7 ms·

Pebble shutdown almost 8 years ago now and there does still not to be a replacement or alternative that can: last up to a week of battery life, do basic things

Pebble shutdown almost 8 years ago now and there does still not to be a replacement or alternative that can: last up to a week of battery life, do basic things like allow you to get and read notifications, and be a watch.

Markoff 4y ago
Amazfit Bip lasts 4-6 weeks on single charge with always on transreflective display with readability improving with more sunlight (opposite of useless OLED power hungry displays) and I use it exactly just to check time and read notifications, I also use it to track my sleep, step counts and heart rate, plus one of the most used features in my night apartment is using display backlight (necessary only in dark) as flashlight it's also very small, light and thin, pretty much impossible to find such compact watch since I don't want to carry bulky brick on my wrist (so no thanks expensive Garmin bricks with shorter battery life) I'm now on my 2nd one, first I had brand new, it fell apart just before end of 2y warranty (basically the body inserted in frame without gluing, it felt outside, I could put it back and connect, just display colors were reversed but since it was in warranty I just used warranty to get money back, they improved gluing with newer versions), then went for OLED watch and gave up after maybe half year, gave new OLED watch which need to be charged at least twice a week to wife, it has unreadable AOD in sunlight (beause you need full brightness in sunlight or very least B&W AOD display instead other useless color combinations) and just bought second hand Bip for 20USD and I couldn't be happier, I'm thinking I could stock few of them into drawer in case something will happen to this one plus for people with too much spare time Bip firmware is somewhat hackable with extended functionality
- teekert 4y ago
  I ordered a Bip U, they just sent me a Bip U Pro for the same price stating it is better and the Bip U is discontinued. I cried a little because the Pro has an lcd screen. Are there really so little people that want a Pebble like experience? BTW TBH I don’t really like Amazfit/Xiaomi, their terms tell you they can get basically all your data. With Pebble I felt a sort of trust, which I also have with Apple (but sleep tracking on a 1 day battery smart watch is bit of a bad joke). I used the Bip U Pro on Android with GadgetBridge which is really amazing and perfectly privacy focused. Sadly when I switched to iOS I found nothing equivalent. I want Pebble back.
  - Markoff 4y ago
    that's not really Bip though, only original Bip, Bip S and Bip Lite have transreflective displays with battery life in 4+ weeks and display readable in sunlight, any other Bip is just regular power hungry watch. Bip U has already just regular TFT display with poor battery life, maybe a better readability than OLED, but not comparable with transreflective displays and their battery life. As you said you can use Gadgetbridge if you don't trust them, though I find GB experience very poor always losing connection compared to their own app, not sure if you can disable internet connection for the app to keep using it which would resolve privacy issues (I use also GBoard without internet access).
    - teekert 4y ago
      Oh yes, you are right, I ordered a Bip S, apologies.
- pqs 4y ago
  Do you trust Amazfit with your data? I can't trust such a Chinese entity with so much personal data.
  - opencl 4y ago
    I have a Bip and absolutely do not trust Amazfit with my data, which is fine because I don't use their app. I use the open source Gadgetbridge app instead and it works well: https://gadgetbridge.org/ https://gadgetbridge.org/
    - pqs 4y ago
      This is great! Finally I will be able to use a Xiaomi Fit band I have.
okramcivokram 4y ago
I've got Huawei Watch GT2 and it feels like I recharge it once a month. I was honestly quite positively surprised by it, having expected having to recharge every 2-3 days.
- teruakohatu 4y ago
  They advertise a two week battery life so you are probably having to charge it more frequently.
  - okramcivokram 4y ago
    I am not wearing it every day, so it probably conserves energy when it's idle.
andreicap 4y ago
The Fossil Hybrid[1] series with the E-ink screens is by far my favorite "smartwatch" right now, and has a ~10 days battery (claimed 2 weeks). Does basic sports, heart and sleep tracking, shows notifications, customisable watchfaces and a bunch of other stuff I don't really care about. [1] https://www.fossil.com/en-ch/smartwatches/hybrid-smartwatches/ https://www.fossil.com/en-ch/smartwatches/hybrid-smartwatche... Edit: it shows the time using physical arrows, so you have it accessible 24/24 (they glow at night).
- ydant 4y ago
  Another great option, the Garmin's Vivoactive line (and some other models) isn't e-ink, it's a transflective LCD(? they call it Memory-In-Pixels (MIP)), that's always on. It's a great display that's usable in any light-level other than dark. Also a pretty good purpose-driven smart watch, especially if you want your smart watch to do things like have GPS and HR recording and integration with sports peripherals (like bike power meters, etc). Doesn't have great "apps", though. Battery life isn't two weeks, but it can easily last a week if you don't record any GPS, and a few days of normal wear + 6-8 hours of GPS recording during that period if you use it normally + exercise. Unfortunately, the Vivoactive line seems to lag behind in tech from the product lines with the more traiditonal displays. So I've moved to the Venu line, which has an "always off" AMOLED display and better sensors. The display is also much more vibrant, but at the cost of being a lot harder to just glance at since it's usually off. If they can bring the better sensors to a Vivoactive, I'd definitely go back to the always-on display it offers. I miss that always-on and much closer to e-ink style feel the transflective display has.
- dmacvicar 4y ago
  A big downside is that in order to use the phone app, you need an online account with Fossil. Not sure if it is the same case with Garmin. You can use some features with GadgetBridge, but you still need the account to initiate the server-based pairing.
hackernewds 4y ago
There are in fact a lot of watches that can do this. Fitbit Charge 5 for example
mateuszf 4y ago
> last up to a week of battery life, do basic things like allow you to get and read notifications, and be a watch. Actually there is something that does that, my favorite watch: https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr The battery lasts a month. The only thing which would improve it would be NFC payments, but one can't have it all. Also looks good IMO.
- rospaya 4y ago
  I lost mine unfortunately and got a "normal" smartwatch with a touchscreen and all. I don't use 90% of the features and it doesn't look nearly as class as the Steel one.
- masklinn 4y ago
  Dang that is an attractive watch, how open is the communication protocol and how much does it report to home? I'm not a watch-wearer but it could make for a nice gift, especially with such a reasonable price.
  - mateuszf 4y ago
    I don't think it's open. Looking on the web page it reports all fitness data, but not notifications, but one can't be sure without checking the actual communication.
- ilamont 4y ago
  Citizen developed a fantastic-looking, bluetooth-connected mechanical watch called the Proximity using its Eco-drive solar tech: https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1005-51E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1005-51E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1000-54E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1000-54E.html In theory, its capabilities included phone search/filter and visual/vibration alerts. Not quite a smartwatch, but at least some connection to the digital ecosystem. I was excited when I heard about this, particularly the Eco-drive, as it meant no charging would ever be necessary. I have one non-Bluetooth Eco-drive which has been running continuously for 12 years without changing the battery. In practice, the Proximity was a disaster. Owners reported dropped connections, late notifications, and a terrible iOS and Android app. The first two problems, from what I read, related to insufficient power. It wasn't enough to maintain a Bluetooth connection. The third issue is common to many companies that do not have mobile app engineering in their wheelhouse. Citizen discontinued the models. They have a real smartwatch now (https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/MX0008-56X.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/MX0008-56X.html) but it is not Eco-drive.
fsflover 4y ago
Here you go: https://pine64.org/pinetime https://pine64.org/pinetime.
- HeckFeck 4y ago
  The specs of the device linked in OP aren't that far off the PineTime. Maybe if we ask very nicely we can get the source code and begin work on a PalmOS port!
  - fsflover 4y ago
    Unfortunately "asking nicely for source code" almost never works. I would prefer supporting companies which intentionally collaborate with the FLOSS community.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    Remarkably, source may not be needed: https://pmig96.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/pumpkin-os/ https://pmig96.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/pumpkin-os/
woojoo666 4y ago
Check out the Wyze Watch, it's surprisingly good for the price, and battery life is great
ghaff 4y ago
GPS is the real killer for battery life. If you turn the GPS off, there are a fair number of watches from companies like Garmin that probably fit the bill.
fma 4y ago
TicWatch Pro (I do not own it) has a 2nd layer screen that uses very little power and can last many days. However the watch is too big for my taste, but always on is a must. I purchased a refurbished Samsung Galaxy 42mm. I can last well into 1.5 days without charging (it usually gets topped off). The newer Samsungs can barely last a day.
savy91 4y ago
Garmin Vivoactive 4s ticks all the boxes that you mention
- zmix 4y ago
  Are they community-programmable? SDK, etc ?
  - dmacvicar 4y ago
    https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js2 https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js2 seems to be the closest to open and well finished at the same time.
  - wazoox 4y ago
    There is a SDK that looks quite decent: https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/sdk/ https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/sdk/
pleb_nz 4y ago
22 days on my Garmin
longitudinal93 4y ago
I enjoyed my Pebble but most Garmins have all that and a whole lot more.
- leokennis 4y ago
  Do you have one? From the pictures of them the screens seem really small and therefor not really apt for more "finnicky" things like reading mails, planning routes etc.
  - usrn 4y ago
    I know someone who has one. It's surprisingly good and can display a few lines of text at once. It's not as big as the pebble but it seems like enough.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  Do we trust them on the security, privacy side of things?
  - fredley 4y ago
    Mozilla gave them a thumbs up https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-forerunner-series/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-...
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    What's your threat model?
    - bayindirh 4y ago
      I don't remember the brand, but a smartwatch brand's activity feed was public, and the some military personnel bought these, and trained around the military bases, leaving nice outlines secret bases, complete with their GPS coordinates. Then that thing was banned, again IIRC.

Markoff 4y ago

Amazfit Bip lasts 4-6 weeks on single charge with always on transreflective display with readability improving with more sunlight (opposite of useless OLED power hungry displays) and I use it exactly just to check time and read notifications, I also use it to track my sleep, step counts and heart rate, plus one of the most used features in my night apartment is using display backlight (necessary only in dark) as flashlight it's also very small, light and thin, pretty much impossible to find such compact watch since I don't want to carry bulky brick on my wrist (so no thanks expensive Garmin bricks with shorter battery life) I'm now on my 2nd one, first I had brand new, it fell apart just before end of 2y warranty (basically the body inserted in frame without gluing, it felt outside, I could put it back and connect, just display colors were reversed but since it was in warranty I just used warranty to get money back, they improved gluing with newer versions), then went for OLED watch and gave up after maybe half year, gave new OLED watch which need to be charged at least twice a week to wife, it has unreadable AOD in sunlight (beause you need full brightness in sunlight or very least B&W AOD display instead other useless color combinations) and just bought second hand Bip for 20USD and I couldn't be happier, I'm thinking I could stock few of them into drawer in case something will happen to this one plus for people with too much spare time Bip firmware is somewhat hackable with extended functionality

teekert 4y ago
I ordered a Bip U, they just sent me a Bip U Pro for the same price stating it is better and the Bip U is discontinued. I cried a little because the Pro has an lcd screen. Are there really so little people that want a Pebble like experience? BTW TBH I don’t really like Amazfit/Xiaomi, their terms tell you they can get basically all your data. With Pebble I felt a sort of trust, which I also have with Apple (but sleep tracking on a 1 day battery smart watch is bit of a bad joke). I used the Bip U Pro on Android with GadgetBridge which is really amazing and perfectly privacy focused. Sadly when I switched to iOS I found nothing equivalent. I want Pebble back.
- Markoff 4y ago
  that's not really Bip though, only original Bip, Bip S and Bip Lite have transreflective displays with battery life in 4+ weeks and display readable in sunlight, any other Bip is just regular power hungry watch. Bip U has already just regular TFT display with poor battery life, maybe a better readability than OLED, but not comparable with transreflective displays and their battery life. As you said you can use Gadgetbridge if you don't trust them, though I find GB experience very poor always losing connection compared to their own app, not sure if you can disable internet connection for the app to keep using it which would resolve privacy issues (I use also GBoard without internet access).
  - teekert 4y ago
    Oh yes, you are right, I ordered a Bip S, apologies.
pqs 4y ago
Do you trust Amazfit with your data? I can't trust such a Chinese entity with so much personal data.
- opencl 4y ago
  I have a Bip and absolutely do not trust Amazfit with my data, which is fine because I don't use their app. I use the open source Gadgetbridge app instead and it works well: https://gadgetbridge.org/ https://gadgetbridge.org/
  - pqs 4y ago
    This is great! Finally I will be able to use a Xiaomi Fit band I have.

okramcivokram 4y ago

I've got Huawei Watch GT2 and it feels like I recharge it once a month. I was honestly quite positively surprised by it, having expected having to recharge every 2-3 days.

teruakohatu 4y ago
They advertise a two week battery life so you are probably having to charge it more frequently.
- okramcivokram 4y ago
  I am not wearing it every day, so it probably conserves energy when it's idle.

andreicap 4y ago

The Fossil Hybrid[1] series with the E-ink screens is by far my favorite "smartwatch" right now, and has a ~10 days battery (claimed 2 weeks). Does basic sports, heart and sleep tracking, shows notifications, customisable watchfaces and a bunch of other stuff I don't really care about. [1] https://www.fossil.com/en-ch/smartwatches/hybrid-smartwatches/ https://www.fossil.com/en-ch/smartwatches/hybrid-smartwatche... Edit: it shows the time using physical arrows, so you have it accessible 24/24 (they glow at night).

ydant 4y ago
Another great option, the Garmin's Vivoactive line (and some other models) isn't e-ink, it's a transflective LCD(? they call it Memory-In-Pixels (MIP)), that's always on. It's a great display that's usable in any light-level other than dark. Also a pretty good purpose-driven smart watch, especially if you want your smart watch to do things like have GPS and HR recording and integration with sports peripherals (like bike power meters, etc). Doesn't have great "apps", though. Battery life isn't two weeks, but it can easily last a week if you don't record any GPS, and a few days of normal wear + 6-8 hours of GPS recording during that period if you use it normally + exercise. Unfortunately, the Vivoactive line seems to lag behind in tech from the product lines with the more traiditonal displays. So I've moved to the Venu line, which has an "always off" AMOLED display and better sensors. The display is also much more vibrant, but at the cost of being a lot harder to just glance at since it's usually off. If they can bring the better sensors to a Vivoactive, I'd definitely go back to the always-on display it offers. I miss that always-on and much closer to e-ink style feel the transflective display has.
dmacvicar 4y ago
A big downside is that in order to use the phone app, you need an online account with Fossil. Not sure if it is the same case with Garmin. You can use some features with GadgetBridge, but you still need the account to initiate the server-based pairing.

hackernewds 4y ago

There are in fact a lot of watches that can do this. Fitbit Charge 5 for example

mateuszf 4y ago

> last up to a week of battery life, do basic things like allow you to get and read notifications, and be a watch. Actually there is something that does that, my favorite watch: https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr https://www.withings.com/us/en/steel-hr The battery lasts a month. The only thing which would improve it would be NFC payments, but one can't have it all. Also looks good IMO.

rospaya 4y ago
I lost mine unfortunately and got a "normal" smartwatch with a touchscreen and all. I don't use 90% of the features and it doesn't look nearly as class as the Steel one.
masklinn 4y ago
Dang that is an attractive watch, how open is the communication protocol and how much does it report to home? I'm not a watch-wearer but it could make for a nice gift, especially with such a reasonable price.
- mateuszf 4y ago
  I don't think it's open. Looking on the web page it reports all fitness data, but not notifications, but one can't be sure without checking the actual communication.
ilamont 4y ago
Citizen developed a fantastic-looking, bluetooth-connected mechanical watch called the Proximity using its Eco-drive solar tech: https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1005-51E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1005-51E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1000-54E.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/BZ1000-54E.html In theory, its capabilities included phone search/filter and visual/vibration alerts. Not quite a smartwatch, but at least some connection to the digital ecosystem. I was excited when I heard about this, particularly the Eco-drive, as it meant no charging would ever be necessary. I have one non-Bluetooth Eco-drive which has been running continuously for 12 years without changing the battery. In practice, the Proximity was a disaster. Owners reported dropped connections, late notifications, and a terrible iOS and Android app. The first two problems, from what I read, related to insufficient power. It wasn't enough to maintain a Bluetooth connection. The third issue is common to many companies that do not have mobile app engineering in their wheelhouse. Citizen discontinued the models. They have a real smartwatch now (https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/MX0008-56X.html https://www.citizenwatch.com/us/en/product/MX0008-56X.html) but it is not Eco-drive.

fsflover 4y ago

Here you go: https://pine64.org/pinetime https://pine64.org/pinetime.

HeckFeck 4y ago
The specs of the device linked in OP aren't that far off the PineTime. Maybe if we ask very nicely we can get the source code and begin work on a PalmOS port!
- fsflover 4y ago
  Unfortunately "asking nicely for source code" almost never works. I would prefer supporting companies which intentionally collaborate with the FLOSS community.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  Remarkably, source may not be needed: https://pmig96.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/pumpkin-os/ https://pmig96.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/pumpkin-os/

woojoo666 4y ago

Check out the Wyze Watch, it's surprisingly good for the price, and battery life is great

ghaff 4y ago

GPS is the real killer for battery life. If you turn the GPS off, there are a fair number of watches from companies like Garmin that probably fit the bill.

fma 4y ago

TicWatch Pro (I do not own it) has a 2nd layer screen that uses very little power and can last many days. However the watch is too big for my taste, but always on is a must. I purchased a refurbished Samsung Galaxy 42mm. I can last well into 1.5 days without charging (it usually gets topped off). The newer Samsungs can barely last a day.

savy91 4y ago

Garmin Vivoactive 4s ticks all the boxes that you mention

zmix 4y ago
Are they community-programmable? SDK, etc ?
- dmacvicar 4y ago
  https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js2 https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js2 seems to be the closest to open and well finished at the same time.
- wazoox 4y ago
  There is a SDK that looks quite decent: https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/sdk/ https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/sdk/

pleb_nz 4y ago

22 days on my Garmin

longitudinal93 4y ago

I enjoyed my Pebble but most Garmins have all that and a whole lot more.

leokennis 4y ago
Do you have one? From the pictures of them the screens seem really small and therefor not really apt for more "finnicky" things like reading mails, planning routes etc.
- usrn 4y ago
  I know someone who has one. It's surprisingly good and can display a few lines of text at once. It's not as big as the pebble but it seems like enough.
aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
Do we trust them on the security, privacy side of things?
- fredley 4y ago
  Mozilla gave them a thumbs up https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-forerunner-series/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-...
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  What's your threat model?
  - bayindirh 4y ago
    I don't remember the brand, but a smartwatch brand's activity feed was public, and the some military personnel bought these, and trained around the military bases, leaving nice outlines secret bases, complete with their GPS coordinates. Then that thing was banned, again IIRC.