Remember the Pebble smartwatch? It’s making a comeback – this year
Pebble smartwatches are back. No, seriously.
📣 The founder of the Pebble Watch has announced two new wearables
⌚ His new company, Core Devices, announced the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2
📺 Core 2 Duo has an ‘ultra crisp’ e-paper screen. It’s nearly identical to Pebble 2
🔋 Both watches promise up to 30 days of battery life
💲 Pricing: Core 2 Duo is $149; the Core Time 2 is $225
🗓️ Two release windows: Core 2 Duo in July; Time 2 in December
🛍️ No retail availability, pre-orders only
The creator of the iconic Pebble Watch has announced two brand-new Pebble-like smartwatches that you’ll actually be able to buy later this year. Both watches focus on simple, key features like insanely long battery life and physical buttons and will be powered by PebbleOS, the same software from the original Pebble Watches that Google famously open-sourced earlier this year.
Eric Michigovsky, the founder behind the first Pebble Watch, detailed how the new Core watches are, quite literally, the ultimate passion project, according to his blog post today. He said no other company is making the smartwatch he really wants, so he’s self-funding the development of these watches.
Both Pebble watches are focused on 5 key features
Always on e-paper display
Long battery life
Simple and beautiful design
Physical buttons
Hackable
This announcement was just a few weeks after Google agreed to open source the PebbleOS software it acquired as part of its Fitbit acquisition - which had previously acquired Pebble in 2016. Michigovsky mentioned when the software was open-sourced that he was going to bring a new Pebble-like watch back, but it’s a bit surprising he’s been able to do it so quickly.
It helps that both devices are essentially rebranded versions of the Pebble 2 (Duo is short for ‘do-over’) and Pebble Time 2, which never actually hit the market. They were both shuttered by Fitbit before ever going on sale, but he claims a former supplier still had all the parts on hand to start making them again. Thankfully, they won’t entirely be comprised of nine-year-old parts as the internals are being upgraded with more modern components.
One of the most important parts getting upgraded is the Bluetooth chip, which he says will up the battery life on these devices to 30 days. That’s a pretty bold claim, but considering the original Pebble’s delivered an eye-popping seven-day battery life back in 2012, I’m optimistic.
Aside from the processor, the Core Time 2 will get a larger, 1.5-inch touchscreen to allow you to use complications on it, things like glanceable weather, step counters, timers, and things like that. It will also be made out of metal to give it a slightly more premium feel.
Both watches will also get upgraded speakers and microphones primarily for things like talking to ChatGPT. Sadly, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to make calls from the watch.
The original Pebble devices developed an extremely vibrant and dedicated community around them, and one reason for that was how easy it was to build apps for them. There were quite literally thousands of apps made for them, and even today a small but dedicated community has lovingly kept the Pebble Watches ticking. Both Core devices will run on the same PebbleOS as the original Pebbles.
Are they like the Apple Watch?
Not at all, and that’s kind of the point. Michigovsky says it’s impossible for any non-Apple Watch to work like an Apple Watch and he’s not trying to. He’s not trying to offer high-tech fitness features or a fancy, polished smartwatch or even sell millions of devices. He simply wants to make a watch he himself would want to use.
Both watches are available for pre-order now, directly from Core Devices, which is also the only way you’ll be able to get them. There’s no plan for retail availability and he says they’re only planning to make about 10,000 at a time. If they run out and there’s still demand, they’ll make more.
The Core 2 Duo costs $149 and starts shipping in July. The Core Time 2 will take a bit longer due to the new design and will cost $225 to start shipping in December. You can ge
Jason Cockerham is a seasoned technology journalist reporting on the latest tech trends for The Shortcut and CNET. He has also written for Android Central, XDA, Android Police, and more. You can follow him at @jasonthejasonc on X and LinkedIn.
