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This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use ca

This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. Automatic illumination has never worked well for me on any watch. It seems I just don't roll my wrist to view the screen the way other people do, so this heuristic fails badly for me. I often read my watches via ambient light and the light hasn't triggered or comes later after I've already seen what I want. And on the other hand, I get annoyed by false-positives where it just lights up randomly in my peripheral vision. So I often disable the automatic light feature. So, I enjoy the always-on but passive aspect of a transflective LCD display. It is practical like a conventional watch with physical hands. It works well in bright sunlight, well enough in other decently lit environments, and at least copes with dark via the backlight. I wish it was even more reflective for low light, but the recent LCDs are not bad. I vastly prefer my Garmin FR255 which seems like the last of its breed. Garmin may have lost me as a repeat buyer with the changing products. I think I'd like their Enduro line, but not at those prices. I don't like many of the compromises of the Instinct line either, but it seems the only option left.

usrusr 1y ago
Same. Amoled watches feel like TEXT IN ALL CAPS to me, screaming for attention when all they should do is make information available, vs force-feeding data. For attention, there's the vibration buzzer (which I absolutely love, so much more personal than a phone jumping around on the table)
cyberax 1y ago
> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes. But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me. iWatch and the recent Android phones have some nifty features like fall detection and heart rate alarms, but their privacy and the ease of use are deteriorating.
- saltcured 1y ago
  I've been satisfied with how well the on watch GPS and barometric sensor are used by Garmin to give clean data, including consistent ascent/descent figures. This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all. I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance. I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.
  - cyberax 1y ago
    I think that you can get course following to work with Bluetooth? The phone can just send a notification when it approaches the fork. Though if you want to use your watch as a primary navigation device, you likely need to use LCD/OLED. eInk is not great for interactive map use, not a great use-case for Pebble. For backup, I like carrying a Garmin satellite communicator. It has its own offline maps and a way to call for rescue in a pinch.

usrusr 1y ago

Same. Amoled watches feel like TEXT IN ALL CAPS to me, screaming for attention when all they should do is make information available, vs force-feeding data. For attention, there's the vibration buzzer (which I absolutely love, so much more personal than a phone jumping around on the table)

cyberax 1y ago

> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes. But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me. iWatch and the recent Android phones have some nifty features like fall detection and heart rate alarms, but their privacy and the ease of use are deteriorating.

saltcured 1y ago
I've been satisfied with how well the on watch GPS and barometric sensor are used by Garmin to give clean data, including consistent ascent/descent figures. This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all. I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance. I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.
- cyberax 1y ago
  I think that you can get course following to work with Bluetooth? The phone can just send a notification when it approaches the fork. Though if you want to use your watch as a primary navigation device, you likely need to use LCD/OLED. eInk is not great for interactive map use, not a great use-case for Pebble. For backup, I like carrying a Garmin satellite communicator. It has its own offline maps and a way to call for rescue in a pinch.