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Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

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Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#151

Post by Min0taur »

jcoder wrote: post #104

The ring sizing has been such a debacle, first with needing to buy (!) their special ring sizing kit because standard sizing wouldn’t be accurate they said, and now they say that the ring sizing kits weren’t true to size and suggest this: > When in doubt, order a larger size. You can always adjust a larger Index 01 to feel smaller with a foam adhesive or clip but you can’t make it larger! Size up and shim it with foa…

Yeah, this annoyed me. I live right next door to a jeweler who could have given me a standard sizing easily, but I bought the kit at their suggestion/mild insistence.

What's worse, I threw it out when I was done, given that it was a PLA sheet with no other apparent use, with it being nonstandard and all. So now I'm not even sure if I need to size up, because I'm not going to buy a second sizing kit to refresh myself on the fit.

Like, come on.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#152

Post by Alive-in-2025 »

wartijn_ wrote: post #138
mbirth wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also ask any serious Garmin watch user about their charging/data contacts. They start to rot away after 1-2 years of being exposed to sweat.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about that, and I know a good amount of people who use Garmin watches. My own forerunner is still going strong after 5 (I think) years of use, with multiple runs a week for most of that time.

I know someone whose garmin watch refused to charge after a few years, not sure if it was caused by sweat. Mine is starting to get wonky after a few years. I keep worrying I'll plug in some time and it will stop. anec-data is not that reliable of course.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#153

Post by LeifCarrotson »

cush wrote: post #121
haritha-j wrote: post #109

The index is a ludicrous product. The battery life, they claim, is 2 years. This is one heck of a misrepresentation. It is actually 12-15 hours. They get the 2 years because its meant to be used around 10-20 times a day, in *3-6 second* recordings. The device is being marketed as external memory for your brain. I'm hardly a philosopher, but I don't have many useful thoughts that are 3-6 seconds in length. heck, when…

That discrepancy isn't explainable given a change in daily use. 12hrs vs 2 years is a 1000x difference. You're saying they expected people to use it 1000x less than they actually are? That's them expecting people to use it for 1 min per day, and people actually are using it for 16 hours per day

Low power electronics are all about low duty cycles: if it can be worn but asleep and drawing next to no power for 15 hours and 59 minutes, and recording audio for 60 seconds, they only need enough battery to run the processor for 60 seconds.

No one is using the thing like a dedicated microphone to record their entire day's audio, it's a note-taking tool.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#154

Post by swyx »

lardosaurusrex wrote: post #143

John Pebble sold his community and their collective souls for a corn chip and I genuinely don't understand why they all went rushing back to him; particularly after he went on his little social media crusade against rebble and accused them of stealing and gatekeeping the apps/software that were already -- and have been for years now -- avaliable. Every time he makes a post I can't help but somehow lose even more resp…

> John Pebble sold his community and their collective souls for a corn chip and I genuinely don't understand why they all went rushing back to him

youve never made a mistake? you didnt think google had at least a decent shot of making pebble even bigger and better? he has not been shy about google's errors in handling pebble post acquisition. please be kinder - this is clearly his passion and he wants to run things his way. let him cook. spitting on a strangers face just because you dont agree with how they run their business when its really none of yours is something you should reflect on.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#155

Post by Aurornis »

bArray wrote: post #132
Aurornis wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exposed terminals would need a lot more than a single transistor. It would need ESD protection and it would change the outer case from being a complete sealed over mold into something that had to seal against two exposed terminals. That’s a big change. They would also need to ship a separate charger device to go with it, which approaches the complexity of the simple ring product. These are solvable problems, but it w…

> Exposed terminals would need a lot more than a single transistor. It would need ESD protection and it would change the outer case from being a complete sealed over mold into something that had to seal against two exposed terminals. That’s a big change. This is a solved problem though. Wireless earbuds can do it. We're probably just talking about a TVS diode. > For a niche, low volume product with an unknown market…

> This is a solved problem though. Wireless earbuds can do it

They’re all solved problems!

That doesn’t change the fact that every additional complication adds cost, complexity, failure points, more warranty returns, and time to market.

Saying it’s just a transistor and a TVS ignores the hard parts like sealing the enclosure and building an entire second device to charge it.

Solvable, but less so for a low volume product with unproven demand. You have to be building a lot of a product to offset the costs of developing it.

> $75 for a use once device that could last as little as a few months under normal usage, or $100 for something that could operate for 5+ years.

The retail price of this device is $99. The $75 is only for the promotional preorder period.

It’s already a $100 product. Adding charging ports and a separate charger is going to be even more expensive unless they start shipping 100,000s of these to build at scale.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#156

Post by whyenot »

jcoder wrote: post #104

The ring sizing has been such a debacle, first with needing to buy (!) their special ring sizing kit because standard sizing wouldn’t be accurate they said, and now they say that the ring sizing kits weren’t true to size and suggest this: > When in doubt, order a larger size. You can always adjust a larger Index 01 to feel smaller with a foam adhesive or clip but you can’t make it larger! Size up and shim it with foa…

Pebble never said that anyone "needs" to buy the ring sizing kit. They did suggest that you buy the sizing kit from them for $10, OR 3D print it at home, OR visit a jeweler.

The ring has a button on it that you are going to press often, and you will likely wear it on a different finger than you would normally wear a ring on. That is/was the advantage of the sizing kit IMO: you can try the different sizes and wear the "dummy" ring for a couple of hours or a day and get a better idea of what size and finger will work best for you.

I think calling the ring sizing a "debacle" is being a little over-dramatic. It is a shame the ring kit is off on sizing, but how big of a problem it is, is kind of an unknown right now. It's a limited production product, there will be problems at the start, just like there have been with the Pebble Time 2.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#157

Post by warp »

duxup wrote: post #133
jcoder wrote: post #104

The ring sizing has been such a debacle, first with needing to buy (!) their special ring sizing kit because standard sizing wouldn’t be accurate they said, and now they say that the ring sizing kits weren’t true to size and suggest this: > When in doubt, order a larger size. You can always adjust a larger Index 01 to feel smaller with a foam adhesive or clip but you can’t make it larger! Size up and shim it with foa…

Was this a manufacturing issue or something? How do you manufacture a ring and not know what size it is / sell it to people?

to be fair, most smart rings (oura, samsung, even the cheap chinese ones on aliexpress) use ring sizing kits. it seems to be standard practice in this space.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#158

Post by ramses0 »

apparent wrote: post #128
VCFundedGenYer wrote: post #108

I feel this would have been incredible....in the 2014-2016 timeframe. There just isn't any room for this product anymore. Pebble was at the top of their game before Apple came in and showed them up.

If Apple made a watch with 1/4 the battery life of a Pebble, I would agree. However, there are apparently 20,000 people who prefer to have less functionality and more battery life than Apple/Samsung/Google are interested in offering. There are other options like Garmin and Amazfit, but honestly the UI on both of those are pretty awful, especially compared to the slick Pebble UI.

...and BUTTONS! Pebble's capabilities are excellent b/c the UX of a ~1.5" screen is wildly different than that of an iPhone. Up/Down/Forward/Backwards and the occasional long-press is an excellent match for on-the-go interaction.

I absolutely hated brushing the iWatch screen and triggering random crap and there was no other way to interact with it! Garmin's w/ 5 buttons and transflective (sunlight-readable) displays have been the closest alternative, and they have a pretty cool "touch-screen alt mode" which you can access via press+hold on two of the diagonal buttons to enable/disable (or automatically starts if you open up the "maps" app for dragging it around).

Long battery, sunlight readable, buttons.

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#159

Post by [deleted] »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #153
cush wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That discrepancy isn't explainable given a change in daily use. 12hrs vs 2 years is a 1000x difference. You're saying they expected people to use it 1000x less than they actually are? That's them expecting people to use it for 1 min per day, and people actually are using it for 16 hours per day

Low power electronics are all about low duty cycles: if it can be worn but asleep and drawing next to no power for 15 hours and 59 minutes, and recording audio for 60 seconds, they only need enough battery to run the processor for 60 seconds. No one is using the thing like a dedicated microphone to record their entire day's audio, it's a note-taking tool.

[deleted]

Re: Pebble Mega Update – July 2026

#160

Post by cush »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #153
cush wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That discrepancy isn't explainable given a change in daily use. 12hrs vs 2 years is a 1000x difference. You're saying they expected people to use it 1000x less than they actually are? That's them expecting people to use it for 1 min per day, and people actually are using it for 16 hours per day

Low power electronics are all about low duty cycles: if it can be worn but asleep and drawing next to no power for 15 hours and 59 minutes, and recording audio for 60 seconds, they only need enough battery to run the processor for 60 seconds. No one is using the thing like a dedicated microphone to record their entire day's audio, it's a note-taking tool.

Yeah I know. I misunderstood the 12-15hr battery life comment. They're saying the battery lasts for 12-15hrs *of recording*. Very different statements.
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