I've had a Pebble Steel for about nine months and only purchased the Apple Watch because I had some fun money.
There were pros and cons to the Pebble. Going into it, I wanted the ability to respond to texts directly from the watch. That was the most significant annoyance with the Pebble. I'm not sure it was a $470 annoyance, but it was a special circumstance.
So far to date, the cons of the Apple Watch are outnumbering the pros. My Pebble battery will run me 3-4 days, depending on use. I charge it in about 60-90 minutes while I'm getting ready for work on Day 4. I never, ever think about the battery. I use it fitness tracking, sleep monitoring, my morning alarm (prior to this I would use my iPhone, smash the lamp, and let the alarm wake up my entire family as I thought it was off.), and never had a problem with notifications. I'd get all my texts, emails, Facebook updates on the Pebble. I could also make use of the music controls while exercising. I couldn't change playlists without using the phone, but I'm finding it's a bit problematic on the Apple watch as well. (If I switch playlists and pick a song, and a new song starts, I have to exit back and find the playlist menu to pick a new song. It doesn't let me back immediately up without playing around with it.)
For pros, while I can answer calls with my Pebble, I have to have the phone handy. I never expected to use it, but being able to start a call on the Apple Watch is very nice. The ability to respond to a text from the Apple Watch is present, but I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. The default replies just don't sound like me enough to not come across as odd to the other person, using emoticons for every response just seems weird, and I don't want to use Siri with people around, so I'm getting out my phone anyway, just with the Pebble.
Plus, my battery life is constantly on my mind. It's in for a battery repair right now because the Genius couldn't get the diagnostic to run, but my battery will usually last me about 15 hours or so during a normal day if I really conserve it. I trigger the screen constantly during the day while working and moving my arms around, so anytime I can use the phone instead of the watch I unconsciously do so to conserve the battery life so it won't be dead before I go to sleep. It charges over night, so no sleep monitoring or alarm functionality, so I'm switching back to my Pebble anyway. My wife goes to work very early in the morning, usually around the time I'm in the shower, and likes to text me to let me know she made it okay. I can't get the notification in the shower as I could with the Pebble.
In the end, if not worrying about battery life and being able to use it throughout the day and night is important, I found the Apple Watch very limiting. Being able to use it for texts and calls was great, but concerns about battery life and the practicality of not being able to use it for multiple texts limits those pros. In the end, if the repair doesn't significantly increase my battery life, it's unfortunately going back.
There were pros and cons to the Pebble. Going into it, I wanted the ability to respond to texts directly from the watch. That was the most significant annoyance with the Pebble. I'm not sure it was a $470 annoyance, but it was a special circumstance.
So far to date, the cons of the Apple Watch are outnumbering the pros. My Pebble battery will run me 3-4 days, depending on use. I charge it in about 60-90 minutes while I'm getting ready for work on Day 4. I never, ever think about the battery. I use it fitness tracking, sleep monitoring, my morning alarm (prior to this I would use my iPhone, smash the lamp, and let the alarm wake up my entire family as I thought it was off.), and never had a problem with notifications. I'd get all my texts, emails, Facebook updates on the Pebble. I could also make use of the music controls while exercising. I couldn't change playlists without using the phone, but I'm finding it's a bit problematic on the Apple watch as well. (If I switch playlists and pick a song, and a new song starts, I have to exit back and find the playlist menu to pick a new song. It doesn't let me back immediately up without playing around with it.)
For pros, while I can answer calls with my Pebble, I have to have the phone handy. I never expected to use it, but being able to start a call on the Apple Watch is very nice. The ability to respond to a text from the Apple Watch is present, but I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. The default replies just don't sound like me enough to not come across as odd to the other person, using emoticons for every response just seems weird, and I don't want to use Siri with people around, so I'm getting out my phone anyway, just with the Pebble.
Plus, my battery life is constantly on my mind. It's in for a battery repair right now because the Genius couldn't get the diagnostic to run, but my battery will usually last me about 15 hours or so during a normal day if I really conserve it. I trigger the screen constantly during the day while working and moving my arms around, so anytime I can use the phone instead of the watch I unconsciously do so to conserve the battery life so it won't be dead before I go to sleep. It charges over night, so no sleep monitoring or alarm functionality, so I'm switching back to my Pebble anyway. My wife goes to work very early in the morning, usually around the time I'm in the shower, and likes to text me to let me know she made it okay. I can't get the notification in the shower as I could with the Pebble.
In the end, if not worrying about battery life and being able to use it throughout the day and night is important, I found the Apple Watch very limiting. Being able to use it for texts and calls was great, but concerns about battery life and the practicality of not being able to use it for multiple texts limits those pros. In the end, if the repair doesn't significantly increase my battery life, it's unfortunately going back.
