I bought the basic Pebble Watch yesterday for $99 at BB. Here are some early impressions:
1. About the only thing it does on its own, without a smartphone, is tell time and track steps. That's fine with me, since I knew that going in.
2. Notifications work well and do add some level of convenience. You can not reply to a message, and I also knew that going in....so, that's fine with me.
3. The purported battery life is 5+days, which is good, so you don't need to bring along a charging cable for a weekend get away. I have only had it for a day, so can't vouch for the claim.
4. The size and weight are acceptable and not too bulky for a guy, but I doubt my wife would want to wear one.
5. Water resistance is a big plus. I sail, and this is something I don't want to think about with a watch.
6. I suspect this watch is going to show scratches and the like. I plan to just live with it, since it is a $99 accessory not an expensive piece of jewelry. At $350 plus, the
watch better be more resilient...TBD.
That's about it. For my first try at a smart watch, this is about the investment I was willing to make for something that is basically an accessory to a smartphone. I will give the
watch a look for later iterations, but right now I have a hard time justifying much more than $99 for an accessory that is dependent on a smartphone and is likely to become obsolete in a few years with the rapid changes in technology. I am in no way being critical of someone that is willing to pay more for an
watch, since everybody has their personal preferences.
Edit: I should also have mentioned that you can control (pause, play, advance, go back) your iPhone music from the Pebble watch, which might be handy. Also, there are about 1,000 apps for the watch. The weather app is pretty good, and it is nice to look at your watch to get the current temp and the 5 day forecast. Of course, your smartphone must be synced for this to work.