WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.600 The Pebble 2 Duo has no heart rate sensor, no blood oxygen monitor, no 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:11.679 altimeter, no camera, no cellular connectivity, no sapphire glass cover, 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:14.320 and no color display even. But it's been 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:20.080 making waves. Why? Because it hearkens back to a simpler time, specifically 9 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:25.439 years ago. And it sounds crazy in the tech space to re-release a nearly decade 00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:29.599 old black and white smartwatch. But as someone who enjoyed the heck out of my 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 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:39.920 see it happening all over again. First, some history. The original Pebble was 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:41.760 kickstarted back in 2012. And the sales 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:46.640 pitch was pretty simple. super long battery life, cross-platform 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:48.800 compatibility with both Android and iOS, 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:53.199 physical buttons, no touchscreen tom foolery, and nearly endless 00:00:50.879 --> 00:00:56.079 customization of watch faces and apps thanks to an incredibly vibrant 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:00.160 community. They actually had a pretty good run, even releasing a sequel to the 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:07.040 Pebble with a color display, which at the time was a pretty big deal. Then 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:09.439 disaster struck. They sold out, acquired 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:14.320 by Fitbit in 2016, who were then subsequently gobbled up by Google. Then 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:18.880 something incredible happened. The community took the reigns and against 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:24.000 all odds managed to keep Pebbles functional through the Rebel app. Haha, 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:29.759 see what you did there? Very funny. Then in 2025, something even more incredible 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:35.040 happened and Google opensourced the original Pebble software for anyone to 00:01:32.479 --> 00:01:39.600 use. Since then, the original founder of Pebble, Eric Mijakovski, has come back 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:44.079 into the scene, reacquired the trademark, and relaunched the Pebble. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:47.200 All right, enough history. Let's talk about what it is now. Starting with 00:01:45.520 --> 00:01:52.399 what's in the box, you get your Pebble smartwatch, which has 20 m of water 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:58.240 resistance, a little magnetic dual contact charger, three buttons on the 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:00.240 side for up, down, confirm, and then one 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 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 00:02:08.239 --> 00:02:14.720 nice, but the magnetic connection is like I don't know. Maybe I'm just maybe 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:17.920 this is nostalgia lenses, but doesn't seem like it grabs on as good. And I 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 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:24.560 accident, but if you put it on your nightstand with the charger, it's kind 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 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:31.360 that the cables disconnectable. Mine came with a little white wristband, but 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 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 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 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:50.319 getting a discount for them not shipping you those items. But I don't appear to 00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:53.599 be getting one in this case. So, how compelling is this sales pitch? Let's go 00:02:51.920 --> 00:03:00.319 ahead and put it on. Pretty basic silicone strap. There we go. and 00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:03.920 immediate head turner. And I mean that. Seriously though, the day I put this on, 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:07.440 I started getting comments on it. And after I explained further, not everyone 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:11.599 remains interested in it. But for certain people, there is an appeal. It's 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:16.720 basically an original Pebble 2 just with some new chips and some new tricks, 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:18.800 hence the name Pebble 2 Doover. Anyway, 00:03:16.720 --> 00:03:22.159 if you want to learn a ton about this device, then that means that you can 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:26.159 pretty much go watch old reviews from almost a decade ago and familiarize 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:31.440 yourself with it. Or I can tell you the basics. Core Devices, which is Eric's 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 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:43.200 display. It can run over 10,000 watch faces and apps, many of which are still 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:47.120 carryovers from the OG Pebble. Though it is worth noting that some of those apps 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:51.599 might try to connect to services that no longer exist and stuff like that. It's 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:55.040 water resistant targeting IPX8, so you should feel more than comfortable going 00:03:52.959 --> 00:03:58.480 swimming or washing your dishes with it. It's got a microphone for dictating 00:03:56.480 --> 00:04:02.239 responses to text messages. The new one has been upgraded with a barometer and 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 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:10.560 tracker. And the sleep tracker is far more interesting to me on a device like 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. 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 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:24.080 been using it for I think about two weeks and I accidentally left the 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 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:33.280 first charge. Core Devices claims a month of battery should be possible on 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:37.280 this thing with some updates, but for now, people are getting about 2 to 3 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:40.880 weeks, which is still pretty freaking awesome. Enough yak yak though. Let's 00:04:38.960 --> 00:04:45.759 get it paired with my phone and tell you about our sponsor, >> Secret Lab. Their Magnus Pro sitstand 00:04:43.919 --> 00:04:49.600 desk simplifies one of the biggest problems all gamers face, cable 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:52.560 management. 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Collect them all 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:36.479 or maybe pair them with our brand new case and all over print hoodie. 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:38.639 Connecting pair pair. It's a pretty 00:05:36.479 --> 00:05:42.160 simple process. It took a little bit longer the first time because I had to 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:46.479 click add Pebble device in the Pebble app, but yeah, really easy. This gives 00:05:44.880 --> 00:05:50.320 you an idea of what a notification looks like on a black and white e-paper 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.400 display. You can scroll through your reminders like this, and then you can 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:59.039 close them like that. What is this? What does this drop something? Very funny. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:03.919 Very funny. Anyway, here's my schedule for the day. The interface is kind of 00:06:01.520 --> 00:06:07.280 delightful. And unlike many modern devices, it doesn't come preloaded with 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:12.800 a bunch of crap that you don't want. You've got literally two watch faces. 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 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.919 in the Pebble mobile app to continue. So, why don't we play around in the 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:24.240 mobile app for a bit? Oh, firmware. Uh oh, man. Yeah, I feel like we should 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:27.759 probably do that. Notification vibe timing setting. Ooh, vibrate at the 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:31.759 beginning or end of notification animation. That's a valuable setting. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:35.120 Oh, very cool. Oh, apparently the new vibration motor is much better than the 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 00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:42.400 actuator now. See, Apple, this is how you do it. Whatever device I happen to 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.520 use, I'm allowed to update my firmware with it. You know, you can't update 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:48.880 AirPods firmware if you don't have an iPhone or a Mac. Literally, Apple's 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 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:58.160 made it quite difficult to integrate third party wearables, but uh they're 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 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:06.240 last quite a while. Like dayto-day 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 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:16.000 riding on my motorcycle or my hands are dirty or they're wet being able to 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.000 interact with my smartwatch using only buttons. 00:07:19.039 --> 00:07:25.280 Right. This is what the process looks like for signing into Rebel. You 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:30.880 basically just select your Google account. Wait 15 seconds. All right, 00:07:28.479 --> 00:07:36.880 time for a factory reset. I can't I can't forget it. 00:07:34.960 --> 00:07:40.639 This is wild. I reinstalled the app and I still can't 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 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 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:55.199 here by using an Android phone. Okay, let's go. 00:07:51.520 --> 00:07:56.879 Press plus to add Jesus H Christ. How? 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:04.160 Oh, wait. Oh, hold on. Maybe [music] progress. Yes. Success. Pair. Yes. Let's 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 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. 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 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:22.400 gives up. When I keep failing, I double down. Fail twice. Fail harder. That's 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:26.000 what I always say. I'm like Pebble that way. Google never wanted Pebble. They 00:08:24.400 --> 00:08:29.680 wanted Fitbit. And I don't think Fitbit had really done anything with Pebble. 00:08:27.599 --> 00:08:35.279 Actually, shout out good guy Google for just being chill and not only open 00:08:32.560 --> 00:08:38.800 sourcing the Pebble software, but like just giving back the trademark. [music] 00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:43.680 That's incredible. Okay, update complete. All right, connected. Okay, so 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:50.480 I got a couple of reminders there. Okay, I need some notifications. Somebody text 00:08:45.839 --> 00:08:52.959 me. Oh my god, this bug still exists. I 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:57.519 remember this from my old Pebble how sometimes you would get the person's 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:03.200 name twice which when you have like a you know 100line display or whatever is 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:08.241 uh maybe suboptimal but you know what all the options that I would really care 00:09:04.880 --> 00:09:11.040 about dismiss reply open on phone except 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 00:09:12.640 --> 00:09:17.519 love to see the Pebble team work with all of the supported apps to support 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:21.040 because a lot of the time I get a notification that is good for notifying 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:28.240 me, but doesn't actually require any action. I just want it expuned from 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:31.200 existence. Oo, this is cool. So, you're 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:34.800 able to do voice recognition on device or you're able to do it remote first 00:09:32.959 --> 00:09:38.560 with local fallback, which [music] is pretty cool. Obviously, a little bit 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:42.800 more accurate having the option for just local. Good stuff. Hey yo, small head. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:46.080 It's ironic because your head is actually much larger than mine, I think. 00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:50.880 Boom. Replied. Cute little animation, right? 00:09:48.560 --> 00:09:56.160 That's old school pebble baby. Oh, they have so many fun watch faces, dude. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:58.320 Totally non-infringing moon. Personally, 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. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:06.399 Actually, temperature. No, you lost me there. Oh my god, that's so cute. Mario 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:11.120 jumps. How cool is it that the Rebel team were stewards for all of this, for 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:16.880 all these years, and that Google was willing to just give this thing back? 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.720 Like, absolutely incredible. And there 00:10:16.880 --> 00:10:22.560 was a little bit of drama between Core Devices and the Rebel team for a bit, 00:10:20.959 --> 00:10:26.160 but it seems like they've gotten it resolved, which makes me extremely 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.079 happy. I like to see people, you know, get along, you know, and it's that 00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:34.880 simple. Boom. Nan Cat watch face. Listen, [music] 00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:39.600 that's style. That's style. You wouldn't understand, but that right there, that's 00:10:36.560 --> 00:10:41.120 style. Ah, yes. It does not have a timer 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 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 00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:56.000 activate. Boom. And it runs in the background, too. How handy is that? 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:02.160 Look, I'm trying to I'm trying to channel the 2012, you know, level of 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 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 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:15.279 interrupts you when you're just trying to go about your day. You choose what 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. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:23.600 You could get multi-timer or you could get stopwatch. You could get the 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:29.200 official timer. All right. It's very readable. You know, 00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:33.680 e- paperh. With that said, there are aspects of the design that have not aged 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:38.880 quite as gracefully. The feel is [music] distinctly cheap compared to modern 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.120 devices. And if it wasn't so expensive, 00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:44.240 that might not bother me. But I happened to be wearing this device during the 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.519 Black Friday weekend and I went and I did a little bit of comparison shopping 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:52.560 and I couldn't help noticing that the price is marketkedly higher, not just 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:57.120 than an entry-level Fitbit, but even higher than the Versa 2 and was almost 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 00:11:59.680 --> 00:12:06.480 swallow if you care about the extra features that those devices have. With 00:12:04.640 --> 00:12:10.560 that said, given the design intent of the Pebble to hearken back to a [music] 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:14.639 simpler time when smart watches were just watches but a little bit smarter 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:18.320 rather than kitchen sinks that were strapped to your wrist full of sensors 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:22.720 and cellular modems and underwater communications beepers. Maybe it's 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:26.720 better not to focus too much on the price to performance of the hardware, 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:31.200 but rather to frame the price as an investment to a friendlier, more 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:35.200 comfortable open-source ecosystem, one with fewer distractions. If that sounds 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 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 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:46.639 you. One thing that I can tell you probably won't appeal to you, though, is 00:12:44.800 --> 00:12:52.320 their current approach to support for this device. Right now, they are 00:12:48.560 --> 00:12:55.360 offering a 30-day warranty, which I am 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:57.279 not 100% sure is legal in every 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:01.040 jurisdiction. So, that might be something that they're going to have to 00:12:58.800 --> 00:13:04.560 look into. It remains to be seen how they're handling that warranty. Like, 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 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.880 a Costco approach where if people have a problem, you take care of it. But core 00:13:10.560 --> 00:13:17.519 devices in its current iteration really hasn't been around that long. And their 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 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.