Advantages: 1. unlike most smart watches, they work 2 weeks with active use and a month in simple watch mode 2. they always show the time. the screen does not dim. 3. price. pebbles are one and a half times cheaper than most other smartwatches. 4. large community. great amount programs, games and watch faces. 5. buttons. they are large and have a clear course. in my opinion, much more convenient than poking something on the touch screen. 6. waterproof. with them it is possible and in the shower, and in the pool, and on the river. 7. alarm clock. I forgot what a screeching alarm clock on a smartphone is. the watch wakes up with vibration, and it's not so annoying. 8. The creators do not forget about their offspring and periodically release firmware updates with new features. 9. eink screen is perfectly readable in the sun. 10. By setting up Tasker, you can assign any commands to your watch to control your smartphone, from launching applications to clearing memory and changing processor modes. Disadvantages: 1. there are no fake whistles. because of which the watch only complements the smartphone, but does not expand its functionality. in the same weights from samsung there is a pulse sensor. 2. rather large sizes. but it's a disease of all smart watch. 3. Some people may be put off by a black and white screen. 4. the entry threshold is too high. even avid geeks will have to spend an evening or two to figure everything out and set up normal synchronization with a smartphone. 5. There is no Russian language by default. is not a big problem, since the clock is flashed in 1 minute on custom firmware. 6. 8 slots for watch face and applications. no other way. applications are installed and removed in 5 seconds, but sometimes you don’t want to go into the application on your smartphone once again and reconfigure something. By the way, all downloaded applications and watchfaces remain available in the smartphone application and in order to install them you do not need to climb and download them from the store. 7. if the android is below 4.3, then you will have to get a little confused with synchronization. 8. There are a lot of applications and watchwords, but there are no more than a hundred really useful and beautiful ones. 9. Most often you will use it to see the time or set an alarm, because after a couple of weeks all these every minute notifications will start to bother. well, you can also use it as a notepad, bicycle computer, organizer with a calendar, timer and calculator, as well as to see the weather. 10. wretched (on this moment) native smartphone app. it is terribly stupid. and this is the main reason to set everything up at once, so as not to climb into it anymore. Commentary: more of a geek toy than a vital item. yes, pebbles are probably one of the best smartwatches at the moment, but the significance of the smartwatch itself is clearly exaggerated. unlike most competitors, pebbles are watches with advanced functionality, and not vice versa - a smart thing with the ability to show time. I strongly recommend to all geeks, I do not advise ordinary "mortals".

And now we have one of the brightest products of 2013 in line: the Pebble smart watch.

Pebble watches appeared in early 2013 thanks to the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, becoming, without exaggeration, a landmark product for it. However, sales went so well and the attention to the novelty turned out to be so great (including from leading Western journalists) that the second version of the watch was presented not as the fruit of a startup, but as a serious product - the premiere of Pebble Steel took place at CES 2014. And the product itself began to look more respectable and significant, having received a metal case and a leather strap.

However, its technical characteristics and functionality remained the same, and besides, the previous model remained on sale, and its price is much more attractive than that of Pebble Steel ($150 versus $249 for Pebble Steel). So for users who want Pebble functionality over style, it still makes sense to opt for the first version. And about what Pebble watches can do, we will tell in our material.

Let's take a look at the specifications of the Pebble.

• 1.26″ e-paper display, 144×168, 176 ppi
• LED backlight
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Processor ARM Cortex-M3 @80 MHz
• Accelerometer
• Light sensor
• Electronic compass (not yet supported in the software)
• Operating system Pebble OS
• Compatible with any smartphones based on iOS and Android
• Case dimensions 52×36×11.5 mm
• Complete strap width 22 mm
• Weight 38 g

In the case of smartwatches, specifications can give us almost no information that would allow us to draw preliminary conclusions about the product (unlike smartphones, where standardization has reached such an extent that one glance at the specifications is often enough to understand with how to compare this product and what to expect from it). Nevertheless, in this case, it is worth paying attention to the screen type first of all: e-paper. detailed technical information there is not much about this "electronic paper", but, apparently, this is . Its use allows for longer battery life than other smartwatches we've tested. However, it is not touchscreen, unlike the watch screens of Samsung, Sony and Iconbit.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves and get acquainted with the product in practice.

Packaging and equipment

The watch comes in a very nice compact cardboard box.

Inside it is the watch itself on a cardboard holder, a charging cable and two folded leaflets. On one - a short (very short!) manual that tells the very basics and sends to the Pebble website, on the other leaflet - warranty conditions.

O charging cable should be mentioned separately. It has a USB connector on one end and a magnetic connector on the other that connects to the watch in the same way that a MagSafe charger connects to Apple laptops.

You can charge Pebble both from a computer and from any charger smartphone or MP3 player.

Design

Now let's look at the watch itself. We tested a copy with a red body (Cherry Red), but orange, black (Jet Black), white (Artistic White) and gray are also available.

The appearance of the watch makes a good impression. Moreover, they look much nicer in real life than in the photos. In principle, despite the plastic case and the defiant color (in the case of our copy), such a watch is not shameful to wear even for quite serious people. An additional charm is given to them by a glossy coating (apparently, it is plastic, not glass) that protects the screen. However, it is obvious that the look of the watch is designed primarily for women and young people, unlike Pebble Steel.

The watch comes with a silicone strap. It is black for all models, except for the white one (she, of course, has a white strap). The strap is comfortable, the watch sits very nicely on the hand, suitable for both thin and large hands. In general, compared to samsung galaxy Gear and Iconbit Callisto 100, it's much more handy gadget, which competes in this parameter only with the Sony SmartWatch 2.

All buttons, as well as a magnetic connector, are located on the right and left sides of the watch case. Accordingly, a magnetic connector and a button fit on the left side. Back , and on the right side - buttons Up , OK and Way down . Like the case, the buttons are made of plastic, they are pressed silently, but with a noticeable effort. Although they protrude from the case, they cannot be pressed by accident (with clothes or with a sharp movement of the hand).

The camera, microphone and speakers are missing here. In this regard, the Pebble is similar to the Sony SmartWatch 2.

In summary, we note that the design of the watch made a positive impression on us. They are nice, strong enough, sit well on the hand, all the elements are well thought out. It is even surprising that such a polished product could be made by beginners who do not have serious engineering and design offices behind them. Well, the only negative is the inability to charge the device otherwise than through a proprietary cable. Lost or damaged cable - the watch can be thrown away (it is unlikely that a spare cable can be found and delivered to Russia for adequate money).

Screen

As already noted, the watch is equipped with a 1.26″ monochrome screen based on electronic paper. Outwardly, this reminds everyone of the familiar E Ink screens, but the principle of operation here, although similar, is still slightly different, allowing the use of internal illumination, and exactly at those moments when it is necessary. The LED backlight is activated when navigating through the menu. Once the user has made a selection, the backlight turns off (and then the image is visible due to ambient light, as is the case with E Ink). Backlighting gives a bluish tint to a black and white image.

Apparently, in this device a transreflective monochrome liquid crystal display with memory manufactured by Sharp is used. With memory, everything is quite simple - one bit per cell allows you to remember its state, so in the case of an unchanging image, there is no need to manage the state of the cells, it is enough just to supply power, which reduces power consumption. The principle of image formation in this case is more interesting. By irradiating a mixture of polymer and liquid crystals, a polymer matrix is ​​obtained with cavities (drops) in which liquid crystals (LC) remain. Within the droplets, LCs predominantly have one orientation, but among the drops it is chaotic. Due to the fact that the refractive index of LCs depends on the orientation of their molecules, then, on average, for light incident perpendicular to a screen with such a structure, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with LC will differ, which will cause large scattering of light in all directions , and the screen will appear bright (status A in the figure below).

When a voltage of a certain value is applied to the electrodes limiting the LC cell, the LCs in all drops entering this cell are oriented along the electric field perpendicular to the screen plane. The polymer and LC are selected in such a way that their refractive indices coincide when the LC is oriented parallel to the incident light. As a result, for a switched-on LC cell for light incident perpendicular to the screen, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with the LC will coincide, the light scattering will be minimal, and it will be reflected from the lower mirror electrode, but, despite such reflection, the cell will look already dark (state AT in the figure above). Why so, it becomes clear if we consider a mirror with a piece of white paper pasted on it. Below we provide a micrograph of a Pebble screen that is generally consistent with the stated principle:

Distinguishable squares are the boundaries of LC cells, within which randomly scattered inclusions (droplets) are observed that reflect (or rather scatter) light in bright cells and transmit light without scattering in dark ones. It is interesting that the visible properties and the nature of the arrangement of drops for different cells basically coincide. Apparently, the formation of drops is somehow controlled. We note that the principle of image formation described above does not require the use of polarizers (indeed, no pronounced polarization direction is detected when observing with a polarizing filter), as a result, there are less losses and the screen efficiency is increased.

Unlike the smartwatches we've previously tested, the Pebble's screen isn't touch-sensitive. At first, this leads to a stupor - we are too used to mobile devices touch screens. However, the menu is so simple that everything can be done with the help of buttons, and you get used to it quickly enough.

Connecting Pebble to a Smartphone

Like the Sony SmartWatch 2, the Pebble is essentially a bluetooth headset for your smartphone. Therefore, without connecting to a smartphone, the watch can only perform its own basic function, that is, the display of the time and date. But what distinguishes Pebble from Sony SmartWatch 2 and, in particular, from Samsung Galaxy Gear, is its “omnivorousness”: the watch can be connected not only to any Android smartphone (not only Android 4.x, but even Android 2.x ), but also to Apple iPhone. The latter made Pebble popular among the owners of "apple" devices. And we tested Pebble with the iPhone 5S.

First you need to download free app Pebble Smartwatch from App Store. It is a very simple clock management tool.

The application has only three icons. The center one shows if the watch is connected (if green, it means connected, but at first you will see a red button, which means that the watch is not connected). The left button opens a guide to help you customize the display of notifications on Pebble. Finally, the most right button opens a menu with a choice of watch interface.

However, the watch interface can be customized using the Pebble itself. But first we need to link the watch and the smartphone. To do this, turn on Bluetooth in the iPhone settings, turn it on in the watch (Menu / Settings / Bluetooth). The iPhone should detect Pebble, click on connect, on the clock we confirm the pairing. Everything, now we have a smartphone and a watch connected. Next, go to the Notification Center on the iPhone (Settings / Notification Center), look for the Pebble application, turn on all notifications. Now the clock will receive all the notifications that are on the smartphone.

Pebble functionality

So, what are Pebble capable of? First, of course, show the time. Moreover, as we have already noted, a very different design of the watch interface is available, so as soon as you are tired of the old one, you can change it. Secondly, you can set an alarm on the clock, but there are few alarm settings, and most importantly, due to the lack of a speaker, the clock can only signal vibration. Therefore, you will either have to go to bed with them, or risk not hearing the Pebble buzz. However, this feature can be useful when you need to remind about something during the day: for example, if there is some kind of meeting ahead, you can set an alarm for the time when you need to get ready to leave your home or office.

Thirdly, with the watch you can control the playback of music on your smartphone. The watch screen displays the artist name, track name and album name. True, you can not change the volume and rewind the track a little forward - just switch to the next or previous one, as well as pause and resume playback. In addition, playback control is possible only within one album. As soon as the album ends, you need to take out your smartphone and put on a new album. As a plus, we note that the clock works not only with the Music application, but also with other players, for example, with Vkontakte audio recordings (and information about them is displayed quite correctly).

Finally, the fourth and most important feature of the watch is related to the display of notifications from the smartphone. It can be calls, SMS, messages in in social networks and messengers (we checked the work with Vkontakte and Viber). If you receive a call, you can click on receive a call and start talking on your smartphone. This is convenient when you are walking down the street and listening to music on your iPhone through the headset. Then the watch will allow you not to pull your smartphone out of your pocket.

However, Russian-speaking Pebble users will immediately face a problem that will call into question the appropriateness of using a watch. Firmware does not support Cyrillic. This means that any message in Russian will look like this on the watch screen.

Fortunately, the craftsmen quickly wrote whole line alternative firmware. Among them, there are both English-speaking ones, but with Cyrillic support, and completely Russian-speaking ones (that is, the interface has also been translated). In addition, enthusiasts can try beta versions of the latest firmware, in which developers are trying to add some new features, but this, as they say, is at their own peril and risk. The Pebble forum is devoted to the Russification of hours.

How to install unofficial firmware on Pebble? There are two ways. The first way: connect the watch via Bluetooth to a computer under Windows control, download the zip-archive with the firmware, unpack it and start execution via the command line (detailed Russian-language instructions can be found). There are several complications here. First, you will need a laptop (or Windows 7/8 tablet) with Bluetooth or an external Bluetooth adapter connected via USB. Secondly, you need to find the watch ID (this is a four-digit code). And thirdly, work with command line in principle, not the most common thing for most iPhone owners.

Therefore, it seems to us that another way is much more elegant and simple, which just should not cause difficulties for owners of apple devices. We install any cloud storage on the iPhone - for example, Dropbox (but Yandex.Disk and similar services are also suitable). Download the firmware file (it has the .pbz extension) to any other device associated with your Dropbox, upload it to Dropbox. Open this file from Dropbox on iPhone. We see such a picture (see the screenshot on the left).

You have to click on the bottom left button (Send ) and a list of applications that can be used to send the file appears. But we don’t need to send it, but we need to click on Open in... . And here we will see the button Open in Pebble (see screenshot on the right). After that, the Pebble application will open and we will receive a warning of the following form.

Click Continue, and then Update Now, and follow the process, which takes a couple of minutes. After that, the watch reboots and tells us:

Note that, as with any flashing, failures are quite possible. Most likely, they will not kill the device, and it will be possible to roll back, but there is a high probability that either the firmware will not start, or the update will be successful, but the Cyrillic alphabet will still not be supported. We had such a situation with firmware version 1.12, which retains the English-language interface, but promises a normal display of the Cyrillic alphabet. However, version 1.14.1, completely Russified, got up without any problems. Here are some screen shots of the watch.

But alas, a small fly in the ointment still remains (at least this firmware did not solve it, and Internet searches showed that the problem still remains relevant). When making calls, the name of the caller, written in Cyrillic, is displayed as question marks (??????). This issue only occurs on iPhones and does not occur on Android smartphones.

Overall, the Pebble's functionality is much more modest than any of the watches we've tested so far. But, we repeat, Pebble works with the iPhone, and besides, the functionality that is available is implemented with the highest quality and convenience. Unless, of course, you do not count the lack of support for Cyrillic in the factory version and the need to mess around with flashing.

Offline work

Duration battery life can be attributed to the undoubted advantages of Pebble. With a relatively small body (smaller than other watches we've tested), the Pebble can last from 5 to 7 days on a single charge, depending on the number of notifications and how much music control is used.

conclusions

The smart watch market is only in its infancy, and devices of this class are still designed, to a greater extent, for enthusiasts. However, in the US and Europe, Pebble can perhaps be considered the most “popular” smartwatch option: omnivorous (works with both Android and iPhone), easy to set up and manage, and cheap (Sony SmartWatch 2 is $50 more expensive). And although the functionality here is much more modest than that of Samsung and Sony watches, and there are almost no hidden features (although who knows what will appear in the new firmware?), For most users this will be quite enough.

But for us, the use of these watches is hampered by two factors: firstly, they are not represented in our official retail, and secondly, they are practically useless without Cyrillic support, and to add Cyrillic support, you need to at least rummage through thematic forums ( well, or read our article :)) and spend time experimenting. And still, some problems will remain (with the display of the name of the caller, for example). So we still have a device for geeks. But geeks will just be more interested in the Sony SmartWatch 2, and it’s easier to buy them (and, perhaps, it won’t even be much more expensive if you add shipping from abroad to the cost of Pebble). So, on the one hand, we congratulate the developers of Pebble on a worthy product, and on the other hand, we look forward to fixing problems with the Cyrillic alphabet and the official release of the watch on Russian market. And, of course, we wish you successful development of the project!

The first ever "smart" wrist watch- Pulsar Memowatch - appeared back in 1982. Thirty years given type electronic devices remained highly specialized and, in fact, only this year became fashionable and mass. In addition to "smart" watches from world famous IT brands (Samsung and Sony), everything appears more solutions from out-of-the-box thinking startups like Pebble Technology.

Modern "smart" watches can be divided into three categories: full-fledged watch phones with a built-in cellular module, models with a color screen that can play the role of a wireless headset, and, finally, simple and energy-efficient solutions that only display notifications from a smartphone. Pebble belongs to the third category.

As soon as Pebble Technology posted on Kickstarter to raise funds for the production of "smart" watches with a monochrome energy-efficient screen worth only $150, donations poured in. Instead of the initially required $100,000, pre-orders were made in excess of $10 million. Even a year and a half later, no one managed to break this Kickstarter record.

⇡ Design

The biggest drawback of most modern smart watches is the design, or rather the almost complete absence of it. The models available on the market today are more like children's watches than premium (based on their cost) accessories for adult uncles. Pebble was no exception - even youth and sports watches look more solid against their background. However, after a couple of days you get used to the “toylike” nature of Pebble and stop considering it a problem.

Well, at least, Pebble - unlike many competitors - turned out to be thin and light, thanks to which they look harmonious even on a sophisticated lady's pen. The watch case is made of plastic: it is glossy on the front, and matte on the sides and back. The protective coating of the screen, as practice has shown, is not so easy to scratch: for a week of operation, the watch has not lost its “tradeable” appearance at all. Available in five body colors: black, white, grey, red and orange.

The Pebble strap is made of rubber that flexes well and hopefully won't wear out too quickly. However, there are no hardware components inside the strap, and if desired, it can be easily replaced. But disassembling the watch itself is categorically not recommended - they can lose their water resistance. Yes, the watch is resistant not only to raindrops, but also to immersion to a depth of fifty meters.

On the right side of the Pebble there are three buttons (scroll up, confirm the action and scroll down), and on the left side there is a return button (aka power on) and a magnetic connector for recharging. The smartwatch comes with a proprietary USB cable. If you lose it, you can buy a new one on eBay.

⇡ Specifications

The Pebble uses a monochrome Memory LCD display made by Sharp. The brighter the ambient light, the more clearly the image on the screen is visible. True, in the bright sun, the protective coating of the screen glares. And if there is not enough light, you can use the backlight - trust the light sensor or, to be sure, shake your hand. Unlike E-Ink, Memory LCD technology does not have long delays when redrawing an image.

The Pebble smart watch is powered by the STM32F2 ARM processor from STMicroelectronics. This chip is built on the Cortex-M3 architecture and is manufactured using a 90-nm process technology. It accelerates to a peak frequency of 80 MHz only in case of emergency, so as not to waste battery power.

⇡ Initial setup

To test the capabilities of Pebble smartwatches, we used two smartphones: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 (operating android system 4.2) and Apple iPhone 4S (iOS 7).

When you first turn on Pebble, it asks you to install the service application of the same name on your smartphone, which is easy to find on Google Play and the App Store, and run it. The application asks for permission to turn on the smartphone's Bluetooth module, after which it starts searching for devices available for connection. Having connected, it checks for new firmware versions and, if there are none, reports that the smart watch is ready to work.

By the way, on iOS 6, the Pebble service application completely refuses to install. And in the case of the iPhone 4, even with iOS 7, the clock works in a limited mode (notify only about calls and SMS). The reason for this is the outdated Bluetooth 2.0 protocol. Recommended for Pebble is bluetooth version 4.0.

Looking ahead, let's say that at the moment official firmware Pebble does not support Cyrillic and it will not officially appear in the near future. Therefore, in order for the Russian-language contact names and message text to be displayed correctly, it is necessary to install a modified firmware. Fortunately, this is extremely easy to do: just upload the PBZ firmware file to Dropbox and open it on your smartphone using the client cloud storage. Then the Pebble service application will do everything on its own.

The latest stable firmware version at the time of this writing is 1.13, but version 2.0 is already being tested, which allows a significantly larger number of iOS applications to send notifications to the watch. Latest Versions modified firmware should be looked for first of all on the pages of forums.getpebble.com.

⇡ Standard Features

As planned by the developers, Pebble should become a second screen for a smartphone, but no more. Therefore, Pebble does not have a camera or a speaker with a microphone, which are now fashionable to integrate into more expensive models of smart watches.

Time and date. By default, Pebble offers a choice of three options for the main screen (Watchfaces): a text clock on English language, an analog watch with a moving second hand, and digital time and date.

Phone calls. As soon as someone calls a smartphone, the Pebble begins to vibrate cyclically. The strength of the vibration is selected at a comfortable level: the signal is clearly perceived by the hand, but does not irritate.

Action options for incoming call on Android and iOS are different. In the first case, there is only one possibility - to reject, while in the second - to reject and answer. In this case, the clock stops vibrating and returns to the main screen. On an Android smartphone, the melody stops, but the call continues to come. That is, it will not work to completely reset the call, thereby making it clear to the caller that now there is no time for talking.

On the iPhone, the call is dropped, but when incoming call question marks are displayed instead of the Cyrillic contact name on the watch. So far, even the modified firmware does not help to solve the problem.

SMS. After installation modified firmware with Cyrillic support, Pebble allows you not only to quickly find out about the presence of new incoming SMS, but also to read their Russian and, more recently, Ukrainian text. Large messages are divided into several screens, which are scrolled through the side buttons.

Email and calendar. Pebble has a similar situation with emails and calendar reminders. True, you must first allow interaction with Gmail in the settings of the Pebble service application, " Google Calendar» and standard email client Android.

Music player. The function of controlling the audio player on a smartphone is well implemented in Pebble. You can pause playback and switch tracks. True, all this only works within the same playlist.

Alarm. Pebble does not have a speaker, so the alarm can only vibrate. The main thing before going to bed is not to put the watch on something soft, otherwise the vibration may not be heard in the morning.

⇡ Third Party Apps

In the case of an Android smartphone, almost any messenger or task manager can send notifications to Pebble smart watches. To do this, you need to install the application from Google Play

With programming experience, you can create an application for Pebble with your own hands. The specialized development environment Pebble SDK will help with this.

⇡ Battery life

On a single battery charge, Pebble smart watches can work for 4 days in 24/7 synchronization mode with a smartphone and up to 7 days if Bluetooth is turned off at night. A very good result, especially when compared with the autonomy of "smart" watches with a color screen. Naturally, the battery of the smartphone to which the watch is connected also drains a little faster.

⇡ Conclusions

You can buy Pebble on the official website for $150, and this also includes the cost of regular shipping to any country in the world. For express delivery (3-5 days) you will have to pay $25. In Russian retail, Pebbles are sold for about one and a half to two times more expensive, but they will deliver the goods many times faster. The price, of course, is rather big, but against the background of solutions from Samsung and Sony, Pebble looks advantageous. Especially if there is no need for a color screen and voice calls.

Pebble will be useful primarily for those who, due to the specifics of their work, need to quickly respond to incoming calls and messages. At the same time, you don’t have to take your smartphone out of your pocket every time – or you can just leave it on the table among stacks of papers. In the crush of the metropolitan subway, Pebble is an indispensable thing.

The editors would like to thank the CLICK online store for providing Pebble smart watches for testing.

Pros:

Inexpensive smart watch or fitness tracker.
The battery lasts much longer than almost any other smart watch on the market.

Minuses:

The heart rate sensor is very sophisticated.
Not much different from the previous version of Pebble Time.

The first samples of the Pepple 2, from Pebble's most recent Kickstarter campaign, have recently begun to be sent to backers of the project.
On September 30, following the successful completion of funding for their third Kickstarter campaign, smartwatch pioneer Pebble began shipping the first wave of Pebble 2 watches to backers.

This model includes a completely new feature of the watch, a heart rate sensor, which the company uses for the first time in its devices, as well as all the features of Pebble OS, which have been significantly improved since the introduction of the Pebble Time line in early 2015.

Aside from the heart rate sensor, the Pebble 2 didn't add much functionality compared to the previous versions so I had to look for reasons to recommend it myself.

Specifications:

Battery: up to 7 days;
Sensors: heart rate sensor, three-component accelerometer, photodetector;
Screen: 1.26 inches, liquid crystal, electronic paper, LED backlight;
Compatibility: 4.3 and above; iOS 8 and above;
Dimensions: 39.5mm x 30.2mm x 9.8mm, plus a 1.4mm protrusion on the back that houses the heart rate sensor.

In May 2016, I met Pebble CEO Eric Migikowski at his company's office in Redwood City, California. We were just sitting opposite each other in the conference room when Eric pulled one device out of a black Pelican container and handed it to me.

I remember him saying something like “This is a Pebble 2” to me, but I did not immediately take his words. Despite this statement, I initially decided that I was holding the first smart watch from Pebble in my hands. It was only a few seconds later that I began to notice slight differences.

The side buttons on the Pebble 2 didn't protrude as much and were placed closer together. This watch was also thinner than the previous ones. It was impossible not to notice the heartbeat sensor located on the back side. It emitted intense green light and searched for a pulse.

I wore them all the next week, and nostalgia did not leave me. It's a very comfortable watch, quite light so I sometimes even forgot I had it on my wrist until it was time for the next warning and the slight buzzing reminded me that it was still there. You also still have the option to replace the standard Pebble 2 straps with your own custom 22mm straps.

The downside of the fact that the creators improved the old design instead of completely redesigning it was the 1.25 inch Pebble display.

2. Before that, I wore 42 mm for several weeks Apple Watch with a screen of 1.65 inches, and after them the screen on the Pebble 2 looks very small.

It's all about the heart

The more competition among smartwatch manufacturers has intensified, the more often Pebble has been criticized for being in no hurry to expand the functionality of its products. Together with the Pebble Time line, the company launched Pebble Health, adapted to count steps and track the quality of sleep. But there was still no heart rate monitoring function in these devices.

The situation changed with the release of Pebble 2. In the development of this watch, the company used an optical sensor, similar to that used in Fitbit and, even, in.

The user can select an option directly on the watch display that displays a regular reading of the number of heartbeats, or view a graph of readings through the Pebble app, available for devices running on and iOS.

I tried to compare Pebble 2 heart rate sensor with Samsung Gear IconX earbuds and Apple Watch Series 2, all three devices performed almost identically during controlled testing. The essence of the test: I sat still, activating the Workout mode on all three devices, to ensure continuous recordings of the heart rate.

In addition to these few tests, I found a couple of random reports that while I was wearing the Pebble 2, my heart rate increased to 150 and then dropped back to my usual 70-80 beats. And one report showed that my heart rate once increased to 197 beats per minute in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. I believe I would wake up if my heart was really beating so fast in the middle of the night.

Looking through previous heart rate records on the Apple Watch and the old device, I never found records of such high results, especially during sleep.

And here is another case. I took the Pebble 2 off my wrist in the middle of the day and left it on the table. Later, after dinner, I put them on again, and noticed that they recorded the period they were on the table like a dream. Except I didn't sleep. I didn't even wear a watch.
When I presented this problem to Pebble, a representative notified me that the watch could not automatically detect whether a person was wearing it or not. And to prevent the recording of erroneous sleep data, the watch should be charged when you take it off.

It's a no-compromise Pebble, but is it good enough?

Pebble Timeline, quick access to your favorite apps and immediate launch - it's all there presets Pebble 2.

According to Pebble, the battery lasts seven days. My experience has shown that she keeps five days.
The screen is easy to read in the sun, which is expected from e-paper. The buttons are elastic, and at the same time, it is not difficult to press them. Voice commands work reliably.
Thus, on all points that relate to performance, the Pebble 2 can be scored high, but, on the other hand, the same can be said about the Pebble Time watch. Same notifications, apps, display quality (plus color!), battery life, voice control and overall experience. Well, except that there is no heartbeat sensor.

Buy now or wait?

The longer I used Pebble 2, the more I doubted what, in the end, to advise. Considering the price of $129, the Pebble 2 is bargain, whether you consider it as a fitness tracker or as a smart watch.

Here's my conclusion: Pebble 2 is for those who are not yet sure if they need a smart watch or a fitness tracker. It has all the basic features and it won't break your budget.

Meanwhile, in November, Pebble is set to ship the Pebble Time 2, with a feature set almost identical to the Pebble 2. But the Pebble Time 2 will have a 53 percent larger color display than the Pebble 2. current version Pebble Time (which means it will be as big as the Pebble 2 display).

So for those who want a bigger battery and a better display, wait until the Time 2 comes out, as it will be the Pebble smartwatch you've been looking for.

Thank you for liking the site! Be a happy, athletic and active person always! Write what you think about this, what gadgets do you use and why?

Want to know more? Read:

• 
  There are two main reasons to follow...
• 
  Release next version Fitbit smartwatches can…
• 
  Apple has announced new model smart…
• 
  
• 
  LG Watch Sport: Latest New- Release date,…
• 
  Apple releases a monitor that measures...
• 
  Apple Watch Series 1 has sold more than...

Among the classic "smart watches" Pebble Smartwatch occupy a special place. This stylish and functional device is preferred by those who lead an active lifestyle, strive for complete self-organization and want to constantly be in the flow of events. The watch can be easily combined with many mobile devices and quickly adjusted to the real everyday needs and interests of their owners. This product, created with the help of a huge number of caring people, is gradually becoming a popular device.

Pebble Smartwatch - economical and very smart watch

When Pebble's professionals were just thinking about the project of their "smart watch", they, of course, counted on the success of their brainchild, but did not expect that it would be so swift. Money for the implementation of this project was collected "from the world by a thread" through the well-known Kickstarter resource. It was planned to raise several hundred thousand, but unexpectedly, investors raised more than $10 million per month.

At the beginning of 2013, the first copies of the innovative "smart watch" were delivered to customers, and since then gadgets have been actively spreading around the world, delighting a huge number of people with their beauty, apparent simplicity and versatility.

Pebble Smartwatch contact mobile device through the usual Bluetooth connections. It's nice that they are not limited to the possibility of reuniting with any one mobile platform, working with both Android smartphones and Apple iPhones. The operating system is called Pebble OS. You can answer calls, read messages, and control your media player without taking your base device out of your bag or pocket.

Of particular note is the high-end black-and-white display, created using Sharp's ePaper technology, which consumes very little power. Pebble Smartwatch can work without recharging for five to seven days. The body of the "smart watch" is made of high-quality plastic, and the comfortable and durable strap is made of Soft Touch rubber. A big plus is the water resistance of the Pebble Smartwatch - the watch will remain unharmed even if it lies at the bottom of the pool for some time.

It is worth noting that smart watches are constantly being improved, and for sure we will see more than one generation of these unique devices.

Where to buy original Pebble Smartwatch

The unique Pebble Smartwatch may well be yours! To buy this smartwatch in Moscow, you just need to place an order on our website. We strive to ensure that our service is worthy of the quality of our excellent products. Our managers are ready to answer all questions and help you choose a Smartwatch or any other device. Our online store is open to everyone!