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geekhack Community => Reviews => Topic started by: Belfong on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:13:31

Title: Pebble Time
Post by: Belfong on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:13:31

So, I just received the Pebble Time which I pledged in their recent Kickstarter and I am surprise that there are not many in Geekhack who have one.. or are you guys testing it quietly? This is not a review, seriously lack of time to do one these days and besides, I've only used it for 24 hours but here are some thoughts.

(http://i.imgur.com/8YMqe2N.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/SU7f8z0.jpg)

I really like the always on feature. I wear a watch everyday to work and I often find myself glancing at the watch without needing to move my hands (which are busy caressing the Topre keyboard, yeah.. ha ha ha). I don't like those state-of-the-art smartwatch that goes blank and then you have to deliberately move your hand to wake it up so you can tell time. That's not very useful. Pebble Time, though, is very good in this sense. At any angle, whether typing on a computer or driving or twiddling your thumbs waiting for a meeting to end, you could catch a glance of who messaged you, how many Tapatalk notifications you get, who just PM you and whether some kind soul send you Paypal money. Or if you win an eBay deal, LOL, not that I do.

(http://i.imgur.com/I7bXH0C.jpg)

And after a full 24 hours use, I am only down by 15% battery life. I haven't even charge this thing yet. It came out of the box with 50% battery, and after a full day of heavy fiddling and experimenting with various watch faces and apps, it's down by just 15%. That is pretty cool. I have to worry about charging the iPhone 6+ and the bluetooth hands free. I can't imagine having to worry about charging my watch, so always on yet with long battery life is definitely a huge plus!

(http://i.imgur.com/FpAEaQP.jpg)

I like that it is light as compared to my Seiko watch and yet it is not so light like some sports watch where you don't know you are wearing one. I like some heft to the watch I am wearing, so the Pebble Time is a good balance - I didn't really like Swatch watches because of its too thin. You can't take watches seriously when they are weightless.

The Timeline design is brilliant, really. Very easy to check your schedule or notification. It doesn't pick up the reminders from Reminder app though - hope they fix that soon. It works with Apple calendar and weather. The Evernote Pebble apps allows you to pick up reminders from Evernote, if that works for you.

For notifications, it will pick up whatever notification was sent to your phone Notification Centre. You don't get to choose which app you'd like to receive notification on the watch, which is a bummer for iOS (I heard that Android phones allow the Pebble to do so by app). My Notification Centre in iOS is pretty trimmed down anyway, so it still works for me. My only complain is that I wish they'd redesign the notification centre so we can see more text instead of displaying a useless green bar at the top part that is a waste of screen real estate.

(http://i.imgur.com/DeSXPdD.jpg)

What I didn't like is that in a dim environment - e.g. at night in the house - I could hardly read the watch face. This e-ink colour screen works damn well outdoor in bright sunlight, or even in my office which has fluorescent lighting and near the window, but it is too damn dim to read at night. There is a backlight which light up when you shake your hand but it last only 3 seconds. Before I could even read the message that was sent to me, the backlight switch off and I have to shake the hand or press a button to switch it on.

And speaking of messages, the damn font is too small for my old eyes. I wish there is an option to change font size. Between the dim screen and small font, sometimes it's just too difficult to read notification messages.

(http://i.imgur.com/hdEBTS9.jpg)

Bluetooth connectivity with the iPhone 6+ is very stable and good. I have not had a disconnection at all, so I was pleased with this. Some say the stainless steel bezel and gorilla glass scratch easily - we will see how that goes but I guess we have to remember that it is a watch, and all watches will hit something sooner or later and will scratch. So, have that expectation in mind and it will be fine.

The silicon strap is ok to me. I'd like to change it to some leather strap one day, I just don't know where I can buy one. They say it will work with any standard strap. I'll have to drop by a mall and look for one I guess.

As I use more I will comment in the thread.

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: Vibex on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:28:06

Your tempting me to pick one up. As a developer, I think the idea of smart watches is pretty interesting, and would be fun to develop for, but I always feel like the novelty will run out pretty quickly. :-\ But it's not like I have the money right now anyway, so I've got time to think about it. :))

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:38:47

The design of that actually look pretty neat!

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: byker on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:40:34

Looks pretty cool actually! Turned out better than I thought it would. :) I love the always on feature.

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: Belfong on Wed, 24 June 2015, 22:37:14

Quote from: rowdy on Wed, 24 June 2015, 20:38:47

The design of that actually look pretty neat!

I was afraid that it is too toy like to be used in a professional work space. But the watch fits itself beautifully. My co workers doesn't think it's childish or casual. I think if I put in a leather strap, it will be perfect.

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: csnickba on Wed, 24 June 2015, 23:28:49

Nice review, I'm very tempted to pick this up. I recently bought the Moto 360 because of the price drop, wore it for a week while on vacation and I'm not really liking it.

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: Belfong on Fri, 26 June 2015, 08:07:38

My current favorite watch face is called DIN. It's design so that you can take a peek from your sleeve. Very useful when you are in meetings and want to look at time unconsciously.

(http://i.imgur.com/WDh5i0I.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/kQAbIn6.jpg)

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: byker on Thu, 02 July 2015, 12:48:32

Quote from: Belfong on Fri, 26 June 2015, 08:07:38

My current favorite watch face is called DIN. It's design so that you can take a peek from your sleeve. Very useful when you are in meetings and want to look at time unconsciously.

Show Image

(http://i.imgur.com/WDh5i0I.jpg)

Show Image

(http://i.imgur.com/kQAbIn6.jpg)

Very nice, it looks great! I always prefer the minimalist styles.

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: demik on Thu, 02 July 2015, 12:58:38

Been waiting for this to come out

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: Belfong on Sat, 04 July 2015, 19:34:38

I found out a few days after using the Pebble Time that the watch has the capability to track Activities such as number of steps walked. That's pretty cool. And Jawbone has written an app for it and sync it to Jawbone's Up app in iOS.
(http://i.imgur.com/solrvkL.jpg)

Title: Re: Pebble Time
Post by: mdszy on Sat, 04 July 2015, 19:59:52

I don't have a Pebble, but I do have a Samsung Gear Live. I've had it for a few months and have worn it regularly ever since.

(https://dl.pushbulletusercontent.com/ekACjpbeUQVvsRSNN1AOTveo7HTaHDxo/IMAG0001.jpg)

I haven't had anyone think it's casual or childish or weird, even though it is somewhat large for my wrist. I really like it, and it's great because it works as a frontend to Google Now so I can use it to send texts, get directions, etc. I like to think that my wearing this is what made my Apple-loving family members get their Apple Watches :P