Attempts to create a smart companion for a smartphone in the form of a wristwatch have been made repeatedly over the past ten years. The first experiments were not successful: the watch's small screen size, high power consumption, and sometimes ugly design made them toys for units - there was no mass market for such devices. With the spread of the iPod, which could be worn on a strap and used as a watch, interest in this topic increased, and many manufacturers appeared on the market. Some, like Burg, tried to squeeze a full-fledged phone into the wristwatch format, someone created specialized watches for athletes, like MIO and their Alpha product. Sony SmartWatch has the best position in this area, as the company is purposefully developing this area, but the product remains not in great demand due to its short operating time.
Therefore, the appearance of Pebble watches on Kickstarter should not have been a bombshell, but the right marketing and PR turned a rather ordinary product into a phenomenon that many people talk about seriously, and the number of people who have already invested in buying such watches goes to tens of thousands. Suffice it to say that the company expected to raise $100,000 in April 2012 to develop the watch, but received just over $10 million in one month.
Let's see what there is so much noise around and why thousands of people liked the idea of such watches.
Design as well as watch screen
The main disadvantage of most "smart" and electronic watches is power consumption, they cannot be constantly turned on, as the operating time is drastically reduced. The solution could be found in the use of screens that consume less energy, and Pebble, as the creators say, uses "electronic paper" technology, similar to what we see in e-readers.
The screen resolution is 144x168 pixels, while behind the word e-paper lies not eInk technology at all, as one might assume, but Memory LCD technology from Sharp. It outperforms traditional LCDs in terms of power consumption, but it does not have such a flaw as refresh time - the screen changes the picture almost imperceptibly to the eye, which allows you to create animations that do not look miserable.
You can set the screen backlight to turn on by movement or by tapping on it, but I, for example, left the backlight on all the time and had no problems with it. Press the button or turn the clock - it lights up the screen. In the dark, the display is perfectly visible, there are no flaws.
It's time to talk about the battery - it is sealed in the case, the watch is completely sealed, you can swim, dive, play sports in it (up to 5 atmospheres). The kit includes a cord for charging them from a USB connector, the charging time is about one hour. Claimed hours of operation - up to 7 days. In life, everything depends solely on which phone you paired this watch with and how many reminders you set. During my experiments, the clock lived for about three to four days, but I turned off reminders from Facebook, mail, leaving only WhatsApp, SMS and calls. In general, we can say that the watch can easily work for about a few days. And, already by tradition, I advise you not to lose the charging strap, you can’t find it in free sale - you will have to buy a watch again.
The Bluetooth version is both 2.1 and 4.0, while working with both iOS and Android smartphones is supported, in this aspect the solution turned out to be universal and quite working without any discounts.
From a design standpoint, the watch doesn't look bad, but the rectangular shape isn't for everyone, and neither is the size - on my wrist, it looks ridiculous, if not ridiculous.
In general, the question remains open for me, how can you buy a watch without trying it on, since this is an accessory that should look good. Whatever the functionality of a smart watch, if it doesn't look good on the hand, then it's stupid to use it.
There are currently three colors available for watches - white, red and black. The silicone strap is quite large and comfortable.
You can order the watch on getpebble.com for a price of $150 (with Kickstarter the price was slightly lower).
Pebble Features and Opportunities
There are control buttons on the watch case, on the left there is one key, this is an exit to a higher level. On the right side there are three buttons, the outer ones are responsible for scrolling through the lists, the key in the middle is the entrance to the menu or submenu. The buttons are quite hard, accidental pressing is excluded.
You need to install the Pebble app on your smartphone, then you can control the watch and use it with your phone (you also need to pair the devices via Bluetooth).
There are not many features in the proprietary application - you can see the name of the caller and his phone number (you can reject the call from the watch), read the last SMS (the previous ones will not be shown, there is no navigation), see the entry from the calendar and the like. You can also control the music, jump between tracks, press pause.
In principle, third-party programs are also connected to the watch, it turns out that the watch screen serves as an external display for data, for example, information about your run is displayed in Runkeeper. The number of such programs will constantly grow, while there are not so many of them.
With the help of a proprietary program, you can install Watchfaces, these are various dials, they can be static or animated.
In my opinion, this is the strongest side of the watch - there are many different options for dials, new ones are constantly appearing. By and large, having this option at the same price as just a digital watch of this kind makes the Pebble interesting. You can even not use the "smart" functions, but only change the dials.
You encounter the first drawback almost instantly: the watch was developed for the US market, and therefore only Latin support, any messages in other languages are displayed as squares. When making incoming calls, if the subscriber's name is written in Cyrillic, you see the same squares. Unpleasant, but not deadly - the craftsmen have already written an Android program with which you can defeat this scourge.
The first "smart" wristwatch in history - Pulsar Memowatch - appeared back in 1982. For thirty years, this type of electronic devices remained highly specialized and, in fact, only this year has become fashionable and mass. In addition to smart watches from world famous IT brands (Samsung and Sony), there are more and more solutions from out-of-the-box thinking startups like Pebble Technology.
Modern "smart" watches can be divided into three categories: full-fledged watch phones with a built-in cellular module, models with a color screen that can play the role of a wireless headset, and, finally, simple and energy-efficient solutions that only display notifications from a smartphone. Pebble belongs to the third category.
As soon as Pebble Technology posted on Kickstarter to raise funds for the production of "smart" watches with a monochrome energy-efficient screen worth only $150, donations poured in. Instead of the initially required $100,000, pre-orders were made in excess of $10 million. Even a year and a half later, no one managed to break this Kickstarter record.
⇡ Design
The biggest drawback of most modern smart watches is the design, or rather the almost complete absence of it. The models available on the market today are more like children's watches than premium (based on their cost) accessories for adult uncles. Pebble was no exception - even youth and sports watches look more solid against their background. However, after a couple of days you get used to the “toylike” nature of Pebble and stop considering it a problem.
Well, at least, Pebble - unlike many competitors - turned out to be thin and light, thanks to which they look harmonious even on a sophisticated lady's pen. The watch case is made of plastic: it is glossy on the front, and matte on the sides and back. The protective coating of the screen, as practice has shown, is not so easy to scratch: for a week of operation, the watch has not lost its “tradeable” appearance at all. Available in five body colors: black, white, grey, red and orange.
The Pebble strap is made of rubber that flexes well and hopefully won't wear out too quickly. However, there are no hardware components inside the strap, and if desired, it can be easily replaced. But disassembling the watch itself is categorically not recommended - they can lose their water resistance. Yes, the watch is resistant not only to raindrops, but also to immersion to a depth of fifty meters.
On the right side of the Pebble there are three buttons (scroll up, confirm the action and scroll down), and on the left side there is a return button (aka power on) and a magnetic connector for recharging. The smartwatch comes with a proprietary USB cable. If you lose it, you can buy a new one on eBay.
⇡ Specifications
| Pebble smart watch | |
|---|---|
| Screen | 1.26-inch, Memory LCD, 144x168 dots |
| CPU | ARM Cortex-M3 @ 80MHz |
| Memory | 128 KB RAM, 32 MB ROM |
| Operating system | Pebble OS |
| Wireless connection | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, electronic compass, light sensor |
| Battery | 130 mAh |
| Waterproof | Pressure up to 5 atmospheres (depth up to 50 m) |
| Dimensions (LxWxT) | 52x36x11.5 mm |
| The weight | 38g with standard strap |
| Price | $150 in USA (from 7,000 rubles in Russia) |
The Pebble uses a monochrome Memory LCD display made by Sharp. The brighter the ambient light, the more clearly the image on the screen is visible. True, in the bright sun, the protective coating of the screen glares. And if there is not enough light, you can use the backlight - trust the light sensor or, to be sure, shake your hand. Unlike E-Ink, Memory LCD technology does not have long delays when redrawing an image.
The Pebble smart watch is powered by the STM32F2 ARM processor from STMicroelectronics. This chip is built on the Cortex-M3 architecture and is manufactured using a 90-nm process technology. It accelerates to a peak frequency of 80 MHz only in case of emergency, so as not to waste battery power.
⇡ Initial setup
To test the capabilities of Pebble smart watches, we used two smartphones: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 (Android 4.2 operating system) and Apple iPhone 4S (iOS 7).
When you first turn on Pebble, it asks you to install the service application of the same name on your smartphone, which is easy to find on Google Play and the App Store, and run it. The application asks for permission to turn on the smartphone's Bluetooth module, after which it starts searching for devices available for connection. Having connected, it checks for new firmware versions and, if there are none, reports that the smart watch is ready to work.
By the way, on iOS 6, the Pebble service application completely refuses to install. And in the case of the iPhone 4, even with iOS 7, the clock works in a limited mode (notify only about calls and SMS). The reason for this is the outdated Bluetooth 2.0 protocol. The recommended version for Pebble is Bluetooth 4.0.
Looking ahead, let's say that at the moment the official Pebble firmware does not support Cyrillic and it will not officially appear in the near future. Therefore, in order for the Russian-language contact names and message text to be displayed correctly, it is necessary to install a modified firmware. Luckily, this is extremely easy to do: just upload the firmware PBZ file to Dropbox and open it on your smartphone using a cloud storage client. Then the Pebble service application will do everything on its own.
The latest stable firmware version at the time of this writing is 1.13, but version 2.0 is already being tested, which allows a significantly larger number of iOS applications to send notifications to the watch. Fresh versions of modified firmware should be looked for first of all on the forums.getpebble.com pages.
⇡ Standard Features
As planned by the developers, Pebble should become a second screen for a smartphone, but no more. Therefore, Pebble does not have a camera or a speaker with a microphone, which are now fashionable to integrate into more expensive models of smart watches.
Time and date. By default, Pebble offers a choice of three options for the main screen (Watchfaces): a text clock in English, an analog clock with a moving second hand, and a digital time and date.
Phone calls. As soon as someone calls a smartphone, the Pebble begins to vibrate cyclically. The strength of the vibration is selected at a comfortable level: the signal is clearly perceived by the hand, but does not irritate.
Action options for an incoming call on Android and iOS are different. In the first case, there is only one possibility - to reject, while in the second - to reject and answer. In this case, the clock stops vibrating and returns to the main screen. On an Android smartphone, the melody stops, but the call continues to come. That is, it will not work to completely reset the call, thereby making it clear to the caller that now there is no time for talking.
On the iPhone, the call is dropped, but when there is an incoming call, question marks are displayed instead of the Cyrillic contact name. So far, even the modified firmware does not help to solve the problem.
SMS. After installing a modified firmware with Cyrillic support, Pebble allows you not only to quickly find out about the presence of new incoming SMS, but also to read their Russian and, more recently, Ukrainian text. Large messages are divided into several screens, which are scrolled through the side buttons.
Email and calendar. Pebble has a similar situation with emails and calendar reminders. True, you must first allow Pebble to interact with Gmail, Google Calendar and the standard Android email client in the settings of the Pebble service application.
Music player. The function of controlling the audio player on a smartphone is well implemented in Pebble. You can pause playback and switch tracks. True, all this only works within the same playlist.
Alarm. Pebble does not have a speaker, so the alarm can only vibrate. The main thing before going to bed is not to put the watch on something soft, otherwise the vibration may not be heard in the morning.
⇡ Third Party Apps
In the case of an Android smartphone, almost any messenger or task manager can send notifications to Pebble smart watches. To do this, you need to install the application from Google Play 
With programming experience, you can create an application for Pebble with your own hands. The specialized development environment Pebble SDK will help with this.
⇡ Battery life
On a single battery charge, Pebble smart watches can work for 4 days in 24/7 synchronization with a smartphone and up to 7 days if Bluetooth is turned off at night. A very good result, especially when compared with the autonomy of "smart" watches with a color screen. Naturally, the battery of the smartphone to which the watch is connected also drains a little faster.
⇡ Conclusions
You can buy Pebble on the official website for $150, and this also includes the cost of regular shipping to any country in the world. For express delivery (3-5 days) you will have to pay $25. In Russian retail, Pebbles are sold for about one and a half to two times more expensive, but they will deliver the goods many times faster. The price, of course, is rather big, but against the background of solutions from Samsung and Sony, Pebble looks advantageous. Especially if there is no need for a color screen and voice calls.
Pebble will be useful primarily for those who, due to the specifics of their work, need to quickly respond to incoming calls and messages. At the same time, you don’t have to take your smartphone out of your pocket every time – or you can just leave it on the table among stacks of papers. In the crush of the metropolitan subway, Pebble is an indispensable thing.
The editors would like to thank the CLICK online store for providing Pebble smart watches for testing.
And now we have one of the brightest products of 2013 in line: the Pebble smart watch.
Pebble watches appeared in early 2013 thanks to the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, becoming, without exaggeration, a landmark product for it. However, sales went so well and the attention to the novelty turned out to be so great (including from leading Western journalists) that the second version of the watch was presented not as the fruit of a startup, but as a serious product - the premiere of Pebble Steel took place at CES 2014. And the product itself began to look more respectable and significant, having received a metal case and a leather strap.
However, its technical characteristics and functionality remained the same, and besides, the previous model remained on sale, and its price is much more attractive than that of Pebble Steel ($150 versus $249 for Pebble Steel). So for users who want Pebble functionality over style, it still makes sense to opt for the first version. And about what Pebble watches can do, we will tell in our material.
Let's take a look at the specifications of the Pebble.
- 1.26″ e-paper display, 144×168, 176 ppi
- LED backlight
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Processor ARM Cortex-M3 @80 MHz
- Accelerometer
- Light sensor
- Electronic compass (not yet supported in the software)
- Operating system PebbleOS
- Compatible with any iOS and Android smartphones
- Case dimensions 52×36×11.5 mm
- Complete strap width 22 mm
- Weight 38 g
In the case of smartwatches, specifications can give us almost no information that would allow us to draw preliminary conclusions about the product (unlike smartphones, where standardization has reached such an extent that one glance at the specifications is often enough to understand with how to compare this product and what to expect from it). Nevertheless, in this case, it is worth paying attention to the screen type first of all: e-paper. Detailed technical information about this "electronic paper" is not enough, but, apparently, this is . Its use allows for longer battery life than other smartwatches we've tested. However, it is not touchscreen, unlike the watch screens of Samsung, Sony and Iconbit.
However, let's not get ahead of ourselves and get acquainted with the product in practice.
Packaging and equipment
The watch comes in a very nice compact cardboard box.
Inside it is the watch itself on a cardboard holder, a charging cable and two folded leaflets. On one - a short (very short!) manual that tells the very basics and sends to the Pebble website, on the other leaflet - warranty conditions.
The charging cable should be mentioned separately. It has a USB connector on one end and a magnetic connector on the other that connects to the watch in the same way that a MagSafe charger connects to Apple laptops.
You can charge Pebble both from a computer and from any smartphone charger or MP3 player.
Design
Now let's look at the watch itself. We tested a copy with a red body (Cherry Red), but orange, black (Jet Black), white (Artistic White) and gray are also available.
The appearance of the watch makes a good impression. Moreover, they look much nicer in real life than in the photos. In principle, despite the plastic case and the defiant color (in the case of our copy), such a watch is not shameful to wear even for quite serious people. An additional charm is given to them by a glossy coating (apparently, it is plastic, not glass) that protects the screen. However, it is obvious that the look of the watch is designed primarily for women and young people, unlike Pebble Steel.
The watch comes with a silicone strap. It is black for all models, except for the white one (she, of course, has a white strap). The strap is comfortable, the watch sits very nicely on the hand, suitable for both thin and large hands. In general, compared to the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Iconbit Callisto 100, this is a much more convenient gadget, competing in this parameter only with the Sony SmartWatch 2.
All buttons, as well as a magnetic connector, are located on the right and left sides of the watch case. Accordingly, a magnetic connector and a button fit on the left side. Back , and on the right side - buttons Up , OK and Down . Like the case, the buttons are made of plastic, they are pressed silently, but with a noticeable effort. Although they protrude from the case, they cannot be pressed by accident (with clothes or with a sharp movement of the hand).
The camera, microphone and speakers are missing here. In this regard, the Pebble is similar to the Sony SmartWatch 2.
In summary, we note that the design of the watch made a positive impression on us. They are nice, strong enough, sit well on the hand, all the elements are well thought out. It is even surprising that such a polished product could be made by beginners who do not have serious engineering and design offices behind them. Well, the only negative is the inability to charge the device otherwise than through a proprietary cable. Lost or damaged cable - the watch can be thrown away (it is unlikely that a spare cable can be found and delivered to Russia for adequate money).
Screen
As already noted, the watch is equipped with a 1.26″ monochrome screen based on electronic paper. Outwardly, this reminds everyone of the familiar E Ink screens, but the principle of operation here, although similar, is still slightly different, allowing the use of internal illumination, and exactly at those moments when it is necessary. The LED backlight is activated when navigating through the menu. Once the user has made a selection, the backlight turns off (and then the image is visible due to ambient light, as is the case with E Ink). Backlighting gives a bluish tint to a black and white image.
Apparently, this device uses a transreflective monochrome liquid crystal screen with memory manufactured by Sharp. With memory, everything is quite simple - one bit per cell allows you to remember its state, so in the case of an unchanging image, there is no need to manage the state of the cells, it is enough just to supply power, which reduces power consumption. The principle of image formation in this case is more interesting. By irradiating a mixture of polymer and liquid crystals, a polymer matrix is obtained with cavities (drops) in which liquid crystals (LC) remain. Within the droplets, LCs predominantly have one orientation, but among the drops it is chaotic. Due to the fact that the refractive index of LCs depends on the orientation of their molecules, then, on average, for light incident perpendicular to a screen with such a structure, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with LC will differ, which will cause large scattering of light in all directions , and the screen will appear bright (status A in the figure below).
When a voltage of a certain value is applied to the electrodes limiting the LC cell, the LCs in all drops entering this cell are oriented along the electric field perpendicular to the screen plane. The polymer and LC are selected in such a way that their refractive indices coincide when the LC is oriented parallel to the incident light. As a result, for a switched-on LC cell for light incident perpendicular to the screen, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with the LC will coincide, the light scattering will be minimal, and it will be reflected from the lower mirror electrode, but, despite such reflection, the cell will look already dark (state AT in the picture above). Why so, it becomes clear if we consider a mirror with a piece of white paper pasted on it. Below we provide a micrograph of a Pebble screen that is generally consistent with the stated principle:
Distinguishable squares are the boundaries of LC cells, within which randomly scattered inclusions (droplets) are observed that reflect (or rather scatter) light in bright cells and transmit light without scattering in dark ones. It is interesting that the visible properties and the nature of the arrangement of drops for different cells basically coincide. Apparently, the formation of drops is somehow controlled. Note that the principle of image formation described above does not require the use of polarizers (indeed, no pronounced polarization direction is detected when observing with a polarizing filter), as a result, there are less losses and the screen efficiency is increased.
Unlike the smartwatches we've previously tested, the Pebble's screen isn't touch-sensitive. At first, this introduces into a stupor - we are too used to touch screens on mobile devices. However, the menu is so simple that everything can be done with the help of buttons, and you get used to it quickly enough.
Connecting Pebble to a Smartphone
Like the Sony SmartWatch 2, the Pebble is essentially a bluetooth headset for your smartphone. Therefore, without connecting to a smartphone, the watch can only perform its basic function, that is, the display of time and date. But what distinguishes Pebble from Sony SmartWatch 2 and, in particular, from Samsung Galaxy Gear, is its “omnivorousness”: the watch can be connected not only to any Android smartphone (not only Android 4.x, but even Android 2.x ), but also to the Apple iPhone. The latter made Pebble popular among the owners of "apple" devices. And we tested Pebble with the iPhone 5S.
First you need to download the free Pebble Smartwatch app from the App Store. It is a very simple clock management tool.
The application has only three icons. The center one shows if the watch is connected (if green, it means connected, but at first you will see a red button, which means that the watch is not connected). The left button opens a guide to help you customize the display of notifications on Pebble. Finally, the rightmost button opens a menu with a choice of watch interface.
However, the watch interface can be customized using the Pebble itself. But first we need to link the watch and the smartphone. To do this, turn on Bluetooth in the iPhone settings, turn it on in the watch (Menu / Settings / Bluetooth). The iPhone should detect Pebble, click on connect, on the clock we confirm the pairing. Everything, now we have a smartphone and a watch connected. Next, go to the Notification Center on the iPhone (Settings / Notification Center), look for the Pebble application, turn on all notifications. Now the clock will receive all the notifications that are on the smartphone.
Pebble functionality
So, what are Pebble capable of? First, of course, show the time. Moreover, as we have already noted, a very different design of the watch interface is available, so as soon as you are tired of the old one, you can change it. Secondly, you can set an alarm on the clock, but there are few alarm settings, and most importantly, due to the lack of a speaker, the clock can only signal vibration. Therefore, you will either have to go to bed with them, or risk not hearing the buzz of Pebble. However, this feature can be useful when you need to remind about something during the day: for example, if there is some kind of meeting ahead, you can set an alarm for the time when you need to get ready to leave your home or office.
Thirdly, with the watch you can control the playback of music on your smartphone. The watch screen displays the artist name, track name and album name. True, you can not change the volume and rewind the track a little forward - just switch to the next or previous one, as well as pause and resume playback. In addition, playback control is possible only within one album. As soon as the album ends, you need to take out your smartphone and put on a new album. As a plus, we note that the watch works not only with the Music application, but also with other players, for example, with Vkontakte audio recordings (and information about them is displayed quite correctly).
Finally, the fourth and most important feature of the watch is related to the display of notifications from the smartphone. These can be calls, SMS, messages on social networks and instant messengers (we checked the work with Vkontakte and Viber). If you receive a call, you can click on receive a call and start talking on your smartphone. This is convenient when you are walking down the street and listening to music on your iPhone through the headset. Then the watch will allow you not to pull your smartphone out of your pocket.
However, Russian-speaking Pebble users will immediately face a problem that will call into question the appropriateness of using a watch. Firmware does not support Cyrillic. This means that any message in Russian will look like this on the watch screen.
Fortunately, the craftsmen quickly wrote a number of alternative firmware. Among them, there are both English-speaking ones, but with Cyrillic support, and completely Russian-speaking ones (that is, the interface has also been translated). In addition, enthusiasts can try beta versions of the latest firmware, in which developers are trying to add some new features, but this, as they say, is at their own peril and risk. The Pebble forum is devoted to the Russification of hours.
How to install unofficial firmware on Pebble? There are two ways. The first way: connect the watch via Bluetooth to a computer running Windows, download the zip-archive with the firmware, unpack it and start execution via the command line (detailed Russian-language instructions can be found). There are several complications here. First, you will need a laptop (or Windows 7/8 tablet) with Bluetooth or an external Bluetooth adapter connected via USB. Secondly, you need to find the watch ID (this is a four-digit code). And thirdly, working with the command line, in principle, is not the most common thing for most iPhone owners.
Therefore, it seems to us that another way is much more elegant and simple, which just should not cause difficulties for owners of apple devices. We install any cloud storage on the iPhone - for example, Dropbox (but Yandex.Disk and similar services are also suitable). Download the firmware file (it has the .pbz extension) to any other device associated with your Dropbox, upload it to Dropbox. Open this file from Dropbox on iPhone. We see such a picture (see the screenshot on the left).
Click on the bottom left button Send ) and a list of applications that can be used to send the file appears. But we don’t need to send it, but we need to click on Open in... . And here we will see the button Open in Pebble (see screenshot on the right). After that, the Pebble application will open and we will receive a warning of the following form.
Click Continue, and then Update Now, and follow the process, which takes a couple of minutes. After that, the watch reboots and tells us:
Note that, as with any flashing, failures are quite possible. Most likely, they will not kill the device, and it will be possible to roll back, but there is a high probability that either the firmware will not start, or the update will be successful, but the Cyrillic alphabet will still not be supported. We had such a situation with firmware version 1.12, which retains the English-language interface, but promises a normal display of Cyrillic. However, version 1.14.1, completely Russified, got up without any problems. Here are some screen shots of the watch.
But alas, a small fly in the ointment still remains (at least this firmware did not solve it, and Internet searches showed that the problem still remains relevant). When making calls, the name of the caller, written in Cyrillic, is displayed as question marks (??????). This issue only occurs on iPhones and does not occur on Android smartphones.
Overall, the Pebble's functionality is much more modest than any of the watches we've tested so far. But, we repeat, Pebble works with the iPhone, and besides, the functionality that is available is implemented with the highest quality and convenience. Unless, of course, we do not count the lack of support for the Cyrillic alphabet in the factory version and the need to fiddle with flashing.
Offline work
Battery life can be attributed to the absolute advantages of Pebble. With a relatively small body (smaller than other watches we've tested), the Pebble can last from 5 to 7 days on a single charge, depending on the number of notifications and how much music control is used.
findings
The smart watch market is only at the initial stage, and so far the devices of this class are designed, to a greater extent, for enthusiasts. However, in the US and Europe, Pebble can perhaps be considered the most “popular” smartwatch option: omnivorous (works with both Android and iPhone), easy to set up and manage, and cheap (Sony SmartWatch 2 is $50 more expensive). And although the functionality here is much more modest than that of Samsung and Sony watches, and there are almost no hidden features (although who knows what will appear in the new firmware?), For most users this will be quite enough.
But for us, the use of these watches is hampered by two factors: firstly, they are not represented in our official retail, and secondly, they are practically useless without Cyrillic support, and to add Cyrillic support, you need to at least rummage through thematic forums ( well, or read our article :)) and spend time experimenting. And still, some problems will remain (with the display of the name of the caller, for example). So we still have a device for geeks. But geeks will just be more interested in the Sony SmartWatch 2, and it’s easier to buy them (and, perhaps, it won’t even be much more expensive if you add shipping from abroad to the cost of Pebble). So, on the one hand, we congratulate the developers of Pebble on a worthy product, and on the other hand, we look forward to fixing the problems with the Cyrillic alphabet and the official launch of the watch on the Russian market. And, of course, we wish you successful development of the project!
When Pebble's professionals were just thinking about the project of their "smart watch", they, of course, counted on the success of their brainchild, but did not expect that it would be so swift. Money for the implementation of this project was collected "from the world by a thread" through the well-known Kickstarter resource. It was planned to raise several hundred thousand, but unexpectedly, investors raised more than $10 million per month.
At the beginning of 2013, the first copies of the innovative "smart watch" were delivered to customers, and since then gadgets have been actively spreading around the world, delighting a huge number of people with their beauty, apparent simplicity and versatility.
Pebble Smartwatch communicates with a mobile device via a regular Bluetooth connection. It's nice that they are not limited to the possibility of reuniting with any one mobile platform, working with both Android smartphones and Apple iPhones. The operating system is called Pebble OS. You can answer calls, read messages, and control your media player without taking your base device out of your bag or pocket.
Of particular note is the high-end black-and-white display, created using Sharp's ePaper technology, which consumes very little power. Pebble Smartwatch can work without recharging for five to seven days. The body of the "smart watch" is made of high-quality plastic, and the comfortable and durable strap is made of Soft Touch rubber. A big plus is the water resistance of the Pebble Smartwatch - the watch will remain unharmed even if it lies at the bottom of the pool for some time.
It is worth noting that smart watches are constantly being improved, and for sure we will see more than one generation of these unique devices.
Where to buy original Pebble Smartwatch
The unique Pebble Smartwatch may well be yours! To buy this smart watch in Moscow, you just need to place an order on our website. We strive to ensure that our service is worthy of the quality of our excellent products. Our managers are ready to answer all questions and help you choose a Smartwatch or any other device. Our online store is open to everyone!
Purchase confirmation
So, as I wanted to get the goods quickly, I chose the most expensive and fastest delivery using UPS (this was my fatal mistake, but every cloud has a silver lining). By the way, Amazon has a period of 2-3 days for this type of delivery, if my memory is not lying. After confirming the payment, an approximate waiting period appeared on the site - 30 days ... "How so ..?" - I thought and started talking to Amazon technical support. It turned out that these terms do not apply to delivery to Russia, and they, apologizing, decided to refund me $20 of the shipping cost. In fact, I had to wait for them probably as long as I would have waited by ordering them in China on Ali or another site. Delivery to the customs point in Russia took about 2 days and for about a month it lay in the warehouse, waiting for its turn for customs clearance. UPS, by the way, took care of all the customs clearance, all you had to do was send them a scan of your passport and fill out a couple of applications using the link they sent. After that, a week later I received my cherished package.
A little TTX:
- Monochrome, with switchable backlight, Sharp Memory LCD screen (for some reason called "E-ink") with a resolution of 144x168 and about 20,000 pixels
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and 4.0
- 4 keys and vibration motor
- more than 7 days of battery life and USB charging
- 3-axis accelerometer with gesture recognition
- magnetometer
- SDK and ability to wirelessly download apps from the Pebble Store
- the ability to dive to a depth of 50 m
The package includes a box, the watch itself, a charging cable and various kinds of waste paper. The box, compared to the previous ones, has become a compact small white bar.
Box and equipment
Appearance:
Outwardly, they are, of course, an amateur, but I like this style. I actually thought they were bigger. On my male hand, not the largest by the way, they look quite appropriate. And I consciously chose the white color, knowing that it would get dirty more. Glossy plastic on the front side certainly adds to the toy, but this watch does not claim to be status.
On hand + separately
Software component:
Everything is limited only by the flight of your imagination. At the moment, a sea of all kinds of programs and skins for displaying watches (in Pebble they were called watchfaces) can be found in the official Pebble / Pebble Time application on the phone. There is an official SDK for writing your own programs / watchfaces.
A few more watchfaces that I use
There are places to roam. Before connecting to a smartphone, you need to install the official application on it. Currently, only Android and iOS smartphones are supported. I updated my watch to firmware 3.9.2 with the new Timeline interface, and now when you press the up / down buttons, you can see a small list of tasks for the future, or what happened recently. On the previous 2nd version of the firmware, these buttons could switch between the watchfaces loaded into the watch. You could download up to 8 of them along with applications, which was not always convenient. All these lists in the new firmware are customizable, the application takes events from the built-in calendar. The restriction of 8 slots for installing the necessary watchfaces / programs has disappeared. As far as I understand, there is some kind of small cache of recently used applications, and if the right one is not on the clock, it is automatically loaded from the phone. The Russian language is currently not officially included in the firmware, but this can be solved by simply installing the language pack through the application on the phone. A watch paired with an Android phone can show notifications from almost any application, everything you don't need can be turned off in the settings. Well, the most important thing for which they were bought is an alarm clock. You can use both the standard alarm clock built into the watch and the installed Morpheuz application. I chose the second option, because. it has a smart alarm function. At the same time, the application monitors the phases of your sleep throughout the night and wakes you up at the moment of the REM sleep phase, which has a positive effect on your well-being in the future, and getting up is somehow easier. The application works perfectly, there were no false positives or delays. All statistics for the night can then be viewed in the application on the phone, or sent to yourself by email address and viewed on the official website of Morpheuz.
Autonomy, charging:
The manufacturer recommends charging the watch with a current of 500 mA. It comes with a usb cable for this. The cable is non-standard and you need to be careful with it, because you are unlikely to find the second one in the first computer store you come across. It clings to the clock with the help of 2 neodymium magnets and holds very tightly.
charging, fastening
It takes me about 2 hours to fully charge the watch from a laptop. After charging, with the phone connected, the watch holds a charge for about 4-5 days, taking into account the included vibration, fairly frequent notifications and automatic backlighting, which lights up for 3 seconds and only in the dark. But there is one drawback - the light sensor did not care about fluorescent lamps and believes that it is still dark in the room. I could not achieve the autonomy declared by the manufacturer from 7 days with full functionality, although if you turn off the bluetooth and use them only as a clock and an alarm clock, they worked for about 2 weeks, but this is already to the detriment of the functionality.
- and +
-Quick-scratching plastic on the front side
-Lack of Russian localization out of the box
-High price
-Not "official" appearance
Rich and expandable functionality
+ High autonomy
+ Yearly water resistance
+ Ease of use
+ Screen using e-paper (visible even in bright sunlight)
+ Good technical support and warranty
+ Build Quality
Summing up:
I am very pleased with my purchase and do not regret it at all. I am completely satisfied with the functionality that is in the watch. I can recommend them for purchase if the price does not scare you away. You can search on ebay / ali and find them, but without a box for a smaller amount. Thanks to everyone who was able to read up to these lines!
P.S. I apologize for the quality of the photo, the glossy front is difficult to photograph, and without a flash the screen itself is not visible. If you notice any inaccuracies in the review, or something is missing, please write to the PM.
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