This holiday season, consumers will have a ton of new smartwatches to choose from, including the Huawei Watch, Moto 360 (2015), Apple Watch, Gear S2, and, as of today, the Pebble Time Round. The round face measures 38.5 mm in diameter though the screen is surrounded by a thick bezel, so the screen actually measures 1.25 inches.
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There’s two band sizes (14mm and 20mm), while it’ll be available in three finishes; black, silver or rose gold. Called Pebble Time Round, it’s got a rounded face and a color e-paper display, and it’s thinner, lighter, and generally less obvious than other smart watches I’ve seen.
For those based in the U.S. the watch will be hitting wrists from early November, but for anyone in the United Kingdom or Europe there’s a wait until 2016 before the Round makes the journey across the Atlantic.
What’s more, some of the bezels on the Round have numbers built into them, which could make analog hands easier to read for some folks.
But the Time Round’s slimmer and sexier design comes at a cost. Pebble also touts that a 15-minute quick charge will be able to give you another juice for another full day of battery life. “We look at battery power and battery life as one of our core competencies, but also one of our biggest advantages”, Migicovsky said to me. “So we thought, okay, how does it work in your daily routine. Sign up here and we’ll email you when the site is back up and running”. It’s a round Pebble Time that’s just 7.5mm thin and, according to Pebble, will last 2 days on a charge. You may cancel your reservation at any time if you decide Pebble Time Steel is the one for you. The idea, Migicovsky said, is to wear it throughout the day (and night, for sleep tracking), then hook up the charger during your morning routine.
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If you visit Pebble’s website in the next couple of days, you’ll be greeted by a countdown timer at the top of the page. Pebble has invested in strap development and has organized “hackathons”, but hasn’t committed to making its own strap accessories yet. “Timeline is a different way of displaying time on your wrist”, he says, and it’s an interface that’s well-suited for both square and circular displays. Particularly since it lets Pebble serve a smartwatch audience that nobody else can reach. Pebble is offering an SDK for developers to adapt their watch faces and apps for the new dimensions. This could mean that the new device could be offered via Kickstarter just like their previous devices. Also of note: Migicovsky tells me that the new Timeline OS will be available to all original Pebbles as well.
