We're bringing Pebble back • Hacker News Board

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#51

Post by boredtofears » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:13 PM UTC

I love my Apple watch because it does so well with tracking fitness stuff (particularly swimming) but it's a few years old now and is starting to get that laggy feeling interface that seems to be a hallmark of older Apple devices after they've gone through enough OS upgrades. I'm dreading the idea of spending a couple hundred bucks on another watch.

Are the sensors/fitness programs on Pebble on-par with apple watches?

I wonder if there's a way to migrate over my years of recorded data over.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#52

Post by ctkhn » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:13 PM UTC

vermarish wrote: post #23

I love the animation when you click "No" on "Do you want a new Pebble?". So extra.

Gotta be honest I feel like Garmin is the perfect balance of pebble vs apple watch

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#53

Post by mikenew » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

lol image creating a beloved tech product, growing the company to the point where it gets acquired by a tech giant, and then waiting until they spit it back out so you can start it all again.

Congrats to Eric. This whole thing is so funny to me and I can't wait for my new Pebble.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#54

Post by gonzo41 » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

mrinterweb wrote: post #26

I noticed my mouth had been hanging agape for a while while reading this. This is huge news. I feel like Pebble is the smartwatch that got it right the first time. So many smartwatches try to replace the phone instead of being an extension of the phone. Pebble seemed to better understand what is important than most smartwatches by being the extension of the phone, a focus on battery life and always on displays.

You should have a look at he Garmin instinct 2x. They've nailed it.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#55

Post by jsheard » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:16 PM UTC

culi wrote: post #48

jsheard wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would have loved the e-ink concept continuously iterated. I'm probably gonna sound like a broken record in this thread but the Pebble never used e-ink, it used a MIP LCD, and MIP never went away. Lots of sports watches use the exact same display technology from the exact same supplier (Sharp) to this day.

Which watches currently use MiP LCD?

Garmin, Coros, Suunto and Polar all make fitness watches with MIP displays. Some of them sell a mixture of MIP and OLED models though, so check the specs. If you want extremely long battery life above all else then the Coros Pace 3 is a good starting point.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#56

Post by bitdivision » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:18 PM UTC

ClassyJacket wrote: post #43

eab- wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notifications aren't great, and the non-e-ink screen is a bit annoying. Also the low amount of physical buttons. But as someone who bought an OG Pebble and now has a Vivoactive 3, I think the fitness features are too nice to switch back fully to Pebble. Although I'll be very glad to see Pebble back!

Which watch has an e-ink(/epaper) display? I can only think of Watchy. Pebble was LCD.

No, pebble was definitely e-ink. And I think the most recent ones had colour epaper.

Edit: Sorry, looking further down I see that they say epaper, which is not the same: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42845508

It looks like they're memory in pixel (MIP) displays, which are basically reflective LCDs I think.

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#57

Post by nejsjsjsbsb » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:19 PM UTC

STL please!

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#58

Post by that_guy_iain » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:19 PM UTC

kilroy123 wrote: post #20

Does this mean things have worked out with Beeper? What will happen with that? I noticed development seemed to have stopped. It's nothing like it was before.

Wasn’t that bought by Automattic?

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#59

Post by trescenzi » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:19 PM UTC

xnx wrote: post #34

Pebble and Basis Peak ( https://www.engadget.com/2016-08-09-basis-peak-obituary.html ) are the two biggest smartwatch losses, and probably top 10 gadget losses of all time. Glad to see one of them might have a future.

The Basis was incredible. It had heath monitoring features Apple is just getting to. I get why it died though. Their V2 exploded on people’s wrists…

Re: We're bringing Pebble back

#60

Post by insane_dreamer » Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 9:19 PM UTC

mrinterweb wrote: post #26

I noticed my mouth had been hanging agape for a while while reading this. This is huge news. I feel like Pebble is the smartwatch that got it right the first time. So many smartwatches try to replace the phone instead of being an extension of the phone. Pebble seemed to better understand what is important than most smartwatches by being the extension of the phone, a focus on battery life and always on displays.

The Withings ScanWatch was the right fit for me. Unfortunately the HR sensor stopped working recently and the water resistant seal broke, and it's out of warranty, so it's in a drawer. But IMO that was the right idea: analog time, discrete notifications, ppg/ekg sensors, 2-week battery life.