Review of smart watches for smartphones - Pebble Watch. Smart watch Pebble Buy now or wait

And now we have one of the brightest products of 2013 in line: the Pebble smart watch.

Pebble watches appeared in early 2013 thanks to the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, becoming, without exaggeration, a landmark product for it. However, sales went so well and the attention to the novelty turned out to be so great (including from leading Western journalists) that the second version of the watch was presented not as the fruit of a startup, but as a serious product - the premiere of Pebble Steel took place at CES 2014. And the product itself began to look more respectable and significant, having received a metal case and a leather strap.

However, its technical characteristics and functionality remained the same, and besides, the previous model remained on sale, and its price is much more attractive than that of Pebble Steel ($150 versus $249 for Pebble Steel). So for users who want Pebble functionality over style, it still makes sense to opt for the first version. And about what Pebble watches can do, we will tell in our material.

Let's take a look at the specifications of the Pebble.

• 1.26″ e-paper display, 144×168, 176 ppi
• LED backlight
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Processor ARM Cortex-M3 @80 MHz
• Accelerometer
• Light sensor
• Electronic compass (not yet supported in the software)
• Operating system PebbleOS
• Compatible with any iOS and Android smartphones
• Case dimensions 52×36×11.5 mm
• Complete strap width 22 mm
• Weight 38 g

In the case of smartwatches, specifications can give us almost no information that would allow us to draw preliminary conclusions about the product (unlike smartphones, where standardization has reached such an extent that one glance at the specifications is often enough to understand with how to compare this product and what to expect from it). Nevertheless, in this case, it is worth paying attention, first of all, to the type of screen: e-paper. Detailed technical information about this "electronic paper" is not enough, but, apparently, this is . Its use allows for longer battery life than other smartwatches we've tested. However, it is not touchscreen, unlike the watch screens of Samsung, Sony and Iconbit.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves and get acquainted with the product in practice.

Packaging and equipment

The watch comes in a very nice compact cardboard box.

Inside it is the watch itself on a cardboard holder, a charging cable and two folded leaflets. On one - a short (very short!) manual that tells the very basics and sends to the Pebble website, on the other leaflet - warranty conditions.

The charging cable should be mentioned separately. It has a USB connector on one end and a magnetic connector on the other that connects to the watch in the same way that a MagSafe charger connects to Apple laptops.

You can charge Pebble both from a computer and from any smartphone charger or MP3 player.

Design

Now let's look at the watch itself. We tested a copy with a red body (Cherry Red), but orange, black (Jet Black), white (Artistic White) and gray are also available.

The appearance of the watch makes a good impression. Moreover, they look much nicer in real life than in the photos. In principle, despite the plastic case and the defiant color (in the case of our copy), such a watch is not shameful to wear even for quite serious people. An additional charm is given to them by a glossy coating (apparently, it is plastic, not glass) that protects the screen. However, it is obvious that the look of the watch is designed primarily for women and young people, unlike Pebble Steel.

The watch comes with a silicone strap. It is black for all models, except for the white one (she, of course, has a white strap). The strap is comfortable, the watch sits very nicely on the hand, suitable for both thin and large hands. In general, compared to the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Iconbit Callisto 100, this is a much more convenient gadget, competing in this parameter only with the Sony SmartWatch 2.

All buttons, as well as a magnetic connector, are located on the right and left sides of the watch case. Accordingly, a magnetic connector and a button fit on the left side. Back , and on the right side - buttons Up , OK and Way down . Like the case, the buttons are made of plastic, they are pressed silently, but with a noticeable effort. Although they protrude from the case, they cannot be pressed by accident (with clothes or with a sharp movement of the hand).

The camera, microphone and speakers are missing here. In this regard, the Pebble is similar to the Sony SmartWatch 2.

In summary, we note that the design of the watch made a positive impression on us. They are nice, strong enough, sit well on the hand, all the elements are well thought out. It is even surprising that such a polished product could be made by beginners who do not have serious engineering and design offices behind them. Well, the only negative is the inability to charge the device otherwise than through a proprietary cable. Lost or damaged cable - the watch can be thrown away (it is unlikely that a spare cable can be found and delivered to Russia for adequate money).

Screen

As already noted, the watch is equipped with a 1.26″ monochrome screen based on electronic paper. Outwardly, this reminds everyone of the familiar E Ink screens, but the principle of operation here, although similar, is still slightly different, allowing the use of internal illumination, and exactly at those moments when it is necessary. The LED backlight is activated when navigating through the menu. Once the user has made a selection, the backlight turns off (and then the image is visible due to ambient light, as is the case with E Ink). Backlighting gives a bluish tint to a black and white image.

Apparently, this device uses a transreflective monochrome liquid crystal screen with memory manufactured by Sharp. With memory, everything is quite simple - one bit per cell allows you to remember its state, so in the case of an unchanging image, there is no need to manage the state of the cells, it is enough just to supply power, which reduces power consumption. The principle of image formation in this case is more interesting. By irradiating a mixture of polymer and liquid crystals, a polymer matrix is ​​obtained with cavities (drops) in which liquid crystals (LC) remain. Within the droplets, LCs predominantly have one orientation, but among the drops it is chaotic. Due to the fact that the refractive index of LCs depends on the orientation of their molecules, then, on average, for light incident perpendicular to a screen with such a structure, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with LC will differ, which will cause large scattering of light in all directions , and the screen will appear bright (status A in the figure below).

When a voltage of a certain value is applied to the electrodes limiting the LC cell, the LCs in all drops entering this cell are oriented along the electric field perpendicular to the screen plane. The polymer and LC are selected in such a way that their refractive indices coincide when the LC is oriented parallel to the incident light. As a result, for a switched-on LC cell for light incident perpendicular to the screen, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and drops with the LC will coincide, the light scattering will be minimal, and it will be reflected from the lower mirror electrode, but, despite such reflection, the cell will look already dark (state AT in the figure above). Why so, it becomes clear if we consider a mirror with a piece of white paper pasted on it. Below we provide a micrograph of a Pebble screen that is generally consistent with the stated principle:

Distinguishable squares are the boundaries of LC cells, within which randomly scattered inclusions (droplets) are observed that reflect (or rather scatter) light in bright cells and transmit light without scattering in dark ones. It is interesting that the visible properties and the nature of the arrangement of drops for different cells basically coincide. Apparently, the formation of drops is somehow controlled. We note that the principle of image formation described above does not require the use of polarizers (indeed, no pronounced polarization direction is detected when observing with a polarizing filter), as a result, there are less losses and the screen efficiency is increased.

Unlike the smartwatches we've previously tested, the Pebble's screen isn't touch-sensitive. At first, this introduces into a stupor - we are too used to touch screens on mobile devices. However, the menu is so simple that everything can be done with the help of buttons, and you get used to it quickly enough.

Connecting Pebble to a Smartphone

Like the Sony SmartWatch 2, the Pebble is essentially a bluetooth headset for your smartphone. Therefore, without connecting to a smartphone, the watch can only perform its basic function, that is, the display of time and date. But what distinguishes Pebble from Sony SmartWatch 2 and, in particular, from Samsung Galaxy Gear, is its “omnivorousness”: the watch can be connected not only to any Android smartphone (not only Android 4.x, but even Android 2.x ), but also to the Apple iPhone. The latter made Pebble popular among the owners of "apple" devices. And we tested Pebble with the iPhone 5S.

First you need to download the free Pebble Smartwatch app from the App Store. It is a very simple clock management tool.

The application has only three icons. The center one shows if the watch is connected (if green, it means connected, but at first you will see a red button, indicating that the watch is not connected). The left button opens a guide to help you customize the display of notifications on Pebble. Finally, the rightmost button opens a menu with a choice of watch interface.

However, the watch interface can be customized using the Pebble itself. But first we need to link the watch and the smartphone. To do this, turn on Bluetooth in the iPhone settings, turn it on in the watch (Menu / Settings / Bluetooth). The iPhone should detect Pebble, click on connect, on the clock we confirm the pairing. Everything, now we have a smartphone and a watch connected. Next, go to the Notification Center on the iPhone (Settings / Notification Center), look for the Pebble application, turn on all notifications. Now the clock will receive all the notifications that are on the smartphone.

Pebble functionality

So, what are Pebble capable of? First, of course, show the time. Moreover, as we have already noted, a very different design of the clock interface is available, so as soon as you are tired of the old one, you can change it. Secondly, you can set an alarm on the watch, but there are few alarm settings, and most importantly, due to the lack of a speaker, the watch can only signal vibration. Therefore, you will either have to go to bed with them, or risk not hearing the Pebble buzz. However, this feature can be useful when you need to remind about something during the day: for example, if there is some kind of meeting ahead, you can set an alarm for the time when you need to get ready to leave your home or office.

Thirdly, with the watch you can control the playback of music on your smartphone. The watch screen displays the artist name, track name and album name. True, you can not change the volume and rewind the track a little forward - only switch to the next or previous one, as well as pause and resume playback. In addition, playback control is possible only within one album. As soon as the album ends, you need to take out your smartphone and put on a new album. As a plus, we note that the watch works not only with the Music application, but also with other players, for example, with Vkontakte audio recordings (and information about them is displayed quite correctly).

Finally, the fourth and most important feature of the watch is related to the display of notifications from the smartphone. These can be calls, SMS, messages on social networks and instant messengers (we checked the work with Vkontakte and Viber). If you receive a call, you can click on receive a call and start talking on your smartphone. This is convenient when you are walking down the street and listening to music on your iPhone through the headset. Then the watch will allow you not to pull your smartphone out of your pocket.

However, Russian-speaking Pebble users will immediately face a problem that will call into question the appropriateness of using a watch. Firmware does not support Cyrillic. This means that any message in Russian will look like this on the watch screen.

Fortunately, the craftsmen quickly wrote a number of alternative firmware. Among them, there are both English-speaking ones, but with Cyrillic support, and completely Russian-speaking ones (that is, the interface has also been translated). In addition, enthusiasts can try beta versions of the latest firmware, in which developers are trying to add some new features, but this, as they say, is at their own peril and risk. The Pebble forum is devoted to the Russification of hours.

How to install unofficial firmware on Pebble? There are two ways. The first way: connect the watch via Bluetooth to a computer running Windows, download the zip-archive with the firmware, unpack it and start execution via the command line (detailed Russian-language instructions can be found). There are several complications here. First, you will need a laptop (or Windows 7/8 tablet) with Bluetooth or an external Bluetooth adapter connected via USB. Secondly, you need to find the watch ID (this is a four-digit code). And thirdly, working with the command line, in principle, is not the most common thing for most iPhone owners.

Therefore, it seems to us that another way is much more elegant and simple, which just should not cause difficulties for owners of apple devices. We install any cloud storage on the iPhone - for example, Dropbox (but Yandex.Disk and similar services are also suitable). Download the firmware file (it has the .pbz extension) to any other device associated with your Dropbox, upload it to Dropbox. Open this file from Dropbox on iPhone. We see such a picture (see the screenshot on the left).

Click on the bottom left button Send ) and a list of applications that can be used to send the file appears. But we don’t need to send it, but we need to click on Open in... . And here we will see the button Open in Pebble (see screenshot on the right). After that, the Pebble application will open and we will receive a warning of the following form.

Click Continue, and then Update Now, and follow the process, which takes a couple of minutes. After that, the watch reboots and tells us:

Note that, as with any flashing, failures are quite possible. Most likely, they will not kill the device, and it will be possible to roll back, but there is a high probability that either the firmware will not start, or the update will be successful, but the Cyrillic alphabet will still not be supported. We had such a situation with firmware version 1.12, which retains the English-language interface, but promises a normal display of the Cyrillic alphabet. However, version 1.14.1, completely Russified, got up without any problems. Here are some screen shots of the watch.

But alas, a small fly in the ointment still remains (at least this firmware did not solve it, and Internet searches showed that the problem still remains relevant). When making calls, the name of the caller, written in Cyrillic, is displayed as question marks (??????). This issue only occurs on iPhones and does not occur on Android smartphones.

Overall, the Pebble's functionality is much more modest than any of the watches we've tested so far. But, we repeat, Pebble works with the iPhone, and besides, the functionality that is available is implemented with the highest quality and convenience. Unless, of course, you do not count the lack of support for Cyrillic in the factory version and the need to mess around with flashing.

Offline work

Battery life can be attributed to the absolute advantages of Pebble. With a relatively small body (smaller than other watches we've tested), the Pebble can last from 5 to 7 days on a single charge, depending on the number of notifications and how much music control is used.

conclusions

The smart watch market is only in its infancy, and devices of this class are still designed, to a greater extent, for enthusiasts. However, in the US and Europe, Pebble can perhaps be considered the most “popular” smartwatch option: omnivorous (works with both Android and iPhone), easy to set up and manage, and cheap (Sony SmartWatch 2 is $50 more expensive). And even though the functionality here is much more modest than that of Samsung and Sony watches, and there are almost no hidden features (although who knows what will appear in the new firmware?), For most users this will be quite enough.

But for us, the use of these watches is hampered by two factors: firstly, they are not represented in our official retail, and secondly, they are practically useless without Cyrillic support, and to add Cyrillic support, you need to at least rummage through thematic forums ( well, or read our article :)) and spend time experimenting. And still, some problems will remain (with the display of the name of the caller, for example). So we still have a device for geeks. But geeks will be more interested in the Sony SmartWatch 2, and it’s easier to buy them (and, perhaps, it won’t even be much more expensive if you add shipping from abroad to the cost of Pebble). So, on the one hand, we congratulate the developers of Pebble on a worthy product, and on the other hand, we look forward to fixing the problems with the Cyrillic alphabet and the official launch of the watch on the Russian market. And, of course, we wish you successful development of the project!

The first "smart" wristwatch in history - Pulsar Memowatch - appeared back in 1982. For thirty years, this type of electronic devices remained highly specialized and, in fact, only this year has become fashionable and mass. In addition to smart watches from world famous IT brands (Samsung and Sony), there are more and more solutions from out-of-the-box thinking startups like Pebble Technology.

Modern "smart" watches can be divided into three categories: full-fledged watch phones with a built-in cellular module, models with a color screen that can play the role of a wireless headset, and, finally, simple and energy-efficient solutions that only display notifications from a smartphone. Pebble belongs to the third category.

As soon as Pebble Technology posted a Kickstarter announcement to raise funds for the production of smart watches with a monochrome energy-efficient screen worth only $150, donations poured in. Instead of the initially required $100,000, pre-orders were made in excess of $10 million. Even a year and a half later, no one managed to break this Kickstarter record.

⇡ Design

The biggest drawback of most modern smart watches is the design, or rather the almost complete absence of it. The models available on the market today are more like children's watches than premium (based on their cost) accessories for adult uncles. Pebble was no exception - even youth and sports watches look more solid against their background. However, after a couple of days you get used to the “toylike” nature of Pebble and stop considering it a problem.

Well, at least, Pebble - unlike many competitors - turned out to be thin and light, thanks to which they look harmonious even on a sophisticated lady's pen. The watch case is made of plastic: it is glossy on the front, and matte on the sides and back. The protective coating of the screen, as practice has shown, is not so easy to scratch: for a week of operation, the watch has not lost its “tradeable” appearance at all. Available in five body colors: black, white, grey, red and orange.

The Pebble strap is made of rubber that flexes well and hopefully won't wear out too quickly. However, there are no hardware components inside the strap, and if desired, it can be easily replaced. But disassembling the watch itself is categorically not recommended - they can lose their water resistance. Yes, the watch is resistant not only to raindrops, but also to immersion to a depth of fifty meters.

On the right side of the Pebble there are three buttons (scroll up, confirm the action and scroll down), and on the left side there is a return button (aka power on) and a magnetic connector for recharging. The smartwatch comes with a proprietary USB cable. If you lose it, you can buy a new one on eBay.

⇡ Specifications

The Pebble uses a monochrome Memory LCD display made by Sharp. The brighter the ambient light, the more clearly the image on the screen is visible. True, in the bright sun, the protective coating of the screen glares. And if there is not enough light, you can use the backlight - trust the light sensor or, to be sure, shake your hand. Unlike E-Ink, Memory LCD technology does not have long delays when redrawing an image.

The Pebble smart watch is powered by the STM32F2 ARM processor from STMicroelectronics. This chip is built on the Cortex-M3 architecture and is manufactured using a 90-nm process technology. It accelerates to a peak frequency of 80 MHz only in case of emergency, so as not to waste battery power.

⇡ Initial setup

To test the capabilities of Pebble smart watches, we used two smartphones: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 (Android 4.2 operating system) and Apple iPhone 4S (iOS 7).

When you first turn on Pebble, it asks you to install the service application of the same name on your smartphone, which is easy to find on Google Play and the App Store, and run it. The application asks for permission to turn on the smartphone's Bluetooth module, after which it starts searching for devices available for connection. Having connected, it checks for new firmware versions and, if there are none, reports that the smart watch is ready to work.

By the way, on iOS 6, the Pebble service application completely refuses to install. And in the case of the iPhone 4, even with iOS 7, the clock works in a limited mode (notify only about calls and SMS). The reason for this is the outdated Bluetooth 2.0 protocol. The recommended version for Pebble is Bluetooth 4.0.

Looking ahead, let's say that at the moment the official Pebble firmware does not support Cyrillic and it will not officially appear in the near future. Therefore, in order for the Russian-language contact names and message text to be displayed correctly, it is necessary to install a modified firmware. Luckily, this is extremely easy to do: just upload the firmware PBZ file to Dropbox and open it on your smartphone using a cloud storage client. Then the Pebble service application will do everything on its own.

The latest stable firmware version at the time of this writing is 1.13, but version 2.0 is already being tested, which allows a significantly larger number of iOS applications to send notifications to the watch. Fresh versions of modified firmware should be looked for first of all on the forums.getpebble.com pages.

⇡ Standard features

As planned by the developers, Pebble should become a second screen for a smartphone, but no more. Therefore, Pebble does not have a camera or a speaker with a microphone, which are now fashionable to integrate into more expensive models of smart watches.

Time and date. By default, Pebble offers a choice of three options for the main screen (Watchfaces): a text clock in English, an analog clock with a moving second hand, and a digital time and date.

Phone calls. As soon as someone calls a smartphone, the Pebble begins to vibrate cyclically. The strength of the vibration is selected at a comfortable level: the signal is clearly perceived by the hand, but does not irritate.

Action options for an incoming call on Android and iOS are different. In the first case, there is only one possibility - to reject, while in the second - to reject and answer. In this case, the clock stops vibrating and returns to the main screen. On an Android smartphone, the melody stops, but the call continues to come. That is, it will not work to completely reset the call, thereby making it clear to the caller that now there is no time for talking.

On the iPhone, the call is dropped, but when there is an incoming call, question marks are displayed instead of the Cyrillic contact name. So far, even the modified firmware does not help to solve the problem.

SMS. After installing a modified firmware with Cyrillic support, Pebble allows you not only to quickly find out about the presence of new incoming SMS, but also to read their Russian and, more recently, Ukrainian text. Large messages are divided into several screens, which are scrolled through the side buttons.

Email and calendar. Pebble has a similar situation with emails and calendar reminders. True, you must first allow Pebble to interact with Gmail, Google Calendar and the standard Android email client in the settings of the Pebble service application.

Music player. The function of controlling the audio player on a smartphone is well implemented in Pebble. You can pause playback and switch tracks. True, all this only works within the same playlist.

Alarm. Pebble does not have a speaker, so the alarm can only vibrate. The main thing before going to bed is not to put the watch on something soft, otherwise the vibration may not be heard in the morning.

⇡ Third Party Apps

In the case of an Android smartphone, almost any messenger or task manager can send notifications to Pebble smart watches. To do this, you need to install the application from Google Play

With programming experience, you can create an application for Pebble with your own hands. The specialized development environment Pebble SDK will help with this.

⇡ Battery life

On a single battery charge, Pebble smart watches can work for 4 days in 24/7 synchronization with a smartphone and up to 7 days if Bluetooth is turned off at night. A very good result, especially when compared with the autonomy of "smart" watches with a color screen. Naturally, the battery of the smartphone to which the watch is connected also drains a little faster.

⇡ Conclusions

You can buy Pebble on the official website for $150, and this also includes the cost of regular shipping to any country in the world. For express delivery (3-5 days) you will have to pay $25. In Russian retail, Pebbles are sold for about one and a half to two times more expensive, but they will deliver the goods many times faster. The price, of course, is rather big, but against the background of solutions from Samsung and Sony, Pebble looks advantageous. Especially if there is no need for a color screen and voice calls.

Pebble will be useful primarily for those who, due to the specifics of their work, need to quickly respond to incoming calls and messages. At the same time, you don’t have to take your smartphone out of your pocket every time – or you can just leave it on the table among stacks of papers. In the crush of the metropolitan subway, Pebble is an indispensable thing.

The editors would like to thank the CLICK online store for providing Pebble smart watches for testing.

Attempts to create a smart companion for a smartphone in the form of a wristwatch have been made repeatedly over the past ten years. The first experiments were not successful: the watch's small screen size, high power consumption, and sometimes ugly design made them toys for units - there was no mass market for such devices. With the spread of the iPod, which could be worn on a strap and used as a watch, interest in this topic increased, and many manufacturers appeared on the market. Some, like Burg, tried to squeeze a full-fledged phone into the wristwatch format, someone created specialized watches for athletes, like MIO and their Alpha product. Sony SmartWatch has the best position in this area, as the company is purposefully developing this area, but the product remains not in great demand due to its short operating time.

Therefore, the appearance of Pebble watches on Kickstarter should not have been a bombshell, but the right marketing and PR turned a rather ordinary product into a phenomenon that many people seriously talk about, and the number of people who have already invested in buying such watches goes to tens of thousands. Suffice it to say that the company expected to raise $100,000 in April 2012 to develop the watch, but received just over $10 million in one month.

Let's see what there is so much noise around and why thousands of people liked the idea of ​​such watches.

Design as well as watch screen

The main disadvantage of most "smart" and electronic watches is power consumption, they cannot be constantly turned on, as the operating time is drastically reduced. The solution could be found in the use of screens that do not consume as much energy, and Pebble, as the creators say, uses "electronic paper" technology, similar to what we see in e-readers.

The screen resolution is 144x168 pixels, while behind the word e-paper lies not eInk technology at all, as one might assume, but Memory LCD technology from Sharp. It outperforms traditional LCDs in terms of power consumption, but it does not have such a flaw as refresh time - the screen changes the picture almost imperceptibly to the eye, which allows you to create animations that do not look miserable.

You can set the screen backlight to turn on by movement or by tapping on it, but I, for example, left the backlight on all the time and had no problems with it. Press the button or turn the clock - it lights up the screen. In the dark, the display is perfectly visible, there are no flaws.

It's time to talk about the battery - it is sealed in the case, the watch is completely sealed, you can swim, dive, play sports in it (up to 5 atmospheres). The kit includes a cord for charging them from a USB connector, the charging time is about one hour. Claimed hours of operation - up to 7 days. In life, everything depends solely on which phone you paired this watch with and how many reminders you set. During my experiments, the clock lived for about three to four days, but I turned off reminders from Facebook, mail, leaving only WhatsApp, SMS and calls. In general, we can say that the watch can easily work for about a few days. And, already by tradition, I advise you not to lose the charging strap, you can’t find it in free sale - you will have to buy a watch again.

The Bluetooth version is both 2.1 and 4.0, while working with both iOS and Android smartphones is supported, in this aspect the solution turned out to be universal and quite working without any discounts.

From a design standpoint, the watch doesn't look bad, but the rectangular shape isn't for everyone, and neither is the size - on my wrist, it looks ridiculous, if not ridiculous.

In general, the question remains open for me, how can you buy a watch without trying it on, since this is an accessory that should look good. Whatever the functionality of a smart watch, if it doesn't look good on the hand, then it's stupid to use it.

There are currently three colors available for watches - white, red and black. The silicone strap is quite large and comfortable.

You can order the watch on getpebble.com for a price of $150 (with Kickstarter the price was slightly lower).

Pebble Features and Opportunities

There are control buttons on the watch case, on the left there is one key, this is an exit to a higher level. On the right side there are three buttons, the outer ones are responsible for scrolling through the lists, the key in the middle is the entrance to the menu or submenu. The buttons are quite hard, accidental pressing is excluded.

You need to install the Pebble app on your smartphone, then you can control the watch and use it with your phone (you also need to pair the devices via Bluetooth).

There are not many features in the proprietary application - you can see the name of the caller and his phone number (you can reject the call from the watch), read the last SMS (the previous ones will not be shown, there is no navigation), see the entry from the calendar and the like. You can also control the music, jump between tracks, press pause.

In principle, third-party programs are also connected to the watch, it turns out that the watch screen serves as an external display for data, for example, information about your run is displayed in Runkeeper. The number of such programs will constantly grow, while there are not so many of them.

With the help of a proprietary program, you can install Watchfaces, these are various dials, they can be static or animated.

In my opinion, this is the strongest side of the watch - there are many different options for dials, new ones are constantly appearing. By and large, having this option at the same price as just a digital watch of this kind makes the Pebble interesting. You can even not use the "smart" functions, but only change the dials.

You encounter the first drawback almost instantly: the watch was developed for the US market, and therefore only Latin support, any messages in other languages ​​are displayed as squares. When making incoming calls, if the subscriber's name is written in Cyrillic, you see the same squares. Unpleasant, but not deadly - the craftsmen have already written an Android program with which you can defeat this scourge.

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Product Mentions 1

Hi all! Recently, the number of reviews on fitness bracelets and smart watches has increased dramatically. Actually, there is nothing surprising in this. This direction is developing quite rapidly and everyone wants to grab their piece of the pie. Such gadgets are now produced by almost all companies that are not even related to smartphones or mobile technology. So the PEBBLE company could not resist and released its own versions of smart watches. Today's review will combine two versions of smartwatches. The first is "Pebble Steel 401" and the second version is "Pebble Smart Watch 301". We can say that functionally these watches do not differ, and there are differences only in appearance. However, in this review we will compare the two versions of these watches.

SPECIFICATIONS

Since Pebble Steel 401 and Pebble Smart Watch 301 do not differ technically, the technical specifications are given for both instances.

Basic data

Type - smart watch.

Installation of third-party applications - Yes.

Platform support - Android, iOS.

Support for mobile devices - iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, 5; any iPod Touch with iOS version 5 or later.

Notifications with view or reply - SMS, mail, calendar, Facebook, Twitter, weather.

Vibration - Yes.

Design and appearance

Case material - stainless steel.

Case colors - gray, black.

The colors of the bracelet / strap are gray-steel or black, leather-black.

Time display method - digital (electronic).

The type of glass is scratch resistant.

Moisture protection - Yes, WR50 (5 atmospheres).

Interchangeable bracelet/strap - Yes.

Dimensions (WxHxT) - 46x34x10.5 mm.

Screen

The presence of the screen - Yes.

Type - monochrome, backlit. E-paper (Memory LCD technology from Sharp).

Diagonal - 1.26" inches.

Resolution - 144x168.

Number of pixels per inch (PPI) - 182.

Permanent work of the screen - is.

Multimedia features

Headphone jack - no.

Speaker - no.

Microphone - no.

Connection

Phone calls - notification of an incoming call.

Mobile Internet - no.

Interfaces - Bluetooth 4.0.

Memory and processor

Processor - ARM Cortex-M3, 80 MHz.

Additional functionality

Sensors - accelerometer, compass.

Timer - Yes.

Food

Battery - Li-Polymer.

Capacity - 130 mAh.

Operating time in active mode - 144 hours.

Charging time - 60 min.

Charging connector type - USB, magnetic insert.

PACKAGING AND COMPLETE SET

Pebble Steel 401 comes in a rectangular box made of thick black cardboard. The cardboard itself is matte, but the image of the clock is already in color and glossy.

The box is very pleasant to the touch and quite high quality, it’s even a pity to throw it away, it will last a long time.

On the front side there is an image of the watch, on the back of the box there is information that the watch can withstand immersion to a depth of 50 meters. As such, there are no technical specifications on the packaging, only information that the watch can work with Android OS smartphones, iOS smartphones are also supported.

Accordingly, the image of the watch on the packaging is black and silver, depending on the selected copy.

The Pebble Steel 401 comes with a special USB cable with magnetic charging at the end.

There is also a warranty card and a quick start guide.

Pebble Smart Watch 301 also comes in a rectangular cardboard box, only this time the cardboard is white with a matte finish. The packaging of the Pebble Smart Watch 301 is about half that of the Pebble Steel 401.

The box is also very well made. On the front side there is a glossy image of a clock in black or red.

But in this case, on the box you can already read brief technical information. The watch also works with smartphones on Android OS, starting from the ancient 2.3 version. Smartphones on iOS are supported from version 5.

Actually, the Pebble Smart Watch 301 package does not differ from that of the Pebble Steel 401. In addition to the watch, you can also find a warranty card, a quick start guide and a special USB cable with magnetic charging in the box.

It is worth considering that the chargers for both watches are different in shape and are not backwards compatible. It is difficult to say why the manufacturer did not unify chargers, but the fact remains.

APPEARANCE. CONTROLS

PEBBLE STEEL 401

I’ll start the story about the appearance with the more expensive version of the Pebble Steel 401. As I said above, this watch comes in two colors, black and gray for metal. When I got acquainted with the watch, I didn’t like the gray color of the case the most, but this is purely a matter of taste.

As many have probably already guessed, the watch case is made of steel. The body itself is slightly elongated vertically, and the right and left ends have a slight rounding. The color of the black version has a matte finish. A metal glossy border runs along the perimeter of the screen. The screen itself is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass, but it was not possible to find out which revision it is. Also on the screen there is a status indicator that signals the battery level.

The thickness of the case is 1 cm, at first it may seem that this is quite a lot, but in practice the thickness seems to be much less. In general, the watch looks quite stylish and presentable. The watch looks pretty good on both men's and women's hands, but I personally like the larger case and for me this watch seemed a bit small.

The back side of the watch protrudes slightly from the base due to the built-in battery. The cover is fixed at the corners with four bolts.

The watch is controlled by mechanical buttons.

When you press the button on the right side, you return one step back, a long hold brings up the main menu of the watch.

Just below the right button there is a connector for connecting a magnetic charger.

There are already three buttons on the right side. The top and bottom are responsible for navigating the menu up or down. If you hold one of the buttons for a long time, you can assign any selected action to them: stopwatch, alarm clock, settings, notification, change the dial, etc.

The central button is the usual "Ok" button, when you press it, you activate the selected item in the settings, you cannot assign another action to the button.

The black and gray version of the watch uses the same genuine leather strap. Many people write that the strap is supposedly of poor quality, but I liked the dressing, the skin is soft, elastic and pleasant to the touch. When wearing the watch on the hand, the strap does not cause any discomfort, it does not rub the hand. The strap edges are also well finished. A line of black threads runs along the perimeter of the strap itself, and on the back of the strap there is a line of white threads. The width of the strap at the base is 15 mm, so there should be no problems in choosing third-party straps, just keep in mind that there is an additional jumper on the watch case at the strap attachment point. Accordingly, the choice of strap should be based on this parameter.

The clasp on the strap has a classic watch shape. The clasp itself is made of steel and they did not paint it in the color of the strap and left it light. The edges of the clasp are well finished and rounded.

The gray color of the watch is no different from the black, all the design elements are the same. The only distinguishing element is the black edging that runs along the perimeter of the watch case at the top. This approach in design makes the watch in gray a little more attractive than the usual black color.

PEBBLE SMART WATCH 301

Now I propose to consider the Pebble Smart Watch 301, structurally they differ from the Pebble Steel 401 quite significantly.

And so the Pebble Smart Watch 301 is available in two colors, black and red, and in this case, the case is completely plastic.

The watch case is even more vertically elongated than that of the Pebble Steel 401. The plastic used in the design is glossy, the screen is covered with transparent polycarbonate.

The back of the watch is matte. The black version has a bolted case on the back at the corners, while the red version has no bolts.

If you look at the watch from the end, you can see that the front part along the edges has a rounded shape, if you look from above, then this effect is not visually noticeable.

This approach in the design creates the illusion that the screen in our case is curved, but in practice this is not the case.

The controls and button functionality are the same for both models and I will not dwell on them.

Accordingly, in the plastic version of the watch, the strap is completely rubber. The width at the base is 22 mm, you can change straps with the same size, fixing the strap at two points. The clasp is metallic grey, the same as in the previous model. The Pebble Smart Watch 301 does not have a status indicator.

According to personal feelings, the Pebble Smart Watch 301 is more suitable for the fairer sex, the red version looks especially good on the hand.

But on the male hand 301, the model does not look very good.

During testing, I had absolutely no questions about the build quality. Both watch models have an almost monolithic case. Nothing creaks or squeezes through. Control buttons do not play. As a result, we can say before us a reference example of a device assembly.

Both models are waterproof. This watch can be submerged in water up to 50 meters deep. The watch can withstand water pressure of 5 atmospheres, which is quite serious.

The physical screen diagonal of the watch is the same and is 1.26 inches. Screen resolution 144x168 pixels. The number of pixels per inch is 182ppi, individual pixels are clearly visible on the screen, but in the context of this screen, this is perceived normally. As many have probably already understood, the screen in this watch is not touch-sensitive, all control is carried out only with the help of mechanical buttons. Screen technology "e-paper". Many believe that these are "eInk" screens, but this is an erroneous opinion, and in fact it is Sharp's Memory LCD technology. Information on the screen changes almost instantly, which allows you to use applications with complex animation. The image on the clock is always active and cannot be turned off. There is a LED light that can be adjusted.

Perhaps many will think that a monochrome image is a hello from the past, but in practice everything is much simpler. Such a screen has a very low energy consumption, which we will actually talk about a little later.

This is what the watch interface looks like:

FUNCTIONALITY AND CONNECTIVITY

The clock uses an ARM Cortex-M3 processor with a clock speed of 80 MHz, as well as 128 KB of RAM. To store downloaded applications, we are allocated 8 MB of internal memory, another 512 KB of memory are hardwired into the chip and are intended for the system bootloader and storing firmware files. It may seem that 8 MB for applications will not be enough, but this is not so, the applications themselves are very small in size and sometimes do not take more than a dozen kilobytes. There is a small limitation in the form of installed applications, the maximum number is only 8 pieces, taking into account the installed dials, and here, as they say, you can’t clear up.

The watch runs on Pebble's own OS. An interesting feature is the ability to write your own dials on the manufacturer's website, followed by uploading to your watch, as a result, you become the owner of completely unique dials.

To connect the watch to a smartphone, you need to download the "Pebble" application of the same name from the PlayMarket, the owners of apple products also do this, but only download the application from the App Store.

First, do not forget to turn on the BT connection on your smartphone. Next, run the downloaded program. When installing the program, you need to go through a small registration without verifying your account.

Then we select the language of the program itself and here it is worth considering that the Great and Mighty is not supported in this application, it is not supported in third-party applications either.

Next, you can choose which alerts will be sent to your watch. Actually there are not many of them: text, calls, e-mail. In additional settings, you can select other applications that send notifications, but as a rule it will only be information on the watch screen that you have received a message, you will need to get into your phone to view it. This is the case with WhatsApp, for example.

Actually the program "Pebble" will be your main assistant in working with the clock.

In it you will download various skins for watches, programs and games.

There are both paid and free apps. Apps in the store are divided into six categories: weather, notifications, health, utilities, remote, games.

There are a lot of images of various dials and the range is constantly growing. You can choose an image for every taste, both static and animated dials are supported. The selected application is downloaded through the appropriate directory. Also, unnecessary applications are removed from the smartphone.

In the watch itself, there is support for the Russian language. For example, when there is an incoming call, the number and name of the subscriber is displayed on the watch, and you can also receive a call from the watch. To display phone book contacts, you need to install an additional application from the store, but this function is only supported by iOS devices. This is not the only limitation, when you select an application, the information for which operating system it is intended for will be displayed on the screen. It would be logical to add sorting, but the manufacturer did not.

It is worth noting that the watch does not have a heart rate sensor. Accordingly, fitness functionality will be limited. There is only an accelerometer that can count steps and determine the phases of sleep, but only by the movement of your hands in a dream.

The watch has a built-in vibration mode, it works when a new notification arrives. The vibration level itself is quite strong and you definitely won’t miss the message even if you don’t have the watch on your hand.

You can control the playback of music tracks on your smartphone for hours, but the possibilities are limited and come down only to rewinding a song or pausing it.

For example, the clock can be used as a baby monitor. We install the appropriate application and the clock acts as a signal alert.

The remaining features of the watch depend purely on the installed application. There are quite a lot of applications themselves and all their functionality will draw on several full-fledged reviews. So it's kind of a field for extensive experimentation.

AUTONOMOUS WORK

The battery capacity in all two models is 130 mAh. For a small watch case, this is quite a good indicator. Probably many will think that battery life with such a capacity is small, but this is absolutely not the case.

In fact, the energy in this watch is spent on: BT connection, vibration and that's it. The screen itself consumes so little energy that you simply don’t take it into account.

After reading user reviews, many write that on average a full charge is enough for 5 days, but in practice I got completely different results.

And so, I tested the watch in the "smart watch" mode with a BT connection, as well as in simple watch modes without a BT connection.

In the first case, my battery charge dropped by 10% in a day. At the same time, the screen is constantly on, BT connection and about 30 alerts per day. As you might guess, the watch in this mode worked for exactly 10 days, which is a very good indicator.

In the second mode, my watch worked like a regular electronic watch. The BT connection is disabled and, accordingly, I do not receive any notifications from the smartphone, and the vibration does not work either. As a result, in 12 days, the watch used up 60% of the battery charge. This indicator allows us to say that a full charge is enough for an average of 20 days of continuous operation.

In part, Pebble solved the main problem of smartwatches, namely low battery life.

CONCLUSIONS

The watch is just getting ready to appear on our shelves, and therefore there is no official retail price yet. If you track the "gray" deliveries of Pebble Steel 401, then the price of this gadget is in the range of 15-20 thousand rubles, it all depends on the impudence of a particular seller. Based on the functionality of this watch, we can say that the price of this device is quite high. For this money, you can buy a watch from a more eminent manufacturer and with more extensive functionality. But at the same time, the Pebble Steel 401 captivates with its appearance and long battery life, and at the moment it is the longest-playing smart watch on the market.

The price of the Pebble Smart Watch 301 is not yet known at all, but in any case, this watch should not cost more than 7 thousand rubles. Actually, Pebble Smart Watch 301 can be recommended as a gift to the weaker sex, and especially in red, the watch looks just fine on a woman's hand.

PROS:

1. Metal, leather in Pebble Steel 401 construction.

2. Excellent workmanship.

3. Stylish appearance.

4. Many applications in the company store.

5. Unsurpassed battery life.

6. Easy watch settings.

7. Diving in hours to a depth of 50 meters.

8. Support Android OS since version 2.3.

MINUSES:

1. High price.

2. There is no support for the Russian language in the proprietary application.

3. Only 8 apps can be installed at the same time.

On this, let me finish the next, but not the last review of smart watches. Perhaps this article will help you make the right choice when choosing these gadgets. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this article.

Good luck to everyone and see you soon!

Purchase confirmation

So, as I wanted to get the goods quickly, I chose the most expensive and fastest delivery using UPS (this was my fatal mistake, but every cloud has a silver lining). By the way, Amazon has a period of 2-3 days for this type of delivery, if my memory is not lying. After confirming the payment, an approximate waiting period appeared on the site - 30 days ... "How so ..?" - I thought and started talking to Amazon technical support. It turned out that these terms do not apply to delivery to Russia, and they, apologizing, decided to refund me $20 of the shipping cost. In fact, I had to wait for them probably as long as I would have waited by ordering them in China on Ali or another site. Delivery to the customs point in Russia took about 2 days and for about a month it lay in the warehouse, waiting for its turn for customs clearance. UPS, by the way, took care of all the customs clearance, all you had to do was send them a scan of your passport and fill out a couple of applications using the link they sent. After that, a week later I received my cherished package.

A little TTX:

• Monochrome, with switchable backlight, Sharp Memory LCD screen (for some reason called "E-ink") with a resolution of 144x168 and about 20,000 pixels
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and 4.0
• 4 keys and vibration motor
• more than 7 days of battery life and USB charging
• 3-axis accelerometer with gesture recognition
• magnetometer
• SDK and ability to wirelessly download apps from the Pebble Store
• the ability to dive to a depth of 50 m

Box and equipment

Appearance:
Outwardly, they are, of course, an amateur, but I like this style. I actually thought they were bigger. On my male hand, not the largest by the way, they look quite appropriate. And I consciously chose the white color, knowing that it would get dirty more. Glossy plastic on the front side certainly adds to the toy, but this watch does not claim to be status.

On hand + separately

Software component:
Everything is limited only by the flight of your imagination. At the moment, a sea of ​​all kinds of programs and skins for displaying watches (in Pebble they were called watchfaces) can be found in the official Pebble / Pebble Time application on the phone. There is an official SDK for writing your own programs / watchfaces.

A few more watchfaces that I use

There are places to roam. Before connecting to a smartphone, you need to install the official application on it. Currently, only Android and iOS smartphones are supported. I updated my watch to firmware 3.9.2 with the new Timeline interface, and now when you press the up / down buttons, you can see a small list of tasks for the future, or what happened recently. On the previous 2nd version of the firmware, these buttons could switch between the watchfaces loaded into the watch. You could download up to 8 of them along with applications, which was not always convenient. All these lists in the new firmware are customizable, the application takes events from the built-in calendar. The restriction of 8 slots for installing the necessary watchfaces / programs has disappeared. As far as I understand, there is some kind of small cache of recently used applications, and if the right one is not on the clock, it is automatically loaded from the phone. The Russian language is currently not officially included in the firmware, but this can be solved by simply installing the language pack through the application on the phone. A watch paired with an Android phone can show notifications from almost any application, everything you don't need can be turned off in the settings. Well, the most important thing for which they were bought is an alarm clock. You can use both the standard alarm clock built into the watch and the installed Morpheuz application. I chose the second option, because. it has a smart alarm function. At the same time, the application monitors the phases of your sleep throughout the night and wakes you up at the moment of the REM sleep phase, which has a positive effect on your well-being in the future, and getting up is somehow easier. The application works perfectly, there were no false positives or delays. All statistics for the night can then be viewed in the application on the phone, or sent to yourself by email address and viewed on the official website of Morpheuz.

Autonomy, charging:
The manufacturer recommends charging the watch with a current of 500 mA. It comes with a usb cable for this. The cable is non-standard and you need to be careful with it, because you are unlikely to find the second one in the first computer store that comes across. It clings to the clock with the help of 2 neodymium magnets and holds very tightly.

charging, fastening

It takes me about 2 hours to fully charge the watch from a laptop. After charging, with the phone connected, the watch holds a charge for about 4-5 days, taking into account the included vibration, fairly frequent notifications and automatic backlighting, which lights up for 3 seconds and only in the dark. But there is one minus - the light sensor did not care about fluorescent lamps and believes that it is still dark in the room. I could not achieve the autonomy declared by the manufacturer from 7 days with full functionality, although if you turn off the bluetooth and use them only as a clock and an alarm clock, they worked for about 2 weeks, but this is already to the detriment of the functionality.

- and +
-Quick-scratching plastic on the front side
-Lack of Russian localization out of the box
-High price
-Not "official" appearance

Rich and expandable functionality
+ High autonomy
+ Yearly water resistance
+ Ease of use
+ Screen using e-paper (visible even in bright sunlight)
+ Good technical support and warranty
+ Build Quality

Summing up:
I am very pleased with my purchase and do not regret it at all. I am completely satisfied with the functionality that is in the watch. I can recommend them for purchase if the price does not scare you away. You can search on ebay / ali and find them, but without a box for a smaller amount. Thanks to everyone who was able to read up to these lines!

P.S. I apologize for the quality of the photo, the glossy front is difficult to photograph, and without a flash the screen itself is not visible. If you notice any inaccuracies in the review, or something is missing, please write to the LAN.