And now we have one of the brightest products of 2013 next in line: the Pebble smartwatch.

The Pebble watch appeared in early 2013 thanks to the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, becoming for it, without exaggeration, a landmark product. However, sales went so successfully and the attention to the new product turned out to be so great (including from leading Western journalists) that the second version of the watch was presented not as a product 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 metal case and a leather strap.

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

Let's take a look at the Pebble specs.

• Display e-paper 1.26 ″, 144 × 168, 176 ppi
• LED backlight
• Bluetooth 4.0
• ARM Cortex-M3 processor @ 80 MHz
• Accelerometer
• Light sensor
• Electronic compass (not yet supported in software)
• Pebble OS operating system
• Compatible with any iOS and Android smartphones
• Case dimensions 52 x 36 x 11.5 mm
• Width of the complete strap 22 mm
• Weight 38 g

In the case of smartwatches, specifications cannot tell us almost any information that would allow us to draw preliminary conclusions about a product (unlike smartphones, where standardization has reached such a degree that one glance at the specifications is often enough to understand with how to relate this product and what to expect from it). Nevertheless, in this case, first of all, it is worth paying attention to the type of screen: e-paper. Detailed technical information there is not enough about this "electronic paper", but, apparently, it is. Its use allows for a longer battery life than the rest of the smartwatches we tested. However, it is not touch-sensitive, unlike Samsung, Sony and Iconbit watch screens.

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

Packaging and equipment

The watch is delivered in a very nice compact box made of thick cardboard.

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

The charging cable is worth mentioning separately. It has a USB connector on one end and a magnetic connector on the other that connects to a watch, much like a MagSafe charger plugs into Apple laptops.

You can charge Pebble from your computer or any charger from your smartphone or MP3 player.

Design

Now let's take a look at the clock itself. We tested a Cherry Red version, but Orange, Jet Black, Artistic White and Gray are also available.

The watch looks good. Moreover, live they look much prettier than in photographs. In principle, despite the plastic case and the provocative color (in the case of our sample), 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, this is plastic, not glass), which 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 white (she, of course, has a white strap). The strap is comfortable, the watch fits very nicely on the wrist, suitable for both thin and large hands. Overall, compared to 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, on the left side there is a magnetic connector and a button Back to , and on the right side there are buttons Up , OK and Down ... Like the case, the buttons are made of plastic, they are pressed soundlessly, but with a noticeable effort. Although they protrude from the body, it will not work to press them accidentally (with clothes or with a sharp movement of the hand).

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

Summing up, we note that the design of the watch made a positive impression on us. They are cute, strong enough, they sit well on the hand, all the elements are well thought out. It's even surprising that such a licked product could be made by beginners who do not have serious engineering and design offices behind their backs. Well, the only drawback is the inability to charge the device otherwise than through a proprietary cable. If the cable is lost or damaged, 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 display based on electronic paper. Outwardly, this reminds everyone of the familiar E Ink screens, however, the principle of operation here, although similar, is still slightly different, allowing you to use internal illumination, and precisely at those moments when it is necessary. The LED backlight is activated when navigating the menu. As soon as the user has made a choice, the backlight is turned off (and then the image is visible thanks to external lighting, as in the case of E Ink). The highlight gives a bluish color to a black-and-white image.

Apparently, in this device a transreflective monochrome LCD display from Sharp is used. With memory, everything is quite simple - one bit per cell allows you to memorize its state, so in the case of a non-changing image, there is no need to control the state of the cells, you just need to supply power, which reduces energy 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 droplets, LCs have predominantly one orientation, but among droplets 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 droplets with LC will differ, which will cause a large scattering of light in all directions. and the screen will appear light (state 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 included in this cell are oriented along the electric field perpendicular to the plane of the screen. The polymer and the LC are selected so that their refractive indices coincide when the LC is oriented parallel to the incident light. As a result, for a switched-on LCD cell for light incident perpendicular to the screen, the refractive index at the boundaries of the polymer and droplets with the LC will be the same, light scattering will be minimal, and it will be reflected from the lower mirror electrode, but despite this reflection, the cell will look like already dark (state IN in the picture above). Why this is so, it becomes clear if you consider the mirror, with a piece of white paper pasted on it. Below is a photomicrograph of the Pebble screen, which generally agrees with the stated principle:

The distinguishable squares are the boundaries of the LC cells, within which chaotically scattered inclusions (droplets) are observed, reflecting (or rather scattering) light in light cells and transmitting light without scattering in dark ones. It is interesting that the visible properties and the nature of the arrangement of drops for different cells are basically the same. Apparently, the formation of drops is somehow controlled. Note that the above principle of image formation does not require the use of polarizers (indeed, when observing with a polarizing filter, a pronounced direction of polarization is not detected), as a result, losses are less and the efficiency of the screen increases.

Unlike the smartwatches we tested earlier, the Pebble's screen is not touch-sensitive. At first, this leads to a stupor - we are too used to mobile devices to touch screens. However, the menu is so simple that you can do everything 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, in fact, a Bluetooth headset for a smartphone. Therefore, without connecting to a smartphone, the watch can perform only its basic function, that is, displaying the time and date. But what makes Pebble different from Sony SmartWatch 2 and, in particular, from Samsung Galaxy Gear, is its “omnivorous”: the watch can be connected not only to any Android smartphone (not only Android 4.x, but even Android 2.x ), but also to Apple iPhone... The latter made Pebble popular with Apple device owners. And we tested the Pebble with the iPhone 5S.

First you need to download the free Pebble Smartwatch app from App Store... It is a very simple tool for managing your watch.

There are only three icons in the application. The center one shows if the watch is connected (if it is green, it means it is connected, but at first you will see a red button, which means 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 the clock interface.

However, the clock interface can be customized using the Pebble itself. But first, we need to link the watch and the smartphone. To do this, you need to turn on Bluetooth in the iPhone settings, turn it on in the watch (Menu / Settings / Bluetooth). The iPhone should detect Pebble, click on connect, confirm pairing on the watch. That's it, 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 app, turn on all notifications. Now the watch will receive all the notifications as on the smartphone.

Pebble functionality

So what is Pebble capable of? First, it is natural to show the time. Moreover, as we have already noted, a very different design of the clock interface is available, so as soon as you get 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 with vibration. Consequently, you will either have to go to bed with them, or risk not hearing the Pebble hum. However, this function can be useful when you need to remind of something during the day: for example, if you have a meeting, you can set an alarm for the time when you need to get ready to leave your home or office.

Thirdly, with the help of the clock, you can control the playback of music on your smartphone. The watch screen displays the artist name, track title, and album name. True, you cannot 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 only possible 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 displaying notifications from a smartphone. These can be calls, SMS, messages in social networks and messengers (we checked the work with Vkontakte and Viber). If they call you, you can click on receive the 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 a 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 advisability of using the watch. Cyrillic is not supported in the firmware. This means that any message in Russian will look like this on the watch screen.

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

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 need a laptop (or Windows 7/8 tablet) with Bluetooth or an external Bluetooth adapter connected via USB. Secondly, you need to find the ID of the clock (this is a four-digit code). And thirdly, work with command line in principle, not the most familiar thing for most iPhone owners.

Therefore, it seems to us a much more elegant and simple other way, which just should not cause difficulties for the 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).

It is necessary to press the lower left button ( Send message ), and a list of applications that you can use 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 that looks like this.

Click Continue, and then Update Now, and watch the process, which goes on for a couple of minutes. After that, the clock 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 it is highly likely 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 normal display of the Cyrillic alphabet. However, version 1.14.1, completely Russified, got up without any problems. Here are some screenshots of the watch.

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

Overall, the Pebble's functionality is much more modest than any watch we've tested so far. But, again, Pebble works with the iPhone, and besides, the functionality that is available is implemented as efficiently and conveniently as possible. Unless, of course, we do not count the lack of support for the Cyrillic alphabet in the factory version and the need to tinker with flashing.

Autonomous work

Duration autonomous work can be attributed to the unconditional merits of Pebble. With a relatively small case (smaller than other watches we tested), the Pebble can last from 5 to 7 days on a single charge, depending on the number of notifications and the intensity of use of the music control.

conclusions

The market for smartwatches is only at an early stage, and while devices of this class are still designed, to a greater extent, for enthusiasts. However, in the US and Europe, Pebble is perhaps the most popular smartwatch: omnivorous (works with both Android and iPhone), easy to set up and manage, 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 hidden opportunities almost not (although who knows what will appear in the new firmware?), for most users this will be quite enough.

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

So, very soon users will be able to touch another novelty from the company - smart watches Pebble Time. Earlier we saw a very successful Pebble Watch from this manufacturer, which turned out to be attractive because of its high level of autonomy. How will Pebble please this time?

general information

Pebble Time is truly the smartwatch that stands out from the competition. Who else can boast of such a high autonomy with a color screen? Agree, each of us has become a real paranoid about the battery charge on the smartphone, and it is very sad to find that the gadget did not have time to "hold out" until the end of the day.

With the Pebble Time smartwatch, this problem will leave its owner - the battery will last a whole week, and sometimes more.

Specifications

Manufacturer: Pebble

CPU

Battery

• Capacity, mAh: no data
• Working time, days: up to 10

Physical parameters

• Dimensions, mm: no data
• Weight, g: no data
• Detachable strap: yes
• Case / strap color: black / black, gray, bronze

Additionally

• Protection against water, shock: yes
• Music player control: yes
• Camera control: yes, application installation required
• NFC: no
• Price, $: 280

Screen

Actually, the screen is perhaps the first thing worth noting in the Pebble Time smartwatch. The color display is a real breakthrough for the company, but with a color screen one would expect a decrease in the level of autonomy. However, Pebble took care of everything - thanks to the fact that the screen reproduces only 64 colors, the power consumption is very low. You don't need more on the smartwatch screen. The resolution is also low at only 144X168, so the edges of text or images are jagged.

All this will not be an obstacle to the use of Pebble Time smart watches, since this device is not intended for viewing photos and videos; smartwatches will be used to save you from having to fish your smartphone out of your pocket or bag every time it rings.

Appearance

Like the Pebble Time predecessors with black and white screens, this model has two options - a plastic model and a steel one, which will appear towards the end of summer. Of course, the device looks less impressive when compared to the Apple Watch or flagship Android Wear models like the Moto 360. The wide frame looks somewhat out of place and does not at all suggest a smart gadget, although the overall design is harmonious. The rubber strap in three colors is completely hypoallergenic and comfortable to use.

There are 4 buttons on the case of the Pebble Time smart watch, but there is no sensor. At first it seems that this is inconvenient, but coupled with a successful system, such control is quite acceptable.

The Pebble Time smartwatch can be submerged to a depth of 30 cm, however, if you do not have waterproof smartphone within reach, they will become completely useless.

Functions

Remarkable enough new function for Pebble - if you click on the "down" button, then a breakdown of the timeline for 48 hours opens, where meetings, reminders, and weather forecast are located. If necessary, you can rewind the scale and see which notifications were received earlier.

Also, the up and down buttons can be assigned for quick access to other functions - for example, to control the music player or to track the distance traveled.

There are reports that Pebble plans to release so-called “smartstraps” as an add-on to the main device, which will include, for example, GPS or additional batteries.

There is a tiny hole under the down button, which can be confused with an emergency reset hole, but in fact it is a microphone with which you can dictate SMS replies or messages in instant messengers.

In order to receive notifications about messages in social networks, missed calls and SMS and the latest news, you do not need to install a third-party application - you just need to synchronize your smartphone with the device.

By the way, this smartwatch supports applications and screens (watchfaces) for Pebble, but most of them are not yet optimized for a color screen and are displayed in monochrome.

Video

Outcomes

Undoubtedly, the Pebble Time has its drawbacks - nothing more than a functional design, a modest display. This smartwatch is not for those who want to attract attention with a fashionable gadget.

However, there are many more unique sides and strengths. The user will forget about the eternal worry, whether he put his smartwatch to charge or not. In addition, Pebble Time is capable of working with almost any smartphone, which certainly gives freedom of choice. This clock just works without the distraction of the need for endless tuning and fixing "glitches". In addition, the price is relatively low at $ 280 per copy, which is much cheaper than the Apple Watch or the top-end Android Wear smartwatches.

There have been many attempts to create smartwatches, and in different versions, but they all did not have much success. The main problem of manufacturers is a small autonomy, poor connection with a smartphone, not the most attractive design. A certain interest in the direction appeared thanks to the Pebble company, which decided to raise money for its project. using the Kickstarter platform. Instead of the $ 100,000 that was required to implement the idea, the company raised $ 10 million in just a month and was able to give customers what they wanted. The Pebble Watch review will tell you what Pebble came up with, and whether they succeeded in bringing their ideas to life.

The main problem with smartwatches is low battery life and the inability to keep them constantly on. Pebble Watch sorted it out and made it easy enough.

Important! A screen based on liquid ink was installed in the device - these are exactly the ones used in e-books. Due to this, it was possible not only to significantly affect the battery life, but also it became possible to keep the display constantly on.

Pebble did not take an exact copy of the eInk technology, as it has a flaw - a delay in updating the picture. Instead, the brand turned to Sharp and used them. Memory LCD... The meaning is similar to electronic ink, but at the same time the image changes much faster and more invisibly to the user.

Construction and design

The screen has a resolution of 144 * 168 pixels. Also, here there is a backlight, which is turned on using one of four buttons on the case or by a certain action, for example, turning the watch towards you or tapping the screen with your finger two times. Thanks to this, Pebble watches are able to show the time at any time of the day. The user does not need to look for an illuminated place or illuminate the display with a smartphone, flashlight and other devices.

Important! The battery, designed for 7 days of operation, is soldered into the case of the device, and there is no way to get to it. This is because the device was designed to be waterproof: it is protected from water up to 5 atmospheres.

The watch case is plastic, the straps are made of silicone. Initially, the model was sold in three colors - black, white and red, later other versions were released. General impression the design is ambiguous. This is not a classic device, so you need to wear it with everyday clothes, this smartwatch designed for young people.

Charging is carried out from a laptop or through a power adapter from a smartphone; its own is not supplied with the watch. The cable is magnetic and is connected on the left side to special contacts.

Functions

The Pebble SmartWatch is a smartwatch, which means it must be able to connect to smartphone... For this, Bluetooth is provided here. The connection is successful both with phones from Apple and Android devices. Control is carried out using buttons on the body. There are three of them on the right side, one on the left.

Important! In order for the smartphone and the watch to work with each other, you first need to install an application from Pebble.

Smart features in Pebble Classic boil down to the fact that the device shows the time, calls, SMS. With their help, you can reject a call and read the last SMS, you can switch music. Through the app store on the watch, you can change the displays, there are animated options, as well as static ones. If you download applications from third-party developers, the watch will tell you about the results of your run.

Important! After the start of sales, the watch did not know how to display notifications from third-party applications, but installing the Pebble + program eliminated this problem.

In numerous reviews of Pebble Watch, many complained that the device was originally created for the American market, so they Cyrillic is not provided... This is true, but if you look at the reviews, you can find information that there is a special firmware for the watch that solves the problem. If the firmware is not installed, then any Russian text, be it SMS or the name of the caller, is displayed in quarts. Obviously, this is not very convenient, and very critical for Russian users.

Summarize

At the time of the release of the first device from Pebble, it became truly advanced in the field of wearable electronics and showed that this is a promising market that can and should be developed. Even without taking into account the features that were added to the model later with the help of updates, the device showed quite interesting functions. High operating time, water resistance and always-on display have become exactly that important factor that allowed to make good sales and lay the prospects for the future. The only weak link in the model is the design, but at the time of the release of the device there was no alternative, even a little closer to the Pebble watch, so no one looked at it.

Important! It should be noted that after a few years the company changed its approach to appearance smart watches, as it became clear that in view of the competition, the release of an ugly device, which is constantly in sight and should complement the look, can entail serious difficulties and financial losses.

It is currently possible to buy a watch on average for 8 thousand rubles through online stores and mobile technology salons.

The current situation in the smartwatch market is in many ways reminiscent of the years and months before the start of sales of the very first iPhone. To date, no manufacturer has managed to release a truly breakthrough device that can instantly reshape consumer expectations. , and others have so far got off with niche models, and now feed consumers with prototypes and demonstrations - but not finished products. You have to choose between compromises.

If you were looking for a smart bracelet, the choice among the best options would be limited to only two models - and. But if you just want a smartwatch that makes it easy to use your smartphone and the constant stream of incoming messages and notifications, you have only one option. For two years it has not had a single competitor, and it does not seem to be expected until the release of iWatch.

it Pebble.

Many gadgets seem interesting on paper and pictures, but in real use they turn out to be inconvenient, ill-conceived, too narrowly focused. "Smart watch" Pebble- an example of a rare, strictly opposite situation. This is a piece that is perfect for anyone who has looked askance at the entire wearable market so far. For example, I did not see any benefit in using them. Or was frustrated by typical shortcomings and limitations.

# 1. Huge selection of software and watch faces

With its tiny size and light weight, the Pebble has own App Store... In the official app for iOS and Android, owners of the aforementioned smartwatches can download and install any of the tens of thousands of watch faces. Today, no other device of this kind has such a choice: from countless stylizations for analog clocks up to seconds hands to the most informative digital clocks displaying the current weather, wind strength and the lunar cycle.

Pebble supports up to eight simultaneously installed watch faces (or programs). Switching between them is instant, just press one of the side buttons in standby mode. The rest of the "watch" is added to your personal storage - the memory of the Pebble iOS app. Such a system allows you to select a couple of dozen dials to your liking and change them at your discretion at any time.

Want something modern with sportswear? Or maybe in the style of a famous artist or a video game? How about something that looks like a real watch manufacturer? All this and more is available at the Pebble Store. I almost forgot: everything that is in this store is free.

No. 2. Down with useless iPhone notifications

Push notifications on iOS are sometimes as infuriating as email spam. Notifications about incoming SMS, messages from social networks and installed applications today are pouring into the ears of smartphone owners almost non-stop. And every time they have to take the device out of their pocket - and put it back in frustration. The ratio of information noise, distracting from business, becomes alarmingly high.

Pebble owners make it easier. They just look at clock and move on.

Game notifications are displayed on the watch screen

All notifications(SMS, WhatsApp, games, reminders, etc.) that arrive on the iPhone are instantly displayed on the Pebble screen, accompanied by a vibration signal. One glance is enough to understand who or what is bothering you. It seems to be such a trifle - but the convenience is simply incredible. After all, now you don't need to check your smartphone at all. Everything important that happens in your social networks and messengers will always be in sight - without unnecessary movements. Why do you need Google Glass when you can see everything on your own watch?

To display Cyrillic on the Pebble screen, spend 5 minutes updating your watch.

Number 3. Music playback control

I don't know about you, but I use headphones without a control unit. Until now, many models of vacuum "plugs", interesting from an audiophile point of view, are not equipped with such a simple thing - or are twice as expensive just because of the presence of a remote control on the cable. It would seem, what does Pebble have to do with it?

In standby mode, a music playback remote control is available to the Pebble user a click away. The screen displays the artist, album and title of each track. The side buttons can instantly scroll through the songs, and with a simple combination - and adjust the playback volume. Nothing else is needed for the complete happiness of a music lover.

Control over music playback on the iDevice through Pebble can be convenient in other scenarios as well. For example, when you connect your iPhone to home acoustics: you can change tracks on the go, without going to the speaker or smartphone. Smart watches act as a mobile control panel and do their job flawlessly.

No. 4. A week of real battery life

Very often, future owners of iWatch complain: they say, the battery life of the new Apple gadget is unlikely to be long. The idea is logical: it is not an easy task to fit a capacious battery inside a portable watch. The creators of Pebble solved it very simply, eliminating not the consequence of the problem, but its very cause.

The Pebble has a small black and white screen. This fact scares off a good half of potential buyers. And in vain. Specially designed display from Sharp solves a lot of important problems that the owners of future smart watches will surely face. For example, the visibility of information in direct sunlight. Everything Pebble shows you is perfectly visible in almost any situation. And in the dark, you can activate the backlight of the screen.

So, thanks to the energy efficient display, Pebble can run for a week... With the most active use of this watch, including a constant connection via Bluetooth, enabled auto light and regular installation and removal of new programs, Pebble will work longer three days. There is nothing like it on the market anymore. And it is unlikely to be in the near future.

No. 5. Silent vibration alarm clock

Singles and singles do not need to worry about others. In particular, you can set screaming alarms on your phone even at four in the morning. If other people are sleeping next to you, who do not need to wake up at the same time with you, you desperately need Pebble.

The watch memory stores up to 4 alarms for an arbitrary time. Since there are no speakers at all in the watch, the signal is generated exclusively by vibration. I've never slept yet, relying on Pebble. They awaken great - but only the one who put them on. All the rest continue to sleep as if nothing had happened.

No. 6. Water protection

Partial water protection won't hurt any gadget. Especially the iPhone. The creators of Pebble thought in advance about those who would not want to take off their favorite watch in bad weather. The official water protection level is 5 atmospheres. Basically, this means that at Pebble you can shower without much fanaticism or get caught in the rain.

However, numerous examples from the life of Pebble owners prove that you can easily swim in them both in the pool and in the sea - with full immersion for hours. This summer I drowned the first generation of Pebble in the Black Sea for a whole week, and nothing bad happened to them. Even the company's official social media accounts confirm the safety of swimming in their smartwatches. You can dive in them to a depth of 40 meters. In general, you don't need to shoot them at all :)

Pebble Classic or Pebble Steel?

Thanks to luck and good management, a successful Kickstarter project has grown into a thriving business capable of spawning new products on its own. Therefore, at the beginning of 2014, a new version Pebble. However, it doesn't have to be better. Rather, it is an alternative. Pebble steel- this is the same watch, but in high-quality packaging. Including in the literal sense.

If you have bypassed the Pebble just for their sporty, somewhat youthful design, you will instantly love the Steel. This watch was originally made for those who wear long sleeved shirts, jackets and generally follow their dress code. More traditional, rectangular shape, real glass instead of transparent plastic, high-quality metal buttons and body.

Clickable

The Pebble Steel comes with two different straps - black leather and steel, as well as a tool to replace them. Further depends on the preferences of a particular person. Personally, it seems to me that leather looks better. Probably because the excess of metal together with the digital display evoke parallels with a cheap calculator watch :) I am sure many Steel owners will disagree with me, and this is absolutely normal. That is why we have been given the choice.

On the technical side, the usual Pebble and Steel are almost indistinguishable from each other. If you find fault, the display contrast in metal models is still higher than in the classic series. In other words, white is a little whiter there, and black - well, you get the idea. Plus, the manufacturer has solved the problem with "petrol" stains on the displays of ordinary Pebble. At least, there was nothing like this on our Steel. Due to the flat glass, rather than convex plastic, the watch looks twice as good in the light, does not give wavy, distorted reflections.

The advantages of the Pebble Steel over the conventional model are obvious. Among the shortcomings - there is no rubber bracelet included with the former. This means that it will be inconvenient to play sports in Steel. Also, do not get carried away with swimming with a leather strap, as well as jogging. In general, the model is not at all sporty and not at all household - more for work and meetings. The vibration motor in Steel is slightly weaker than in the first version, and at the same time louder. That's basically it.

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

Therefore, the appearance of Pebble watches on Kickstarter should not have produced the effect of an exploding bomb, but proper 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 the purchase of such watches goes to tens of thousands. Suffice it to say that the company hoped to raise $ 100,000 in April 2012 for the development of the watch, but received a little over $ 10 million in one month.

Let's figure out what is so much noise around and why the idea of ​​such a watch has attracted thousands of people.

Design as well as the watch screen

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

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

You can set the screen backlight to turn on or by tapping on it, but I, for example, left the backlight on all the time and did not experience any problems with it. Press the button or turn the clock - they light up the screen. In the dark, the display is perfectly visible, there are no flaws.

It's time to say about the battery - it is sealed into the case, the watch is completely sealed, you can swim, dive, play sports in it (up to 5 atmospheres). The bundle includes a lanyard for charging them from the USB connector, the charging time is about one hour. The stated working hours are 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 work quietly for about several days. And, according to tradition, I advise you not to lose the charging strap, you cannot find it on free sale - you will have to buy the watch again.

Bluetooth version 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 workable without any discounts.

From a design point of view, the watch does not look bad, but the rectangular shape does not suit everyone, as well as its size - on my wrist it looks funny, if not ridiculous.

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

IN this moment there are three color solutions for watches - white, red and black. The strap is silicone, quite large and comfortable.

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

Pebble features and capabilities

There are control buttons on the watch case, on the left - one key, this is an exit to a higher level. On the right side there are three buttons, the outermost 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 presses are excluded.

You need to install the Pebble application 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 possibilities 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 music, jump between tracks, press pause.

Basically, the clock is connected and third party programs, it turns out that the watch screen serves as an external display for data, for example, the Runkeeper displays information about your run. The number of such programs will constantly grow until there are so many of them.

Using the proprietary program, you can install Watchfaces, these are various watch faces, they can be static or animated.

In my opinion, this is the strongest side of the watch - there are many different variants of dials, new ones are constantly appearing. By and large, the availability of such an opportunity at an equal price with a simple electronic watch of this kind makes Pebble interesting. You don't even have to use "smart" functions, but only change the dials.

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