Pebble

Dave.UK said:

Any Pebble users on here?

I was waiting for Google Gem, but considering it may be some time, decided to get a Pebble. Managed to get a new white on on Ebay for £99.

Ive had it a few days now and first impressions? - Wow! Im blown away! Not only is this thing comfortable to wear, I think its amazing!

When im at home I normally put my phone down and forget about it for 5-6 hours and then see I missed a call about two hours ago. With thew pebble no more missing calls! The bluetooth range stretchs the entire house.

Incoming calls, text messages, emails, control my music when running, see my distance/speed when running, view my inbox - I love this thing!

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Not a personal user, but I know there is a large developer community for the Pebble and it is probably the most widely recognized smartwatch on the market. 99 quid is about the same price as buying in the US, without the 20% VAT. Good buy price.

Had it & sold it. Awkward watch & very very ugly to wear. Got back the same $ I paid for it.

I still have one but stopped using it when I switched back to an iPhone. I kept having persistent connectivity issues with the iPhone--would move out of BT range and getting it to reconnected was always an pain in the a$$, usually resulting in one or both devices having to be reset. Had these issues last spring when i briefly used an iPhone 5 and no different now with my iPhone 5s. It worked much better with my HTC One.

Now that I'm wearing a Fitbit Force, doubt I'd go back even if these issues were resolved.

tbayrgs said:

I still have one but stopped using it when I switched back to an iPhone. I kept having persistent connectivity issues with the iPhone--would move out of BT range and getting it to reconnected was always an pain in the a$$, usually resulting in one or both devices having to be reset. Had these issues last spring when i briefly used an iPhone 5 and no different now with my iPhone 5s. It worked much better with my HTC One.

Now that I'm wearing a Fitbit Force, doubt I'd go back even if these issues were resolved.

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Have they updated for notification alerts yet on the force?
Fitbit announced that the release date for the uk is "spring" now rather than "early 2014". I'm starting to wonder when we'll see it!

I like the idea of the pebble but the thought of fiddling if/when it loses BT isn't appealing. The pebble forums statement of this sometimes being caused by defective radio within certain iPhones is no use given mine in over a year old now.

Aniseedvan said:

Have they updated for notification alerts yet on the force?
Fitbit announced that the release date for the uk is "spring" now rather than "early 2014". I'm starting to wonder when we'll see it!

I like the idea of the pebble but the thought of fiddling if/when it loses BT isn't appealing. The pebble forums statement of this sometimes being caused by defective radio within certain iPhones is no use given mine in over a year old now.

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Have updated the Force yet but latest info I read was an expected release of Caller ID notifications in February. Will certainly be a welcome feature but not having it certainly won't keep me from using it. Ideally, notifications for calls and messages would be just enough for me.

tbayrgs said:

I still have one but stopped using it when I switched back to an iPhone. I kept having persistent connectivity issues with the iPhone--would move out of BT range and getting it to reconnected was always an pain in the a$$, usually resulting in one or both devices having to be reset. Had these issues last spring when i briefly used an iPhone 5 and no different now with my iPhone 5s. It worked much better with my HTC One.

Now that I'm wearing a Fitbit Force, doubt I'd go back even if these issues were resolved.

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Oddly enough, I have found it works better with the iPhone than android. It works with every single app b.c of notification center.

For the OP, I love my pebble. I don't see myself not ever owning a smart watch again. It is especially useful when in a noisy environment or work.

mattopotamus said:

Oddly enough, I have found it works better with the iPhone than android. It works with every single app b.c of notification center.

For the OP, I love my pebble. I don't see myself not ever owning a smart watch again. It is especially useful when in a noisy environment or work.

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Well, you piqued my interest again so out of curiosity, I pulled it out of it's box and fired it up again. Pairing went smoothly, was advised I had an update available. Tried to update--failed 5 consecutive times, so killed the Pebble app and restarted it. It connected over standard bluetooth but not LE (updates and settings in the Pebble app aren't available unless connected over LE, or at least they weren't until it reconnect over BT LE), had to manually reconnect via the BT settings. After this I was able to complete the update but hasn't started off well.

I'll try using it again tomorrow and see how things go.

With Android, Pebble can be made to do just about anything. I really enjoy having one. It's great for those 3 hour meetings, exercising, and any occasion where it's rude or unsafe to have your phone out.

I look forward to seeing what Google and Apple do in this market. But for now, I think the Pebble is still the best option. I get incredible battery life with it. I'm also eager to see Pebble's own app store.

tbayrgs said:

Well, you piqued my interest again so out of curiosity, I pulled it out of it's box and fired it up again. Pairing went smoothly, was advised I had an update available. Tried to update--failed 5 consecutive times, so killed the Pebble app and restarted it. It connected over standard bluetooth but not LE (updates and settings in the Pebble app aren't available unless connected over LE, or at least they weren't until it reconnect over BT LE), had to manually reconnect via the BT settings. After this I was able to complete the update but hasn't started off well.



I'll try using it again tomorrow and see how things go.

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Will be watching with interest.. Just interested in a balanced view and I've found the pebble forum, and to an extent /r/pebble to be a little too evangelical for me I'm afraid!

tbayrgs said:

Well, you piqued my interest again so out of curiosity, I pulled it out of it's box and fired it up again. Pairing went smoothly, was advised I had an update available. Tried to update--failed 5 consecutive times, so killed the Pebble app and restarted it. It connected over standard bluetooth but not LE (updates and settings in the Pebble app aren't available unless connected over LE, or at least they weren't until it reconnect over BT LE), had to manually reconnect via the BT settings. After this I was able to complete the update but hasn't started off well.



I'll try using it again tomorrow and see how things go.

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Mine paired right away with a 5s. I like the fact everything is controlled through notification center. With my nexus 5 I had to use glance to add a lot of features I wanted and feel I get them by default with IOS. Espn, hangouts, etc all sync great.

You guys have me intrigued. I plan to buy the iWatch (whenever we see it), but in the meantime, the Pebble looks interesting.

Does it pair with multiple devices at the same time? Is it easy to switch between devices it pairs with, if not? How does the music controlling work - say when you're running? What if you have BT headphones connected to the iPhone as well?

jrswizzle said:

You guys have me intrigued. I plan to buy the iWatch (whenever we see it), but in the meantime, the Pebble looks interesting.



Does it pair with multiple devices at the same time? Is it easy to switch between devices it pairs with, if not? How does the music controlling work - say when you're running? What if you have BT headphones connected to the iPhone as well?

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+1 about the BT headphones plus I have a fitbit one over LE polar BR HRM plus also syncing to the car. Real-world concerns with BT not dropping out every five minutes is what has put me off so far..

Well, so far today's been a good day. I walked away from the house without my phone and came back, checked and the Pebble was connected via BT. Like many of you, I use many BT connections (vehicles, stereo headphones, FitBit) and IIRC, I would have the most difficult when also in my car.

And to be clear, I've never had issues with random disconnections. My issues generally involved me moving out of range from my phone and the Pebble wouldn't automatically reconnect or even sometimes wouldn't reconnect when I manually tried, and would then have to cycle devices on/off to get them to reconnect.

I think the resent updates enabling BT LE have helped with connection issues (some fixes of this nature were outline in the last update I did).

One element of using it with my HTC One that I miss is the app Glance and the ability to setup short canned responses that could be sent directly from the Pebble. Being able to quickly glance at your watch for a notification is handy but then having to pull out the phone to respond defeats the benefit.

I'll try using for a few more days to see if my experience has improved.

jrswizzle said:

You guys have me intrigued. I plan to buy the iWatch (whenever we see it), but in the meantime, the Pebble looks interesting.

Does it pair with multiple devices at the same time? Is it easy to switch between devices it pairs with, if not? How does the music controlling work - say when you're running? What if you have BT headphones connected to the iPhone as well?

Click to expand...

Haven't tried using it with multiple devices at the same time so can't help you there, though not sure why you'd need notification from two devices simultaneously--switching between phones I understand.

As far as controlling music, the 3 buttons will allow you to advance and rewind or play/pause whatever app you're using and will show artist/track info right on the watch display. I use the standard Music app, TuneIn Radio, Google Play Music, the Podcast app on my iPhone regularly and all are controllable via the Pebble. If you stop playback, use another app (i.e. check the web, message) and later press the pause/play button on the Pebble, it'll start the last 'music' app you were using. This functionality continues to work when I'm also using my LG BT earbuds at the same time.

When it works, the Pebble is pretty slick. It's not the prettiest device but it's also subtle in that it doesn't call a lot of attention, though I have had a handful of people notice and ask about it.

tbayrgs said:

Haven't tried using it with multiple devices at the same time so can't help you there, though not sure why you'd need notification from two devices simultaneously--switching between phones I understand.

As far as controlling music, the 3 buttons will allow you to advance and rewind or play/pause whatever app you're using and will show artist/track info right on the watch display. I use the standard Music app, TuneIn Radio, Google Play Music, the Podcast app on my iPhone regularly and all are controllable via the Pebble. If you stop playback, use another app (i.e. check the web, message) and later press the pause/play button on the Pebble, it'll start the last 'music' app you were using. This functionality continues to work when I'm also using my LG BT earbuds at the same time.

When it works, the Pebble is pretty slick. It's not the prettiest device but it's also subtle in that it doesn't call a lot of attention, though I have had a handful of people notice and ask about it.

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It's the "when it works" bit that worries me. My Android phones "when they worked" kicked iOS into touch for me personally but I was fed up of when they didn't work.. I haven't the time these days to fiddle and tweak stuff as I used to!

Aniseedvan said:

It's the "when it works" bit that worries me. My Android phones "when they worked" kicked iOS into touch for me personally but I was fed up of when they didn't work.. I haven't the time these days to fiddle and tweak stuff as I used to!

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Well, the past two days have been far better than any of my previous experiences when using paired with an iPhone. Had a few instances where I'm fairly certain I walked well outside BT range and when I returned and checked the Pebble, it had automatically reconnected both times. Also, no issues staying connected when my iPhone was paired with multiple BT devices (earbuds, FitBit, automobile). Looks like using BT LE profile is the real deal--think I'm going to keep using it for time being.

I just got mine on Saturday, and love it. I paired it with my iPhone 5s with no issues at all. I will wait to see what Apple does, but they have a lot if work to do to win this battle.

They tried to straddle aesthetics and functionality and kind of failed in both IMO. Still, it's a decent little watch but should be much cheaper than it is IMO. If it was a bit nicer looking and cheaper I might check one out since it's really the only thing that connects to an iphone.

I'm amazed at how cheesy the Pebble feels...

I really like my Pebble. I was a Kickstarter backer so I've had my Pebble for a while now and so far, it's the only watch that I haven't just stopped wearing after a while. I tend to leave my phone inside my bag and so I find it really useful being able to see phone calls, messages and notifications on my watch.

I have one. I like the functionality but the design of the original leaves something to be desired (I need to look professional). I'm anxiously awaiting a brushed silver Pebble Steel.

xraydoc said:

I have one. I like the functionality but the design of the original leaves something to be desired (I need to look professional). I'm anxiously awaiting a brushed silver Pebble Steel.

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Completely agree. I'm dressed fairly casually quite a bit so the watch doesn't look out of place during these times. However, when dressed professionally/formally, my Pebble unfortunately gets gets benched for a traditional watch.

The new Pebble Steel is a huge improvement in design but truth be told, I'm holding out on seeing what Apple has to offer this fall (if anything) before getting anything else.

On a separate but related note, any other Pebble owners notice significant changes in battery life since the update to 2.0? I used to get at least 5 days battery life but since the update I'm lucky to get 3. I'm not using the watch in any different capacity--no new apps or watch faces--so can't attribute the change to anything of that sort.

Hmm, just took another look at the Pebble steel on their website. It's not bad looking, but it's very overpriced IMO. The only really fugly thing about it is them having PEBBLE in really big letters right on the watch face, that looks absolutely hideous.

tbayrgs said:

On a separate but related note, any other Pebble owners notice significant changes in battery life since the update to 2.0? I used to get at least 5 days battery life but since the update I'm lucky to get 3. I'm not using the watch in any different capacity--no new apps or watch faces--so can't attribute the change to anything of that sort.

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I don't have the absolute latest update but on 2.0, I find battery life on mine to be around the same (~1 week).