Pebble Smartwatch - Review

For the last two weeks, I've been sporting the Pebble — a Kickstarter-borne Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch that pairs with your smartphone to display notifications, manage apps, and even control song playback. Of all the initial reactions I've received, the most common has been "Why would I want that when I can just pull out my smartphone?" It's a valid question, but the utility of the Pebble is only fully realized after day-to-day use, and now, it's part of my day-to-day routine. It's by no means perfect, but it's a solid investment for anyone interested in the smartwatch space.

As futuristic as it might sound, the underlying process is actually incredibly simple. The Pebble pairs with your device over Bluetooth and displays the notification that is simultaneously appearing on your phone. In effect, it's compatible with any iOS or Android app that supports notifications. What's more, its side-mounted buttons can be used to pause, play, or change tracks when you're listening to music, and you can answer or reject a call with a simple press.

What's most striking about the Pebble is how it liberates you from the practice of constantly pulling your phone from your pocket or leaving it in clear view to see your most recent alerts. It's all right there on your wrist. Now, after feeling a slight buzz and seeing it light up, I can easily establish whether a text or email requires my immediate attention. It may be an uncommon use case, but as an editor overseeing news that never sleeps, the benefit is huge, but anyone with similar need to be glued to their phone is likely to feel the same.

But the Pebble's potential far exceeds its current manifestation. As time goes on, developers can build deeper integration into their apps, such as exercise apps that use its built-in accelerometer to detect how many steps you've taken or the distance you've traveled. At its core are the Pebble's native iOS and Android apps, which serve as the gateway to new firmware updates, downloadable watchfaces, and apps. There are currently 10 unique watchfaces, as well as Snake — the infamous game from feature phones of decades past. Novelty value aside, Snake is near-impossible to play with the Pebble's tiny built-in controls. For iPhone, the Pebble relies on iOS' built-in notification control panel, whereas Android users can custom-tailor what data is displayed on the Pebble from right within the app.

While Android configurations work seamlessly, there are limitations to using it with an iPhone. Due to Apple's walled garden, the Pebble doesn't always play nice with iOS. Whenever you lose Bluetooth connectivity with the iPhone, whether it be by walking out of range, turning it off to save battery, or turning on airplane mode, the Pebble ceases to display notifications for anything but text messages and caller ID. Recalibrating your settings is simple, and Pebble says they're working with Apple to resolve the issue, but for now, it's a frequent annoyance.

The Pebble is otherwise well-constructed and designed, though it lacks any striking visual flair; especially in the case of the stock black version. The main interface is similarly straight-forward, navigable through the up, down, and enter button. The battery life is fantastic, delivering upon the company's promise of up to 7 days per charge. In the two cycles I've gone through, both were exactly 7 days apart. The charging system is also painless. Each Pebble ships with a custom-built USB charging cable, which snaps to the left side using magnetized contacts. The backlighting of the 167x144 resolution ePaper display is fairly dull, but it's more than sufficient for low-light use.