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Two new PebbleOS watches

ericmigi.com

241–250 of 544 posts

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#241

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

> all written in Javascript

Pass.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#242

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

Unfortunately it's the software that determines how good such a device is to use. What's currently considered the best firmware for the Bangle?

I will also note that backlit LCD is vastly inferior to e-paper in smartwatches. Size of the watch also matters, there are some tradeoffs you have to make.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#243

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

Unfortunately it's the software that determines how good such a device is to use. What's currently considered the best firmware for the Bangle? I will also note that backlit LCD is vastly inferior to e-paper in smartwatches. Size of the watch also matters, there are some tradeoffs you have to make.

The official one, which runs great. And since it's all open JS there's even alternative app menus and launchers if you're not happy with the stock option

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#244

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

> all written in Javascript Pass.

All I care about is battery life and level of friction to creating an app.

2+ weeks and extremely low, so language purism is irrelevant imo

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately it's the software that determines how good such a device is to use. What's currently considered the best firmware for the Bangle? I will also note that backlit LCD is vastly inferior to e-paper in smartwatches. Size of the watch also matters, there are some tradeoffs you have to make.

The official one, which runs great. And since it's all open JS there's even alternative app menus and launchers if you're not happy with the stock option

I forgot to add that this LCD screen is perfectly readable in direct sunlight, I wouldn't know it was not e-ink at a casual glance. Even at extreme angles the only thing that makes it difficult is the reflectivity of the front glass, but I have a large font watchface so even that is a minimal issue.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#246
post #3

I'll be hanging out here - happy to answer any questions you have!

You mention only producing a limited quantity, but do you have any plans to do a second batch next year? I know that knowing the future is impossible and that you thus can't make any promises, but are you at least hoping to be able to make more batches in the future?

I can't spend $225 right now, and by next month I'm guessing the pre-orders will already have blown way past your production quantity ^^

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#247

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

> all written in Javascript Pass.

Why?

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#248
post #3

I'll be hanging out here - happy to answer any questions you have!

I want to get a smartwatch that has enough functionalities to run a time tracker app with the purpose of not having to carry a phone most of the time. The existing ones are all WearOS or Apple watch, neither of which can be used in a freedom-preserving way. Would it be possible to write time tracking apps for these watches?

Sure it would and there are existing Pebble time tracking apps. Here's a search for "Time Tracker" in the Rebble store but I'm sure you will find more with other search terms: https://store-beta.rebble.io/apps/search?query=time%20tracke...

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#249

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

Unfortunately it's the software that determines how good such a device is to use. What's currently considered the best firmware for the Bangle? I will also note that backlit LCD is vastly inferior to e-paper in smartwatches. Size of the watch also matters, there are some tradeoffs you have to make.

Pebble's display is also a backlit LCD. It is better than some backlit LCDs but the technology is not fundamentally different.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/pebble/comments/3i6mje/epaper_tech_...

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#250

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

The original blog post for the revived Pebble was very clear about the design goals and it drove home something quite clearly: this is not going to deliver a laundry list of features or support all possible lifestyles. It will be focused on doing a few things well because there's a need for a modern Pebble not met by existing watches.

I have a Bangle2 and while it's super fun, I think it perfectly illustrates the point that simply having features isn't enough. I would not say my Bangle2 is the same as my OG Pebble.

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