I know people love their Pebble watches, and I met Eric a few years ago, but what are they bringing back that competes in todays market?

I admit, I have a Garmin watch, so I don't suffer the battery issues that other smartwatch users have. What am I missing?

I have a Garmin and I look forward to getting a Pebble. IMO the UI is much better for both notification navigation and audio playback. These are the two things I use my watch for the most. It is also better than my Garmin on battery life (10 days or so versus 30 days).

It obviously doesn't have the specialized features for fitness tracking that the Garmin has, so I'll still slap that one on even after the Pebble arrives. But if I had to choose one to wear all the time, it would be the Pebble hands-down. I find the Garmin's UI to be annoyingly limited.

As an owner of a Kickstarter edition (and a few more after that one), I am also at a loss. One can get an Amazfit for $80 that does all that and more, and it apparently has multi week battery life as well. I’m not saying the price is everything, but what’s the value proposition for a new Pebble?

I looked into Amazfits, and the UI is not great in English. It was clearly designed for the Chinese market, and the international edition was an afterthought.

The screen is also totally different from the Pebble. If you put an Amazfit in always-on mode, the battery won't last nearly as long as the Pebble. Also, the Amazfit not as readable when outside.

More importantly, any device that is going to have access to my real-time GPS location needs to be as trustworthy as possible. Most apps can be prevented from getting your location because your smartphone will only give it to apps when you grant permission. But an app that syncs with your GPS-enabled watch doesn't need permission to get your location because it already has it. I don't fool myself into thinking that anyone is especially interested in tracking me. But given the choice between Eric and a Chinese company I don't know anything about, I choose Eric.

everything, imo. It had the perfect balance of features.

I find smart watches extremely frustrating and antisocial. At least for someone who intersects with others who wear the internal devices.

My boss will stop mid sentence because his watch buzzed.

I can see some uses, a female friend will run or exercise with her apple watch because it's easier to carry around but still allows calls for safety reasons.

I prefer when people discreetly glance at their smartwatch rather than pull out their iPhone. I try to look at my watch discreetly, whether I'm checking the time or glancing at a notification. When I'm trying to be especially discreet, I'll look at the other person's watch rather than my own.

I like that my smartwatch vibrates in different patterns for different apps. That lets me know whether I'm being texted, called, or notified by some other app. I generally only check when it's texts or calls, and even then only some of the time. I try to leave my phone in my pocket as much as possible when with others.

IMO both of those situations are antisocial. There are situations and jobs where you're on call effectively reachable all the time. Sure.

But the people I work with and myself? We don't need to be hooked on.

> There are situations and jobs where you're on call effectively reachable all the time

One of such jobs is called "parenting," and it's a common reason for people to check their notifications.

> ” I find smart watches extremely frustrating and antisocial.”

Well, it’s the people who are antisocial, not the Watch…

My Watch is 100% silent and does not have notifications / vibrations (i disabled them.);

The exceptions are some Health related notifications, and regional/national alarm apps. But those are very rare to push notifications ( < 1 per month.)

Kind of amazing that calling their product "Core 2 Duo" was considered their safe branding choice before this.

I was stunned by that as well, but it seemed to be proven this week that Intel has had their hands full lately with keeping the lights on.