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Open Source Smartwatch

pine64.org

31–40 of 251 posts

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#31
post #3

Promising specs! I'd rather have multi-day battery life than fancy graphics, maybe even an e-ink display.

Same here. Not only does it save battery life; it ensures the display is always on and looks way better. The Pebble Time had a Sharp Memory LCD, I'm not sure what the Amazfit Bip uses. It's baffling that there are so few electronics in general that use E-Paper/translective displays. Does anyone know?

The reMarkable tablet, Supernote A5/A6 are some pretty hackable e-ink tablets.

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#32
post #3

Promising specs! I'd rather have multi-day battery life than fancy graphics, maybe even an e-ink display.

Me too. It says "All-week 180 mAh battery" which I'm not sure what it means but I doubt a 180 mAh lasts an entire week.

it's running a low power nrf52. they can last a year on a coin cell battery, with adequate power optimisations. without an always on display, a week is possibly an underestimation. for example, see the amazfit bip, it has lasted me ~45 days which even has a (low power) always on display.

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#33
Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device? Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right, probably gets woken up a lot by hitting the sleeve of a coat or buttoned shirt...

These might be nitpicks but just because it's open source doesn't excuse it from poor design critique.

Tech wise looks really good for the price.

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#34
post #3

Promising specs! I'd rather have multi-day battery life than fancy graphics, maybe even an e-ink display.

Me too. It says "All-week 180 mAh battery" which I'm not sure what it means but I doubt a 180 mAh lasts an entire week.

There are plenty of smartwatches with heart rate monitoring that have a week of battery life and 180mAh is enough for 10 days on some of them. It's obviously not enough if you're playing music or video or something like that. But if you're primarily using the device to give you notifications, heart rate, and the time, it seems likely it does last all week.

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#35
post #33

Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device? Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right, probably gets woken up a lot by hitting the sleeve of a coat or buttoned shirt... These might be nitpicks but just because it's open source doesn't excuse it from poor design critique. Tech wise looks really good for the price.

> Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device?

It's a 3D render. The actual display seems to be more or less centered[0].

> Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right

One could presumably flip the device and the rotate the screen rendering by 180 degrees. This is how Apple Watch handles right wrist use.

[0]: https://pine64.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PineTive-DevKi...

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#36
post #33

Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device? Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right, probably gets woken up a lot by hitting the sleeve of a coat or buttoned shirt... These might be nitpicks but just because it's open source doesn't excuse it from poor design critique. Tech wise looks really good for the price.

[deleted]

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#38
post #33

Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device? Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right, probably gets woken up a lot by hitting the sleeve of a coat or buttoned shirt... These might be nitpicks but just because it's open source doesn't excuse it from poor design critique. Tech wise looks really good for the price.

> Is it just me or is the screen not vertically centered on this device? It's a 3D render. The actual display seems to be more or less centered[0]. > Also the wake up button is on the left instead of the right One could presumably flip the device and the rotate the screen rendering by 180 degrees. This is how Apple Watch handles right wrist use. [0]: https://pine64.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PineTive-DevKi...

I'm watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuk9Nmr3Jo8 and I see the same thing, the bottom is about twice the size as the top.

Good call on the screen rotation, is this something any of the OSes support or needs to be requested to be added in?

Re: Open Source Smartwatch

#40

Interesting. Shame there’s no GPS, though. As a cyclist I’d love a hackable GPS device that isn’t a (fragile, bulky) smartphone.

I think GPS is a significant cost in the power budget. Many users would prefer longer battery life. The option to enable GPS would be nice, but it cuts into cost and size budgets.
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