Pebble Time is an interesting smartwatch. This is a bit different from anything else out there in the sense that it’s super low-tech. There’s absolutely nothing flashy about it. As far as smartwatches go, this is as barebones as it gets, but is that bad thing?
I’ve been wearing Pebble Time for about a week now and being an owner of the last generation, this was extremely easy to get used to. Pebble Time’s design is thinner, lighter, and more comfortable to use than its predecessor. It definitely feels like a second generation product, but still feels a bit behind in certain areas when compared to Apple Watch or Android Wear. The materials being used are mostly plastic, but there is a nice metal bezel around the outside (of the inner bezel) and Gorilla Glass covering the screen. Pebble Time is also water-resistant and feels quite durable.
Pebble Time features a colored backlit e-paper display, that’s easy on the eyes and works good enough to make your way through the menus and options Pebble Time has to offer. The company’s new Time OS is a re-imagining of the software you’ll use to navigate it. Everything on Pebble Time is controlled with four buttons. Animations are snappy and fun and the interface is very smooth, but you won’t find any touch screen here.
Check out our Pebble Time review video below:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTdm3OJ3Fw]
One of the main features here is Pebble’s Timeline. This is accessed from the main screen using the up and down buttons on the right side. This is essentially just a look into the past and future based on your calendar events. From an event you can dig deeper to find out more information about it or you can remove it. I never found much use for it, but it’s a handy feature to have.
Within the Pebble Time companion app, you’ll find additional watch faces that can be downloaded, along with third-party apps for things like Twitter, Philips Hue, and Nest to name a few. The companion app is very straight forward and easy to use and apps can be arranged in a custom order. Pebble’s developer community is pretty strong and there’s a lot to discover here, but I really only ever cared about having notifications on my wrist.
The main reason I used Pebble Time was for notifications. When each notification arrive, you’ll feel a solid short vibration on your wrist. Unfortunately, it’s quite limited when compared to native smartwatch solutions on both iOS and Android, but one thing is clear: Pebble Time is much more useful if you’re using an Android device. A lot of what makes this a good smartwatch is currently unavailable for iOS users.
Three major things about Pebble Time and iOS that are extremely annoying:
- There’s no granular control of notifications on iOS. It’s all or nothing here, unless you’d like to disable those app’s notifications on your iPhone as well.
- There’s no way to prevent your iPhone from buzzing if notifications are being displayed on Pebble Time.
- There are currently no voice replies using Pebble Time’s build in microphone.
To be fair, I think these limitations might have to do with restrictions in iOS. Pebble notes that voice replies to Gmail notifications are coming soon, but currently there’s nothing else to look forward to with Pebble Time on iOS. On Android, this is a completely different experience. Everything I’ve mentioned works great across all compatible apps and services. Pebble Time’s voice dictation feature will work with hundreds of apps already available on Android.
One other annoying aspect of Pebble Time’s software is that you need to press the center button twice to dismiss a notification. It’s a minor thing, but I’d like a one-click solution here. If you don’t dismiss the notifications as they arrive, they will remain visible on your device. However, you can go through the notifications list in Pebble Time and dismiss all of them at once.
The best feature Pebble Time has to offer is its battery life. I used Pebble for four days straight and still had 40% battery life. Regardless of anything that’s limiting Pebble Time’s functionality, there’s definitely nothing standing in the way of battery life.
The real story here centers around the new hardware and software design. It’s nice for sure, but not the prettiest looking smartwatch available. Here’s the bottom line: Is Pebble Time a must-have smartwatch? Nope. Are there better solutions available? Yep. Pebble Time only set me back around $180, but I’d rather pay a bit more (or less in the case of certain Android Wear devices) for something that offers native integration on either iOS or Android. I’m sure software updates will improve Pebble Time in the future, but as for now, it feels like it’s stuck in the past.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
I’m sure it’s fine for what is, but it’s just so cheap-looking!
Pebble Time Steel is coming soon.
Without real IOS support, Steel makes no difference. Either they figure it out or lose sales to Apple Watch
I turn on DoNotDisturb on my iPhone when using my Pebble. This allows notifications on the Pebble without notifications on my phone. Does this not work on the new Pebble OS?
I’ve owned an original Pebble, and it was decent for what it cost. I now own an Apple Watch and it is much better obviously. Its worth bearing in mind though that the new feature of Watch OS 2, Time Travel, is a direct copy of the whole premise of the Pebble Time so they must be heading in the right direction.
This is totally true…
Except, it isn’t. Apple demonstrated, but did not ship, the Time Travel feature, last year…before the Pebble Time was introduced.
In fact it was noted as one of the dropped features along with the 3 watchfaces that are shipping with watchOS 2…
-K
That picture of the three side by side really says a lot about the Apple watch design. That middle one is uuuuuuugly
I agree about the double press to dismiss notifications. The old one never made you do that, the new way is a pain. I also dislike how much of the notification screen is wasted with the colour bar and icon at the top.
You can just tap the top left button to dismiss notifications in one button press.
When you look at them all side by side, Apple Watch is just superior. Before the Apple Watch was announced, I liked the design of that Motorola watch. However, when I saw a review video of a guy wearing them and showing functions, that dark line at the bottom of the screen spoiled it for me. Then Apple Watch came and I realised how outdated other designs are and how many things is wrong with them. Pebble watch always seemed to me like something for little kids. Apple Watch, in my eyes, is for grown-up people.
Notifications on Apple Watch are controlled by the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, and can be as many or fewer than the notifications in use on the iPhone. It’s not an “all or nothing” requirement. There is definitely granularity.
When notifications are sent to the Apple Watch (and the iPhone is locked in your pocket), the iPhone remains silent. Only when the iPhone is awake does it display notications when the Apple Watch is attached.
Voice replies work with Messages on the Apple Watch. They will for email this fall.
I now have my pebble time and paired with my Galaxy Note, it’s the best watch by far. Yes Apple IOS is doing everything to limit any other product that isn’t theres. But then again, I never trusted a company who 1. Sells you phone and you can’t replace a battery on, 2. sells you a watch with barely a day of battery and smashes like glass when it falls from a bathroom counter and 3 sells computers with mice with only one button or one expansion port.. Uh, no. I have banged my pebble watch around enough, 7 days of battery and all the apps and faces I could dream of having. Its a great watch for the price, water resistant in my shower and pool. I can dictate my messages and do a number numerous more things. Honestly, if you have an apple phone, you’ll probably do better with an apple watch. But hey that is just me. I am guessing this author loves his apple.
Probably would have been wiser to post this on the 9to5Google side. We Apple fanboys are easily offended types… :p
Personally i think you shouldn’t judge all of a company’s products over a few shitty products like Magic Mouse or the 12″ MacBook. The Apple watch is a great product, but as over priced as it gets. Im probably going to buy me a Pebble Time or a Time Steel.
I own a Pebble watch (original) and not an Apple Watch.
The reason is because I have found digital watches them to be useful for decades due to certain basic features.
The Pebble has those features.
1. Always on watch face. Very useful in a restaurant or theater to see the time at a glance and not having to move my arm or wrist (or dig into a pocket for an iPhone).
2. Long-term battery life (up to seven days). Battery life is very easy to manage on a Pebble with hardly a thought or worry. I sleep with the Pebble on my wrist and that way I can get notifications in the morning. Charging a Pebble during the day is very quick (about an hour for me).
3. The Pebble has a decent enough notification system.
I never miss a call or text when I don’t have my phone in my pocket at home.
4. The Pebble has basic digital watch apps (timers, alarms).
* The Pebble Time color UI looks interesting. But for looks I would consider the Pebble Time Steel when it becomes available.
You can stop the phone vibrations, turn off “show on lock screen” and it wont turn on your phone screen
Conclusion: No fruit in the brand, no good.
LOL! The three side by side is a bit of an ouch to Apple and Android, eh? Blank screens! I have none of them, but, even as a total Apple user, Pebble is the most likely because :
1) I can look at it and see the time (without having to do anything!)
2) Battery life
Furthermore, my iPhone, I want it to be all things – a phone, a camera, a gps, an ebook reader, a PDA. And I wear a watch to tell the time.
But I don’t want a watch that monitors and records everything I do, that can pummel me with notifications for every app I could imagine.
I don’t need or want all the features of the Apple Watch. I just want to know the time, what’s on my todo, and if my phone is ringing (often it’s on silent and I don’t always notice the vibration).
I also think the Apple Watch is ugly (looks so 2008). Ditto the Pebbles.
So, maybe I’ll keep waiting for a decent looking one at a reasonable price, not overloaded with features from Android. :/
Not to mention it doesn’t look very good (though I realise that’s subjective)
There’s a solution for problem 1. I had to contact the pebble support to find out. :)
“””Thank you for contacting Pebble Support. To not send notifications from app to your watch, but continue to receive those notifications on your phone, you would need to change the Notification center settings for that app.
As an example, you can turn off watch notifications for SMS by going to the iPhone’s Settings app, then select Notification Center. On the list that appears, select Messages. Next, select Show In Notification Center and set the number to zero.
This will mean that you would receive the notification only on your phone. “””
Dear Pebble
This is why Apple in the end will close your business down and it is sorry as I believe you have a better product but the difference is that Apple ensure that their supply chain and all suppliers they use are world class. I cannot say the same for you, your supply chain and your suppliers are not world class and they are damaging your Brand to the extent that customers will rather walk away from a superior product than dealing with suppliers that demonstrate an utter lack of the importance of Brands and customer service.
An example if you please> I ordered your new Pebble TIme and you promptly shipped it with DHL Express (For which I paid a pretty penny) it took 2 days to get from Hong Kong to Johannesburg South Africa and yes I was excited so I could track this on the tracking service you provided (tracking number 6654572735) . After arrival I waited and waited and absolutely nothing happened. No communication from DHL no notifications nothing. After 4 days my patience with them ran out and I tried to contact them, a complete disaster, I have had phones put down, I have experience call center bingo and guess what I still have not received and answer on what is going on. So I asked you would Apple allow this to happen, I think Not.
So Pebble you can see that as of this moment I am no longer in love with your product and in fact I think you should take it back because you have clearly demonstrated to me that your attention to detail is just not there because if it was you would never ever allowed a supplier like DHL to touch your Brand.
So please take your Pebble back, refund me my money and we will call it quits and yes I will go and buy an overpriced Apple watch because in the end I know I will leave with a smile instead of suffering a near heart attack.
Are people really comparing a $200 watch with a $400 watch?