GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL A Different Breed of Smartwatch

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL A Different Breed of Smartwatch

Why don't more people own smartwatches? It's a question that many companies want answered. There are, according to a 2015 study by Business Insider, a few main barriers when it comes to smartwatch adoption. 51% of respondents basically didn't see the point of owning one. Other reasons include the expense and that they were perceived as ugly.

These opinions are echoed every where -smartwatches are often expensive, seen as an object that replicates smartphone functions and derided (even loathed) as being just another `gadget' that you have to charge every day. Pebble is trying to counter some of the biggest names in the industry by specifically addressing these barriers. So how are they doing it? For starters, all Pebble smartwatches have e-ink displays. Although e-ink is lower resolution, there's a certain charm to it. This new generation has colour e-ink which looks great, is always on (though the backlight isn't) and it skips the touchscreen in favour of button control. Note that our review is for the top-end Time Steel which is very similar to the Time but has all steel construction.With a thicker casing and larger battery, the company has pushed the battery life of the Time Steel to roughly 8 to 10 days. This would obviously depend on how much you use it, specifically how long the backlight stays on. In our testing, we were easily able to achieve 8 days of battery life without powering off at night.

In some ways, it is typical smartwatch: you get the app, pair it with a phone over bluetooth and it shows you incoming calls and notifications.It pairs with Android and iOS -that's a plus compared to others like Apple Watch and Samsung Gear series.There are a ton of apps available for it and thousands of awesome watch faces. The tactile buttons offer great feel and the timeline interface (everything arranged according to past, present, future) is very cool. Some would say that Pebble has achieved almost a cult status. It's more an accessory than a smartwatch. It's fashionable and geeky at the same time -and many will be surprised to see these two adjectives in the same sentence.Pebble took its time to mark an official entry but they have the complete range in one go -prices start at `5,999 for the Pebble Classic.

Some of the things we didn't like about the Pebble Time Steel: the leather bands don't wear well, especially in our hot summers. If you're used to swiping a touchscreen, button control will take time to get used to and sometimes, you need multiple button presses to do one small thing. Compared to others, you're trading in glitzy features like a high-resolution touchscreen, heart rate sensor and phone calls for something a lot simpler and with a lot better battery life. It's uncomplicated, unfussy and unassuming -it's the un-smartwatch. And we can't help but fall in love with it .

Hitesh.Bhagat@timesgroup.com

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