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After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

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Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#31

Post by Auguste »

Ingon wrote: post #25
Auguste wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, my Garmin Instinct Solar 3 gets a 4-week battery life. I never looked back at my Pebble Time.

4-week battery life, if you don't go outside. Solar charges the watch relatively slow (e.g. it takes 3 hours of just sitting under the sun to charge a day), but if you get out frequently it just pushes the battery day just a little further. Funny experience, when I charged it the first time and got outside in the sun, it showed infinity days battery remaining :D I also appreciate that most of the data is available ri…

The torch is super underrated. I use it regularly, like when getting out of bed in the middle of the night. The best torch is the one you always have on you.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#32

Post by CalRobert »

alexpotato wrote: post #16
kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I think there is a bit of a spectrum e.g. - I don't want EVERY SINGLE notification from my phone to go to my watch - I also don't want zero notifications b/c it's very useful to get notifications from my kids, important calendar reminders, my boss sends me a slack etc Also, the watch allows me to still be "connected" for important events but not distracted by my phone. (I should add that Apple watches give you a LOT…

I prefer to be able to slack my direct reports without thinking “are they going to get this on the toilet? Is this going to make them panic?”

It’s ok to wait a few minutes.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#34

Post by cm-t »

That's basicly what I think since i own a Pebble Time Steel. On Ubuntu Touch, using this great app: https://open-store.io/app/rockwork.mzanetti

For those who do not want notifications, of course you can disable it (all/per app). On my side i need agenda notification, and that brillant. Never miss a planned event, so i'm not going back to analog watch. Since the watch has memory, event if you are disconnect with the phone, you have most of them synched on your hand.

The only issue I had with Pebble Time Steel was the battery, even after changing it, was up for maximum a week. Now with a almost a month + a keychain charger type C adapter, i can't but stuck with an empty battery.

Looking forward to use "find my phone" feature on Ubuntu Touch (I think it's already here on Android)

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#35

Post by woile »

I have been using a "withings" smartwatch for the last 8 years. The battery now last 3 weeks instead of a month. It has all the features I need spite of being an oldy: heartbeat, steps, calories, countdown, sport mode, etc. The newer ones even have gps and more.

But the thing is: it looks analog, the smart is almost hidden away, that's how I like the tech, because the watch looks really cool. It can receive messages, but I never enabled that feature.

I've taken it deep under water, clashed against climbing walls, kettle-bells and it has a few scratches on it. I'm not a pro at anything so I don't need the garmin precision. I only had to change the wrist thingy once. I don't want another screen in my life. I recommend it as an alternative to all these "wrist-phones"

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#36

Post by zulux »

CalRobert wrote: post #32
alexpotato wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is a bit of a spectrum e.g. - I don't want EVERY SINGLE notification from my phone to go to my watch - I also don't want zero notifications b/c it's very useful to get notifications from my kids, important calendar reminders, my boss sends me a slack etc Also, the watch allows me to still be "connected" for important events but not distracted by my phone. (I should add that Apple watches give you a LOT…

I prefer to be able to slack my direct reports without thinking “are they going to get this on the toilet? Is this going to make them panic?” It’s ok to wait a few minutes.

We've set up separate channels in our messaging app: One for random stuff and one for emergencies, and we only leave notifications on for the latter.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#37

Post by rpozarickij »

bad_username wrote: post #2

Between the Apple Watch kind of watches on one side, and Pebble kind of watches on another side, there's the whole Garmin ecosystem, a mention of which is notably absent from the article. They are a nice technological middle ground (though maybe not always a price middle ground), especially the classic models with non-OLED transflective screens. Granted, they are more sports/fitness oriented, but that's hardly a draw…

Before owning a Garmin watch (Epix Pro Gen 2 in my case) I had no idea just how useful always having a flashlight* with you is. I'd put this feature near all the health/digital features in terms of usefulness. I have it set to red light mode by default and double-pressing the light button gives me instant and unobtrusive night vision. I have also turned on the Red Shift mode for the display which makes the watch itself much more pleasant to use.

* not all Garmin watches have it AFAIK

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#38

Post by stevekemp »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I'm surprised that the article even said "but you don’t always have the luxury of sitting down to set the time and get the watch ready for the day".

I wear an automatic all the time, in fact I collect them, and most automatic watches will happily keep ticking for 36-48 hours. If you take it off to sleep it won't need adjusting the next morning.

Even if you did need to fiddle with a watch in the morning (which I do, as I switch watches every few days) it takes seconds to whirl the hands to the correct time. Certainly not a significant timesink.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#39

Post by gwbas1c »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I've been tempted to go that route: I used to have a transparent self-winding watch and I miss it.

The thing is, I really like seeing text messages on my watch out of the corner of my eye. I don't read them, but I know that so-and-so texted me, and if it's important I figure out how to read the text safely.

Otherwise, I turn off almost all watch notifications very aggressively.

---

I also really enjoy using my watch as an alarm clock and to track sleep, but I could just wear it at night if I wanted to wear a mechanical watch.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#40

Post by jebarker »

bad_username wrote: post #2

Between the Apple Watch kind of watches on one side, and Pebble kind of watches on another side, there's the whole Garmin ecosystem, a mention of which is notably absent from the article. They are a nice technological middle ground (though maybe not always a price middle ground), especially the classic models with non-OLED transflective screens. Granted, they are more sports/fitness oriented, but that's hardly a draw…

I’ve found Coros to be great too. I’ve used my Vertix to track GPS for 48 hours continuously during a race. It’s been beaten up against rocks, soaking wet and filthy for extended periods and still works 100%. Just yesterday it saved me from a minor emergency when I got lost on a new trail and needed to backtrack. After years of use it still has weeks of battery life for tracking daily workouts. I don’t use any of the smartwatch features like notifications though and wear a mechanical watch as my daily driver.
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