Well, it’s official, and of course I’ve ordered one: here come the new PebbleOS watches, officially known as the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2.
Made by Core Devices, a new company spun up by Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky, the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 aim to revive the quirky fun vibes, long battery life and cool style that made the original Pebble watches so beloved.
Sadly I never owned one of the originals, but I’m rapt to have pre-ordered a Core Time 2 – although I’ll have to wait until December at the earliest. Here’s hoping they ship on time!
I’ve been catching myself up on what made the Pebble watches cool:
As I posted backed in January, the new watches will run an updated version of PebbleOS, thanks to Google recently making it open-source.
Both will offer, Core claims:
- 30-day battery life
- IPX8 water resistance
- step and sleep tracking
- a microphone and speaker
- and “10,000+” watchfaces and apps.
PebbleOS being open-source hopefully means we’ll also see tons of indie apps!
Core says: “For people interested in hacking on PebbleOS firmware, we’re offering an optional JTAG connector. I recommend buying 2 units if you want to hack, just in case!”
Importantly, this isn’t just a crowdfunded ‘kickstarter’. Migicovsky is funding the development and production of the watches himself.
Here’s what separates the two new watches, and what features they’ll have.
Core 2 Duo
$149 USD ($235 AUD, €135)
The cheaper of the two is the Core 2 Duo, which gets a 1.2-inch black/white e-paper screen, a polycarbonate frame in your choice of black or white, along with a barometer and a compass.
Core Devices describe it simply as “Like Pebble 2, but better!”
Core Time 2
$225 ($335 AUD, €205)
The Core Time 2, inspired by the unreleased Pebble Time 2, bumps the specs up with a 1.5-inch, 64-colour e-paper touchscreen with a metal frame and metal buttons.
In terms of features, the standout upgrade is a heartrate monitor. Core says there’ll be multiple colour options for the Time 2, but it hasn’t offered specific details yet.
