1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,600 The Pebble 2 Duo has no heart rate sensor, no blood oxygen monitor, no 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:11,679 altimeter, no camera, no cellular connectivity, no sapphire glass cover, 3 00:00:07,919 --> 00:00:14,320 and no color display even. But it's been 4 00:00:11,679 --> 00:00:20,080 making waves. Why? Because it hearkens back to a simpler time, specifically 9 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:25,439 years ago. And it sounds crazy in the tech space to re-release a nearly decade 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:29,599 old black and white smartwatch. But as someone who enjoyed the heck out of my 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:34,399 Pebble smart watches, I got to say I'm kind of here for it and it's exciting to 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:39,920 see it happening all over again. First, some history. The original Pebble was 9 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:41,760 kickstarted back in 2012. And the sales 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:46,640 pitch was pretty simple. super long battery life, cross-platform 11 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:48,800 compatibility with both Android and iOS, 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:53,199 physical buttons, no touchscreen tom foolery, and nearly endless 13 00:00:50,879 --> 00:00:56,079 customization of watch faces and apps thanks to an incredibly vibrant 14 00:00:54,719 --> 00:01:00,160 community. They actually had a pretty good run, even releasing a sequel to the 15 00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:07,040 Pebble with a color display, which at the time was a pretty big deal. Then 16 00:01:03,359 --> 00:01:09,439 disaster struck. They sold out, acquired 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:14,320 by Fitbit in 2016, who were then subsequently gobbled up by Google. Then 18 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:18,880 something incredible happened. The community took the reigns and against 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:24,000 all odds managed to keep Pebbles functional through the Rebel app. Haha, 20 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:29,759 see what you did there? Very funny. Then in 2025, something even more incredible 21 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:35,040 happened and Google opensourced the original Pebble software for anyone to 22 00:01:32,479 --> 00:01:39,600 use. Since then, the original founder of Pebble, Eric Mijakovski, has come back 23 00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:44,079 into the scene, reacquired the trademark, and relaunched the Pebble. 24 00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:47,200 All right, enough history. Let's talk about what it is now. Starting with 25 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:52,399 what's in the box, you get your Pebble smartwatch, which has 20 m of water 26 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:58,240 resistance, a little magnetic dual contact charger, three buttons on the 27 00:01:54,640 --> 00:02:00,240 side for up, down, confirm, and then one 28 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:05,920 on the other side for back. You get a little charging brick that um how do I 29 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:10,959 put this? Is just plain not as good as the old one. It's USBC now, which is 30 00:02:08,239 --> 00:02:14,720 nice, but the magnetic connection is like I don't know. Maybe I'm just maybe 31 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,920 this is nostalgia lenses, but doesn't seem like it grabs on as good. And I 32 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,200 guess I don't know. I can't tell if this is a feature or if this is just an 33 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,560 accident, but if you put it on your nightstand with the charger, it's kind 34 00:02:22,959 --> 00:02:28,720 of angled up a little bit. So, that's something. Yeah, not a huge fan. I like 35 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:31,360 that the cables disconnectable. Mine came with a little white wristband, but 36 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:36,720 you're not married to that. You can change it out for any standard watch wristband that you like. Let's see if I 37 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:41,120 can pass this IQ test here real quick. And that's it. In line with the modern 38 00:02:38,319 --> 00:02:45,040 trend, you get no wall wart and not even a cable, which is fine as long as you're 39 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:50,319 getting a discount for them not shipping you those items. But I don't appear to 40 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:53,599 be getting one in this case. So, how compelling is this sales pitch? Let's go 41 00:02:51,920 --> 00:03:00,319 ahead and put it on. Pretty basic silicone strap. There we go. and 42 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:03,920 immediate head turner. And I mean that. Seriously though, the day I put this on, 43 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,440 I started getting comments on it. And after I explained further, not everyone 44 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:11,599 remains interested in it. But for certain people, there is an appeal. It's 45 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:16,720 basically an original Pebble 2 just with some new chips and some new tricks, 46 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:18,800 hence the name Pebble 2 Doover. Anyway, 47 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:22,159 if you want to learn a ton about this device, then that means that you can 48 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:26,159 pretty much go watch old reviews from almost a decade ago and familiarize 49 00:03:24,159 --> 00:03:31,440 yourself with it. Or I can tell you the basics. Core Devices, which is Eric's 50 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:37,920 new company, boasts that it has an ultra crisp 1.26 in black and white e-aper 51 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:43,200 display. It can run over 10,000 watch faces and apps, many of which are still 52 00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:47,120 carryovers from the OG Pebble. Though it is worth noting that some of those apps 53 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:51,599 might try to connect to services that no longer exist and stuff like that. It's 54 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:55,040 water resistant targeting IPX8, so you should feel more than comfortable going 55 00:03:52,959 --> 00:03:58,480 swimming or washing your dishes with it. It's got a microphone for dictating 56 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:02,239 responses to text messages. The new one has been upgraded with a barometer and 57 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:06,879 compass tracker. And like the old one, it has a step counter as well as a sleep 58 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:10,560 tracker. And the sleep tracker is far more interesting to me on a device like 59 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,959 this than it is on most smart watches. See, I'm a charge at night kind of guy. 60 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:20,560 So, how is it supposed to track my sleep? It can't. This can. I've actually 61 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:24,080 been using it for I think about two weeks and I accidentally left the 62 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:30,000 charger at work and then I kept forgetting to take it home and it hasn't mattered because it is still on the 63 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:33,280 first charge. Core Devices claims a month of battery should be possible on 64 00:04:31,759 --> 00:04:37,280 this thing with some updates, but for now, people are getting about 2 to 3 65 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:40,880 weeks, which is still pretty freaking awesome. Enough yak yak though. Let's 66 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:45,759 get it paired with my phone and tell you about our sponsor, >> Secret Lab. 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The Prismagic screwdrivers are launching on December 76 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:29,919 26th at 6 a.m. PST. Sign up at the link below to get notified. Collect them all 77 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:36,479 or maybe pair them with our brand new case and all over print hoodie. 78 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,639 Connecting pair pair. It's a pretty 79 00:05:36,479 --> 00:05:42,160 simple process. It took a little bit longer the first time because I had to 80 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,479 click add Pebble device in the Pebble app, but yeah, really easy. This gives 81 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:50,320 you an idea of what a notification looks like on a black and white e-paper 82 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:54,400 display. You can scroll through your reminders like this, and then you can 83 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:59,039 close them like that. What is this? What does this drop something? Very funny. 84 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:03,919 Very funny. Anyway, here's my schedule for the day. The interface is kind of 85 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:07,280 delightful. And unlike many modern devices, it doesn't come preloaded with 86 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:12,800 a bunch of crap that you don't want. You've got literally two watch faces. 87 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:15,759 That's all. And one of them doesn't even work because you have to enable health 88 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:19,919 in the Pebble mobile app to continue. So, why don't we play around in the 89 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:24,240 mobile app for a bit? Oh, firmware. Uh oh, man. Yeah, I feel like we should 90 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:27,759 probably do that. Notification vibe timing setting. Ooh, vibrate at the 91 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,759 beginning or end of notification animation. That's a valuable setting. 92 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:35,120 Oh, very cool. Oh, apparently the new vibration motor is much better than the 93 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,479 old one. I never actually threw my old one on to compare, but it's a linear 94 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:42,400 actuator now. See, Apple, this is how you do it. Whatever device I happen to 95 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,520 use, I'm allowed to update my firmware with it. You know, you can't update 96 00:06:43,759 --> 00:06:48,880 AirPods firmware if you don't have an iPhone or a Mac. Literally, Apple's 97 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:53,039 instructions is to take it to an Apple store and have them do it for you. That's insane. Apparently, Apple has 98 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:58,160 made it quite difficult to integrate third party wearables, but uh they're 99 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:04,960 they're working hard at it. I got to say I really missed physical buttons for the 100 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:06,240 last quite a while. Like dayto-day 101 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:11,520 honestly it doesn't really matter that much. I can use a touchcreen but if I'm 102 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:16,000 riding on my motorcycle or my hands are dirty or they're wet being able to 103 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:19,000 interact with my smartwatch using only buttons. 104 00:07:19,039 --> 00:07:25,280 Right. This is what the process looks like for signing into Rebel. You 105 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:30,880 basically just select your Google account. Wait 15 seconds. All right, 106 00:07:28,479 --> 00:07:36,880 time for a factory reset. I can't I can't forget it. 107 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:40,639 This is wild. I reinstalled the app and I still can't 108 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:44,319 I can't connect to it because it's factory reset, but I can't forget it 109 00:07:42,479 --> 00:07:49,280 because it's not in the interface. Let's see if we can sort of break the cycle 110 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:55,199 here by using an Android phone. Okay, let's go. 111 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,879 Press plus to add Jesus H Christ. How? 112 00:07:55,199 --> 00:08:04,160 Oh, wait. Oh, hold on. Maybe [music] progress. Yes. Success. Pair. Yes. Let's 113 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:07,680 go. Okay. That's how painless it was the first time on iOS. It was fine. I don't 114 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,840 I don't know what the deal is here. Oh my god. The firmware update didn't work. 115 00:08:09,945 --> 00:08:16,479 [music] Nope. We're doing it. I'm determined. I'm not the kind of guy who 116 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:22,400 gives up. When I keep failing, I double down. Fail twice. Fail harder. That's 117 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:26,000 what I always say. I'm like Pebble that way. Google never wanted Pebble. They 118 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:29,680 wanted Fitbit. And I don't think Fitbit had really done anything with Pebble. 119 00:08:27,599 --> 00:08:35,279 Actually, shout out good guy Google for just being chill and not only open 120 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:38,800 sourcing the Pebble software, but like just giving back the trademark. [music] 121 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:43,680 That's incredible. Okay, update complete. All right, connected. Okay, so 122 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:50,480 I got a couple of reminders there. Okay, I need some notifications. Somebody text 123 00:08:45,839 --> 00:08:52,959 me. Oh my god, this bug still exists. I 124 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:57,519 remember this from my old Pebble how sometimes you would get the person's 125 00:08:54,720 --> 00:09:03,200 name twice which when you have like a you know 100line display or whatever is 126 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:08,241 uh maybe suboptimal but you know what all the options that I would really care 127 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:11,040 about dismiss reply open on phone except 128 00:09:08,241 --> 00:09:14,160 [music] mark red I'm a big fan of mark unread and that's something that I would 129 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,519 love to see the Pebble team work with all of the supported apps to support 130 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:21,040 because a lot of the time I get a notification that is good for notifying 131 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:28,240 me, but doesn't actually require any action. I just want it expuned from 132 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:31,200 existence. Oo, this is cool. So, you're 133 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:34,800 able to do voice recognition on device or you're able to do it remote first 134 00:09:32,959 --> 00:09:38,560 with local fallback, which [music] is pretty cool. Obviously, a little bit 135 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:42,800 more accurate having the option for just local. Good stuff. Hey yo, small head. 136 00:09:41,279 --> 00:09:46,080 It's ironic because your head is actually much larger than mine, I think. 137 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:50,880 Boom. Replied. Cute little animation, right? 138 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:56,160 That's old school pebble baby. Oh, they have so many fun watch faces, dude. 139 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,320 Totally non-infringing moon. Personally, 140 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:02,000 I love me just like a simple watch face. Give me that time. Give me that date. 141 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:06,399 Actually, temperature. No, you lost me there. Oh my god, that's so cute. Mario 142 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:11,120 jumps. How cool is it that the Rebel team were stewards for all of this, for 143 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:16,880 all these years, and that Google was willing to just give this thing back? 144 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,720 Like, absolutely incredible. And there 145 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:22,560 was a little bit of drama between Core Devices and the Rebel team for a bit, 146 00:10:20,959 --> 00:10:26,160 but it seems like they've gotten it resolved, which makes me extremely 147 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:30,079 happy. I like to see people, you know, get along, you know, and it's that 148 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:34,880 simple. Boom. Nan Cat watch face. Listen, [music] 149 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:39,600 that's style. That's style. You wouldn't understand, but that right there, that's 150 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:41,120 style. Ah, yes. It does not have a timer 151 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:45,839 by default. I found this out when I was doing some badminton training the other day. Here we go. All right, let's learn 152 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:52,320 how to use the timer. So, if we go like this, we can set a five minute timer and 153 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:56,000 activate. Boom. And it runs in the background, too. How handy is that? 154 00:10:54,320 --> 00:11:02,160 Look, I'm trying to I'm trying to channel the 2012, you know, level of 155 00:10:59,839 --> 00:11:06,399 impress that I had. And I legitimately think it's a cool thing in modern era to 156 00:11:04,079 --> 00:11:10,480 have a device that doesn't come with a bunch of rings that fill up or crap that 157 00:11:09,279 --> 00:11:15,279 interrupts you when you're just trying to go about your day. You choose what 158 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:19,040 you want it to do. And if you don't like this timer app, there's other timers. 159 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:23,600 You could get multi-timer or you could get stopwatch. You could get the 160 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:29,200 official timer. All right. It's very readable. You know, 161 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:33,680 e- paperh. With that said, there are aspects of the design that have not aged 162 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:38,880 quite as gracefully. The feel is [music] distinctly cheap compared to modern 163 00:11:35,519 --> 00:11:41,120 devices. And if it wasn't so expensive, 164 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:44,240 that might not bother me. But I happened to be wearing this device during the 165 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:47,519 Black Friday weekend and I went and I did a little bit of comparison shopping 166 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:52,560 and I couldn't help noticing that the price is marketkedly higher, not just 167 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:57,120 than an entry-level Fitbit, but even higher than the Versa 2 and was almost 168 00:11:54,800 --> 00:12:02,399 as high as the promo price for the Sense 2. That is a pretty tough pill to 169 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:06,480 swallow if you care about the extra features that those devices have. With 170 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:10,560 that said, given the design intent of the Pebble to hearken back to a [music] 171 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:14,639 simpler time when smart watches were just watches but a little bit smarter 172 00:12:12,639 --> 00:12:18,320 rather than kitchen sinks that were strapped to your wrist full of sensors 173 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:22,720 and cellular modems and underwater communications beepers. Maybe it's 174 00:12:20,399 --> 00:12:26,720 better not to focus too much on the price to performance of the hardware, 175 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:31,200 but rather to frame the price as an investment to a friendlier, more 176 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:35,200 comfortable open-source ecosystem, one with fewer distractions. If that sounds 177 00:12:33,519 --> 00:12:38,560 kind of like a sales pitch, I guess it's because it is. That's the core devices 178 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:42,000 sales pitch. And whether that appeals to you or not is going to be entirely up to 179 00:12:40,399 --> 00:12:46,639 you. One thing that I can tell you probably won't appeal to you, though, is 180 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:52,320 their current approach to support for this device. Right now, they are 181 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:55,360 offering a 30-day warranty, which I am 182 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:57,279 not 100% sure is legal in every 183 00:12:55,360 --> 00:13:01,040 jurisdiction. So, that might be something that they're going to have to 184 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:04,560 look into. It remains to be seen how they're handling that warranty. Like, 185 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:08,560 it's one thing if you've got a 30-day warranty, but you know, you take kind of 186 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:12,880 a Costco approach where if people have a problem, you take care of it. But core 187 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:17,519 devices in its current iteration really hasn't been around that long. And their 188 00:13:15,279 --> 00:13:22,399 founder has kind of bailed on the Pebble community once. So, I wouldn't mind if I 189 00:13:20,959 --> 00:13:27,360 had something a little bit longer in writing. And I wouldn't mind if you subscribed to ShortCircuit.