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Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the c

Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4]. This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy. [0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy [1] https://twitter.com/sqfmi https://twitter.com/sqfmi [2] https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1351647180382228488 https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1351647180382228488 [3] https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1357177624523661315 https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1357177624523661315 [4] https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy

dandelany 6y ago
There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc. But if you're intrigued by the idea of hacking on ESP32s, WiFi, BLE and/or e-ink, as a wearable hackable dev device, Watchy can't be beat. It's a lot of fun. Think of it as a wifi/BLE-enabled Arduino on your wrist.
- hu3 6y ago
  How's the battery charge duration?
  - ddlsmurf 6y ago
    It will vary greatly with the watchface and whether you use wifi (weather, ntp, etc). In the current implementation it will do a full connect every minute so there's room for easy improvement. With wifi I get about 48h out of it.
  - ampdepolymerase 6y ago
    The ESP32 is known for being cheap and featureful. The downside is that some functionality is implemented in software which results in lower battery life.
  - nkellenicki 6y ago
    With my custom watchface I built, I sync ntp and weather every hour. I get about 100 hours of battery from it (4+ days).
- mavhc 6y ago
  e-ink is a company, it's a Active Matrix Electrophoretic Displays (AMEPD).
  - devnonymous 6y ago
    Are there any other companies besides E-ink Corp that sell ^AMEPD^?
    - mavhc 6y ago
      Yes, the people who make the Watchy display seem to, https://www.good-display.com/product/6/ https://www.good-display.com/product/6/
- ajsnigrutin 6y ago
  Except for e-ink, why should I buy one, instead of this "polished" one: http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId=t3:50053:3 http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId... (i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)
  - jdc 6y ago
    Watchy is open-source hardware: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware BOM: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM.csv https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM...
  - dandelany 6y ago
    The link isn't loading for me, but I'm assuming that's a TTGO. Also a cool device & a good choice too, but as others mentioned Watchy has placed a high priority on docs, community, and open source - TTGO is more like "here's some hardware good luck". Plus, the e-ink screen just speaks to me :)
  - stavros 6y ago
    This isn't polished either, I have one and it registers phantom touches all the time, keeps vibrating, actual touches don't register, etc etc. It's not really usable, I left it in a drawer ten minutes after opening it.
- opan 6y ago
  Very disappointing to see an "open source" project locking their community behind Discord. Why not IRC, XMPP, or Matrix? Worth noting PineTime is a similar device and they're reachable on IRC and Matrix.
TheRealSteel 6y ago
Oh wow. They should choose a different image. I looked at that and thought it was using an actual segmented LCD display, not an eInk display simulating the look of a segmented display.
walrus01 6y ago
Are there files somewhere for a 3D printable case for it? Such as something you could do on a $300 consumer-grade printer capable of ABS filament printing?
- ddlsmurf 6y ago
  Yes there is something https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases , but join the discord, cases are very actively being developed.
3np 6y ago
You just pushed me over the edge, ordered a couple just now (I started always ordering 2 of anything somewhat “experimental” so I can mess around with one while making actual use of the other), looking forward to playing with it :)
shultays 6y ago
Are there any videos? [2] is a video but only 5 seconds long and demonstrates 1 small change on screen. I was wondering if e-ink screen suffers the same problems other e ink screens such as ebook readers
- dandelany 6y ago
  The screen supports incremental updates which are pretty fast, so you don't get the full flash refresh every minute. But yeah, it's not "video" fast, it's still the same old e-ink technology with all its pros and cons - you still have to do full screen updates sometimes.
MrsPeaches 6y ago
Can anyone find any specs on how long the battery lasts? The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...
- dandelany 6y ago
  ESP's only a power hog when it's using the WiFi... In deep sleep it can go as low as 10 uA! .15mA gets you the low-power processor for doing sensor interrupts. In reality Watchy currently draws around 1mA while sleeping and 55 hours of battery for me, not using WiFi (not really a priority for me).. I think that can be improved with firmware updates, seems like there is potentially some low-hanging fruit. It's all open source firmware, so you can eg. program it to deep sleep while you deep sleep to save battery :)
  - throwaway3neu94 6y ago
    That is a power hog, compared to say an STM32L4 with, per spec, ~250 nA deep sleep w/ RTC & some RAM (to make it at least somewhat comparable to the ESP) and 50uA/MHz dynamic run mode. Also you shouldn't just take steady state values. I've had various ESP's on a power analyzer. They take a bit more (like 30mA for many msec? iirc) for a while during wake up (w/ wifi off) before the consumption drops to the final value. For example some of that goes into uncontrolled/undocumented oscillations on some pins (for up to 100ms?), thought that is probably a negligible part. ESP's are only popular because they're the cheapest/easiest option with WiFi. At least that's why I use them...

dandelany 6y ago

There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc. But if you're intrigued by the idea of hacking on ESP32s, WiFi, BLE and/or e-ink, as a wearable hackable dev device, Watchy can't be beat. It's a lot of fun. Think of it as a wifi/BLE-enabled Arduino on your wrist.

hu3 6y ago
How's the battery charge duration?
- ddlsmurf 6y ago
  It will vary greatly with the watchface and whether you use wifi (weather, ntp, etc). In the current implementation it will do a full connect every minute so there's room for easy improvement. With wifi I get about 48h out of it.
- ampdepolymerase 6y ago
  The ESP32 is known for being cheap and featureful. The downside is that some functionality is implemented in software which results in lower battery life.
- nkellenicki 6y ago
  With my custom watchface I built, I sync ntp and weather every hour. I get about 100 hours of battery from it (4+ days).
mavhc 6y ago
e-ink is a company, it's a Active Matrix Electrophoretic Displays (AMEPD).
- devnonymous 6y ago
  Are there any other companies besides E-ink Corp that sell ^AMEPD^?
  - mavhc 6y ago
    Yes, the people who make the Watchy display seem to, https://www.good-display.com/product/6/ https://www.good-display.com/product/6/
ajsnigrutin 6y ago
Except for e-ink, why should I buy one, instead of this "polished" one: http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId=t3:50053:3 http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId... (i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)
- jdc 6y ago
  Watchy is open-source hardware: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware BOM: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM.csv https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM...
- dandelany 6y ago
  The link isn't loading for me, but I'm assuming that's a TTGO. Also a cool device & a good choice too, but as others mentioned Watchy has placed a high priority on docs, community, and open source - TTGO is more like "here's some hardware good luck". Plus, the e-ink screen just speaks to me :)
- stavros 6y ago
  This isn't polished either, I have one and it registers phantom touches all the time, keeps vibrating, actual touches don't register, etc etc. It's not really usable, I left it in a drawer ten minutes after opening it.
opan 6y ago
Very disappointing to see an "open source" project locking their community behind Discord. Why not IRC, XMPP, or Matrix? Worth noting PineTime is a similar device and they're reachable on IRC and Matrix.

TheRealSteel 6y ago

Oh wow. They should choose a different image. I looked at that and thought it was using an actual segmented LCD display, not an eInk display simulating the look of a segmented display.

walrus01 6y ago

Are there files somewhere for a 3D printable case for it? Such as something you could do on a $300 consumer-grade printer capable of ABS filament printing?

ddlsmurf 6y ago
Yes there is something https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases , but join the discord, cases are very actively being developed.

3np 6y ago

You just pushed me over the edge, ordered a couple just now (I started always ordering 2 of anything somewhat “experimental” so I can mess around with one while making actual use of the other), looking forward to playing with it :)

shultays 6y ago

Are there any videos? [2] is a video but only 5 seconds long and demonstrates 1 small change on screen. I was wondering if e-ink screen suffers the same problems other e ink screens such as ebook readers

dandelany 6y ago
The screen supports incremental updates which are pretty fast, so you don't get the full flash refresh every minute. But yeah, it's not "video" fast, it's still the same old e-ink technology with all its pros and cons - you still have to do full screen updates sometimes.

MrsPeaches 6y ago

Can anyone find any specs on how long the battery lasts? The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...

dandelany 6y ago
ESP's only a power hog when it's using the WiFi... In deep sleep it can go as low as 10 uA! .15mA gets you the low-power processor for doing sensor interrupts. In reality Watchy currently draws around 1mA while sleeping and 55 hours of battery for me, not using WiFi (not really a priority for me).. I think that can be improved with firmware updates, seems like there is potentially some low-hanging fruit. It's all open source firmware, so you can eg. program it to deep sleep while you deep sleep to save battery :)
- throwaway3neu94 6y ago
  That is a power hog, compared to say an STM32L4 with, per spec, ~250 nA deep sleep w/ RTC & some RAM (to make it at least somewhat comparable to the ESP) and 50uA/MHz dynamic run mode. Also you shouldn't just take steady state values. I've had various ESP's on a power analyzer. They take a bit more (like 30mA for many msec? iirc) for a while during wake up (w/ wifi off) before the consumption drops to the final value. For example some of that goes into uncontrolled/undocumented oscillations on some pins (for up to 100ms?), thought that is probably a negligible part. ESP's are only popular because they're the cheapest/easiest option with WiFi. At least that's why I use them...