Pebble watch - Review after 2 years

Its been sometime I wanted to write a review about my Pebble smartwatch.
And now it falls at the right time when Amazon India sells it locally saving all the trouble of international shipping, especially for the customs clearance.

I was admiring to buy the Pebble since its commercial availability though I wasn't sure of the value it brings. However the cost wasn't very affordable. But finally out of all the temptations I decided to buy the watch for $99 during the first price cut.

I've been using Pebble (original/classic) watch for the past 2 years and this is about my experience with the watch all this time.

While considering to buy a smartwatch please be very clear that "a smartwatch isn't for everyone." A smartwatch does not replace any functions of the mobile. It is primarily a companion to improve the mobile functions. And in most situations it saves you from pulling out your mobile for petty silly reasons (like changing your music, read a short message, declining a call and more such). Hence please read the reviews thoroughly before buying any smartwatch. There are quite a lot of options available now under every price range.

Battery backup - 10 days

This is one category where the Pebble smartwatch out stands every other smartwatch. Pebble specifies 5-6 days of battery backup and it is indeed optimistically true. And I'm now getting around 9-10 days of battery backup only by reducing the backlight brightness. 

The back light on the watch does turn ON quite often and drains the battery. And with such crisp display on the Pebble watch I actually don't need the back light unless at the movie hall. So I guess switching OFF motion enabled backlight would thus improve the battery life further more.

Display - Always ON

Another category where the Pebble watch wins is its always ON display. 

The display on the Pebble classic smartwatch isn't the best one with comparatively low resolution and gray scale LCD based display. But I like this simplicity of the Pebble watch. You seem less like an Ironman when you wear this one. But if you are looking to have your photo frame kinda slideshow on your wrist, Pebble watch isn't the best one for you.

The display is however crisp and readable under all light conditions. And it is always ON and do not require any special gesture to bring it up (unless we need the backlight). 

Thus setting an appropriate watch face would make it look like any regular digital watch but with all the info we require.

Software - The not so Timeline

The original Pebble was also upgraded to the new Timeline interface since early this year. The Timeline interface might look a bit more sophisticated for the original Pebble but it runs pretty smooth. 

The Timeline interface is mostly for people who look across their timelines, like the upcoming meetings, the calls that were missed etc. Frankly, I don't use it much. But I hope it opens up more improvements to the Pebble application ecosystem.

Gadgetbridge

There is also an open source host application Gadgetbridge instead of the proprietary Pebble app. Gadgetbridge allows you to connect and send notifications to the Pebble watch without logging-in. You might miss the Pebble app store ecosystem though while using Gadgetbridge  however  if you are only using standard notifications Gadgetbridge is a serious alternative to be considered.

App store - Never short

The new software also removed the limit of "8 slots" for the apps on the original Pebble. The apps can now be pushed to the Pebble on a need basis. But this also makes switching between watch faces not as quick as before, because it now needs to be loaded from the phone (If not already cached). But that's no big deal. 

However it is indeed sad that the Pebble Health is not supported on older Pebbles, the classic Pebble and Pebble Steel. But we do have other alternatives like Misfit and Runkeeper.

There are so many apps now available on the Pebble app store and most of them are also supported on the original Pebble. You have got apps for everything including notifications, fitness tracking, news feed, remote control and even a few games to play directly on the watch.

A few of the apps I regularly use are Misfit (for sleep tracking and step counting), Uber (easy book a cab), Notification center (Custom notifications), Dialer (for reject call with SMS) and a few games like Tiny bird (flappy bird), 2048 etc.

Support - Amazing

My experience with the Pebble support team has been amazing. The Pebble support team was indeed very helpful for all my queries.

The Pebble watch I bought went dead while charging and I got a free replacement since it was under warranty period (You can read all about it here.). And now you know why I say the support is amazing.

I thus now have 2 Pebble watches, one is dead and dummy though !

Conclusion - It's not for the faint hearted

Like I mentioned earlier, a smartwatch does not fit everyone's needs and the classic Pebble watch is not for the faint hearted either. It does not have a touch screen, no gorilla coating, no retina color displays, no voice support and no luxury addons. 

The Pebble smartwatch was designed for the early technology adopter and designed to be as much as a watch as its other functions. 

It hence has an always ON, always readable display. 

You can go on a trip and not bother if your watch will go dead half way.

It is waterproof, so you could wear it all through the day even when you go swimming. 

Its also subtle on your phone's battery so you don't think twice about your Bluetooth being always ON.

And its small, light and comfortable to wear so you do not feel like a super hero when you wear one.

For the people who considers Apple watch with its luxury casing, crown dial, the Apple ecosystem (even to change the watch band) the Pebble wouldn't suit you. You should probably look for Moto 360 as an alternative.

The classic Pebble watch is probably for the geekiest and cost cautious of the lot. And also for the ones that love simplicity and functions more than luxury.

Pebble watch replacement (RMA)

Let me start with a short feedback on the Pebble smartwatch.

Pebble watch is an awesome smartwatch with its always readable display, simplicity of use, light weight, community support and value for money.

This is about my experience of receiving a replacement for my dead Pebble watch.

One (not-so) fine morning, my Pebble just stopped working. I had connected it to the USB charging port on my laptop and kept in the bag. When I checked it later, the Pebble neither power-on nor charge.

My Pebble watch was dead !!

On desperation I raised a support request using the Pebble app. To my surprise I received a reply.
And a brief history of time...

• 2/Jul/2015 - Raised support request on Pebble app
• 6/Jul/2015 - Reply from Pebble support to try a few things
• 6/Jul/2015 - Nothing worked.. Pebble is still dead.
• 6/Jul/2015 - More details requested by Pebble support including a snap of the Pebble clearly displaying its serial number and the support ticket number.
  Something like this...
  
• 6/Jul/2015 - Device replacement agreed !
• 18/Jul/2015 - RMA submitted (after a few follow-ups)
• 30/Jul/2015 - New Pebble watch arrived at local customs.
• 30/Jul/2015 - Requested Pebble support for an invoice clearly stating that it was a replacement and hence zero value.
• 31/Jul/2015 - Received the updated invoice.
  
• 24/Aug/2015 - Received my replacement Pebble watch in hand.
  

The most difficult part is convincing the customs officers that this is a replacement part to wave-off the tax. I was perhaps quite lucky that I had to go there only once. But it is better to plan for half a day. Having the mails and invoice received from Pebble support will come in really handy during the discussion with the customs officer. 

And at the customs office (aka international post office, GPO building Bangalore) be proactive. Nothing moves otherwise.

All the best !