REVIEW: Pebble Time is a gadget for those who love everything new and want to attract attention

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

$ 20 million is the amount Pebble Time raised on Kickstarter. We got our hands on the Kickstarter version of the watch, and we figured out who, and most importantly, why should buy this device.

There are three players in the smartwatch market: Apple Watch, Android Wear, and Pebble. Others are not even worth considering - their share is catastrophically small. When I picked up the Kickstarter version of Pebble Time at the post office, I was all excited. The device was relatively recently reviewed by major Western publications, and I was eager to try it myself.

They look catchy against the backdrop of classic Pebble Time watches. And strange. I got the red version of the watch with a rubber strap. In photographs, red does not look like this - in real life the color of the watch is brighter, and after a few days I started to like it. Add to this the fact that your wrist will be paid attention to - the watch is very striking.

Sport

I decided to immediately try the watch in action and test the most interesting (for me) function - the sports one. Taking my phone and putting on my uniform, I went for a run. Before that, I spent ten minutes studying the issue of connecting Pebble to Runkeeper, until I realized that the only thing to do was to pair the watch with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Then Runkeeper will recognize them automatically.

And so it happened. As soon as I pressed "Start" in the app, the watch lit up and displayed information about the workout: time, distance and pace. Using the button (there are four in total) on the right panel, you can pause your workout, which is fantastic. Before that, I used the widget in the iOS notification center and thought it was a good way. Alas, it does not stand up to any competition with clock controls.

The clock is well visible in the sun. It should be said that the screen is always active, but when you press a button or a typical hand gesture, the backlight turns on. So, turning on the backlight with a gesture does not work at all. More precisely, it works if I shake my hand like I’m dancing an African tribal dance. But there is no talk at all about bringing the watch to your eyes and looking at the time. Fortunately, as I said, the screen is clearly visible even without the backlight.

Multimedia and notifications

I am a music lover and I try to explore all the functions related to music in great detail. One of the watch screens allows you to control playback from your smartphone via Bluetooth. The response to the action is instant - the track switches immediately, and the volume changes. It's comfortable.

But music is just one of the screens. The rest are calendar, weather, alarm, notifications. Their location relative to each other can be changed. It's comfortable. If, for example, you rarely use the alarm clock, but you often view notifications, the latter will be located in front of the alarm clock.

And if the conversation turned to notifications, then this is the weak side of the device, since Pebble Time does not support the Cyrillic alphabet. Any notification in Russian is displayed in the form of rectangles, and nothing can be done about it by standard means.

However, enthusiastic users have developed one that supports Russian in notifications. You will probably have to install it, since without the support of the Cyrillic alphabet, the watch loses a large share of its functionality. Although notifications come quickly (sometimes even faster than on the iPhone), they are of no use.

Things are better on Android. There, you can interact with notifications: the letter can be archived, and the message can be answered using emoji or voice.

There are two stores for Pebble: one for apps and one for watch faces. There are many watch faces in the Pebble store, but 90% of them look like outright trash. The store itself is no better. It is slow, confusing, sometimes there is too much information, sometimes there is no information at all.

Having installed several watch faces and the necessary applications, I preferred not to go into it at all. There are many applications for Pebble, but I really don't want to look for them in this place.

App Store

Watch Faces Store

Swarm for Pebble

Conclusion

Externally, Pebble Time looks ambiguous. On the one hand, they are striking, on the other, this is not always good. And they are striking rather by the fact that they do not look like an ordinary watch, which can hardly be called an advantage. The software part also leaves much to be desired: the backlight turns on only occasionally, there is no Cyrillic alphabet, notifications on iOS can only be viewed.

It's hard to say better than what The Verge did:

Pebble Time are simply improved Pebble.

If you were a fan of the first version, then the second will leave you with a good impression. If you love everything new, the situation is the same. But if you love stable and comfortable products, then Pebble Time will slowly throw you off balance and you will want to return to your old, useless, but familiar watch.

Pros:

1. Opening hours (up to seven days).
2. Convenient device for doing sports.
3. You can switch music remotely.
4. Notifications come instantly.
5. The screen is visible even without backlighting.
6. Comfortable strap.

Minuses:

1. There is no Cyrillic alphabet in the standard firmware.
2. The backlight of the screen works disgusting.
3. 90% of all watch faces are terrible.
4. On iOS, notifications cannot be interacted with.
5. Inconvenient app store and watch faces.
6. Screen prints are virtually indelible.

Thank you for giving Pebble Time to our online store friends.