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A programmable watch you can actually wear
21–30 of 137 posts
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#22have wished for decades now there was an open-source Garmin on the level of Cyanogenmod / LineageOS for Android not sure if it will happen this decade but definitely next decade proper running/cycling metrics are hard as demonstrated by how many well-funded competitors are somewhat close but not there 100% yet (Coros, Amazfit, etc) someone once hacked and decompiled older Garmins but newer ones are encrypted/signed/l…
Have you looked at the specs for the upcoming PineTime Pro [1]? [1] https://pine64.org/2026/03/28/pinetime_march_2026/
I'm very excited about this. GPS was the final piece of the puzzle.
I love(d) my bangle.js. Such a true hacker device. Really fun to use WebUSB and push JavaScript files as apps.
But the GPS on that device was a mess, honestly. I know this is a complicated problem but having to synchronize to satellites and recalibrate all the time was beyond me.
I really wanted it to work because I built my own toy run tracker visualization tool.
I am curious about this new lilygo device because it sounds like it has an alternative location sensor: "A u-blox MIA-M10Q GNSS module provides accurate location tracking..."
I'll need to look that up. Anyone have a summary on what's the difference between that and regular GPS?
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#23That's more a programmable watch than a DIY one :-) I build mine from scratch, including the PCB and a 3D printed case. For sure, that's not at all the same level of customability, programmability, capacity, nor quality. But It is really a DIY one. For anyone interested: https://github.com/jblezoray/hpdl1414-watch
I like your hpdl watch better than the LilyGo watch. As a lover of analog and casio watches I can tell you that your watch can soon build you a loyal following in its current form if you only build 3 such watches and put them on Amazon, etc. and price them at 50$. Next batch of 3 you could try at 100$.
Don't worry about glass cover, our local watch repair guy can easily slap one in it
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#24I like a good smart watch and I appreciate open source, but an ESP32 isn't a great pick when low power consumption is important and the device is going to be communicating regularly. I'm surprised LILYGO went that direction in a watch form factor.
What would you suggest instead?
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#25No mention of battery life? I guess it depends on the software that you run. But it would be nice to have a benchmark for how long it would last in normal watch mode.
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#26There are only a few features I care about in a smartwatch:
1. O2 monitoring. I have sleep apnea and live at high altitude, so this matters to me.
2. Motion sensor. Also mostly for tracking sleep.
3. Vibrator for notifications.
4. A screen backlight.
5. Battery life longer than a week.
6. Waterproof enough to survive a splash in the shower/rain.
I consider GPS, cellular, AI, touchscreens, cloud-only sync and control apps, and just about everything else to be anti-features. There are no devices that really cover all this that I've found. A few Garmin and Amazfit/Zepp devices come close, but they have enough drawbacks for me to not be happy with them. The new Pebble is nearly perfect, but the lack of an O2 sensor is a dealbreaker for me :(
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#27That's more a programmable watch than a DIY one :-) I build mine from scratch, including the PCB and a 3D printed case. For sure, that's not at all the same level of customability, programmability, capacity, nor quality. But It is really a DIY one. For anyone interested: https://github.com/jblezoray/hpdl1414-watch
I like your hpdl watch better than the LilyGo watch. As a lover of analog and casio watches I can tell you that your watch can soon build you a loyal following in its current form if you only build 3 such watches and put them on Amazon, etc. and price them at 50$. Next batch of 3 you could try at 100$. Don't worry about glass cover, our local watch repair guy can easily slap one in it
The HPDL-1414 appears to be discontinued though still available from some suppliers in varying MOQs and leads.
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#28I like a good smart watch and I appreciate open source, but an ESP32 isn't a great pick when low power consumption is important and the device is going to be communicating regularly. I'm surprised LILYGO went that direction in a watch form factor.
Most of their lora devices are ESP32.
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#29This does look very cool. Every peripheral one could think of, even LoRA!
That stood out to me, too. Garmin should take a hint.
Re: A programmable watch you can actually wear
#30Does anyone know if this has an accelerometer? I recently got a nice sports-oriented smartwatch (non-Garmin), to use it mostly for rowing, but it doesn't track the rowing-rate. It should be pretty easy to program one if the watch has accelerometers, but couldn't tell from the spec sheet (maybe that means no?)