latter would be more expensive.
I've given up on companies and developers respecting my privacy. Not because they're all evil, but because it doesn't scale. There's an unlimited number of companies that you would have to deal with.
Use a firewall that blocks or MITMs all outbound network requests by default. It's the only way to know what every app is calling home to and reporting about.
Think about it, which scales better? Raise your point of view with the developer of every app you want to use, or putting blanket protections in place at the gateway level one time and performing minor whitelisting tweaks (that you can do yourself!) over time?
I just fear for all those who don't know any better.
Use a firewall that blocks or MITMs all outbound network requests by default. It's the only way to know what every app is calling home to and reporting about.
Think about it, which scales better? Raise your point of view with the developer of every app you want to use, or putting blanket protections in place at the gateway level one time and performing minor whitelisting tweaks (that you can do yourself!) over time?
I just fear for all those who don't know any better.
These approaches are not exclusive and both are recommendable.
I'm very glad to see pebble stay in the game. That said, this is a pretty tough watch for a traditional watch guy to look at.
I hope that someone really nails the circular smart watch and embraces the rotating bezel as an input modality, like the 1st gen ipods or, more recently, Nest. I would love that, coupled with a traditional diver or tool watch look:
http://cdn.monochrome-watches.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04...
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/75/b2/bf/75b2bf2d9...
Maybe motorola will get it, but I wonder if their design sensibilities are too modern...
I hope that someone really nails the circular smart watch and embraces the rotating bezel as an input modality, like the 1st gen ipods or, more recently, Nest. I would love that, coupled with a traditional diver or tool watch look:
http://cdn.monochrome-watches.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04...
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/75/b2/bf/75b2bf2d9...
Maybe motorola will get it, but I wonder if their design sensibilities are too modern...
You should check out Olio Devices. I think it's clearly the best designed of all connected watches.
https://www.oliodevices.com/
https://www.oliodevices.com/
Samsung (of all companies) is apparently working on that...
It's a really safe bet that if there is a gadget / electronic category Samsung is working on at least 3 products in it. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so much.
I really admire Pebble for they are the only company that is truly trying to make an accessible and efficient product.
I don't believe that people will buy a computer, a smartphone, a tablet and a watch. Assuming that each of these devices remain widely used (as it is the case today) I think that people will make a choice to reach a balance.
In that scenario, it is easy to see how an expensive watch that replicates smartphone's functionalities would be a commercial failure.
Pebble on the contrary opted for having a finite, and comparatively small, set of functionalities but excel at those. Their choice of limiting the watch functionalities has two obvious positive effects:
- It keeps the price low. I want a product that will last, that I can forget about (great battery life comes into play) and that does not cost an arm. I can't afford (or don't want) to pay for both a smartwatch and a smartphone costing >200$USD. In comparison I got my Pebble for 50$USD and it's working great.
- It eliminates the redundancy that occurs between smartphones/smartwatches. Instead you have a "central nervous system": your phone and an assistant that makes interacting with that CNS easier: the watch.
I would like to see some drastic improvements in the design though. It's kind of terrible and remind the early 2000s with the ave of Palm Pilots etc... Also, it would be great to improve the sensors so I can use my Pebble as a monitor of health (and my sleep!).
I would actually spend money on a product that would monitor my sleep, bpms and wake me up in the morning at the "best" time.
I don't believe that people will buy a computer, a smartphone, a tablet and a watch. Assuming that each of these devices remain widely used (as it is the case today) I think that people will make a choice to reach a balance.
In that scenario, it is easy to see how an expensive watch that replicates smartphone's functionalities would be a commercial failure.
Pebble on the contrary opted for having a finite, and comparatively small, set of functionalities but excel at those. Their choice of limiting the watch functionalities has two obvious positive effects:
- It keeps the price low. I want a product that will last, that I can forget about (great battery life comes into play) and that does not cost an arm. I can't afford (or don't want) to pay for both a smartwatch and a smartphone costing >200$USD. In comparison I got my Pebble for 50$USD and it's working great.
- It eliminates the redundancy that occurs between smartphones/smartwatches. Instead you have a "central nervous system": your phone and an assistant that makes interacting with that CNS easier: the watch.
I would like to see some drastic improvements in the design though. It's kind of terrible and remind the early 2000s with the ave of Palm Pilots etc... Also, it would be great to improve the sensors so I can use my Pebble as a monitor of health (and my sleep!).
I would actually spend money on a product that would monitor my sleep, bpms and wake me up in the morning at the "best" time.
> I can't afford (or don't want) to pay for both a smartwatch and a smartphone costing >200$USD. In comparison I got my Pebble for 50$USD and it's working great.
I'm not targeting you in particular, but you brought up something that confuses me when people who say this about a smartwatch.
It seems like a lot of people who are getting into smartwatches aren't too aware of traditional watch geekery and prices; $200 for a watch is relatively cheap as far as nice watches go.
I'm not denying that if you want something functional, a cheaper price is always nicer -- just offering up for consideration that watches are traditionally a pretty expensive accessory. :)
I'm not targeting you in particular, but you brought up something that confuses me when people who say this about a smartwatch.
It seems like a lot of people who are getting into smartwatches aren't too aware of traditional watch geekery and prices; $200 for a watch is relatively cheap as far as nice watches go.
I'm not denying that if you want something functional, a cheaper price is always nicer -- just offering up for consideration that watches are traditionally a pretty expensive accessory. :)
> I don't believe that people will buy a computer, a smartphone, a tablet and a watch. Assuming that each of these devices remain widely used (as it is the case today) I think that people will make a choice to reach a balance.
> In that scenario, it is easy to see how an expensive watch that replicates smartphone's functionalities would be a commercial failure.
I've thought about this problem for me personally and agree that I definitely don't want all four. I'm fine with three of them, though. In my case, I've decided I'd actually much prefer a smartwatch over a tablet, in the sense that I think a tablet is actually more redundant on top of the phone than a smartwatch. I've actually completely lost interest in tablets over the last year or so.
I had a Moto 360 and there were moments when I felt a glimpse of the genius of a smartwatch. The rest of the time I was frustrated with the incredibly laggy interface, the pixelated screen, the flat tire at the bottom, the general massiveness of the watch, and the extreme unreliability of the fitness tracking options. From what I've seen of the Apple Watch, it's a huge step forward in terms of basic quality, both hardware and software, but I'd have to switch to an iPhone to use one.
The Pebble Time has a quirky appearance, but it looks great in terms of usability and software quality, so I'm definitely excited to try one when I can get my hands on one.
> In that scenario, it is easy to see how an expensive watch that replicates smartphone's functionalities would be a commercial failure.
I've thought about this problem for me personally and agree that I definitely don't want all four. I'm fine with three of them, though. In my case, I've decided I'd actually much prefer a smartwatch over a tablet, in the sense that I think a tablet is actually more redundant on top of the phone than a smartwatch. I've actually completely lost interest in tablets over the last year or so.
I had a Moto 360 and there were moments when I felt a glimpse of the genius of a smartwatch. The rest of the time I was frustrated with the incredibly laggy interface, the pixelated screen, the flat tire at the bottom, the general massiveness of the watch, and the extreme unreliability of the fitness tracking options. From what I've seen of the Apple Watch, it's a huge step forward in terms of basic quality, both hardware and software, but I'd have to switch to an iPhone to use one.
The Pebble Time has a quirky appearance, but it looks great in terms of usability and software quality, so I'm definitely excited to try one when I can get my hands on one.
> I had a Moto 360 and there were moments when I felt a glimpse of the genius of a smartwatch.
Adding a personal anecdote to this. The deployant strap on my 360 broke last week, so I had a week of enforced vacation from the 360 to compare before-after and see how much I really liked it. Too tell the truth, I'd actually been feeling kind of "meh" about the 360 and wondering why I really needed it, if I even did.
Here are some things I noticed:
1. Phantom leg vibrations stopped when I got the 360, but once I stopped using the 360, they came back with a vengeance. (I've never had phantom wrist vibrations.)
2. It really is a lot more disruptive to pull out my phone at dinner etc. if I get a call or e-mail from work (devops). The 360 lets me judge things quickly and relatively unobtrusively. Related, I also missed a lot of notifications for people trying to get ahold of me by chat (which I encourage people to do instead of phoning, since I have profound hearing loss).
3. The Fitbit HR (I wear it on my other wrist) is way better for telling time. I can hit the button and see the time faster than the 360 -- this has to change in some way for the 360 to be a smartWATCH.
4. I really missed being able to reply quickly by voice on the go when I wasn't able to pull out my phone.
Adding a personal anecdote to this. The deployant strap on my 360 broke last week, so I had a week of enforced vacation from the 360 to compare before-after and see how much I really liked it. Too tell the truth, I'd actually been feeling kind of "meh" about the 360 and wondering why I really needed it, if I even did.
Here are some things I noticed:
1. Phantom leg vibrations stopped when I got the 360, but once I stopped using the 360, they came back with a vengeance. (I've never had phantom wrist vibrations.)
2. It really is a lot more disruptive to pull out my phone at dinner etc. if I get a call or e-mail from work (devops). The 360 lets me judge things quickly and relatively unobtrusively. Related, I also missed a lot of notifications for people trying to get ahold of me by chat (which I encourage people to do instead of phoning, since I have profound hearing loss).
3. The Fitbit HR (I wear it on my other wrist) is way better for telling time. I can hit the button and see the time faster than the 360 -- this has to change in some way for the 360 to be a smartWATCH.
4. I really missed being able to reply quickly by voice on the go when I wasn't able to pull out my phone.
> 3. The Fitbit HR (I wear it on my other wrist) is way better for telling time. I can hit the button and see the time faster than the 360 -- this has to change in some way for the 360 to be a smartWATCH.
This I find weird with both Moto 360 and Apple Watch - how can those be even considered as a useful watch if they don't show the time all the time? As a regular watch wearer I find it absolutely mandatory that the time can be seen always, even from small angles, without needing to touch the watch or do any wrist movements.
Any normal watch of course does this. Pebble, LG G Watch R and some other Android Wear watches do this.
This I find weird with both Moto 360 and Apple Watch - how can those be even considered as a useful watch if they don't show the time all the time? As a regular watch wearer I find it absolutely mandatory that the time can be seen always, even from small angles, without needing to touch the watch or do any wrist movements.
Any normal watch of course does this. Pebble, LG G Watch R and some other Android Wear watches do this.
> how can those be even considered as a useful watch if they don't show the time all the time?
The simple answer for me is that before I started wearing a watch again, I never really wanted a watch. So the reason I gravitated to a 360 is that I wanted the "smart" more than the "watch."
Of course, having a watch on my wrist made me want fast, instantly visible time/date...
The simple answer for me is that before I started wearing a watch again, I never really wanted a watch. So the reason I gravitated to a 360 is that I wanted the "smart" more than the "watch."
Of course, having a watch on my wrist made me want fast, instantly visible time/date...
The phantom wrist vibrations will come eventually... I get them whenever the leather strap creaks.
>I've thought about this problem for me personally and agree that I definitely don't want all four. I'm fine with three of them, though. In my case, I've decided I'd actually much prefer a smartwatch over a tablet, in the sense that I think a tablet is actually more redundant on top of the phone than a smartwatch. I've actually completely lost interest in tablets over the last year or so.
I actually feel the total opposite... I hate using my phone, and love being on the tablet. At the moment my phone is basically used for WhatsApp and an occasional map search on the go.
I would prefer to have a 4G hub that connects all my devices to the internet. Even better, make the hub intelligent and move all the processing power to it. Then make the tablet and phone act as a screen and it would be perfect :)
I actually feel the total opposite... I hate using my phone, and love being on the tablet. At the moment my phone is basically used for WhatsApp and an occasional map search on the go.
I would prefer to have a 4G hub that connects all my devices to the internet. Even better, make the hub intelligent and move all the processing power to it. Then make the tablet and phone act as a screen and it would be perfect :)
> In that scenario, it is easy to see how an expensive watch that replicates smartphone's functionalities would be a commercial failure.
I think in the case of watch and luxury products, this is different. Buyers don't buy watch for the functionality of checking time, but the design, status symbol and other values from luxury goods.
I think in the case of watch and luxury products, this is different. Buyers don't buy watch for the functionality of checking time, but the design, status symbol and other values from luxury goods.
> Buyers don't buy watch for the functionality of checking time, but the design, status symbol and other values from luxury goods.
Well not all of them! Look at the wrists of the people around you. When I do so, I mostly see regular watches. Sometimes some of them have a fancy design but they all share common characteristics which are:
* easy of use; doing one job very well; inexpensiveness
The watch industry is so well established that almost anyone can afford an aesthetically pleasing watch at a reasonable price.
I don't think that people will spend so much money on wearables that are so redundant with their already complicated smartphones.
On the other hand, Pebble have a good product that does a great job at making everyday tasks easier. It's not a smartphone on my wrist, it's just an aid.. exactly like my old watch used to be. As I said above, the watch is solid and pretty inexpensive. IMHO I think that the only missing pieces are: variety of designs available, better embedded technologies.
I will address the case of the "watch connoisseur" in the following paragraph. I will assume (safely?) that they although those consumes have a huge buying power, they are the minority.
They buy watch for their personal pleasure and because they appreciate the often mind-blowing technologies that they embed. A high-end watch is more than a useful device, it is a piece of human craftsmanship. It is both a symbol and a status that has prestige. See Patek Phillipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPjFFMD3c0
I don't think that watch luxury brands are threaten by the ave of wearable devices and I would definitely not consider Apple as luxury company. To me they are kind of in the worst position: not expensive/complicated enough to appeal to the collectors and not cheap enough to appeal to "most" people unless they are already loyal to the brand.
Well not all of them! Look at the wrists of the people around you. When I do so, I mostly see regular watches. Sometimes some of them have a fancy design but they all share common characteristics which are:
* easy of use; doing one job very well; inexpensiveness
The watch industry is so well established that almost anyone can afford an aesthetically pleasing watch at a reasonable price.
I don't think that people will spend so much money on wearables that are so redundant with their already complicated smartphones.
On the other hand, Pebble have a good product that does a great job at making everyday tasks easier. It's not a smartphone on my wrist, it's just an aid.. exactly like my old watch used to be. As I said above, the watch is solid and pretty inexpensive. IMHO I think that the only missing pieces are: variety of designs available, better embedded technologies.
I will address the case of the "watch connoisseur" in the following paragraph. I will assume (safely?) that they although those consumes have a huge buying power, they are the minority.
They buy watch for their personal pleasure and because they appreciate the often mind-blowing technologies that they embed. A high-end watch is more than a useful device, it is a piece of human craftsmanship. It is both a symbol and a status that has prestige. See Patek Phillipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPjFFMD3c0
I don't think that watch luxury brands are threaten by the ave of wearable devices and I would definitely not consider Apple as luxury company. To me they are kind of in the worst position: not expensive/complicated enough to appeal to the collectors and not cheap enough to appeal to "most" people unless they are already loyal to the brand.
I own an Android phone and recently bought an LG Urbane Silver (leather) because it was the first smartwatch I saw that looked decent (subjective obviously) and can be worn with a suit on occasion.
I didn't own a watch for ~10 years now and felt it was time to get one and more or less randomly decided to get a smartwatch...because why not. I was very sceptical and didn't expect much. If you just list the stuff I do with it it is indeed not much but I already rank it as an excellent purchase. Here's what I use most often (in case anyone is on the fence):
- Tell the time: No need for a smartwatch but it's still great to be able to leave the cell in the pocket
- Don't miss calls: I always have my phone on no sound/just vibrate and tended to miss a lot of calls. Fixed for good now
- Quickly check Mail/IM: To see if there's something important to answer to. I feel a lot calmer because I always felt the urge to check my phone constantly. I now glance at the watch every now and then and feel a lot less "addicted". I actually use the quick reply stuff a lot for IM, too.
- Maps navigation: I am travelling a good bit and usually ran around the cities with my cell looking all touristy. Maps on the watch is a lot more discrete
- Timer: I use it as my Pomodoro Technique timer since my old one can't be used in a multiperson office without annoying people
Battery time is ~2 day, 1.5 when I use it more. As long as it stays above 1 day I'm fine because I take off the watch when I sleep and just put it on the charger.
p.s.: the Pebbles never did it for me style wise but kudos for them for pushing smartwatches further along.
- Tell the time: No need for a smartwatch but it's still great to be able to leave the cell in the pocket
- Don't miss calls: I always have my phone on no sound/just vibrate and tended to miss a lot of calls. Fixed for good now
- Quickly check Mail/IM: To see if there's something important to answer to. I feel a lot calmer because I always felt the urge to check my phone constantly. I now glance at the watch every now and then and feel a lot less "addicted". I actually use the quick reply stuff a lot for IM, too.
- Maps navigation: I am travelling a good bit and usually ran around the cities with my cell looking all touristy. Maps on the watch is a lot more discrete
- Timer: I use it as my Pomodoro Technique timer since my old one can't be used in a multiperson office without annoying people
Battery time is ~2 day, 1.5 when I use it more. As long as it stays above 1 day I'm fine because I take off the watch when I sleep and just put it on the charger.
p.s.: the Pebbles never did it for me style wise but kudos for them for pushing smartwatches further along.
I love my original Pebble. I even like the cheap look, it seems like it's referring to an 80s Casio watch, without copying it (I don't quite like the Time's look but it's ok). But the main reason I love the Pebble is because it gives me freedom. Freedom from having to carry a charger when I'm 3 days away. Freedom from convoluted apps that already annoy me on my smartphone. But mainly Freedom to switch the mobile OS without my smartwatch becoming a useless chunk.
When I first heard that the Time will feature voice functionality, I was excited. It's unfortunate that it can't have a deeper integration into the systems. I think the main limitation of the Pebble is not the look nor the price but that Pebble is neither Google nor Apple.
Freedom #3 (OS-independent operation) is a really interesting observation, but the first two freedoms seem like they'd be solved with... a regular watch?
I still want the main benefit of a smartwatch: not having to pull out the smartphone to see what my smartphone has to tell me (I have very few notifications, but there are some occasions where immediate response is necessary).
Smart watches are an accessory (like headphones), always an add-on, never a general-purpose computer. The UI is too limited. But people pay a lot for headphones (e.g. Beats by Dre, which Apple acquired). They'll pay even more for a fancy watch.
The terrible problem for Pebble is they are an add-on to platforms owned by others, who now have their own add-ons. Historically, this doesn't end well for the pebbles of this world - even though they were first and did everything right - but it might.
I think they should be able to integrate with Google Gear, and MS would be receptive too.
The terrible problem for Pebble is they are an add-on to platforms owned by others, who now have their own add-ons. Historically, this doesn't end well for the pebbles of this world - even though they were first and did everything right - but it might.
I think they should be able to integrate with Google Gear, and MS would be receptive too.
I think the headphone comparison is really weak. If you want to listen to any audio, in most settings you need headphones (at work, in public spaces).
Smart watches do not fill that void. They may make certain tasks easier, but there are other available options (like just pulling out your phone to look at the time or to see who is calling).
Smart watches do not fill that void. They may make certain tasks easier, but there are other available options (like just pulling out your phone to look at the time or to see who is calling).
If you're wearing Beats (or any expensive headphone setup), it's not just because you need to listen to audio in a library or something -- you've made a decision to spend a considerable amount of money on a product with functionality that could be replaced, on most levels, for < 10 bucks.
I'm not saying there isn't a reason to buy quality headphones -- I spent like $80 on mine and love them -- but "nice headphones with noise-cancelling and extra padding and increased fidelity" doesn't seem like an outlandish comparison to "watch with extra stuff and it tells you the weather."
I'm not saying there isn't a reason to buy quality headphones -- I spent like $80 on mine and love them -- but "nice headphones with noise-cancelling and extra padding and increased fidelity" doesn't seem like an outlandish comparison to "watch with extra stuff and it tells you the weather."
I'm curious, do people generally feel that smartwatches are the way of the future? I can't really imagine that a device with a screen the size of a thumbnail outperforming a smartphone for common use cases (scrolling through Twitter, reading emails, browsing the web, etc.) Although at-a-glance notifications and health/sleep tracking are potentially desirable features, it seems that the price will need to drop significantly before anybody besides hobbyists will adopt these.
I recently started using a Pebble (the classic model). I don't traditionally wear watches. The core functionality -- being notified of text messages and phone calls with enough information to make a decision on whether I want to respond immediately -- is pretty much all I care about, although I have actually found myself surprised by how much I like being able to glance at the time without pulling out my phone.
The Pebble doesn't even support things like reading emails, browsing the web, etc. and I wouldn't want to use such a feature. The battery life is good and it charges quickly -- mentally it's more in line with my Kindle than my phone as far as how much I think about its charge. If it runs out of batteries it isn't the end of the world anyway.
My goal in getting it was to spend less time fiddling with my phone and concentrating more on life around me, while still not missing situations where a friend or loved one needs to get in touch urgently. A secondary motivation was to miss fewer calls (I am somewhat hard of hearing & frequently keep my phone's ringer off anyway for professional reasons, and I do not always feel my phone vibrate through my jeans). The Pebble has been very successful in that regard and I consider the $99 well spent.
My hope is that even though Pebble is pursuing a somewhat higher-end market with the Pebble Time that they (or some other manufacturer) continue to produce a line of cheap, durable, minimalist smartwatches. I hope to be able to replace this one if it gets seriously damaged or becomes completely obsolete (if Bluetooth goes the way of the dodo, I guess). I have no interest in higher-end smartwatches.
The Pebble doesn't even support things like reading emails, browsing the web, etc. and I wouldn't want to use such a feature. The battery life is good and it charges quickly -- mentally it's more in line with my Kindle than my phone as far as how much I think about its charge. If it runs out of batteries it isn't the end of the world anyway.
My goal in getting it was to spend less time fiddling with my phone and concentrating more on life around me, while still not missing situations where a friend or loved one needs to get in touch urgently. A secondary motivation was to miss fewer calls (I am somewhat hard of hearing & frequently keep my phone's ringer off anyway for professional reasons, and I do not always feel my phone vibrate through my jeans). The Pebble has been very successful in that regard and I consider the $99 well spent.
My hope is that even though Pebble is pursuing a somewhat higher-end market with the Pebble Time that they (or some other manufacturer) continue to produce a line of cheap, durable, minimalist smartwatches. I hope to be able to replace this one if it gets seriously damaged or becomes completely obsolete (if Bluetooth goes the way of the dodo, I guess). I have no interest in higher-end smartwatches.
I think trying to use a smartwatch in lieu of a smartphone is the wrong approach, even if this is the approach the Apple Watch and Android Wear devices are leaning toward. Pebble's approach with Time (and, indeed, with its previous devices) is refreshing in this regard, since the focus is on amplifying the strengths of smartwatches instead of trying to work around their weaknesses relative to smartphones.
There is a tv show called Psycho Pass which is set in the near future. I bring it up as it has a wristwatch in it where you press a button on it and then it projects a larger screen out of it (maybe 6"x4") about six inches away from the wrist. Sensors then allow you to interact with the screen.
So, I was thinking that the Apple phone would be something like this projected keyboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_keyboard) but as a touchscreen that is suspended in mid air.
No idea what the tech behind that could be. Closest I could come up with is the watch shooting out a fog when you want the virtual display.
I definitely thought the Apple Watch would be a little bit further ahead of other smartwatches than it is. I thought it would be to other smartwatches what the iPhone was to other smartphones at the time.
So, I was thinking that the Apple phone would be something like this projected keyboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_keyboard) but as a touchscreen that is suspended in mid air.
No idea what the tech behind that could be. Closest I could come up with is the watch shooting out a fog when you want the virtual display.
I definitely thought the Apple Watch would be a little bit further ahead of other smartwatches than it is. I thought it would be to other smartwatches what the iPhone was to other smartphones at the time.
The core functionality of notifications and at a glance complications really is great. If you are into fitness that's a big bonus. Depending on how much you like watches, the price may or may not be excessive.
While the price may need to come down for mass adoption, anyone that is already into watches shouldn't have too much trouble with the current prices. If you can afford it, they are totally worth it, IMO. (I had the original Pebble, liked it, and now I have an Apple Watch, and I'm also happy with it.)
While the price may need to come down for mass adoption, anyone that is already into watches shouldn't have too much trouble with the current prices. If you can afford it, they are totally worth it, IMO. (I had the original Pebble, liked it, and now I have an Apple Watch, and I'm also happy with it.)
Almost everyone will have a smart watch in the future for security and health reasons.
Parents will be able to know where their kids are at all times. Someone being attacked could shout into their watch that they need 911 and the GPS will route help to the scene. Health monitoring will become much more sophisticated. Women will enjoy going out without worrying about putting a phone in a pocket that doesn't exist. The heating and cooling of your car, office, and home will adjust to your body's temperature. Society will go cashless.
The biggest potential in smartwatches doesn't depend much on the screen interaction.
Parents will be able to know where their kids are at all times. Someone being attacked could shout into their watch that they need 911 and the GPS will route help to the scene. Health monitoring will become much more sophisticated. Women will enjoy going out without worrying about putting a phone in a pocket that doesn't exist. The heating and cooling of your car, office, and home will adjust to your body's temperature. Society will go cashless.
The biggest potential in smartwatches doesn't depend much on the screen interaction.
I admire Pebble as a company and a product, but are you still an underdog once you've raised 30 million?
Raising $30m and selling $30m of product are different things.
That said, Pebble has raised more than $30m [1].
[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pebble
That said, Pebble has raised more than $30m [1].
[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pebble
If you're up against companies with centi-billion cash reserves, yes.
If you raise $30 million, you have a centi-billion cash reserve :-) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centi- vs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecto-)
I like my original Pebble quite a bit. My use case might be different than most. I don't wear [edit: traditional] watches. Ever. Aside from a Pebble, I don't own a watch. I wear it when I travel, when I'm out and about meeting people / working, etc, where it would be both rude and annoying to check my phone every time it buzzed. A quick glance at my wrist is enough to know whether I need to respond soon or not.
I appreciate it while driving and while riding my bicycle.
That's 95% of my usage and I'm thankful I can go a full workweek on a single charge. One less charger to carry (and lose).
And in those times where I don't want the notifications buzzing (in meetings) I turn off notifs, or I shut off bluetooth on my phone.
I appreciate it while driving and while riding my bicycle.
That's 95% of my usage and I'm thankful I can go a full workweek on a single charge. One less charger to carry (and lose).
And in those times where I don't want the notifications buzzing (in meetings) I turn off notifs, or I shut off bluetooth on my phone.
> when I'm out and about meeting people / working, etc, where it would be both rude and annoying to check my phone every time it buzzed. A quick glance at my wrist is enough to know whether I need to respond soon or not.
Checking your watch while in a meeting / talking to someone is also rude, at least to me.
Checking your watch while in a meeting / talking to someone is also rude, at least to me.
> I don't wear watches. Ever. ... I wear [my watch] when I travel ...
You might want to rephrase that.
You might want to rephrase that.
I was an original Kickstarter backer for the original Pebble. I loved it and it replaced my 8 other mechanical/quartz watches.
When the Steel came out I backed that on day 1 as well. Its been my sole watch since it was shipped (the original now serves as a screen for Strava/RunKeeper on my bikes).
When I saw the Time announced I was horrified by the design - it seemed so backwards and basic. I'm clearly at the polar end of the bell-curve when it comes to the design assessment of this watch as I feel as if it was almost a joke, a toy. I know that there's some specific technical improvements under the hood. But for me it's like trading in a Lexus for a Lada because the Lada has a better car audio system.
Each to their own, now i'm awaiting the delivery of my rose gold Halograph - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/watchismo/the-halograph...
When the Steel came out I backed that on day 1 as well. Its been my sole watch since it was shipped (the original now serves as a screen for Strava/RunKeeper on my bikes).
When I saw the Time announced I was horrified by the design - it seemed so backwards and basic. I'm clearly at the polar end of the bell-curve when it comes to the design assessment of this watch as I feel as if it was almost a joke, a toy. I know that there's some specific technical improvements under the hood. But for me it's like trading in a Lexus for a Lada because the Lada has a better car audio system.
Each to their own, now i'm awaiting the delivery of my rose gold Halograph - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/watchismo/the-halograph...
The specs are pretty great for it's price but the design makes it look similar to a watch out of a candy machine.
The Verge's review is also worth reading: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/27/8661863/pebble-time-review...
The subjective opinions offered in that review strike me as arbitrary and needlessly harsh.
I agree that was worth reading, but it seemed a touch harsh.
There seems to be some disconnect between review objectives of 'is this a great product with growth potential' versus 'is this perfect for everyone' ... but maybe I just did not like the author's comparisons to toys as negative descriptors.
Fairness: I backed Pebble twice on KS, am wearing one, waiting for my new Time to arrive, and still marvel at the OLPC XO-1, also derided as a toy but one of the most amazing computers ever built. I like viewable screens :)
Fairness: I backed Pebble twice on KS, am wearing one, waiting for my new Time to arrive, and still marvel at the OLPC XO-1, also derided as a toy but one of the most amazing computers ever built. I like viewable screens :)
> still marvel at the OLPC XO-1, also derided as a toy but one of the most amazing computers ever built
Sorry, I was with you until the moment you described a pretty standard AMD Geode GX2 SoC with a pretty poor transflective LCD as "most amazing computer ever built". Let me guess, you worked with Nicholas? the self-promoting self-described father of web tablets who claimed to have saved millions of children when really he just chewed up millions of UNDP funds that could have gone towards genuinely life-changing projects?
Sorry, I was with you until the moment you described a pretty standard AMD Geode GX2 SoC with a pretty poor transflective LCD as "most amazing computer ever built". Let me guess, you worked with Nicholas? the self-promoting self-described father of web tablets who claimed to have saved millions of children when really he just chewed up millions of UNDP funds that could have gone towards genuinely life-changing projects?
Wow. I did volunteer some with OLPC early on, but no to all of that.
I'm talking about the water proof, sandproof, nearly indestructible laptop with the always viewable screen over there on my shelf with awesome user serviceability that "retailed" to me for less than $200 USD. By comparison my modern Chromebook (via CodeStarter), similar street price today as XO-1 then, has a much nicer processor, raw specs but can be easily killed by cat, coffee, or child and is useless outside (screen vs sun) or more than 1 day from a power tap (batteries) and is almost unrepairable by users. I like it but it's not the same kind of thing at all, and it's out-of-the box Linux is much less hackable and educational ... hence CodeStarter.
There's plenty of discussion around about the software stack (Sugar), the newer hardware (XO > 1), and no end of people discussing the organizations in Boston, Florida and elsewhere all over the Internet if that's what you were looking for ... but that really has nothing to do with what I said.
I'm talking about the water proof, sandproof, nearly indestructible laptop with the always viewable screen over there on my shelf with awesome user serviceability that "retailed" to me for less than $200 USD. By comparison my modern Chromebook (via CodeStarter), similar street price today as XO-1 then, has a much nicer processor, raw specs but can be easily killed by cat, coffee, or child and is useless outside (screen vs sun) or more than 1 day from a power tap (batteries) and is almost unrepairable by users. I like it but it's not the same kind of thing at all, and it's out-of-the box Linux is much less hackable and educational ... hence CodeStarter.
There's plenty of discussion around about the software stack (Sugar), the newer hardware (XO > 1), and no end of people discussing the organizations in Boston, Florida and elsewhere all over the Internet if that's what you were looking for ... but that really has nothing to do with what I said.
Video review from The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/27/8670645/pebble-time-review
I think being able to track your sleep is almost more important than tracking your exercising. Not having to put this thing on the charger every night will be a must have feature.
I have never understood this 'sleep tracking' gimmick. When I wake up I know how well I slept or didn't sleep. I can't see myself checking a graph on my watch after waking up feeling like crap and going "oh my watch says I slept fine. I must be wrong." or vise versa. It's about as useful as weather reports on the evening news that tell me what the weather was for the day - I know what the weather was, I was there.
I don't think I agree. I frequently go to bed much later than I should and can function on very little sleep. But it's bad for me and probably makes me age much faster.
A visualization of how much sleep I'm lacking in order to satisfy some basic sleep requirement would help towards alerting me to go bed earlier.
Also if I'm doing something to improve my quality of sleep (meditation, no digital devices an hour before sleep) it is rewarding to see that I'm sleeping longer and deeper.
Your reasoning can also be used to dismiss exercise tracking. You just exercised and you know you feel like you put in sufficient work. What's the point of knowing if you "competed a circle"?
A visualization of how much sleep I'm lacking in order to satisfy some basic sleep requirement would help towards alerting me to go bed earlier.
Also if I'm doing something to improve my quality of sleep (meditation, no digital devices an hour before sleep) it is rewarding to see that I'm sleeping longer and deeper.
Your reasoning can also be used to dismiss exercise tracking. You just exercised and you know you feel like you put in sufficient work. What's the point of knowing if you "competed a circle"?
As it happens I don't track my exercising either, I go to gym and do exercises simply because I know it's good for me and that as an IT worker my job is too sedentary. Maybe if I was working towards a competitive goal (run a marathon or do a triathlon) I would track as iterative improvement would be necessary but I'm not so I don't. Equally I don't have competitive goals for my sleep cycles.
I agree with you in principle but as someone with bad habits (not getting enough sleep) I think the watch can help as a guide to change those habits and live a healthier and longer life.
For whatever it's worth, there are some studies that suggest that even if you work out every day, sitting for a consecutive 8 hours a day will still shorten your lifespan. So a watch might remind you that you've been sitting to long and to take a 5 minute stroll.
For whatever it's worth, there are some studies that suggest that even if you work out every day, sitting for a consecutive 8 hours a day will still shorten your lifespan. So a watch might remind you that you've been sitting to long and to take a 5 minute stroll.
fwiw, Apple watch does actually remind you to stand up and walk around once an hour if you haven't. I've actually found it a nice reminder. I can tell when i get the buzz that yeah i've been sitting too long I should get up and walk around.
The point is that the 'gimmick' in question is meant not only to tell you whether or not you slept well, but also to tell you why you didn't sleep well.
I don't know how well this works in practice, but I know that's the primary purpose of similar functionality in Sleep Number mattresses ("You didn't seem to sleep well; you should bump your number up to 63 and raise the back about 2 degrees more"), and I figure it would be the same with a smartwatch counterpart (though probably with less precision; it can detect the tossing and turning, but probably can't detect pressure points the way a smartmattress theoretically can).
I don't know how well this works in practice, but I know that's the primary purpose of similar functionality in Sleep Number mattresses ("You didn't seem to sleep well; you should bump your number up to 63 and raise the back about 2 degrees more"), and I figure it would be the same with a smartwatch counterpart (though probably with less precision; it can detect the tossing and turning, but probably can't detect pressure points the way a smartmattress theoretically can).
I thought the timeline app was the most interesting part
* Pebble Time can't match the saturated colors of the Moto 360's screen indoors; however always-on and sunlight readability are far more important. I definitely prefer the Pebble Time screen for a watch.
* 7 day battery life: Don't care. I don't sleep with my watch on and with wireless or magnetic charging it's not a hassle to charge nightly.
* The Moto 360 touchscreen is slow and unreliable. I much prefer the Pebble's physical buttons.
* I prefer the Pebble's vibration motor to the Moto 360's.
* I find the Moto 360's voice commands to be mostly useless. My phone has always-on voice activation and it's faster and more reliable to talk directly to my phone even while it's still in my pocket. I wouldn't miss this feature switching to Pebble Time.
* I still prefer the Moto 360's design over any other smartwatch including Pebble Time. Most people assume it's an Apple Watch. That said, I think the Pebble Time looks reasonably good. Certainly better than any of the square Android Wear watches.