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Pebble Time 2 is still miles ahead being a watch, and only a bit behind being a computer. BUT, it has a sunlight readable ALWAYS on display, really good battery

Pebble Time 2 is still miles ahead being a watch, and only a bit behind being a computer. BUT, it has a sunlight readable ALWAYS on display, really good battery life and is open source. I still don't understand people charging their battery every 2 days or less. It's a problem guys. My Wear OS watches, even my fancy 2 screen one that got about 4 days or so, eventually ended up in a drawer. Never to be used again. Not so with my pebble, where I literally made an automation to remind me to charge it, because I charge it so rarely.

danilafe 1mo ago
For me, the appeal of the smartwatch is more advanced health tracking, custom applications, NFC, and GPS. As far as I know, Pebble lacks most if not all of these features. I really want to want a Pebble, but it's far closer to a customizable watchface than even a Fitbit. On the other hand, daily charging of smart watches is completely outrageous.
- gleenn 1mo ago
  They have some heart-rate and some health tracking an as others have mentioned, so many of the more fringe features are way less useful than a watch that lasts anywhere from a week to a month on a charge versus a daybor two with the ultra
  - danilafe 1mo ago
    Well, right, that's why I said "advanced" health tracking. A pedometer is enough to measure steps. And then, I dunno. We've clearly made this trade-off before with mobile phones. As much as I like the Nokia I had that went weeks without a charge, I also rarely notice the charging time of my phone. Lately I've been thinking about a mode in which a "smartwatch" serves as a fitness tracker, heads-up display, and wallet, while a real, mechanical watch, which never runs out of battery, becomes the timepiece (and fashion piece?)
- cyberax 1mo ago
  PebbleTime 2 has a pedometer, HR monitor, and sleep tracking. You can set it to do continuous HR measurements during activities. This covers all the basics. GPS is covered by the phone that you're going to be carrying anyway. Really the only missing part is NFC payments.
  - danilafe 1mo ago
    > GPS is covered by the phone that you're going to be carrying anyway Unless you go for a run, for example. > Really the only missing part is NFC payments. And custom applications, not the least of which are navigation tools like Google Maps or Citymapper.
    - cyberax 1mo ago
      > Unless you go for a run, for example. You can bring your phone with you! Then you can combine its GPS tracks and the information from Pebble. > And custom applications, not the least of which are navigation tools like Google Maps or Citymapper. They won't work without the phone connection because Pebble does not have a cellular modem. But there are mapping apps for the Pebble that use the phone's GPS: https://apps.repebble.com/maptastic_52e7521679f937c182000004 https://apps.repebble.com/maptastic_52e7521679f937c182000004 or https://apps.repebble.com/maps-nav_99279aadf6df4c0fadfdb39a https://apps.repebble.com/maps-nav_99279aadf6df4c0fadfdb39a
      - flowardnut 1mo ago
        >You can bring your phone with you! You can, but it's pretty awful. put it in a pocket and it flops around. Wear a band that slides in your phone in and get it soaked (i'm a sweat monster). I own a pebble, but I'll gladly just run without a phone.
        cyberax 1mo ago
        Have you tried one of these upper arm holsters? Actually, you gave me an idea! There are button-sized Bluetooth GPS loggers. They can record a GPS track, and you can later download the data from them. Since it's freaking GPS, it automatically has timestamps, so it's easy to correlate with other activity. As a bonus, I think it should be possible to connect them directly with the phone. BRB, I think I have a ESP-based Tiny Arudino somewhere...
- subarctic 1mo ago
  I canceled my pebble preorder when I found out it can only record audio for a couple minutes at a time. A big use case for me is to record voice notes without going into the distraction center that is my phone, but often they can be 20+ minutes
- lawn 1mo ago
  Pebble's custom applications is far better than Google or Apple. It's much more hackable. The other features are indeed worse or missing.
basisword 1mo ago
>> I still don't understand people charging their battery every 2 days or less. It's a problem guys. My Wear OS watches, even my fancy 2 screen one that got about 4 days or so, eventually ended up in a drawer. It's funny because I can't understand this from the other perspective. You get up, take your watch off to shower (i.e. put it on charge) and by the time you've got ready it's done. I actually had issues when I got the Apple Watch Ultra and the battery lasted longer. I got out of the charging routine and ran out of battery at inconvenient times.
Markoff 1mo ago
Can you sell Pebble Time 2 to me as Amazfit Bip user? All I need are notifications from smartphone, sleep tracking and pedometer. I am on my third Bip, the last two I bought used for like 20USD, why would I spend in 2026 225USD on Pebble Time 2 with worse specs (thicker and it doesn't even have GPS) rather than just buy another used Amazfit Bip for 15-20USD (it can still last 4 weeks even with old battery)? Their pricing is completely insane. I don't care about their special OS and custom apps.
Moldoteck 1mo ago
i own PT2 due to buttons but charging thing is not such a problem considering i take it off before the shower

danilafe 1mo ago

For me, the appeal of the smartwatch is more advanced health tracking, custom applications, NFC, and GPS. As far as I know, Pebble lacks most if not all of these features. I really want to want a Pebble, but it's far closer to a customizable watchface than even a Fitbit. On the other hand, daily charging of smart watches is completely outrageous.

gleenn 1mo ago
They have some heart-rate and some health tracking an as others have mentioned, so many of the more fringe features are way less useful than a watch that lasts anywhere from a week to a month on a charge versus a daybor two with the ultra
- danilafe 1mo ago
  Well, right, that's why I said "advanced" health tracking. A pedometer is enough to measure steps. And then, I dunno. We've clearly made this trade-off before with mobile phones. As much as I like the Nokia I had that went weeks without a charge, I also rarely notice the charging time of my phone. Lately I've been thinking about a mode in which a "smartwatch" serves as a fitness tracker, heads-up display, and wallet, while a real, mechanical watch, which never runs out of battery, becomes the timepiece (and fashion piece?)
cyberax 1mo ago
PebbleTime 2 has a pedometer, HR monitor, and sleep tracking. You can set it to do continuous HR measurements during activities. This covers all the basics. GPS is covered by the phone that you're going to be carrying anyway. Really the only missing part is NFC payments.
- danilafe 1mo ago
  > GPS is covered by the phone that you're going to be carrying anyway Unless you go for a run, for example. > Really the only missing part is NFC payments. And custom applications, not the least of which are navigation tools like Google Maps or Citymapper.
  - cyberax 1mo ago
    > Unless you go for a run, for example. You can bring your phone with you! Then you can combine its GPS tracks and the information from Pebble. > And custom applications, not the least of which are navigation tools like Google Maps or Citymapper. They won't work without the phone connection because Pebble does not have a cellular modem. But there are mapping apps for the Pebble that use the phone's GPS: https://apps.repebble.com/maptastic_52e7521679f937c182000004 https://apps.repebble.com/maptastic_52e7521679f937c182000004 or https://apps.repebble.com/maps-nav_99279aadf6df4c0fadfdb39a https://apps.repebble.com/maps-nav_99279aadf6df4c0fadfdb39a
    - flowardnut 1mo ago
      >You can bring your phone with you! You can, but it's pretty awful. put it in a pocket and it flops around. Wear a band that slides in your phone in and get it soaked (i'm a sweat monster). I own a pebble, but I'll gladly just run without a phone.
      - cyberax 1mo ago
        Have you tried one of these upper arm holsters? Actually, you gave me an idea! There are button-sized Bluetooth GPS loggers. They can record a GPS track, and you can later download the data from them. Since it's freaking GPS, it automatically has timestamps, so it's easy to correlate with other activity. As a bonus, I think it should be possible to connect them directly with the phone. BRB, I think I have a ESP-based Tiny Arudino somewhere...
subarctic 1mo ago
I canceled my pebble preorder when I found out it can only record audio for a couple minutes at a time. A big use case for me is to record voice notes without going into the distraction center that is my phone, but often they can be 20+ minutes
lawn 1mo ago
Pebble's custom applications is far better than Google or Apple. It's much more hackable. The other features are indeed worse or missing.

basisword 1mo ago

>> I still don't understand people charging their battery every 2 days or less. It's a problem guys. My Wear OS watches, even my fancy 2 screen one that got about 4 days or so, eventually ended up in a drawer. It's funny because I can't understand this from the other perspective. You get up, take your watch off to shower (i.e. put it on charge) and by the time you've got ready it's done. I actually had issues when I got the Apple Watch Ultra and the battery lasted longer. I got out of the charging routine and ran out of battery at inconvenient times.

Markoff 1mo ago

Can you sell Pebble Time 2 to me as Amazfit Bip user? All I need are notifications from smartphone, sleep tracking and pedometer. I am on my third Bip, the last two I bought used for like 20USD, why would I spend in 2026 225USD on Pebble Time 2 with worse specs (thicker and it doesn't even have GPS) rather than just buy another used Amazfit Bip for 15-20USD (it can still last 4 weeks even with old battery)? Their pricing is completely insane. I don't care about their special OS and custom apps.

Moldoteck 1mo ago

i own PT2 due to buttons but charging thing is not such a problem considering i take it off before the shower