This is pretty historic, as Pebble was the first smartwatch in the world, long before the likes of Apple and Samsung decided to get into this market. I've always had a soft spot for it as the product was built with the right intentions -- to reduce distractions and only retrieve important ones. Very similar to what iPhone's focus mode, but this was a decade ago!
I own a Pebble Time and still do! Every once in a while, thanks to the Rebble community I'd fire it up from time to time and get all nostalgic.
the ever iconic Pebble Time box.
In case it wasn't clear, here's a super summarised timeline:
2013 - Pebble launched first smartwatch in the world.
2015 - Pebble Time topped Kickstarter's most launched product (no2 to date).
2017 - Pebble Time 2 was announced; but Pebble later sold to Fitbit - $23mil. RIP Pebble.
2021 - Fitbit was sold to Google - $2.1bil.
2025 - Google made PebbleOS open source - with Eric (and community) leading the charge. and this enabled Eric to introduce the new Duo watches - do-over of the Pebble 2 / Time 2!
Eric Migicovsky has announced 2 new Pebble watches -- which are upgraded versions of the Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2.
My thoughts? In general, I’m interested in the Core Time 2, the coloured version.
Always on display and super readable e-paper wearables are back! Yay. 👍
30 days battery life? wth that’s really good. 👍👍
The Core Time 2 with colour comes with a touch screen! But really, we know all the fun is in the tactile buttons! 👍
Metal frame and buttons! 👍
I wish they considered making smaller straps like 20mm instead of 22mm. I’ve gotten used to 20mm that 22mm looks huge now. 👎
Price is so so! USD$149 and USD$225, but you’d have to consider the preorder wait time - July and December. That’s quite a wait! 😐
Heart rate monitor also included - not bad. 👍
Overall, I think this is awesome news and am looking forward to other innovations taking advantage of the open source PebbleOS. I’ve been a long term Oura ring user that I don’t feel the need for a smartwatch anymore these days, but I’d come back to wearing a Pebble for sure.
P.S. Back soon — hopefully not in 3 months 😄
Edit: Yay Eric noticed my mention.
