With all the fuss surrounding the Apple (AAPL) Watch launch, it’s easy to forget there was another darling in the smartwatch arena — one that also set sales records. Pebble was the previous poster child for smartwatch success, and with the new Pebble Time, it’s hoping to recapture some of that past glory.
The original Pebble watch set a Kickstarter funding record in 2012, dazzled at the Consumer Electronics Show and went on to be the best-selling smartwatch to that point. A stainless steel version was added, followed by an app store.
In 2014, Samsung (SSNLF) finally overtook Pebble to take the smartwatch sales crown in 2014, but it did so by offering six different models and promoting them heavily. Not really a fair fight.
With the Apple Watch, Pebble was in danger of being left in the dust. The company put together the new Pebble Time with a color display, a new operating system and another Kickstarter funding record, meeting its funding goal in 17 minutes.
Despite the $20 million from Kickstarter, reports have Pebble taking out loans in a sign the company may be struggling. Will the Pebble Time be good enough to keep this smartwatch pioneer from being crushed by the competition? Read our Pebble watch review to find out.
Pebble Time Review: The Best of the Pebble Watch
The biggest physical change in the Pebble Time compared to the original Pebble and Pebble Steel is the addition of a color display.
This isn’t color like the Apple Watch’s gorgeous 290 ppi or 302 ppi touchscreen display. Pebble Time uses an e-paper color display. That means color is limited, washed out and pixelated compared to the Apple Watch.
However, the trade-off is that e-paper displays sip power rather than guzzle it, so like the original Pebble Watch, the Pebble Time display is always on, it’s viewable in bright sunlight and battery life blows away smartwatches that use those bright, backlit LCD or OLED displays.
You still have access to the Pebble app store, which has several thousand (mostly free) apps and watch faces. The Pebble time also retains excellent water resistance, compatibility with both iOS and Android smartphones, notifications, uses a standard watch band (for easy and inexpensive replacement) and has basic fitness tracking capabilities.
Other new additions to the Pebble Time include a microphone for dictating responses to messages (the feature is currently supported only on Android) and a smart charging port that supports future “smart straps” that could offer features like a heart rate monitor.
Pebble Time Review: Timeline
Once you get past the color display, the big functional difference between the original Pebble watch and the Pebble Time is a new operating system, featuring Timeline.
Timeline displays everything in a calendar-like view, with physical buttons letting the user scroll forward and backward to see events, reminders and alarms. In effect, the UI has been revamped to organize and present information like a wrist-mounted daily planner.
Press another button and you see a list of icons representing any apps you own, and Pebble has added animation when switching between apps for a little more visual appeal.
The new Timeline interface is a big improvement, but it will also be rolled out to existing Pebble Watch models later this year.
Pebble Time Review: Specs
- Always-on 1.25-inch color e-paper display with LED backlight
- 0.37-inch thick, curved case (polycarbonate with stainless steel bezel)
- 3D accelerometer, compass, ambient light sensor, microphone, vibration motor
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Lithium-ion polymer battery rated at up to 7 days
- Magnetic charge connector
- Onboard memory sufficient to store 50-100 apps and watch faces
- Silicon band (compatible with standard watch bands)
- Water resistant to 98 feet
- Compatible with iOS and Android
- MSRP $199
Note: Pebble watch review is based on Pebble Time; Pebble Time Steel has same basic specs in a stainless steel case for $299.
Pebble Time Review: Conclusion
The original Pebble watch was a big hit with the tech crowd who embraced it because they saw it as platform-neutral, affordable, accessible device with realistic design. (It wasn’t trying to put a full-fledged computer on your wrist.)
The Pebble Time faces a much more challenging task.
It’s coming into a smartwatch market that’s far more mature than in 2012. The consumer electronics giants are focused on gaining marketshare, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) is pushing Android Wear as the operating system standard for wearables, and activity tracker makers like Fitbit are offering devices that offer notifications and other smartwatch-like functionality.
Compared to the Apple Watch, the Pebble Time looks almost like a toy, and the more polished-looking Pebble Time Steel costs $299 — only $30 less than Apple’s starting price. The display looks small and washed out in comparison to the Apple Watch; there’s no heart rate sensor, no touchscreen, and apps are much more limited in functionality.
That being said, the Pebble Time is very good smartwatch for those who don’t care so much about playing games on their wrist. It has unbeatable battery life, doesn’t require expensive proprietary wrist straps, it plays nice with both Android and iOS and its base model is certainly affordable.
The fact that $20 million worth of Pebble Time watches sold on Kickstarter shows there’s demand for this device, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the overall smartwatch market.
A lot of Pebble’s future is going to depend on those who loved the original Pebble Watch upgrading, but with Timeline being offered to those original buyers, the job gets tougher. Some are obviously making the jump, but the fact that Pebble is apparently seeking money to stay afloat isn’t a great sign.
Once the Pebble Time hits retail shelves (in time for the holiday shopping season), consumers will get the chance to vote on the company’s future with their wallets.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
