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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

#391

Post by igorsantos07 »

mod wrote: post #383
igorsantos07 wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a really, really hard time finding a decent smart watch when my Pebble drowned. Two years and five(!!!) Ticwatches later (first was too slow, the other 4 were drowning in different ways when I was swimming)... I felt in love with the Samsung Watch 4 classic. Not that expensive, slick UI, full of features, great Android integration and a wonderful dial/crown which is well used in a couple of apps to make it all…

I have the original galaxy watch still. I use it almost without ever touching the screen. Two buttons and a crown/dial pretty much make it four buttons, and yeah, I don't have to touch the screen really. I'm also not a very hardcore watch user, though. I was sold on the GW because the OS (Tizen) was supposed to be the best one. Everyone hated the google OS, which then in GW4 I think they switched to.

The OS on GW4 is really amazing, at least comparing with previous versions of WearOS and even to my previous Pebble experience. However, they ditched the crown at the GW5

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#392

Post by maratc »

mmmlinux wrote: post #237
maratc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My iPod nano battery expanded and cracked the whole device open. I almost literally cried, as I loved that little device too much. Getting a replacement is not an option as any iPod nano battery is about 10 years old now. A sign of what will happen to all the Apple Watches out there.

a replacement battery is 15$USD on ifixit...

The heat gun, on the other hand ...

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#393

Post by Markoff »

TMWNN wrote: post #332
Markoff wrote: post #73

same here with Amazfit Bip, had few months stint with AMOLED smartwatch which was necessary to charge twice a week until I got fed up with that (plus unreadable display in sunlight unless maximum brightness) and bought again second Amazfit Bip (1st broke) which cost me less than 20USD used and I have to charge it once a month plus it has perfectly readable transreflective display not requiring any backlight, which lo…

I'm like you, down to getting a second Bip (Lite in my case) for $20 after the first one broke (Let me guess: Case popped open?). There is nothing else on the market with its combination of * incredible battery life * tens of thousands of watch faces * HR * always-on transflective display * notifications

I mean there are watches with good battery life and transreflective display, BUT they are huge/thick (I like Bip size, would not mind even Casio F91W) AND expensive, Bip had great combo of amazing dimensions, amazing battery life and very reasonable price. If my Bip crap out and I won't be able another used one I might as well ditch smartchwatch completely and just move to F91W for time and check notifications on phone again, for sure not buying anything thicker than 10mm which needsa to be charged more than twice a month and display must be always readable at least since morning till evening without some dumb hand gestures.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#394

Post by davidbanham »

amatecha wrote: post #328
davidbanham wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It copped a few too many splashes at the beach and never came back to life.

A key criteria for the replacement was "I never want to have to think about whether something will break it" and the Instinct has lived up to that. Have spent the last few years wearing it surfing, snowboarding, through many bush fires and one structure fire where I forgot to take it off before donning. Hasn't skipped a beat.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#395

Post by Watchwatcher »

brewdad wrote: post #247
Watchwatcher wrote: post #244

I basically want an old school style mp3 player with bluetooth and a GPS tracker that I can just plug into a computer and grab the gpx data, and copy mp3s to its disk. No apps, no locked down ecosystems. If it tells the time and shows a calendar, great.

I used to run with a Sansa Clip. It was perfect for that use case. Tiny, practically weightless, and could store many hours of music. My computer treated it like any USB drive, so it was easy to update. One of mine (I think I burned through 3 of them over the years even had an FM radio. Today, when I run, I just carry my phone. It ends up doing everything the old clip did but in a much larger and more cumbersome pack…

I do the phone thing, too. It's just kinda clunky but you're right, probably safest way to be out.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#396

Post by fennecfoxy »

The Pebble Time Round is the best smartwatch I ever used. I have a Samsung GW4 now though - there are a few things I would've liked to see pebble add to upper tier models, for example a sports one with GPS etc, along with being able to store/play Spotify/other music providers stuff over bluetooth (for going on runs).

I think the Apple Watch, with all it's flashy animations and bright, beautiful screen contributed to the issue; people only see the shiny, they don't realise they don't need all of those features/oled screen and that they're sacrificing a week long (or more!) battery life for them.

I regularly got like 4-5 days out of the Round and it was super thin! I imagine had they done a model as thick as the GW4 it would've lasted 2 weeks or so! I really wish smart watches had gone in the Pebble direction, always on displays should be the primary feature for people. MIP LCD, not oled.

Then again, I really can't wait until we _finally_ get some properly commercialised AR glasses as I'd rather use those over a phone or watch or anything else at this point.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#397

Post by fennecfoxy »

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.

People will buy whatever Apple makes lmao.

But in all seriousness it's the general public's lack of foresight to care about the direction these products go, they don't know what they're sacrificing all they see is shiny oled, whizzbang animations.

Same as the general apathy towards right to repair, the general public doesn't give two shits because they can't connect the dots: right to repair---->I can take it to the repair shop around the corner. Normies that hear about it will just think "well I'm not repairing stuff myself anyway".

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#398

Post by atom058 »

627467 wrote: post #117

I have a pebble time and a og pebble steel in the drawer. Recently wanted to start using the steel but unfortunately it suffers from the dead button syndrome... I can even accept the onboarding pairing. Apparently I may be able to fix this if I try some soldering, but I'm an inexperienced solderer...

Give it a try! The worst thing that can happen is that you destroy something that wasn't working anyway, and you learn something nee

But more likely than not you will manage to wrangle it back together somehow :)

Good luck!

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