Pebble Time (Smart Watch)

I haven't worn a watch in years and my phone has been my timekeeper during all that time.

But since I do keep my phone in my pocket, it would be nice to glance at my wrist to see what text/email/call notification I'm getting without having to get my phone out.

I'm just not sure what the Bluetooth interaction with the watch, phone and car will be like.
 
eyephone said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Pebble Time in Target and Best Buy today!

Couldn't find any on Amazon Prime though.


Are you thinking about getting one?

(I'm still thinking)

dont do it.  what happen if apple/android phone does a software upgrade and no longer supports pebblem, then what are you going to do?

 
. said:
eyephone said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Pebble Time in Target and Best Buy today!

Couldn't find any on Amazon Prime though.


Are you thinking about getting one?
(I'm still thinking)
dont do it.  what happen if apple/android phone does a software upgrade and no longer supports pebblem, then what are you going to do?
This isn't really an issue because the integration is done with Pebble's software so they will update it to keep supporting it.

However, I did try a Pebble Time out for a few weeks. It was okay for what I needed it for, namely being able to see text notifications without having to take my phone out of my pocket. I was using it with an iPhone but it has better features with Android.

But it didn't have the battery life claimed (only about 2-3 days vs the 7 claimed) and the bluetooth kept disconnecting. Being able to choose different watch faces was interesting but in the end, the low resolution and aforementioned cons just made it a non-keeper for me. Plus I think I got to used to not having a watch.
 
I actually just got one of these for free (giveway at a conference I was at a couple weeks ago). Thank you discover/ariba.  Finally tried it out this weekend (I'm a non-watch wearer) and I'm not one of those people who is glued to a cell phone. Thought I'd wear it for a day and then decide to give it to someone.  Shocked that the opposite has held true...it is fantastic and convenient. 

I really don't use anything other then the fact that it vibrates to tell me the phone is ringing or shows me an email / text that came through...however, given that I tend to leave my phone elsewhere in the house and then end up finding out I missed something important a few hours later (as I'm playing / taking care of the kids)...now it is easy and I got the message. Also especially useful when I'm carrying both of the kids (2 yr old and 6 month old) at the mall (or store) and I get a quick text from my wife telling me where to meet her or that she is done with the returns or whatever it is.

The weather / step count feature is also pretty cool. I also noticed a real advantage in meetings where I can check casually in case something came up and I need to pick up the kids (cause the mrs is stuck in a meeting).  I'm not one of those people who have their phone out during an entire meeting (nor is our CEO / CFO, who i tend to meet with a lot...so again helpful). 

And best part is battery life...started using it on Saturday and it is Monday and only 1 bar has came off the battery.  I do wish I could customize it for score updates for my favorite teams (I'd like a notification every quarter if my team is playing...maybe it is something I can do...will look into it). Probably wouldn't pay $199 for it, but as someone who was pretty anti watch, I actually got to say this is far more usable then I expected. 
 
Yes, I liked the convenience of on my wrist notifications, but battery life was not the same for me... at most it lasted 3 days before I got the Low Battery indicator.

Were you using Android or iOS? Maybe that's the difference.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Yes, I liked the convenience of on my wrist notifications, but battery life was not the same for me... at most it lasted 3 days before I got the Low Battery indicator.

Were you using Android or iOS? Maybe that's the difference.
I am android. I also had zero issues with connectivity (other then if I left the phone in the driveway) and I was like upstairs, but it reconnected when I came back. I didn't really use the phone for anything other then reading a message or dismissing an email.  I didn't use any reply feature or anything like that and really didn't utilize any other apps (not sure how much that effects connectivity or what).  I don't plan on charging it till the battery dies, so I'll make a follow-up post when this thing officially dies.   
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I'm just not sure what the Bluetooth interaction with the watch, phone and car will be like.

Just keep the phone on the optional hands free selfie stick.

2D35885F00000578-0-image-m-18_1444347605311.jpg
 
When using on my car bluetooth I had zero issues...phone rang and my watch vibrated and obviously rang through my car (dual connectivity).  Presume it would have had no issues if I had my google maps going through bluetooth...played pandora on it and worked no problem (and if for some reason I wanted to...I didn't, I could have paused / skipped from the watch...again no point in doing from the car, but suppose could be handy when playing music through phone from bluetooth speaker at home).

 
Bullsback said:
I actually just got one of these for free (giveway at a conference I was at a couple weeks ago). Thank you discover/ariba.  Finally tried it out this weekend (I'm a non-watch wearer) and I'm not one of those people who is glued to a cell phone. Thought I'd wear it for a day and then decide to give it to someone.  Shocked that the opposite has held true...it is fantastic and convenient. 

I really don't use anything other then the fact that it vibrates to tell me the phone is ringing or shows me an email / text that came through...however, given that I tend to leave my phone elsewhere in the house and then end up finding out I missed something important a few hours later (as I'm playing / taking care of the kids)...now it is easy and I got the message. Also especially useful when I'm carrying both of the kids (2 yr old and 6 month old) at the mall (or store) and I get a quick text from my wife telling me where to meet her or that she is done with the returns or whatever it is.

The weather / step count feature is also pretty cool. I also noticed a real advantage in meetings where I can check casually in case something came up and I need to pick up the kids (cause the mrs is stuck in a meeting).  I'm not one of those people who have their phone out during an entire meeting (nor is our CEO / CFO, who i tend to meet with a lot...so again helpful). 

And best part is battery life...started using it on Saturday and it is Monday and only 1 bar has came off the battery.  I do wish I could customize it for score updates for my favorite teams (I'd like a notification every quarter if my team is playing...maybe it is something I can do...will look into it). Probably wouldn't pay $199 for it, but as someone who was pretty anti watch, I actually got to say this is far more usable then I expected.

I used the first generation Pebble Steel (black and white screen) with both an Android (Samsung Galaxy S5) and iOS (iPhone 6 and 6S), and I agree that it is more functional with Android than with iOS. For example, when you get a text while paired to an Android phone, you can set up a number of short replies (for example, "on my way home", "yes", or "no"), which can be helpful when you just need to send a quick response. On iOS, there is no option to send canned responses to texts.  Also, I had some issues w/ connectivity on iOS where notifications would not come through unless I restarted my phone and/or my watch. I never had those issues when I had my Android phone.

On both platforms, I regularly got 5-6 days of battery life on the watch, which was great in comparison to what I had read regarding the battery life of AndroidWear and the Apple Watch. 

I'm not sure what people use their smartwatches for, or what their expectations are, but like Bullsback, I used it to ensure that I did not miss calls or texts from my wife. Granted, I purchased my Pebble Steel for $60 (through Cowboom), so I wasn't expecting a plethora of apps. At $60, I was more than a fan of Pebble, though I may not be as big a fan had I paid full price for it.
 
So in the hunt for a low priced watch that gives me notifications, I think I found one, the Garmin Vivoactive:
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-01297-00-Vivoactive-Black/dp/B00RE1UL52/

It's normally $249 but on sale at Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers for $169.

Doesn't have all the apps, widgets, or watchfaces as Pebble Time but it does a better job of keeping the Bluetooth connection and so far I'm on Day 3 and the batter indicator is still almost full (by this time with the Pebble Time I it was empty). I disabled the GPS so that helps but it's good to know it has GPS so you can use if for the different activity apps.

The step/activity counter is useful as it notifies me when I've been inactive for too long and it's about a 5% variance from the step counter on my iPhone.

It's not the best looking watch but very lightweight and does what I need it to do. It uses the same type of color LCD/e-ink technology as the Pebble time but it's easier to read the notifications and seems much sharper. Reads very well in full daylight.

It has all these sports functions for cycling, golf, swimming etc and an option heart monitor interface but that's stuff I don't do.

I also tried the Asus ZenWatch 2 ($149) but it doesn't fit on my gigantic wrist so I couldn't really put it through its paces.

I think I'm keeping the Garmin.
 
I should note...pebble released an update about a week ago and I'm back to being a totally happy camper.  Works no problem at all.  Battery life is still superb (averaging 8 days a charge). 
 
Day 7 with the Garmin Vivoactive and it's at about 75% battery... I guess this thing really can go 3 to 4 weeks on one charge which is great for a "smart" watch.

It's back up to $249 at Best Buy but it's still $170 on Amazon, I really think they could sell more of these if they just kept the price below $200.

I think what I prefer about this over the Pebble Time is its lighter weight. Feels less obtrusive than the Pebble did for some reason. And doesn't disconnect all the time like the Pebble Time did with my iPhone.

Strange wearing a watch again, I still mistakenly take out my phone to see what time it is. But so much more convenient to see texts, emails and who is calling (and if I can just cancel rather than taking out my phone to do so).
 
So it made it past the 3 week mark with about 10% left. Instead of letting it run down, I recharged it as I'm satisfied with the battery performance and don't have to worry about charging it every day or even every week.

The notifications on my wrist is very convenient, especially during meetings and while driving. Other than that, the only other thing I use it for is the Steps monitor. In an effort to be less husky, I'm trying to be more active and walk more, It reminds me when I've been sitting around too long so it helps in that regard.

I hope a future update allows me to respond to text notifications with an Ok, Yes, No or I'm Busy.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
So it made it past the 3 week mark with about 10% left. Instead of letting it run down, I recharged it as I'm satisfied with the battery performance and don't have to worry about charging it every day or even every week.

The notifications on my wrist is very convenient, especially during meetings and while driving. Other than that, the only other thing I use it for is the Steps monitor. In an effort to be less husky, I'm trying to be more active and walk more, It reminds me when I've been sitting around too long so it helps in that regard.

I hope a future update allows me to respond to text notifications with an Ok, Yes, No or I'm Busy.
I think that is something Apple's technology currently prevents, so only the Apple watch allows it (might be wrong). 
 
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