EEVblog #758 - Pebble Time Smartwatch Unboxing & Review

[Lightages]

I am torn between being a gadget nerd and not seeing the point.

[adcurtin]

No one's posted about this yet, but every time you said e-ink, I cringed. Pebble is not e-ink, at all. E-ink is magnetic beads, is slow, takes no power to display a static image, and any light for it is a front light. Pebble uses e-paper (which e-ink is technically a part of, but that's beside the point). It uses a Sharp Memory LCD. It can be backlit (like in the pebble), but it is also great in direct sunlight. The memory LCD also takes nanoamps of current to hold a static image, but up in the milliamps to update the display (and the display in the Time is updated by column, so if you have a watchface with a seconds hand, it's gonna have to update a lot of the columns every second, and that will really hurt battery life). It can also do a decent framerate, unlike most e-inks.

Also, you said you plan to do a teardown. FYI if you tear down the pebble time, you will not be able to use it again most likely. ifixit did a good teardown (with some assistance / commentary from some pebble engineers too, that hopefully will earn them some credibility in your book).

Overall, knowing a ton about the pebble, and having used the OG pebble since the first kickstarter, I was quite disappointed in this video.

[wraper]

I gotta admit, I am very surprised at how Dave just glossed over the fact that it has a custom connector... I seem to recall Dave being very angry about bloody custom connectors in the past... and in that thing, (at least by the way it looks on the video) you could just have fitted a micro-usb on the side where the power button is... instead, you get to pack yet another custom cable for your stuff. Apart from the fact that I'm not the greatest fan of the concept of smart watches, that on it's own would be an absolute dealbreaker for me.

Micro USB in the watch? You must be crazy. It will be full of dirt and likely corrode within a few months. Not to say this watch is water resistant. Also there is really not much place to put it inside.

[McBryce]

If I had a website selling watches, all the watches would be animated with a freegeoip.net lookup to display the visitors time on them.

Like this:
http://www.uhrzeit.org/atomuhr.php

McBryce.

[old gregg]

that thing is the ugliest thing on earth.

So you need a smartphone to boot it up and you get a "smartwatch" which does everything (expect clear display of time) that your smartphone, in your pocket, also does ?

I guess Consumerism has no limits 

[Neganur]

hmm looks interesting enough to make me want to try one, but EUR 250 is too much for an impulse buy.
I'll wait a bit while I look at the available apps.

[EEVblog]

I gotta admit, I am very surprised at how Dave just glossed over the fact that it has a custom connector...

It's waterproof, so you expect that.

[EEVblog]

Why did you choose a pebble instead of an apply watch? Or do you have both? I thought that life is easier if you stay within the Apple ecosystem. I'm looking in from outside. Just wondering.

I don't have Apple anything.

[Wilksey]

Music? Does it have decent speakers or a headphone jack?

It seems to have a Cortex M3 inside from the iFixIt Teardown, quite impressive how much they have packed inside such a small case, they destroyed the screen just getting to the battery though, so throw away item when the battery no longer recharges.
I like the memory display, anyone know what model this is (display) I could only find a 8 colour display on the Sharp website, I thought this had more?  I might be wrong.

It is purely a gadget though, something to pave the way for a more professional approach, I cannot entertain a "watch" that doesn't tell you the time without having to download an "app" first, it isn't really "smart", it can't browse the internet.

A watch that needs to be recharged every 6 or 7 days is not what I would want.  A watch that needs pre-configuring using a smart phone (presume it uses BLE over classic?) is not something that appeals to me either.   Technology wise it is impressive, day to day usability as a replacement for my existing time telling machine, useless.

Registration, cloud, apps, it's a bloody watch! 

[0b01010011]

agreed - made for a hilarious unboxing from Dave though which we have to be thankful for!

[Lightages]

If it is a throw away when the battery dies, no thanks. We have enough technological pollution already.

[Muttley Snickers]

Not at all related but I am reminded of the tamagotchi nightmares that we had to endure some years back, sadly they all disappeared one night and we never did find out exactly where they all went.

Family members may stumble across this so I will say no more...


Muttley

[bitwelder]

I gotta admit, I am very surprised at how Dave just glossed over the fact that it has a custom connector...

By the way, from the video it seemed like the connector doesn't have a fixed orientation, does the charger provide AC voltage?

[hayatepilot]

I gotta admit, I am very surprised at how Dave just glossed over the fact that it has a custom connector...

By the way, from the video it seemed like the connector doesn't have a fixed orientation, does the charger provide AC voltage?

I doubt it, the cable has a normal USB connector on the other end. You can also pass DC through a bridge rectifier and the voltage comes out the right way all the time. 

Greetings

[McBryce]

Not at all related but I am reminded of the tamagotchi nightmares
that we had to endure some years back, sadly they all disappeared
one night and we never did find out exactly where they all went.

Family members may stumble across this so I will say no more...

Muttley

Pebble converted them all into Smart watches

Regarding the charging connector/clip. The two magnets on either side are probably of opposite polarity so that it will only stay connected in one direction (without taping / nailing / glueing it to the thing that is). I doubt it's being fed AC.

McBryce.

[Muttley Snickers]

The device in it's current form is simply not practical for our use because of the exposed metal surfaces, we work in electrical cabinets and communications enclosures so no metal jewellery.

A question for those in the know, could the device be tethered to other more practical equipment such as the Mooshimeter or the Agilent Bluetooth meters, this application would have a greater appeal should I ever come across one in the future, and is anyone aware of a device that acts as a Bluetooth extender which could then potentially render the watch suitable for smaller nurse call and similar applications.

Muttley
 

[rs20]

A question for those in the know, could the device be tethered to other more practical equipment such
as the Mooshimeter or the Agilent bluetooth meters?

It would be straightforward to write a phone app that read reading from a Bluetooth Meyer, and then relayed that onto the watch. So this is certainly straightforward if you allow a phone to be in the room.

But direct meter-to-watch communication might be essentially impossible, I don't think either is set up to be a host.

[bitwelder]

Regarding the charging connector/clip. The two magnets on either side are probably of opposite polarity so that it will only stay connected in one direction (without taping / nailing / glueing it to the thing that is). I doubt it's being fed AC.

Indeed, thinking that it's fed via USB, it's likely DC.
However, I wonder if they have anyway a bridge rectifier inside the watch, as even if the magnets do not allow the connector to stay plugged 'the wrong way', it's probably still possible to make contact with inverted polarity by holding it with a finger.

[free_electron]

IIRC even when starting a smart phone one of the first settings is language and TIME. But Pebble Time, no, first screen is Music. 

if you have to set the time on a smartphone the designers should be shot.

Even a 20 year old dumb phone can automatically set its clock form the network provider...

[McBryce]

Indeed, thinking that it's fed via USB, it's likely DC.
However, I wonder if they have anyway a bridge rectifier inside the watch, as even if the magnets do not allow the connector to stay plugged 'the wrong way', it's probably still possible to make contact with inverted polarity by holding it with a finger.

A simple diode would sort that out.

McBryce.

[cpuerror]

I'm not sure if the energy density is good enough but I think a super cap instead of a battery is ideal for these applications. Fast recharge and infinite cycles.
Also, an ultra thin solar panel under the watch LCD to catch stray light and help top up the charge could help as well.
The only thing I don't like about this watch is that you have to hand over everything to Pebble, photos, contacts, SMS messages, probably location too I imagine, for the device to even function. I don't want to purchase any device that is totally dependent on the internet and an active account and uploading my personal details to who knows where.

[rs20]

I'm not sure if the energy density is good enough but I think a super cap instead of a battery is ideal for these applications...

The energy density is not good enough. People are complaining about the battery life already, slashing it to put a supercap in is a terrible idea.

[max_torque]

Who the heck has time(sic) in their life for this sort of stuff??

  I have a smart phone and i have a watch.  Job done.

[fubar.gr]

I hate devices that can't work on their own  (even with just some basic functionality) and require elaborate schemes (like creating an account on some website and using a mobile app) just to get going.

What if in a few years time the mother company goes south? The required mobile app drops off the store, there's no way to create an account and you end up with a glorified paperweight.

[Fungus]

What if in a few years time the mother company goes south? The required mobile app drops off the store, there's no way to create an account and you end up with a glorified paperweight.

The internal battery will be useless by then, so ... no big deal.

This thing isn't designed to last for the rest of your life. If that's a problem for you then you're not the target market.

Even a 20 year old dumb phone can automatically set its clock form the network provider...

The "dumb phone" has GSM radio and a SIM card in it. This doesn't.