Agents Collins and Stephens have got their hands on the highly popular Pebble Watch – the latest in a new line of smartwatches to reach our shores – and have put it through its paces over the past couple of weeks. They have shared their findings with us – so let’s see how they got on!
Pebble is a smart watch that was the product of a highly successful Kickstarter campaign that raised more than a whopping $10 million dollars within a month! Pebble is an affordable step into the up and coming smart watch market and is available in a whole range of colours to suit your personal taste.
Pros
●Customisable watch faces
●Low energy Bluetooth
●Simple menus system
●Clear, easy to read screen
●Long battery life
●Silent vibration and backlight illumination
●3 Axis Accelerometer
●Call, SMS and Email alerts as standard
●Water resistant.
Cons
●Slow third-party integration
●More features for Android
●No Blackberry or Windows Phone support
●Standard watch strap isn’t great.
Design
When you first get your Pebble, you can see the lengths they have gone to in order to design a great product, beginning with the packaging itself: the box has the Pebble watch printed on it with the caption ‘It’s Time’. The watch itself has a sturdy design and doesn’t feel cheap. The buttons along the watch, of which there are only four, are also sturdy and were tested vigorously during the prototype phase of the Kickstarter project. Depending on the colour you choose for your Pebble, be it black, white, orange, red or grey, it looks very striking. The colour test during the development definitely paid off and the colours look crisp and really stand out from the crowd. The accelerometer is a novel feature as it initiates the backlight illumination, so if you're in the dark and you need light, all you need to do is flick your wrist.
The strap is the only downside as it’s a pretty basic rubber strap. However, that can be replaced with any 22mm watch strap, and this was one of the first things we decided to change on our Pebble, as comfort is a crucial factor here.
Hardware
Display
The Pebble has a 1.26-inch, 144 x 168 pixel, black and white, ultra-low power LCD manufactured by Sharp. The screen is described as E-Paper, which uses the same technology as the trusty Kindle, but on a much smaller scale. The screen is easy to read and can even show graphics . The coating over the screen is scratch-resistant and has an anti-glare coating, which makes it an absolute beauty to read in direct sunlight.
Battery Life
Although the Pebble is a tiny device, the battery life is incredible. This is purely down to the operating system being extremely light and the addition of the E-Paper screen.
Average users can expect between 7-10 days of battery – pretty good going for a watch that’s jam-packed with so many useful features! What's more, it means you won't have to worry about constantly recharging your Pebble or it running out of juice when you're out and about with it.
Water resistance
The Pebble has a waterproof rating of 5ATM, which means you can submerge it up to 165 feet in fresh and saltwater. The water resistance rating makes the watch a great companion for swimmers, surfers and many more sports where you run the risk of getting completely soaked – without worrying about breaking your device.
Bluetooth
Pebble comes with Bluetooth onboard, which the watch uses to communicate with your Android/iOS device via Bluetooth 2.1. However, the watch does also support Bluetooth 4.0: the low-energy version that is available if your phone supports it.
Software
Pebble’s software is all ‘open source’, meaning developers, and users, are able to download the Development Kit freely and create their own apps. Currently, there’s a very limited variety of apps available but it’s growing quite quickly. Current apps include:
- Standalone Pebble App
- Freecaddie
- Pebble Bike
- RunKeeper
- Pebble Glance
Pebble app
The Pebble app itself is quite simple. It informs you when your watch is connected and acts as the forefront for installing new applications to your device. The app itself allows for you to push notifications to your watch from applications such as Facebook, Google Hangouts, Whatsapp, SMS messages and even emails.
My favourite feature is the ability to control my music; regardless of what application I am using on my device, I can pre-select what I am using, change tracks and even pause my music.
FreeCaddie
FreeCaddie, a popular golf tracking app, has also partnered with Pebble to bring you PebbleCaddie . Freecaddie uses the GPS on your phone and lets you view the distance and par of your current hole. This is displayed in a clear, user-friendly way on the Pebble, showing your current distance to the back, middle and front of the green. The watch also shows you the current hole number and the par for that hole. This is a great tool for golfers, as getting you phone out and unlocking it takes time – and the last thing you want to do is lose your concentration!
Pebble Bike
The Pebble Bike app is extremely handy and links closely with your Android device to track your bike rides. The use of GPS on your device and the in-built accelerometer make tracking your rides extremely simple. The display on your watch shows how fast you are going, in either mph or kmph, your average speed and even the distance you have travelled. This app makes it a lot easier to monitor yourself without the need to pull your phone out of your pocket or even have a separate device mounted to the handlebars of your bike. Simple!
RunKeeper
Runkeeper has teamed up with Pebble to become one of the first major sports tracking apps to integrate with the Pebble Watch. You will need the Runkeeper app installed but be aware there are no options for the Pebble within the app. In short, when you start your workout, if your Pebble is connected, you will be presented with a tracking screen on your watch that shows you your time, distance and pace. This kind of tracking is so much easier than getting your phone out whilst running. Pressing the middle button, located on the right side of the pebble, pauses the workout and pressing it again will resume it. Unfortunately, the other buttons do nothing. Having said that, the integration isn’t the best and goes no further than just displaying your current workout, making the app a bit of a mixed bag.
Pebble Glance
Glance is possibly one of my favourite applications, although it was a pain to get set up at first. Glance allows you to view a whole host of notifications and information on your home screen, ranging from weather, unread SMS messages and emails, missed calls and also calendar entries. Not only does it allow you to view these, but it also allows you to send pre-configured SMS messages to your contacts. All in all, pretty awesome for a watch if you ask us!
Agent Verdict
Agent Collins
The Pebble Watch is definitely one of the best up and coming devices and has a whole heap of potential. The sky’s the limit when it comes to what it can do – and it can only get better once more people get their hands on them. The ability to control near enough every feature on your phone through a watch is in sight now with the Pebble and will revolutionise the way we use our devices and interact with them. Personally, it has changed the way I use my phone. My mobile used to be glued to my hand, whereas now I don’t have to worry about missing out on any messages or emails. This was definitely one of the best purchases I have made in a long time!
Agent Stephens
The Pebble watch has changed the relationship I have with my Nexus 4. I can walk around without my phone in my house and know if someone is contacting me. It also fits in nicely with my active life and the integration into sports trackers and golf tracking is brilliant. Controlling my music with my watch is also handy, especially if your phone is linked with Sonos or your speaker system. There is a whole lot more to come and the Pebble is going to go from strength to strength, so stay tuned to our Knowledge Vault for all the latest info as we get it.
Overall Verdict
If you are looking for a new addition to your Android or iOS device, then a Pebble is definitely the way to go. Whether you want to use it for tracking exercise, keeping yourself in the loop with emails and messages or you simply want a customizable watch face, then you can’t go wrong with a Pebble. Highly recommended for all tech enthusiasts and software developers looking for a new challenge.
P.S. We have a hidden easter egg within this review. If you manage to find it, leave us a comment below!