Smartwatches are supposed to be pieces of jewelry that are all in all as particular as the cell phones they're appended to, yet rarely are they considered popular. We've seen a handful (or is it wristful?) that are hip, luxurious and lively, yet we've additionally honestly persisted more than enough monstrous choices too. Tragically, none have effectively matched the plushness brands like Seiko, Rolex, Citizen and Victorinox are known for on the simple side. In all actuality, relatively few organizations are in a position to even attempt this. Without an in number engineer stage and ensured degree of profitability, few (if any) smart watchmakers want to take the risk.
It bodes well, then, that an organization like Pebble is exploiting what has all the earmarks of being a totally untouched fragment of the smartwatch market. In only a short year, the early watchmaker rapidly picked up the experience, assets, stage and engineer help needed to even attempt handling such a task. The outcome is the $249 Pebble Steel. It's intended to be a more exquisite adaptation of the first ever Pebble, with few progressions to by and large purpose. Thus, have we at long last discovered a smartwatch that you can feel great flaunting to your business accomplices on the golf course?
HARDWARE
If you're holding
out for a new Pebble with a nifty touchscreen, color display, always-listening
mode or voice activation, keep waiting. The Steel isn't supposed to be a
next-gen device -- it's designed to be a more expensive version of the original
Pebble that appeals to consumers with more... discerning tastes. The Steel,
which comes clad in CNC-machined stainless steel (type 316, if you must know),
is stately, refined and classy. That's in stark contrast to the original, which
we'd describe as "colorful." Sporty. Fun. Its build materials and
industrial design are better than any other smartwatch we've seen, and Gorilla
Glass 2 helps make the watch feel durable. The catch: The watch's dashing good
looks come at a $100 premium over the original.
Before we continue,
we want to clarify that the Steel isn't meant to replace the year-old Pebble.
It's designed to be a premium option targeted at those who'd otherwise prefer
to adorn their wrists with more expensive timepieces. Together, the two watches
share the same innards: They use a 1.26-inch e-paper display (with a resolution
of 168 x 144), ARM Cortex-M3 CPU, 130mAh battery and waterproof design (it can
withstand up to five atmospheres, or 50 meters). There are a few differences,
though: The Steel adds an RGB notification light, oleophobic anti-fingerprint
coating and a new charger. There's also a clever black band that wraps around
the perimeter of the device and acts as an external Bluetooth 4.0 LE antenna,
similar to the way Apple integrated antennas into the frame of the iPhone to
improve signal attenuation.
The original Pebble
gets its sporty look from a long, curved face and recessed sides, whereas the
Steel goes with a flat, squarish face and straight sides. The 39 x 36.8 x
10.25mm Steel is shorter, slightly wider and thinner than the 52 x 36 x 11.5mm
Pebble, but it's also much heavier (it's 16g heavier with the leather band
attached, 59g if you use the metal band). The buttons on the Steel use the same
layout as its predecessor, are just a tad smaller, stick out farther from the
watch and they're actually easier to press.
The Steel comes in
your choice of black or brushed stainless (silver), with leather and metal
wristbands included in the box. The black model comes coated with a Physical
Vapor Deposition (PVD) finish, which provides impact strength and resistance to
abrasion; the stainless one, meanwhile, only uses PVD on the bezel. As for the
straps, the black leather band is adjustable, while the stainless steel option
-- my personal favorite -- has a foldable clasp and links that can easily be
added or removed using a tiny screwdriver and pliers. (Each box has extra links
and a small screwdriver thrown in, just in case you prefer the DIY route.)
Unlike the original Pebble, you won't be able to swap out the Steel wristbands
with any standard 22mm strap. You shouldn't have to wait too long for more
choices, though, since Pebble's published a 3D model of the watch to make it
painless for a manufacturer to produce accessories.
The notification light is nestled in the lower-left
corner of the Steel, and is currently only used for one purpose: to indicate
that the device is charging. This is a useful new feature, since we always have
to double-check the original Pebble to make sure the weak magnets on the
charger are actually doing their job. We'd love to see this opened up to
developers down the road, though.
Primarily due to the new design, Pebble chose to fit the Steel with
a different magnetic charger. The magnet pads are a little bigger than the ones
on the original watch, which helps them stick to the device much better. On the
first Pebble, we're constantly worried about the charger falling off anytime
the watch vibrates from a new notification, and it often takes a few attempts
to even fit it properly.
SOFTWARE
Come for the fancy new hardware,
stay for the fancy new software. On the surface, the Pebble's interface is the
same one we've grown accustomed to over the past year, with one key difference:
You can now find and download a plethora of watchfaces, games, productivity
tools and other apps through a centralized app store. This is a significant
improvement over the old method, which required Pebble users to endure eternal
scavenger hunts through third-party websites and smartphone app stores (iOS'
and Android's, to be specific) to get the best apps for their watch. The new
store will be available on both Pebbles (existing Pebble owners should see a
firmware update in the coming days), but this was the very first time we've had
the opportunity to try it out.
The setup process is simple.
Before you begin, you'll need to pair the Steel with your phone using Bluetooth
and then create a Pebble account (this will require entering an email address
and choosing a password). The store uses this to remember your downloads and
purchases, so if you have to switch devices or factory-reset your watch, you
won't have to gather your apps again -- just enter your Pebble creds and all of
your apps magically reappear.
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE
Since the Steel has the same
components under the hood as the original Pebble, we weren't surprised to see
it deliver comparable performance. Part of the appeal of the Pebble line is
that neither watch pretends that it's a fully featured smartphone. Instead,
Pebble always errs on the side of minimalism over complexity. In short, the
Steel doesn't try to be anything that it's not -- it's an accessory that
accentuates the functionality of your phone, and that's all.
With that in mind, the Steel
performs well. We barely observed any lag or stuttering (including when we
entered and exited apps), although on rare occasions, we'd notice an animation
stop halfway through (such as when we had to back out of a notification), but
this was usually only for a second or two before the processor caught up and
got us where we needed to go. We've experienced this enough times on the
original Pebble that we weren't surprised, but it's something we hope Pebble
can iron out in a future firmware update.
The Bluetooth
performance here meets our expectations -- the watch and handset communicate
instantly. For instance, it takes only a fraction of a second to fast-forward
to the next music track when we push its associated button on the Steel; it's
fast enough that my brain perceives the transition as instantaneous and
seamless, which is exactly as fast as we want it to go. My only beef is that
when I'm switching watchfaces, it sometimes takes a couple seconds for
real-time information to pull up -- and this is only a minor inconvenience at
worst, especially since we experienced the same issues on the first Pebble. The
most crucial information, the date and time, always show up without any
hesitation.
We're happy to say
that battery life is quite promising. Our tests are still ongoing, as it's
difficult to test a smartwatch battery that claims five to seven days of
regular use, but here's what we've found so far: After three full days of what
we consider to be heavy use -- loading, switching and playing with countless
apps as part of this review, using it as a remote for music playback and
receiving more iOS notifications than we care to admit -- we drained the
battery down to 20 percent. This is a strong indicator that battery life will
meet that five-to-seven-day goal with normal usage patterns. Company reps tell
us that the new firmware comes with heaps of optimizations to increase
efficiency, and so far we haven't found any reason not to believe them. That's
a large improvement over the original Pebble, which often couldn't get through
three days on regular use.
WRAP-UP
If functionality is
the most critical factor for you when buying a smartwatch, the original Pebble
is still a better deal at $150. It will do the same things as the Steel, which
means there is very little incentive to paying an extra $100 for the nicer
watch if that's your motive. Additionally, the first Pebble is also more
colorful and customizable, so some might still prefer it over the Steel.
On the other hand,
the Steel serves a wide-open market segment: people who want a watch that looks
good. Indeed, the Steel blends functionality with an elegant and durable
design, and it does a fantastic job at it. You'll get a long-lasting battery
(by smartwatch standards, at least), a tough stainless steel body and a solid
ecosystem that will continue to grow and get better. It seems like an ideal
compromise for those who want a flashy watch that does more than just tell
time, and even though it's significantly more expensive than its first-gen
counterpart, it's still much cheaper than some of the Rolex-style timepieces
you can buy.
Simply put, the
Steel isn't going to persuade many people to swap out their perfectly
functional Hamilton, Movado or Citizen, but if you're in the market for a
replacement and want a smartwatch, this is your best option. What's most
important, though, is what the Steel represents: a realization that if smartwatches
are going to become mainstream, they'll need to appeal to people who prefer to
adorn their wrists with jewelry. At the very least, the Steel is a significant
step in the right direction.
Anwar Tad contributed to this review.
