Nearly 10 years after the iconic Pebble smartwatch was discontinued, the company is back with two new “Pebble-like” smartwatch models sporting low-power screens and packing a 30-day battery life, designed by Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky.
The limited-run smartwatches will be available from July, running the open-source Pebble OS.
Core 2 Duo
The first of the two watches is the Core 2 Duo, a device very similar to the old discontinued Pebble 2, with some improvements.
With four buttons and an ‘ultra-crisp’ 1.26-inch e-paper MIP screen similar to some of the best Garmin watches, this low-power screen allows the Core 2 Duo to maintain long battery life at an impressive 30+ days.
The smartwatch, which comes in white or black polycarbonate frames and matching synthetic straps, also features a speaker and microphone array, step tracking, and sleep tracking.
Interestingly, the sleep tracking feature doesn’t use a heart rate monitor (the Core 2 Duo doesn’t have one) but an accelerometer, which analyzes movement during sleep. A barometer and compass round out the hardware features.
“This is my dream watch,” Migicovsky told TechRadar in an exclusive interview. “It is similar to the Pebble Time 2, which we announced in 2016 but never shipped, much to the chagrin of many people who emailed or texted me over the last eight years.
“The core reason why we’re making these is that the market is not meeting the needs of people who want exactly this feature set. There are plenty of options in the AMOLED space… but no one’s making something like this.”
Software-wise, both Pebble OS and its accompanying phone app are completely open-source, making the watch eminently hackable. Migikovsky told us there are already 10,000 apps available for the device thanks to the old Pebble OS infrastructure, and 12,000 developers have signed up to potentially create new ones since the initial announcement.
The new hardware allows developers to use the watch in new ways, such as basic ChatGPT integration using the watch’s speaker and microphone.
“The smartwatch is a great form factor for people being able to do a quick ChatGPT query,” says Migicovsky. “I’m just putting it out there so developers know we’ve got a speaker for something… We’re keeping our options open here.”
The Core 2 Duo will cost $149 (around £115 / AU$235) and will ship in July, available exclusively from Pebble’s online store.
Core Time 2
As well as the Core 2 Duo, Migikovsky and his two-person Core Devices company are also debuting the Core Time 2, a premium version with a color screen and heart rate monitor.
Slightly bigger, the Core Time 2 sports a 64-color 1.5-inch e-paper display, comprising 88% more pixels than the Core 2 Duo display. The display is also a touchscreen, primarily because Migicovsky wanted to add complications reminiscent of the best Apple Watches.
“We’re keeping all our buttons, and they will be the primary interface, but I wanted to add a touchscreen – again, mostly to keep our options open – but one key use case is Complications,” says Migicovsky. “Otherwise on Pebble, you have to dig through a menu to get to an app, and at that point, I might as well pull out my phone.
“I love complications on the Apple Watch where you can have a little widget which displays a little information, then you tap on that widget for a larger display.”
The Core Time 2 still packs all the features listed above on the Core 2 Duo, including 30 days of estimated battery life, but has a metal frame instead of the polycarbonate one. The watch will retail for $225 (around £175 / AU$355) and is also shipping in July.
Both watches are available to pre-order now at store.rePebble.com
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
