Pebble Time SmartWatch : Review
There are great questions about some of the best smartwatch models – do we really need these worn? What are they for? How much should they cost? The Pebble Time answers our questions extensively.
Pebble home creations have always been useful to industry enthusiasts but always away from the vast majority of public media, while now with Pebble Time, we have a new Timeline UI that has already been copied by Apple Watch and is ready to astonish even beginners.
The game of Pebble is played solely on its uniqueness, are its unique features that distinguish it distinctly from Apple Watch or smartwatches with Android Wear. The screen E-paper technology translates into an ever-expanding display that shines in sunlight, plus battery life comes up to seven days. Pebble Time also features a brand-new Timeline interface that promises to reduce the size and confusion of apps, if you need information or statistics on your workout, just click and you’ll have everything on screen.
A built-in microphone adds the ability to offer voice prompts and memos, even in the absence of full voice command functionality. Of course, it does not offer the same degree of sophisticated and technologically high-end style as competition, but the ability to add more functionalities over time could be the Pebble Time victory card.
Continue reading our review to find out more features and features of the smartwatch Pebble Time!
Product prices and availability are subject to change. Any price and availablility information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of any products.
Design and Display E-paper
First, Pebble looks better live than the photos you’ve seen online. The black pattern is monochrome but will look nice under the sleeves of the jacket – for the record, we prefer Time in its red and black color.
Of course, Time may have a ” plasticous ” appearance but with a stainless steel bezel, it retains the simple appearance of the original Pebble, adding more pleasing and unisex curves. It’s very light with only 42.5 g including the standard belt, it’s 20% thinner with 9.5 mm less and the new slightly curved body helps make it more comfortable to wear on the wrist. It’s amazing how many smartwatch makers are decided to make devices that are flat on the top of the facade. Time is the kind of smartwatch that you can forget to have on your wrist until it vibrates. Comfortable not?
The rear window is wide, and this makes the screen perhaps too small – with a size of 1.25 inches. The display has the same size as the previous models. Yet, the color screen e-paper makes Pebble notifications alive with respect to the first model, even though it returns ably to be monochrome for the tedious settings and the menu.
Comparisons with the old but timeless GameBoy Color come to mind easily – this is a good indication of how good you will be with Pebble Time. The display also satisfies us thanks to the backlighting feature – but remembers that this is not like an Android Wear screen, bright and incisive, if we want to see it in that way. If you’re interested in Android Wear devices why not read what’s best in this guide?
The four physical buttons are left from the previous version, and that’s not bad – anyone who wore a smartwatch for some time knows that pressing a good old button may be preferable to a swipe or scroll that could go blank.
Pool or sea and Pebble agree as it guarantees water resistance up to 50 meters. You can mount any type of 22mm strap on the Pebble Time and a new quick-release mechanism (a pin that you can slide away from) allows you to switch from one strap to the other in just ten seconds. It’s really ton to proof. Smartstraps with additional functions or batteries have not yet appeared, but $ 1 million has been allocated for the production of the latter, so they may be on the market in 6 to 12 months.
Timeline, Features and OS
The hopes we had for the new Pebble operating system, especially for the Timeline feature, were fully repaid. We mentioned earlier that Apple seems to have fallen in love with this idea of the Pebble Timeline, so they will soon appear as Time Travel on Apple’s Watch!
There are currently only 13 Timeline applications ready in the Apple Store Pebble but from this point we can already see the potential of this terminal – applications such as Foursquare Swarm, Morpheuz sleep fitness and monitoring apps and battery handler Battery can display alerts on the Timeline automatically.
There is still a dial on the screen, but do not worry, you can still press the central button to access ” current ” information such as music player, weather, etc. By pressing the button at the bottom you can move 24 hours back while pressing the top key will move you 48 hours ahead. It is, for the moment, simple calendar functionality so it’s nothing that will change the cards on the table as we hoped but still could do it later.
Each ” card ” on the Timeline has a slightly geek icon, like a clock, and also a very nice background color. It’s not like when you do searches or view positions on Google Now, so it’s not suggestive in the same way, but it should be fine for the average user.
With the latest update, some interesting features have been introduced – you will still be able to view your smartphone notifications on the screen, but they may be displayed on the Timeline in the form of alerts or notifications.
You can set up some applications or functions at the long press of one of the keys, such as music. Music controls include play / pause and skip and can be set to work with Play Music, Spotify, and so on. To use Spotify playlists you will need to use third-party applications.
It is also worth remembering that Pebble Time is compatible with iPhone and Android. The new voice response feature on the iPhone only works with Gmail, while on Android, there are a large number of applications that support this feature.
The voice dictation device works surprisingly well with the responses to WhatsApp and Facebook messages, by accurately detecting our words. But you will not have much time to talk after the word ” listening on the screen ” appears. This function works only for small dictation and messaging sessions.
Functions, Applications, and Usability
One of the benefits of the new color e-paper screen are the new quads that can be combined with any use such as the Mondrian style or the one with Donkey Kong to embellish your smartwatch. Pebble has also removed the limit for the number of dials and applications, so you can add as much as you want from the Pebble application for iOS or Android.
All older applications, more than 6,500, will run on the new Pebble Time, even if they are not in color. Which is great considering that a lot of great names like TripAdvisor, the convenient application to find nearby restaurants and attractions, have made the effort to release Pebble Time updates.
The Time has some limitations – for example, it does not show images or movies while Apple Watch can do it. Part of the answer options include templates (excellent) and emojis or emoticons, but these are not rendered in a fairly clear way to distinguish the gifs without straining to watch the clock. Developers will soon be in the process of making a better render for Pebble applications. If you use Android and you also have another running racing tracker or smartwatch, for example, you can use PlexFit that is compatible with Google Fit so have everything within a single app including the Pebble Pedometer.
There are no extra sensors such as rhythm or heart-rate monitoring, although these may be added in the future through additional Smartstraps.
Battery Life and Recharging
The seven-day battery promise is probably the big reason why you might be interested in Pebble Time. The best we could do was get to 5/6 days but to be honest when we wrote our review by adding new apps, we were able to push the smartwatch to last a little longer than usual.
It recharges very quickly through a proprietary cable that secures the pins on the back of the clock in a simpler way than the previous pebble, a point in favor that will mean that you will no longer think the device is charging while actually not it is. We would have wanted a dock to charge the device, but for now the cable works more than fine.
Quick recharge dramatically changes the way you use smartwatch: you can receive all your alerts and notifications directly on the screen. You can play Pixel Miner without worrying about downloading the entire battery in a matter of seconds. We are not sure that e-paper will suit us over the long term, and if this turns out to be true it might be worth a look at the new Pebble Time Steel that will come ” up to ” ten days of battery life.
Conclusion
PROS :
- Unique timeline
- Long lasting battery
- Voice commands
- Smartstraps
CONS :
- Limited iOS
- Price
- Improved display
- Notifications at a glance: calendar events, text and emails, incoming calls, and...
- Includes Pebble Health, a built-in activity and sleep tracker with daily reports and...
- Water resistant to 30 meters
Product prices and availability are subject to change. Any price and availablility information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of any products.
