Pebble smart watch. Personal experience using
In this article I will talk about all aspects of life with Pebble and summarize all the knowledge about these smart watches, whose fees of $ 10 million are still a record on Kickstarter.
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If you hear about this watch for the first time, I advise you to watch our video review first, and if you have already read about Pebble, I hope that the video can help visualize your thoughts about this gadget.
Pebble now come to customers in a more compact and stylish box. If earlier it was elongated (as here in this review ), then now the box with the clock looks more like a cube.
Included are a few instructions and a USB cable that connects to the magnetic connector on the watch. To be honest, until I read on the Internet that it often falls off - I did not experience any problems with the cable. By the way, the charging cable was changed in the new generation of Pebble Steel watches (they differ only in appearance and cable), and according to reviews, the new cord is much stronger on the watch while charging.
It is clear that smart watches have hundreds of uses. At this point, the article should turn on monitors with frames in gray tones, where strange people can not get the phone out of their pockets, disrupt meetings, ruin their lives. And then all this is crossed out by a red cross and each of the screen losers is given a Pebble watch, which changes life for the better.
Of course, the reality is not so. Therefore, at first I will talk about the functions that are used every day, then about those that I rarely use, and at the end I will explain the most chic features of the watches that every owner of them will try and then delete and forget about them.
A watch is a thing that is always on our wrist that looks out from under the sleeve of a jacket or jacket. For many men, watches are the main, and sometimes the only decoration. Of course, to put it mildly, Pebble look like a youth. Different colors, plastic and rather thick body. Some say that they look like children's Chinese watches, but many people like their design, and I belong to the latter. It is also worth recalling that now Pebble Steel is also on sale, which already looks much more stylish and presentable.
Another important aspect is the strap. Pebble immediately equipped with a long strap of soft touch rubber. It is pleasant to the touch, fits well on the hand. But if you tighten it tightly on your wrist, then your hand will begin to sweat. As far as I can tell, in case of discomfort the strap changes just as on any other watch.
From the look of go to daily use.
Let's start the game with small cards. Watches really know how to show time and do it creatively and in hundreds of different ways. On the watch, you can throw up to eight different dials (Watchfaces) and switch between them. Two things are worth noting here.
We continue to go on the standard functions, because no matter what - they are still in demand!
Pebble does not have its own dynamics, so they can wake up with vibration, which is great. I have never spilled an alarm clock and I like that it does not wake anyone who sleeps in the same bed or even a room, but only its owner. This opens up spaces for romantic breakfasts or, for example, quiet departures for morning walks, workouts, work, if you have a different schedule in your family. Also, the alarm clock will be a good and polite notice. To miss the bracelet vibrating on the wrist really will not work. At least I can not.
But this is a trump card. On the clock screen will appear all the notifications that are enabled on their associated smartphone. That is, the screen immediately get messages from the VC, mail, Skype, as well as SMS and calls. You can accept or disconnect the call if the headset is also connected to the smartphone. The ability to receive notifications on the watch is very convenient. Now you don’t need to go into your pocket if regular spam about stretch ceilings, a taxi or a super profitable loan has fallen on the phone. It is especially cool that SMS confirmation codes are conveniently displayed on the clock, which I often enter when paying for services via the Internet. And if the work is related to communication with people and large business contacts, like mine, then this will allow you to instantly reply to important letters. I saw an important letter on Peblah - I took out a laptop or tablet to answer. The quick response is impressive business partners and makes the correspondence more productive. After all, if the letter came from the United States to answer a few hours later, the answer can only be expected the next day due to the difference in time.
This is the second trump card from the creators of Pebble. Smart watches fully take on the functionality of a small compact player. The watches are always on hand, they are waterproof and they are able to pause the song, scroll through the tracks in both directions, display the name of the song and the artist, as well as the progress bar of the playing song. I'm generally a free hand. I do not like briefcases, bags, bags on one shoulder. Therefore, a gadget that allows you once again not to climb on the phone - the most for my lifestyle and my habits.
Personally, I would just have enough of the above mentioned with my head to say to everyone that I am satisfied with the purchase and that I do not think that they look like a child's toy. But Pebble really can do a lot of things, although very little of this I use every day. In general, there are already quite a lot of different kinds of applications in the Pebble Store. They are so different that the search for an interesting application is a problem, since there are a lot of repetitive, very similar and just useless programs. It is worth noting that at the same time there can be only eight third-party objects on the clock, be it dials or applications. And on the phone, applications can be as many as you want and you can download them to Pebble at any time, replacing unused programs. Nevertheless, I am sure that everyone can find something suitable for themselves at the Pebble Store. And I would like to point out some more useful applications that I have not, but I run several times a week.
Yes, these are not standard applications. They will have to download through the Pebble Store. Their functionality is trivial, but in demand. On the watch, you can run a few stopwatches, put them on pause, cancel. In general, all that is needed from these two applications. Of course, these things relate to the basic functions of electronic watches, but their absence among a set of standard applications is a bit surprising. And the need to take 2 slots out of 8 available with such simple applications is also not encouraging. I hope that in the future these programs will appear among the pre-installed ones.
I got accustomed on the clock this downloaded dial, which shows the time, date, degrees on the street. That is, the question again is not that only Pebble will give you this information, but that Pebble will do it instantly. Wrist movements in order to see how many degrees to change the track to read SMS. This is not to say that it saves time, we all very often don’t appreciate our time, but this watch makes things more convenient. Again, this is exactly what I expected from them.
Even one time I often looked at the application, which shows the forecast for the coming days and builds a graph of temperature changes. But it seems to me that I deleted it after all.
And here I will already list what I put, tried, tried to convince myself that it was convenient, but suffered a fiasco.
Even from the clock, you can force the smartphone to take pictures, you can use the clock as a pedometer, you can drop images from the photo gallery onto them, but I didn’t have all that on the clock for a day. Although someone might like it. In general, it should be said that for 3-4 days Pebble will occupy almost any man. This is a great adult toy, which even after the end of the wow effect will please its owner with its not very wow, but very useful functions.
Here at first it is worth noting that Pebble developers have an interesting policy. The watch is already three years old, and the only change presented is only cosmetic enhancements to Pebble Steel watches and improved grip on the charging cable. But this is not justified by the laziness of the authors of smart watches but by the fact that they first want to develop the infrastructure of smart watches, fill the store with useful applications, teach users to use them, and not drive developers and customers along the line of watches differing in hardware.
Since it is high-quality applications and the development of new applications for Pebble are put at the forefront - the so-called online development environment is available for watches. It does not need to download libraries and configurators, it does not need to be configured, it only requires an Internet connection. Anyone can program under Pebble and this is well written in the following articles:
And for lovers of something harder - photos of disassembled watches from Ayfiksit.
Pebble connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. If the phone or tablet works with Bluetooth 4.0, then the constantly supported Bluetooth connection will have almost no effect on the lifespan of the smartphone without recharging. And the previous versions of the Bluetooth modules can already consume precious percentages.
At the moment, I found confirmation of Pebble work with almost all mobile platforms. Watch friends with iOS and Android. Also released applications for Blackberry and Windows Phone ( free application for Windows Phone ).
It is time to take stock and summarize the shortcomings that I noticed while using these smart watches:
For me, Pebble has become not just a toy, but a truly useful gadget. The first days I was completely immersed in the capabilities of hours. Constantly put and removed all new and new programs, read forums in search of new opportunities for watches and tried to use them always and everywhere, even if it was inconvenient. By the end of the first week, my fierce onslaught on the Pebble weakened, and a week later I no longer put new applications at all, having become accustomed to what was already there and gradually removing everything that I turned out not to use at all.
Already after the first few days, I noted for myself that it became much less frequent to get the phone, and the movement of the wrist in order to read the message became familiar. I especially appreciated the fact that SMS confirmation codes are conveniently displayed on the clock, which I often enter when paying for services via the Internet.
And then I gave the clock to be appreciated by my friend. Of course, I did not miss the letters, did not get up on the alarm clock or dress not according to the weather. But on my phone, unread messages and letters began to accumulate again, to which I could no longer respond quickly during the day either.
Summing up, I would like to say that for me Pebble has become not just a toy, but a truly useful device, which is now closely connected with me, not only with a wrist strap.
PS You can buy Pebble smart watches here , and pre-order Pebble Steel here , in the already well-known Madarabots store, which sent me this gadget for review.
')
If you hear about this watch for the first time, I advise you to watch our video review first, and if you have already read about Pebble, I hope that the video can help visualize your thoughts about this gadget.
Introduction
Pebble now come to customers in a more compact and stylish box. If earlier it was elongated (as here in this review ), then now the box with the clock looks more like a cube.
Included are a few instructions and a USB cable that connects to the magnetic connector on the watch. To be honest, until I read on the Internet that it often falls off - I did not experience any problems with the cable. By the way, the charging cable was changed in the new generation of Pebble Steel watches (they differ only in appearance and cable), and according to reviews, the new cord is much stronger on the watch while charging.
It is clear that smart watches have hundreds of uses. At this point, the article should turn on monitors with frames in gray tones, where strange people can not get the phone out of their pockets, disrupt meetings, ruin their lives. And then all this is crossed out by a red cross and each of the screen losers is given a Pebble watch, which changes life for the better.
Of course, the reality is not so. Therefore, at first I will talk about the functions that are used every day, then about those that I rarely use, and at the end I will explain the most chic features of the watches that every owner of them will try and then delete and forget about them.
Pebble - watch for every day
A watch is a thing that is always on our wrist that looks out from under the sleeve of a jacket or jacket. For many men, watches are the main, and sometimes the only decoration. Of course, to put it mildly, Pebble look like a youth. Different colors, plastic and rather thick body. Some say that they look like children's Chinese watches, but many people like their design, and I belong to the latter. It is also worth recalling that now Pebble Steel is also on sale, which already looks much more stylish and presentable.
Another important aspect is the strap. Pebble immediately equipped with a long strap of soft touch rubber. It is pleasant to the touch, fits well on the hand. But if you tighten it tightly on your wrist, then your hand will begin to sweat. As far as I can tell, in case of discomfort the strap changes just as on any other watch.
From the look of go to daily use.
This watch can show time
Let's start the game with small cards. Watches really know how to show time and do it creatively and in hundreds of different ways. On the watch, you can throw up to eight different dials (Watchfaces) and switch between them. Two things are worth noting here.
- Firstly, there are dials that are just original or beautiful, and there are functional ones that, in addition to time, will display the temperature, the number of missed calls and unread SMS and something else.
- Secondly, since the dial will be displayed 90% of the time on your watch - its choice directly affects the life time of the watch without recharging. If you choose a loved one now in the watchfair community with a monster, the clock will live for 3 days. If you choose any dial with seconds, then 4 days, but a watchface with only hours and minutes will give your watch up to 7 days of life.
The clock has an alarm clock
We continue to go on the standard functions, because no matter what - they are still in demand!
Pebble does not have its own dynamics, so they can wake up with vibration, which is great. I have never spilled an alarm clock and I like that it does not wake anyone who sleeps in the same bed or even a room, but only its owner. This opens up spaces for romantic breakfasts or, for example, quiet departures for morning walks, workouts, work, if you have a different schedule in your family. Also, the alarm clock will be a good and polite notice. To miss the bracelet vibrating on the wrist really will not work. At least I can not.Clock displays all notifications from the phone
But this is a trump card. On the clock screen will appear all the notifications that are enabled on their associated smartphone. That is, the screen immediately get messages from the VC, mail, Skype, as well as SMS and calls. You can accept or disconnect the call if the headset is also connected to the smartphone. The ability to receive notifications on the watch is very convenient. Now you don’t need to go into your pocket if regular spam about stretch ceilings, a taxi or a super profitable loan has fallen on the phone. It is especially cool that SMS confirmation codes are conveniently displayed on the clock, which I often enter when paying for services via the Internet. And if the work is related to communication with people and large business contacts, like mine, then this will allow you to instantly reply to important letters. I saw an important letter on Peblah - I took out a laptop or tablet to answer. The quick response is impressive business partners and makes the correspondence more productive. After all, if the letter came from the United States to answer a few hours later, the answer can only be expected the next day due to the difference in time.
Watches can control music
This is the second trump card from the creators of Pebble. Smart watches fully take on the functionality of a small compact player. The watches are always on hand, they are waterproof and they are able to pause the song, scroll through the tracks in both directions, display the name of the song and the artist, as well as the progress bar of the playing song. I'm generally a free hand. I do not like briefcases, bags, bags on one shoulder. Therefore, a gadget that allows you once again not to climb on the phone - the most for my lifestyle and my habits.Second-line applications
Personally, I would just have enough of the above mentioned with my head to say to everyone that I am satisfied with the purchase and that I do not think that they look like a child's toy. But Pebble really can do a lot of things, although very little of this I use every day. In general, there are already quite a lot of different kinds of applications in the Pebble Store. They are so different that the search for an interesting application is a problem, since there are a lot of repetitive, very similar and just useless programs. It is worth noting that at the same time there can be only eight third-party objects on the clock, be it dials or applications. And on the phone, applications can be as many as you want and you can download them to Pebble at any time, replacing unused programs. Nevertheless, I am sure that everyone can find something suitable for themselves at the Pebble Store. And I would like to point out some more useful applications that I have not, but I run several times a week.Stopwatch and Timer
Yes, these are not standard applications. They will have to download through the Pebble Store. Their functionality is trivial, but in demand. On the watch, you can run a few stopwatches, put them on pause, cancel. In general, all that is needed from these two applications. Of course, these things relate to the basic functions of electronic watches, but their absence among a set of standard applications is a bit surprising. And the need to take 2 slots out of 8 available with such simple applications is also not encouraging. I hope that in the future these programs will appear among the pre-installed ones.Weather forecast
I got accustomed on the clock this downloaded dial, which shows the time, date, degrees on the street. That is, the question again is not that only Pebble will give you this information, but that Pebble will do it instantly. Wrist movements in order to see how many degrees to change the track to read SMS. This is not to say that it saves time, we all very often don’t appreciate our time, but this watch makes things more convenient. Again, this is exactly what I expected from them.Even one time I often looked at the application, which shows the forecast for the coming days and builds a graph of temperature changes. But it seems to me that I deleted it after all.
Third-party applications
And here I will already list what I put, tried, tried to convince myself that it was convenient, but suffered a fiasco.
- The clock can be used as a navigator and it is very inconvenient. There are two options - either the clock displays text hints like: “Turn left after 300m”, or you can view a map with a route on them. It is possible, if I find myself without clothes, but with Pebla in an unfamiliar city, I’ll frighten me with a watch navigator. But then I will remember that they only work in conjunction with the phone and, if it is with me, then I will open the navigator on the smartphone.
- On the clock you can read books and it looks weird. The position of the hand with which you have to read and the hand, which will have to switch pages is not very convenient. So this option will be good for notes like a shopping list, or short cheat sheets, but hardly suitable for normal reading.
- From the clock you can send response messages in the messenger. What can I say, typing SMS with three buttons is not so simple. Especially if there is a phone nearby, which attracts with its full-fledged keyboard.
- Games. The whole day on my watch Tetris lasted. He is cool, but it is inconvenient to play it with the watches on. And in general to use the clock for the game, it is at least strange.
Even from the clock, you can force the smartphone to take pictures, you can use the clock as a pedometer, you can drop images from the photo gallery onto them, but I didn’t have all that on the clock for a day. Although someone might like it. In general, it should be said that for 3-4 days Pebble will occupy almost any man. This is a great adult toy, which even after the end of the wow effect will please its owner with its not very wow, but very useful functions.
Own applications
Here at first it is worth noting that Pebble developers have an interesting policy. The watch is already three years old, and the only change presented is only cosmetic enhancements to Pebble Steel watches and improved grip on the charging cable. But this is not justified by the laziness of the authors of smart watches but by the fact that they first want to develop the infrastructure of smart watches, fill the store with useful applications, teach users to use them, and not drive developers and customers along the line of watches differing in hardware.
Since it is high-quality applications and the development of new applications for Pebble are put at the forefront - the so-called online development environment is available for watches. It does not need to download libraries and configurators, it does not need to be configured, it only requires an Internet connection. Anyone can program under Pebble and this is well written in the following articles:
- Well, Pebble, wait a minute
- We program under Pebble. Lesson One: Stupid Watches
- We program under Pebble. Lesson two: Pebble giving answers, dice and sex cubes
And for lovers of something harder - photos of disassembled watches from Ayfiksit.
Compatible devices
Pebble connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. If the phone or tablet works with Bluetooth 4.0, then the constantly supported Bluetooth connection will have almost no effect on the lifespan of the smartphone without recharging. And the previous versions of the Bluetooth modules can already consume precious percentages.
At the moment, I found confirmation of Pebble work with almost all mobile platforms. Watch friends with iOS and Android. Also released applications for Blackberry and Windows Phone ( free application for Windows Phone ).
Disadvantages of pebble
It is time to take stock and summarize the shortcomings that I noticed while using these smart watches:
- For me, the first is still the need to charge them. Yes, they will have to be charged no more than once every 3-4 days, but still they will have to.
- The long-standing problem with Russification has not received an out-of-box solution. After ordering the clock, you will have to install the Russian firmware yourself. This is done in three clicks in 1 minute ( there is a guide here ), but this is unpleasant. Especially when a new firmware comes out and the cracker has to be rolled again.
- Design. Whatever you say, these watches will not suit everyone with their appearance.
- Display. This watch does not have an EInk display, as they say in advertising brochures, but a Memory LCD. It is good, but at times, at certain angles, you can see divorces on the screen, as if someone was pressing the display. This is not striking, but once a week you can see this unpleasant picture. It is worth adding that the divorces do not appear from the screen, but from the protective glass and in Pebble Steel this you will not see.
- Many low-quality applications in the Pebble Store. In pursuit of the number of uses and, accordingly, the applications, we get a lot of completely useless programs, among which it is difficult to find something worthwhile. Systematization by popularity, the number of downloads helps a little, but at the bottom of these ratings it is very difficult to find highly specialized pearls. I hope that soon the criteria for hitting applications in the store, as well as their moderation, will seriously harden.
Pebble strengths
- The most important thing is to transfer the notification center to the clock screen. It is very convenient.
- The term of life without recharging in the region of 7 days still pleases against the background of not very long-lived competitors.
- Useful basic and downloadable applications also bring convenience to everyday life. Here I highlight the management of music, stopwatch, timer, weather forecast.
- The watch is waterproof.
- This is the only watch that fits almost all existing mobile operating systems.
- New firmwares are actively released, which activate new functions in the watch and add new features to those already used.
- Design. You can choose a black, gray, white, orange, red or steel watch. And yes, I like the look of my red and white watches. Thanks to its design, Pebble stand out well and you will always immediately notice another peblovod =)
- Open and convenient online SDK
Conclusion
For me, Pebble has become not just a toy, but a truly useful gadget. The first days I was completely immersed in the capabilities of hours. Constantly put and removed all new and new programs, read forums in search of new opportunities for watches and tried to use them always and everywhere, even if it was inconvenient. By the end of the first week, my fierce onslaught on the Pebble weakened, and a week later I no longer put new applications at all, having become accustomed to what was already there and gradually removing everything that I turned out not to use at all.
Already after the first few days, I noted for myself that it became much less frequent to get the phone, and the movement of the wrist in order to read the message became familiar. I especially appreciated the fact that SMS confirmation codes are conveniently displayed on the clock, which I often enter when paying for services via the Internet.
And then I gave the clock to be appreciated by my friend. Of course, I did not miss the letters, did not get up on the alarm clock or dress not according to the weather. But on my phone, unread messages and letters began to accumulate again, to which I could no longer respond quickly during the day either.
Summing up, I would like to say that for me Pebble has become not just a toy, but a truly useful device, which is now closely connected with me, not only with a wrist strap.
PS You can buy Pebble smart watches here , and pre-order Pebble Steel here , in the already well-known Madarabots store, which sent me this gadget for review.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/227149/
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