It's about Time: Meet Pebble's new smartwatch (hands-on)
A color screen, a microphone and a new timeline interface: it arrives this May, and here's what we think so far.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
It's got a color screen. It has a microphone. But it's also low-key. I stared at Pebble's latest watch, the Pebble Time, and thought: this is almost cutesy.
The newest Pebble watch, unveiled today, isn't a kick-out-the-stops smartwatch like those that run Google's Android Wear software, or Apple Watch. In many of ways, it's a throwback to the original Pebble: a simple, plastic-looking, almost toy-like design. When CEO Eric Migicovsky demonstrated a white model on his wrist, it resembled a Casio watch crossed with a Tamagotchi.
Pebble Time isn't a huge leap forward from previous Pebbles. It's backwards-compatible with the 6,500 Pebble apps and watchfaces already out there. The difference is mostly about the software...and a few hardware tweaks. But is this enough to draw in new buyers in an increasingly-crowded smartwatch market?
Color screen, but different tech
Like the other Pebbles, the Pebble Time aims for a seven-day battery life, is swim- and shower-friendly, and has physical buttons. But the Time has a color e-paper display that has a faster refresh rate than Qualcomm's Mirasol screens, capable of 30 frames per second animation (I watched some Nyan Cat to prove it). It's meant to look good in everyday light, but it also has a backlight.
The 20 percent thinner body (down to 9.5mm) still looks chunky in photos, but it has a slightly curved body and a stainless-steel bezel, plus a Gorilla Glass-covered display, with touches of the higher-end Pebble Steel. But the look definitely feels more cozy and, well, toy-like. It's rather clunky compared to high-design Android Wear watches like the LG G Watch R or Moto 360. Part of the issue, visually, might have to do with that stainless-steel bezel: it makes the bezel seem thicker, at first glance, than previous Pebbles, and thicker than recent Android Wear watches, even if it's more polished than the original Pebble.
The Pebble Time will come in three colors at first: red, white and black. The watch-strap is a standard 22mm, so it can be swapped, but a new pin makes it easier to switch them out.
A microphone allows voice-to-text translation, which will allow for quick responses to messages, much like Android Wear. On Android phones, this feature will work off the same API as Android Wear. On iOS, it'll be a trickier gambit: it's "more of chore," Migicovsky admits, and for now iOS voice-to-text will be limited to Gmail, where it'll work for responses in Mail or the Gmail app. The microphone will also store voice memos, and allow you to potentially shoot actual voice responses to people to play back on their phones (the Pebble Time itself lacks a speaker).
Expansion: A hardware port, you say?
The Pebble Time has another new feature: a hardware port.
The Pebble Time, like the existing Pebble, won't do a ton of fitness tracking by itself. Instead, a charge connector will double as a serial port for future hardware peripherals. Why? "Why not?" asks Migicovsky. His take is that Pebble isn't an expert on sensors, so future sensor innovators could develop accessories that snap into the Pebble Time and use it to run their hardware.
It may be wishful thinking, but the cool part is that it sounds like Pebble Time is very hackable by design. The Pebble Time will also be capable of connecting with Bluetooth LE fitness accessories, such as heart-rate monitors.
Time-based OS
Pebble Time runs a revamped type of OS, using a "new metaphor," according to Migicovsky: time itself. Instead of scrolling apps, the new Pebble OS runs off a timeline. The top button scrolls back in time, the bottom forward. Notifications, appointments and Google Now-like info pings get pinned along the timeline, and you click on one to open up more information, almost like a mini-app. The Weather Channel and ESPN are on board to serve notifications to the Pebble Time's new OS, with more services to come.
Sound a bit like Android Wear? It did to me. Pebble's new OS is meant to skip apps, but the apps are still there: pressing a center button brings up the apps in at-a-glance thumbnails, which you can scroll through or open. The new Pebble Time has no maximum app limit, but there's no hint of how much storage the device has. Migicovsky admits that you'll probably only realistically keep up to 60 on it at a time. As for watchfaces, unlike the current Pebble, you'll only install one at a time. This time around the Pebble wants you looking at info, not clock designs.
Hands-on impressions
CNET editor Lynn La checked out the Pebble Time in person, and admitted that while it did look rather chunky, the Time is downright slim compared to the first generation. With its metal frame and sleeker aesthetic, the new design is appealing, and reflects a more finished and elegant end-product for Pebble.
The e-paper display is indeed easily viewable outdoors, and though the colors and resolution purposefully don't compare to high-end smartwatches, the Time is still comfortable to read and navigate. The charming simplicity of the Pebble 3.0 OS is also user-friendly, and by organizing its UI around your personal schedule and interests, it feels more intuitive than continuously switching out to different apps.
Price and availability: Soon
The Pebble Time is available now to pre-order on Kickstarter, a move designed to appeal to early Pebble adopters. For $159, you can get one by May. The Pebble Time will retail later on for $179 and then $199, which is the same price as the Pebble Steel. (UK and Australian prices have yet to be announced, but $179 converts to roughly £115 or AU$230; the Steel currently sells for £179 in the UK, which is AU$355.)
The original Pebble and Pebble Steel will still be sold: in fact, the good news is that those older models will get the newer timeline-based OS later this year, after the Pebble Time debuts.
Smartwatches galore will fill up 2015. Will Pebble Time find its way amid all this new wrist-gear? The price isn't far off most Android Wear watches. It may not stand out as much as the original Pebble, but it looks like the goal this time around is to turn what works about the existing watch into something more appealing for everyone else...and avoid diving into the high-tech sensor game for now.