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Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

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Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#321

Post by aembleton »

aembleton wrote: post #320
edejong wrote: post #163

There still is no good replacement for these properties of the Pebble 2 smartwatch: - > 7 days battery life - HR monitor (useful as a sports watch) - - toned down to fit different clothing styles - hackable - high-contrast, always-on screen - buttons I am currently wearing a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire sportswatch, which comes close.

Amazfit Bip S - https://www.amazfit.com/uk/amazfit-bip-s.html - 40 day battery life - HR monitor - 11.4mm thickness - Always on transreflective screen It's not hackable, is a bit thicker and only has one button but unlike the Fenix 7 it is very affordable.

Also, the Neo is worth looking at as you get four buttons https://www.amazfit.com/en/neo

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#322

Post by palata »

seized wrote: post #182
razemio wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just checked the Garmin Fenix 7 and now I want to add one missing point to your list: - affordable

Garmin has a wide range of watches, many of which meet most of those criteria. Except for hackable. I have a Vivoactive 4 and I've been very happy with it.

Are there projects reverse engineering them? Something like BangleJS?

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#323

Post by palata »

MBCook wrote: post #245
mrcwinn wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"That few?" "Why nobody else makes such a watch is a mystery to me." There ya go.

Right. Apple sold 46.1 million Apple Watches last year alone. There are always people who mourn the Pebble and I understand why. But the market has clearly shown you don’t need a week of battery life to be successful.

The market works in mysterious ways :). That also explains why ElectronJS is so successful.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#324

Post by idoh »

mmmlinux wrote: post #236
idoh wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same - something like a headless Apple Watch would be ideal. I legit just want HR tracking and connecting to a chest strap HR monitor, and no watch display, other than the current HR.

Sounds like you want a heart rate monitor and not a watch.

As far as I can tell there are no hr monitors that can connect to chest straps. If one did then instant purchase. But I like the other tracking and sync of Apple Watch too, that would be a bonus.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#325

Post by aembleton »

solarkraft wrote: post #27

That few? I wasn't a huge fan of Pebble, the company - they didn't sell replacement parts, for instance (the watch for geeks? yeah, sure). For some crazy reason, though, to this day, this watch is still almost the only one that gets such a basic thing right: Telling the damn time. The formula is as simple as it is unreplicated: - Always telling the time - Good battery life - Buttons Why nobody else makes such a watch…

Coros Pace 2 has buttons and a crown but no touch screen. Its gets 2 weeks of battery life in real world use.

https://www.coros.com/pace2

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#326

Post by posguy »

pmontra wrote: post #306
rchaud wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sad that tech did away with replaceable batteries. I would love to use my 5-inch 16:9 Samsung phone from 2016. It still works fine, but the battery barely lasts an hour. Instead I have to use one of their gigantic replacement phones with a ridiculous 21:9 ratio.

I opened my Samsung A40 two days ago and replaced a camera that didn't autofocus anymore. 20 Euros with shipping. The battery can be replaced too. Actually I had to disconnect it to remove the upper motherboard and access the camera. It seems a pretty serviceable phone. You should check YouTube for tear down videos about your model.

No Android 12 (released October 4, 2021) or 13 for the Galaxy A40 phone has been released by Samsung :c

OS updates make or break devices long term.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#327

Post by amatecha »

bryceacc wrote: post #310
etothepii wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll buy an Apple Watch, but I'd pay through the nose for an Apple Watch with four buttons. Steve Jobs obsession that the mouse should have only one button was probably right for the computer, but the input device had over 80 buttons minimum. (Keyboard) Clearly whoever makes the call about Apple Watch buttons doesn't swim, sprint or cycle. All the marketing about "sports" is to make you feel sporty not because it's a…

what would you map those buttons to?

play/pause, skip forward, skip back :) This is what they did for me on the Pebble, anyway! Or outside of music-playback, they were enter/select, up, down, respectively.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#328

Post by amatecha »

davidbanham wrote: post #296
Pfhortune wrote: post #290

Folks ITT will talk about watches that are similar in hardware, but what was magic about Pebble was the software and ecosystem. The OS was just a delight to use, fast, wonderfully animated, and let you sideload whatever you want. I've tried a couple of Garmin watches (Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 55) and the Amazfit Bip, and this is where they all fall completely flat. The UX is just horrible by comparison. It's like…

I loved my pebbles and was very sad when my Time Steel finally died. I now wear a Garmin Instinct. The UI isn’t as joyful and it’s not quite as pretty. It’s every bit as practical as the pebble and then some. Also you couldn’t kill it with a stick.

In what way did it die? it may be easily repairable. e.g. the common display issue on the old Pebble models was resolvable by just placing a shim behind the display so the data connection stayed solid.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#329

Post by insane_dreamer »

gnicholas wrote: post #152
insane_dreamer wrote: post #100

Pebble was a great watch; mine's been in my drawer for years as I ran into some issues with updates after the company went away. Switched back to my trusty analog (Citizen World Time Eco Drive) for years, and recently got a Withings Scanwatch for the ECG feature (afib detection). It's pretty much what I want in a "smartwatch" -- analog, discrete notifications, HR during cycling/workouts, long battery life. I don't ne…

Can it control music playback from a linked smartphone?

No music features.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#330

Post by rootusrootus »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #202

I've got a friend who still uses a Palm Pilot (circa 1998) as a daily calendar manager/notepad. Works at Google and delights in telling younger colleagues it's a Pixel 8 prototype.

Seeing all the comments in this discussion makes me think I should break out my old Zaurus and put it on eBay. It never even got used more than a few minutes. I just haven't had the heart to recycle it yet.
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