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Pebble Round 2

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Re: Pebble Round 2

#171

Post by apparent »

tw04 wrote: post #157
apparent wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the Garmin UI to be awful, and the Pebble UI to be a breeze. Also, Garmins are pretty bulky compared to Pebbles, and many of them don't have buttons that can be used to control music, for those of us who find touchscreen interfaces to be lacking.

Huh? Are you sure you aren’t thinking of another brand? Literally every garmin watch I can find on their site has buttons. The size is also very much watch specific. They will all be thicker than a pebble, but they’ll also all have far more features. Like pulse ox, which is one of the main drivers of thickness.

When I was looking a couple years ago, most Garmins had at least 2 buttons, but only those with 5 supported music control via buttons.

I think I have used the pulse oximeter maybe 1x/year, and that's counting during COVID shutdowns, when people talked about pulse ox more than in normal times.

I will keep my Garmin and will use it when exercising. But I would never buy another one as long as I can get Pebbles instead.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#172

Post by apparent »

utopcell wrote: post #163

Nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia, though we should be aware that a 14-day battery life is no longer a competitive advantage. [Gemini 3 Pro Query] "Which smartwatches have at least 1 week of battery life?" - Garmin Instinct 3: Provides up to 18 days (45mm) or even 40 days (50mm) of battery life. It features a robust design and a bright AMOLED display. - Garmin fenix 8: A premium multisport watch that lasts up to…

The Pebble offers multiple weeks of battery life with an always-on display. There are very few other watches that offer this. Looking at the above stats, I would guess that almost all of them are quoting battery life when AOD is disabled.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#173

Post by apparent »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #165
utopcell wrote: post #163

Nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia, though we should be aware that a 14-day battery life is no longer a competitive advantage. [Gemini 3 Pro Query] "Which smartwatches have at least 1 week of battery life?" - Garmin Instinct 3: Provides up to 18 days (45mm) or even 40 days (50mm) of battery life. It features a robust design and a bright AMOLED display. - Garmin fenix 8: A premium multisport watch that lasts up to…

Unless you're going on a back country camping trip, I don't really see what difference it makes if the battery life is 3 days or 30. I have a Garmin Vivoactive 4. It's a generation or 2 old. The battery lasts 2 to 4 days, depending on the features I'm using. I take it off and charge it each day while I shower.

I go on 3-4 day trips all the time and don't want to have to worry about bringing another charger. I rarely go on trips that last more than 2 weeks, so I would never have to bring a charger for the PR2. This is even more true for the PT2, which is supposed to last 4 weeks.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#174

Post by ramses0 »

tw04 wrote: post #157
apparent wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the Garmin UI to be awful, and the Pebble UI to be a breeze. Also, Garmins are pretty bulky compared to Pebbles, and many of them don't have buttons that can be used to control music, for those of us who find touchscreen interfaces to be lacking.

Huh? Are you sure you aren’t thinking of another brand? Literally every garmin watch I can find on their site has buttons. The size is also very much watch specific. They will all be thicker than a pebble, but they’ll also all have far more features. Like pulse ox, which is one of the main drivers of thickness.

Nope, some are touch screen only or with only 1-2 buttons. The Garmin's with 5 buttons (eg: Forerunner 55 at ~$170) are decent once you get used to the button-mechanisms, but pebble's UX for "productivity notifications" has always been top-tier.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#175

Post by andreareina »

apparent wrote: post #132
majesticmerc wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a runner, so obviously biased, but I implore everyone (to the point of annoyance) to check out some of the cheaper Garmin smart watches. They use MIP displays so the battery life runs about 2 weeks, you get phone notifications, the ability to find your phone, sleep scoring, step counting, heart rate monitoring. Then there's the obvious GPS run recording which you don't have to use. There's more stuff as well but…

I find the Garmin UI to be awful, and the Pebble UI to be a breeze. Also, Garmins are pretty bulky compared to Pebbles, and many of them don't have buttons that can be used to control music, for those of us who find touchscreen interfaces to be lacking.

If you don't want to use the touchscreen (I'm in the same boat, totally get it) you need to avoid their "lifestyle" ranges (Venu, Vivoactive, etc) and stick to the "outdoors"/"sport" ranges (Forerunner being the most entry-level of these), these have 5 side buttons (3 left/2 right) and the UI is designed around button-only use.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#176

Post by ramses0 »

cbsks wrote: post #161

What’s the maximum range to your phone to get notifications? I’ve been trying to cut back on my reflex to look at my phone every few minutes. It’d be great if I could keep my phone on a charging stand and be able to walk around my house and still get notifications.

Exactly the killer use-case for pebble! It's "blue-toothy" range, so it'll mostly work in adjacent rooms but might have difficulty going diagonally upstairs v. downstairs, or ranging too far outside.

IIRC, pebble had a "vibrate on BT-loss", which could remind you to go retrieve the phone when ranging outside to rake leaves (or forgetting your phone in a restaurant or something).

Re: Pebble Round 2

#177

Post by spiffytech »

utopcell wrote: post #168
stared wrote: post #154

When it comes to such watches, I am always puzzled why there cannot be a USB-C port for charging. Is it a technical limitation of some sorts? (E.g. cannot be made water resistant?) Because right now it is my biggest pain - one more cable that one needs to carry all the time, and if it is lost, you cannot borrow from a friend.

Even if they can't have usb-c because of space limitation or water resistance, why not simply offer a tiny adapter from their proprietary pogo pin connector to female usb-c? That would be way more portable.

That's what Pebble is doing.

Re: Pebble Round 2

#178

Post by stavros »

lilactown wrote: post #119

Would buy this in a heartbeat (pun intended) if it came with a heart rate monitor. I had the first Pebble Time Round and it's my favorite smart watch I've ever owned, but these days the things I want from a watch are to tell the time and collect biometrics. Taking a step back in biometrics feels like a bummer. I also totally buy that it would increase the foot print in a way that would feel way less slim.

Get the Pebble Time 2 instead?

Re: Pebble Round 2

#179

Post by utopcell »

spiffytech wrote: post #177
utopcell wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if they can't have usb-c because of space limitation or water resistance, why not simply offer a tiny adapter from their proprietary pogo pin connector to female usb-c? That would be way more portable.

That's what Pebble is doing.

Correct. Why isn't everybody doing this?

Re: Pebble Round 2

#180

Post by tw04 »

ramses0 wrote: post #174
tw04 wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Are you sure you aren’t thinking of another brand? Literally every garmin watch I can find on their site has buttons. The size is also very much watch specific. They will all be thicker than a pebble, but they’ll also all have far more features. Like pulse ox, which is one of the main drivers of thickness.

Nope, some are touch screen only or with only 1-2 buttons. The Garmin's with 5 buttons (eg: Forerunner 55 at ~$170) are decent once you get used to the button-mechanisms, but pebble's UX for "productivity notifications" has always been top-tier.

> Nope, some are touch screen only

Which ones are touch screen only?

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