The Pebble Smartwatch Is What Smartwatches Should Have Been

Miss Pebble: A smartwatch in the true sense

Before those tiny watch computers tried to implement all the functions of their phones, there was a watch called Pebble. It has a completely different experience from today's smartwatches, and I can't help but hope that the Pebble concept will be more popular.

Always on display without compromise

What makes Pebble the most successful is its display. Instead of using a high-power, bright OLED screen, it uses an electronic ink screen, the same as the Kindle e-reader. This means the screen is always on, easy to read even in direct sunlight, and it consumes almost no power. I can do it for a few days, or even a week or more without charging. By contrast, the Pixel Watch 3 I currently use requires charging every night.

So far, Pebble is my only smartwatch with “always on display” enabled. It's really not worth keeping the display on forever without me watching it 99% of the time. Using the new OnePlus Watch 3 is the closest I've ever come to actually enabling this feature. The wrist lift wake-up function usually works well, but is not 100% reliable. Even if it only doesn't work 5% of the time, it's a problem I never thought about when using Pebble.

Application is not the focus

This focus on efficiency goes beyond the screen itself. Pebble is not dragged down by a bunch of better applications running on your phone. Its advantage is that it is a smartwatch in the true sense - a companion to the phone, not a replacement for the phone. It is good at providing timely notifications that you can quickly view (no need to take out your phone), control music, and provide simple and practical tools. Using physical button navigation makes perfect sense on devices where you don't often stare or try to slide tiny icons on it.

Pebble's philosophy did have an impact on early smartwatches. Android Wear (later renamed Wear OS) initially took a similar approach. The application is intentionally hidden and it is troublesome to start. Instead, Google tries to display useful information when you need it and pays great attention to notifications. However, Android Wear's "mobileization" began soon.

Related##### Your smartwatch is only as annoying as you think

Smartwatches provide quick access to notifications and shortcuts, but that might be a bit over the top. That's why some people will return to a simpler "disturbance-free" analog watch. You should not blame the smartwatch for causing your bad habits.

Article Back in July 2014, I wrote an editorial for Phandroid titled "It's time to stop thinking of Android Wear as a phone." This is just one month after the first Android Wear smartwatches were released. Google's guide at the time urged developers to avoid "input that requires fine motor skills." Keyboards and calculators should not be part of the experience. However, this has not stopped people from making these apps. The rest is history.

Companion and mini phone

In order to become a mini phone, modern smartwatches often ignore the meaning of wearing on their wrists. They have a powerful processor, high-resolution color screen and a large library of applications, many of which are simply not easy to use on small screens. This comes at the expense of battery life, availability and simplicity of always-on. Do you really need to scroll through your watch to view Gmail?

In fact, I think some people do want to be able to scroll through Gmail on their watch. For some, viewing notifications on their wrists is enough to keep them from taking out their phones. For others, this means looking at the calendar and typing information on the micro keyboard. I tend toward the former, but am I probably the minority?

The Pebble is a notification center, a subtle controller, and a timer that you don't have to worry about running out of power by the end of the day. While I won't say I hate my modern smartwatch and all the high-tech benefits of today, I'm very excited about the Pebble's recovery. Once I was able to connect my old Pebble Time Steel to my phone again, it went back to my wrist. Will I find that I actually prefer modern smartwatches? If I do, you'll hear it here.

Related ##### Pebble returns with two new e-ink smartwatches starting at $149

More than a decade ago, a company called Pebble launched a very successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for an electronic ink smartwatch. After several models were released, Pebble was eventually masked by the Apple Watch and Wear OS, but similar products have been missing. Now, Pebble has officially returned with two new devices.

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