Greater than two years earlier than the discharge of the primary Apple Watch, Pebble’s smartwatches have been already beloved by customers. In 2012, Pebble Know-how launched a Kickstarter marketing campaign that may turn into a posterchild for the platform. It raised extra $10 million in funding, which was greater than every other Kickstarter marketing campaign at that time. And Pebble Know-how really delivered, with watches delivery in January of 2013. Sadly, the corporate filed for insolvency in 2016 and Fitbit ended up with a lot of the property. However at this time we’ve got thrilling information: Pebble watches are again and accessible for pre-order, in all however identify.
The historical past
Our personal Alasdair Allan coated a few of this a month in the past, as particulars have been simply beginning to emerge. His article offers loads of details about the historical past of Pebble Know-how, the acquisitions following its demise, and the state of its mental property. Give {that a} learn to search out out all of the fascinating particulars, however the primary gist is that this:
Fitbit bought most of Pebble Know-how’s property following its insolvency in late 2016. That included most mental property and plenty of of Pebble Know-how’s staff. However notably, it didn’t embody Pebble {hardware}. Then, in 2021, Google bought Fitbit and its IP — together with that inherited from Pebble Know-how. Lastly, lower than two months in the past, in January 2025, Google introduced that they’d make PebbleOS open-source.
Shortly thereafter, Pebble Know-how founder Eric Migicovsky said his intention to deliver again Pebble watches in some kind. That brings you updated with the occasions on the time Allan’s article was revealed. However there was important data lacking at that time: what the {hardware} would appear like, when it will be accessible, and the way a lot it will price.
Now we’ve got solutions to all three questions they usually’re going to make Pebble fans very, very completely happy.
The brand new “Core” smartwatches
There will probably be two smartwatches accessible underneath the brand new “Core” model identify: the Core 2 Duo (much like the Pebble 2) and the Core Time 2 (much like the Pebble Time 2). Each are accessible for pre-order proper now at repebble.com, for $149 and $225, respectively. The Core 2 Duo will begin delivery in July and the Core Time 2 will begin delivery in December.
Each retain the options that made their Pebble predecessors so standard, however with upgrades to match the progress of expertise within the years since. Pebble smartwatches had an enthusiastic fanbase as a result of they have been the whole lot that the Apple Watch and its Android mimics weren’t. They have been easy, sturdy, and had unbelievable battery life. They gave clients the options that mattered, with out the resource-intensive bloat of options that didn’t.
The brand new Core smartwatches will run PebbleOS, together with the entire 10,000+ appropriate apps and watch faces. They’ll have ePaper shows and will probably be simply as hackable as their Pebble forebearers. And so they’ll even have among the identical {hardware}, which has been in storage for the final six years.
New options
However there are some actually fascinating new upgrades, too. In comparison with the Pebble 2, the Core 2 Duo could have significantly better battery life (30 days as an alternative of seven), a speaker, a greater vibration motor, extra strong buttons, a barometer, and a compass. The prolonged battery life is usually because of the brand new Nordic nRF52840 BLE chip, which is rather more environment friendly than what was accessible when the Pebble 2 was developed.
The Core Time 2 could have comparable upgrades, plus a couple of attention-grabbing extras. Most notably, it would have a bigger 64-color 1.5” ePaper show with contact functionality. It’ll even have microphone along with the speaker, which could have various potential for functions like AI voice help. It gained’t have the identical physique because the Pebble Time 2, but it surely seems to be comparable with its minimalist steel body.
A faithful neighborhood of Pebble customers has saved their outdated smartwatches going for years, however now an entire new crop of consumers will be capable of get pleasure from these cherished designs. And in case you’ve managed to maintain your Pebble smartwatch alive all this time and it’s beginning to present its age, now could be the proper time to safe a alternative.
