This is a follow up to an article I wrote a few weeks ago. Read it here.
Yes, I’m changing my mind. What happened?
Well, a couple things. One, I tried on an Apple watch, and I loved it. Felt amazing on my wrist – definitely felt like a more classy and elegant gadget…made my Pebble almost feel like a toy.
Secondly, I did some more comparison research, and I found although the new Pebble has some great features, iPhone users will not get to fully take advantage of them. Check out this blurb (hands-on review from The Verge):
“But if you have an iPhone, notifications on the Pebble Time are far less useful. The Time will buzz (and I mean buzz, it’s like a can of angry hornets on my wrist) with every notification that lights up my iPhone’s display, and there’s no way to filter them specifically for the watch as you can with an Apple Watch or Pebble with Android. Further, the only thing I can do with an iOS notification on the Time is dismiss it — there are no voice replies or quick actions with an iPhone. Pebble says it is working to add voice replies to Gmail notifications on the iOS, but it’s not likely that it will be able to for text messages.”
(Read the whole review – really good: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/27/8661863/pebble-time-review-wearable-smartwatch)
Here’s a few quick bullet point final summary thoughts of the whole smartwatch battle that wages in my mind:
- AppleWatch has richer featureset combined with iPhone, while Pebble has some severe limitations with iOS
- Pebble battery lasts longer (a fact that still bugs me about Apple Watch)
- AppleWatch feels like a classy piece of jewelry, combined with a smartwatch – while Pebble just feels like a geeky plasticy watch.
- AppleWatch display is CRISP and BRIGHT – while reviews say the Pebble display leaves much to be desired.
- The AW Taptic feedback engine is incredible – far more robust and useful than the simple vibration of Pebble.
Simply put, after wearing one, I felt like the Apple Watch was more of an upgrade from the Original Pebble than the Pebble Time was. I should have interacted with the AW more before putting out a strong opinion, and I hate back pedaling – but the AW feels like a superior product.
Whoops, gotta go – my watch is ringing.