> Many old Pebble apps/faces use weather APIs that no longer work (Yahoo, OpenWeather). The Pebble mobile app now catches these network requests and returns data from Open-Meteo - keeping old watchfaces working!
That's some sweet quality of life fixes!
And we are very determined to keep the Open-Meteo weather API open-access indefinitely and don’t share the same fate as many closed-source APIs like Yahoo or OpenWeatherMap.
I was hoping to have my watch well before the forced migration of my FitBit account to Google. Now it seems to be up in the air if I will get it in time.
I'm curious, what sets it apart from other watches? The design look nice
Pebble was my first smartwatch, all the way back in 2015. It was fun and quirky back when it was first released. Then it stopped production for many years while smartwatch category grew. Now they're coming back with same/similar models as before.
For me, its value lies more in nostalgia than anything else. I don't expect it to ever compete with the likes of my Apple watch for smart features, or a Garmin for activity tracking.
That said, it's an e-paper display so battery life is pretty good. Plus it had (and probably will have) an active community of small apps and watchfaces, which kept (and probably will keep) it from becoming stale quickly.
It's a very minor distinction, but they aren't a epaper display (low refresh rate, zero power to maintain an image), rather the technology is a sharp memory LCD (ludicrously low power, but high refresh rate). They're extremely neat and don't suffer from the washed out color and ghosting that epaper does, at the cost of needing ever so slightly above no power to keep an image displayed. I much, much prefer them even though Sharp doesn't really advertise them anymore.
Isn’t e-paper the general category of low power displays? I understand that “e-ink” are a trademarked subset of the broader e-paper category, which also includes memory-in-pixel LCD displays which other watches like Garmin (and probably pebble) have. E-ink displays are only manufactured by eink corp, and are popularly found on e-readers, shelf price tags in some stores etc.
I may be mixing terms in my brain, though. Happy to be corrected.
I haven't really heard it being used like that, always heard e-paper being used as the specific e-ink displays and never anything else. The only time I've seen the (in my mind) confused messaging is on Pebble's own website, I still have my original Pebble Time somewhere, and that's a good part just down to how much I love those displays. I don't think I'd have used one for years if they were epaper.
> The only time I've seen the (in my mind) confused messaging is on Pebble's own website
Yeah, other wearable manufacturers who use the same display technology usually call it MIP instead. Pebble are pretty much the only ones who call it e-paper, which has led some to think it's a distinct thing, when it's just MIP.
Longtime pebble user here. The main things are the always-on ePaper display, long battery life (they claim this new gen's battery will last a month!), and the hackability. I personally love the user interface and charming animations!
Focus on longevity and extensibility. Lots of people still use their original Pebbles from 10 years ago and the community continued to release content for the platform. Also, the batteries last a really long time.
Besides what others already mentioned, it's the only smart watch with an open source OS supported by the vendor themselves (that I know of anyway).
Privacy, it does not push data to the cloud. And also the ease of access to the data.
When the first Pebble was released, and I got a couple of those, it was unique and cool as hell. This time around, you can get a programmable smartwatch from China for a fraction of the price looking way cooler.
Mind to share one of those models ?
Far has I know, pebble user have spent the last 10 years searching for another pebble without luck.
I started using Amazfit years ago, love it and it delivers.
I had Basis first and this is the most loved watch from me, then Pebble.
Size is the main differentiator for me. I had a pebble, then an Apple Watch, and I've always hated how chunky the Apple Watch and other competitors are.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pebble/comments/1qr1npj/pebble_roun...
For me it's the eink display that makes them interesting. Being programmable or looking cool is nice, but for that I could also buy an Apple/Google/Samsung watch - that's not unique.
The Pebble display isn't e-ink, or unique amongst watches, it's an off-the-shelf MIP LCD from Sharp.
You can get the same thing in watches from Garmin, Coros, Polar, Suunto, Casio, and probably more.
You can't get a hackable watch for a fraction of the price, though.
I'd pay more for being able to fumble about in the codebase and add exactly what I want.
I wouldn't put in the same league as pebble, but it definitely ticks the boxes:
Battery life is real.
"programmable smartwatch from China" can you share some examples?
ok buy one of those then