Three years later, the new generation of Pebble Time has once again broken the crowdfunding record of Kickstarter, raising $20 million at one go. But unlike Pebble three years ago, Pebble Time is now competing against Apple Watch and a handful of Android Wear products.
In the face of competitors, Pebble Time has a color screen, voice control function and a new operating system. It is also the most waterproof smart watch with the highest level (although it seems that there is no difference).
parameter
3D 40.5 x 37.5 x 37.5mm, 42.5g
Gorilla third generation glass, replaceable 22mm silicone strap, 30m waterproof
1.25 inch 64 color e-paper LCD screen, 168 x 144 resolution (182PPI), supporting Memory In Pixel technology and LED backlight
ARM Cortex-M4 CPU+256KB memory+16MB storage
Built in microphone, Bluetooth 4.0, three-axis gyroscope, electronic compass, light sensor
The new Pebble OS operating system supports message filtering when connected to Android devices
150mAh battery, one week's endurance of official standard
In addition to maintaining the endurance and ease of use of the original generation of conscience, Pebble Time has upgraded its processing performance and added a color screen. However, it still lags far behind Apple and Android Wear in performance, screen and third-party applications, leaving its advantages in ease of use and endurance.
Appearance and packaging
The packaging of Kickstarter crowdfunding Pebble Time is quite low-key, with only a magnetic USB charging cable and a guide inside.
Pebble Time uses a standard 22mm silicone watch strap, which can be replaced by a cloth watch strap or even a leather watch strap that is more expensive than the machine. Pebble officially announced that it has invested 1 million dollars in the development of watchbands. It is estimated that there will be a large wave of customized watchbands.
The old version of Pebble Time looks larger. The round but square shape has a strong Pebble flavor.
The key layout of Pebble Time is the same as that of the early generation. The left side is the return button, and the right side, from top to bottom, is the menu, navigation, selection buttons, and microphone openings.
The product logo is on the back, the magnetic charging contact is on the top, and the white dots on both sides are magnets.
Pebble Time is available in black, white and red. The changeable watchband can be changed according to the user's preference. The machine is very solid, but not exquisite. Corning gorilla glass can withstand many scratches in life, but even though it has a metal frame, the plastic body is still very sad, especially those buttons
The biggest advantage of its hardware is that the 30m is waterproof. For swimming enthusiasts, Pebble Time is probably the smartwatch with the best waterproof performance. The weight of the machine is 40.5 x 37.5 x 9.5mm and 42.5g, which makes it more comfortable to wear, and the silicone strap is also very comfortable and easy to take care of.
Screen and endurance
The 64 color e-paper LCD screen of the machine is produced by the Japanese Display Company. It is equipped with Memory in Pixel technology and supports LED backlight. The resolution is 168 x 144, and the pixel density is 182 PPI. This is fine enough to display simple text messages and patterns, but the grain is really heavy.
Although its resolution and color performance are significantly lower than those of mainstream smart watches, its readability in the sun can kill all living beings. However, after running indoors and turning on the LED backlight in low light scenes, the readability of the screen will decline to a certain extent. The light sensor of the machine can automatically judge whether to turn on the backlight. Turning your wrist can also activate its backlight.
Although the official brand's one week endurance is somewhat watery, the machine can still easily survive a week from 8:00 a.m. to early morning, which must be the furthest away from Apple watches and other smart watches.
App
Just like the early generation, Pebble Time needs an app to connect to smart phones. It provides Android and iOS versions (WP: I'm still fine).
The app can be used to change the dial style, and can connect multiple watches at the same time (although this function is not very useful).
The app has its own dial store, and you can choose your own dial. If you like, you can even use the old Pebble black and white dial.
Third party dial display
For Android apps, it can choose which apps can push messages to the watch. For SMS/WeChat and other apps that can reply to messages, it can even preset common preset replies such as "in conference, waiting for you". Unfortunately, when the iOS app is connected, it can only be viewed but not returned
Its app store can download some third-party applications. The functions of the applications are relatively basic, and the application level is quite different from that of Android and Apple. However, considering that Pebble has a very active developer community, the application quality should improve relatively quickly.
user interface
System interface
The interface of the machine is similar to that of the previous generation, but it will feel much more handsome and lively after adding color and animation. There are few built-in applications of the machine, which are all very basic functions, such as setting menu, music player (controlling the mobile phone to play music), notification menu, alarm clock, and dial setting items, while the apps installed by the machine are listed behind them.
The setting menu of the machine provides some rare advanced functions, such as customizing the long press trigger function of the button on the right (used to open specific applications). The music player can control the volume in addition to pausing and changing songs.
But generally speaking, although there is no fancy UI, all functions and use experience are very simple and easy to use.
summary
Pebble Time has significantly upgraded its appearance, performance, workmanship and display compared with the previous generation. The product itself is highly complete. However, compared with the Apple Watch and the Moto 360, the plastic body has really lost a lot of price, and even the Pebble Time Steel, which was later released, has made up for the lack of materials, its appearance is indeed a little lower.
Like its predecessors, Pebble Time has bet all its possessions on endurance and ease of use. Pebble Time is mainly responsible for pushing notifications, and the rest depends on mobile phones; Apple Watch and Android Wear, on the other hand, are positioned to take over part of the work of mobile phones and reduce the number of times of taking out mobile phones.
Considering that the sales volume of the first generation of Pebble has exceeded one million units, the sales volume of Pebble Time is very poor. But with so many smart watches, Pebble Time is under great pressure.
Whether Pebble Time is suitable for you depends largely on your expectations of smart watches. If you want this device on your hand to take over the work of your phone as much as possible, you can turn left when you go out and choose Apple Watch and Android Wear devices. The newly released Moto 360 II and later devices equipped with TencentOS system are also expected to be good choices.
But if you only need a simple message pushing tool and the function of the smart bracelet, Pebble Time will be an option with continuous navigation capability close to the smart bracelet (but for domestic users, it is still a product that needs belief subsidy).
fabulous:
Endurance
30m waterproof
Good readability in strong light
The system interaction is simple and easy to use
Changeable watchband
The price of $199 is conscience (conscience in the eyes of Waiguoren)
Step on:
In this era, the color performance of 64 color screen is really poor
Poor workmanship compared with products at the same price
The indoor readability of the screen is not very high
There are few third-party applications and dials in the system
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