GoKawiilThe new $225 Pebble Time 2 smartwatch feels like a toy, and we mean that in the best sense of the word. The refreshed version of the indie smartwatch brand, rebooted by its original founder, feels casual, fun, and playful, — not like a mini-computer on your wrist. Its quirky watchfaces and simple apps and games give it a sort of hacker energy, while its physical buttons, e-paper screen, and long battery life provide its retro vibes.
The first thing you’ll notice about the new Pebble Time 2 is that the device looks nothing like an Apple Watch. Where the Apple Watch has an OLED touchscreen display, the Pebble opts for a color e-paper screen. Where the Apple Watch comes in a range of band types, from sporty straps to high-end metals and leather, the Pebble Time 2 has a silicone watch band, making it feel more like a Swatch rival than a fancy smartwatch. And instead of picking between different aluminum finishes, as with the Apple Watch, the Pebble Time 2 offers a choice of colors: blue, red, silver, or black wrapped around its stainless steel frame of silver or black.
Pebble Time 2 colors Image Credits:Core Devices
The watch’s 64-color e-paper screen is always on, but can be backlit (via an RGB LED) with a flick of your wrist or via taps. Like almost everything on the watch, you can customize this, too. (I set mine to light up with a single tap instead of two.)
This display is more muted compared with an Apple Watch’s Retina display, but it’s easy to see in bright sunlight, and the trade-off here means the battery can last a long time: about 21 days on a charge, depending on use, with a charger included in the box.
But where Pebble really differentiates itself from other smartwatches is its software and especially, its community. The community is really the reason the watch still exists at all — after the company behind the original Pebble shut down.
Pebble’s comeback
Pebble had first begun as a Kickstarter project before ultimately making its way to Google, by way of a Fitbit acquisition. Before its exit, the company sold 2 million watches, generating $230 million in sales. Even so, its founder, Eric Migicovsky (who has since co-founded the messaging app Beeper), openly shared that Pebble’s financials weren’t able to sustain the business, which forced the sale.
Fitbit kept the watch’s servers and app store alive until mid-2018. After that, the job was taken over by Pebble’s own user community, an unusual show of brand loyalty that effectively kept the product on life support for free.
Image Credits:Core Devices
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