Two new PebbleOS watches • Hacker News Board

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#501

Post by Groxx » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 9:15 PM UTC

Zetaphor wrote: post #239

As someone who was a huge fan of the original Pebble series, it's hard to get excited about this offering when compared to the alternatives available today with more features and a cheaper price. I'm currently wearing the BangleJS v2 [0] which has the following going for it, all for $90USD: * 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126) with backlight * Full touchscreen (6H hardness glass) * GPS/G…

As a banglejs 2 wearer as well: I think it's the closest competitor by a very large margin, but I would absolutely not call it a polished experience. I've had intermittent (and persistent) connection failures (definitely improving over time), heartrate is all over the place and is almost totally unreliable (some weeks my resting heartrate is apparently >200bps, and some I never break 100), the gadgetbridge app has loads of minor wtfs, touches are not well aligned if you have a status bar visible, the UI is kinda laggy, it's not waterproof, and I can probably write up another couple dozen more OTOH if I try for a few minutes.

I consider myself a happy customer, and will definitely recommend it with caveats, there's a lot to like about the banglejs 2. But it's targeting a FAR more hacker-oriented crowd than Pebbles did - I would absolutely not suggest one to people who are not willing to debug their watch. It's quite simple to do so (really, I like it!), but it's not something I can recommend to the normies in my life.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#502

Post by sundarurfriend » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 9:49 PM UTC

lnenad wrote: post #468

sundarurfriend wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I felt the same way, but this thread seems to be full of people primed by Apple Watch pricing. Not sure how much that will translate to purchases in the end though, in my experience these folks are likely to leave a glowing comment and then just stick to their Apple Watches. As someone who just wanted a low-frills smartwatch and was following repebble for that, I'm disappointed and have unsubscribed from their update…

> primed by Apple Watch pricing This is a weird take. An avg price for a normal watch is $100-$200. This is a watch with a lot more functionalities that a quartz movement, and the production run is much smaller. I think the price is very fair not taking into account the price of an Apple Watch.

> An avg price for a normal watch is $100-$200.

That depends on where you live (a $200 watch certainly wouldn't be considered "normal" where I live), but also: a normal watch has a lot more aesthetic value than this, even considering that this has good aesthetics for a smartwatch. It usually also has a significantly longer usable life, at least five times that of devices like this.

But I should have clarified in my original comment that the "primed by Apple watch pricing" was specifically referring to the people that seemed to think this was really cheap and that the price should be increased! I don't think the price here is unfair necessarily, but definitely disagree with the people who seem to think this is really underpriced.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#503

Post by andrewaylett » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 10:02 PM UTC

radlad wrote: post #214

apparent wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "price" is an imprecise term that could refer to the pre-tax/tariff amount or the post-tax/tariff amount. It would include shipping, if there is no other way to get the device (as is the case here). But regardless, they're not saying they would increase the "price" (whatever that means), but just that if the tariff situation changes, then the customer will need to pay the additional tariff. This is the same a…

The difference between sales tax and a tariff is that the consumer pays the sales tax while the importer pays the tariff. In other words, I'm not presented with a "price + taxes + tariff." I'm presented with a "price + taxes" where the price is supposed to bake in the seller's costs (which may include tariffs) and a margin of profit. Likewise, if the price increases to allow for additional tariffs, I will also pay mo…

And then you've got VAT, which yes it's the consumer's money that's going to paying it, but the headline price for consumers is the VAT inclusive price and the retailer (or importer, who may sometimes be a consumer) is responsible for paying.

Which means that in high-profile cases where the VAT rate is disputed, it's the retailer who is on the hook for the disputed amount. Recent examples being Greggs (a baker, who won their case, so no tax payable) and Uber (where I'm not actually sure whether it's finalised yet? But if they end up needing to pay VAT then it's going to be expensive).

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#504

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 10:05 PM UTC

drdec wrote: post #429

pimeys wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that the diabetic community are extremely interested on these watches. 30 days of battery life, already working support for Android APS and xDrip with these watches. What is there not to like. Put one of these to your child's wrist and they can get alerts on the glucose level easily.

I don't understand how the watches help with glucose levels. The specs mention step, sleep and heart rate tracking. What am I missing? (Vested interest as a diabetic myself.)

[deleted]

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#505

Post by scyzoryk_xyz » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 10:34 PM UTC

beambot wrote: post #180

nebulous1 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100 profit on a $150 watch would be crazy. Rest of the post seems made up too. I don't know where these numbers are coming from. I'm genuinely confused.

MSRP of 3x COGS is a pretty common rule of thumb for hardware. Have to leave room for distribution, software, R&D, returns, SG&A, etc. End of the day, it's probably still only 30-40% gross margin -- less than half of a good SaaS company. Hardware is (indeed!) hard.

Having worked in a tiny start-up-turned-company doing hardware for medical training, my biggest takeaway was that it is very slow but that it can also be very stable.

Like, yeah our margins were/are super high, and so were/are the distributors’, but once everything was spun up and running it was also very stable and predictable.

We were located on the outskirts of a 3rd tier Eastern European city and yet we were plugged right into the same global parts supply chain and capable of doing the same global distribution you could elsewhere. If you’re on to something, it’s a good time to be doing hardware. But you’re correct - 2/3 of the entire company was distribution/sales and R&D.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#506

Post by c22 » Wed, Mar 19, 2025, 11:14 PM UTC

radlad wrote: post #440

c22 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By that logic the watch is a non-essential luxury good so you probably should use the $150 you have now in a more productive manner regardless of potential futures.

I am not sure I understand you. It's true, I generally prefer not to preorder as it means I'm essentially offering an interest-free loan to a company. Sometimes I'll do it anyway for one of two reasons: to lock in a price that may increase later, or to receive an item earlier than I would otherwise, due to excessive demand.

I'm just saying that, at least to my sensibilities, the viewpoint that leads one to be concerned about maximizing the efficiency of 150 bucks over the next 4-5 months seems incompatible with the viewpoint that it would be reasonable to spend $150 on this watch at all.

But I recognize that everyone's a snowflake, so you do you.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#507

Post by moron4hire » Thu, Mar 20, 2025, 1:34 AM UTC

codepoet80 wrote: post #485

moron4hire wrote: post #267

I know this is going to sound weird, but I'd really love a stylish smartwatch without any wireless comms of any kind on board. And I think a lot of people living in and around Arlington, VA would as well.

how would it be "smart" without some kind of way to get data from your phone (or other wireless data source)? are you imagining a wired tether and periodic sync, like Palm Pilots?

I guess technically I mean more of a fitness tracker watch. Having connectivity to my phone isn't important because I can't take my phone into the places I can't take my current smart watch. I have a Garmin Vivoactive 5 that I used to wear, but having to take it off before going to certain meetings got to be such a hassle that I just got myself a Casio 593 to just not have to worry about it.

A nice bedside dock in which I could mount the watch and have it sync data at that point would round the whole thing out.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#508

Post by doublepg23 » Thu, Mar 20, 2025, 2:44 AM UTC

isjustintime wrote: post #34

varbhat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was interested in NFC payments using a smartwatch. Do these watches support NFC payment? I didn't see any mention of it.

Personally I never found myself using my NFC payment watch. It felt like if I was venturing far enough to the store, I'm just going to bring my phone with me anyways. I wonder if this differs for areas that don't get as much suburban sprawl.

I use NFC for all my payments minus bars and restaurants. (NE USA) I also switched all my door locks to use Apple Home Key which is a fun party trick.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#509

Post by naruhodo » Thu, Mar 20, 2025, 3:16 AM UTC

Reason077 wrote: post #324

> "30 day battery life" I've done the math and according to my calculations that's approximately 30X more battery life than an Apple Watch. Impressive!

It most likely has a lot to do with the display tech.

I got 8 days out of the PineTime, which was LED (I assume). You couldn't see anything if the display wasn't turned on.

I just bought a BangleJS (quite a bit cheaper than the Core 2 Duo, but no speaker and only one button) and the estimated battery life is a month. It uses a colour LCD, making the display visible whenever there is light. For example, daylight makes the display bright. It has a light source that gets turned on by the button.

The Core 2 Duo has an e-paper display that only draws power when the display changes.

Re: Two new PebbleOS watches

#510

Post by dangus » Thu, Mar 20, 2025, 4:20 AM UTC

fretn wrote: post #423

dangus wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a tip with Apple watches: get the battery service at least once during the lifespan of your watch. It's $99 and Apple gives you a brand new watch. With that battery service the watch should last you about 6-10 years judging by the current status of my Series 4. Yes, a watch should be able to last a lot longer than that, but I think if you're buying Apple products you already have the expectation of a maximum 10…

What if the glass is scratched, will they still replace the watch for $99 ?

As long as it's minor scratching and not big chips or cracks, yes. Another huge plus to the battery service.

Another tip regarding scratches is that the higher tier finishes (Stainless Steel or Titanium in the Series 10) are, in my opinion, worth the price premium solely for the improved screen glass.

Apple barely mentions the spec nowadays, and I'm not sure why they don't tout it. A conspiracy theorist might say that it's because it keeps your watch looking new longer so they'd rather you be buying the cheap one frequently.

The sapphire crystal screen is the killer feature that justifies the upgraded models more than anything else: it's something like a whole extra number higher on the Mohs scale for hardness (scratch resistance).

I buy them on the refurbished store to lessen the pain of their ridiculously inflated price.