Pebble Time 2 review: The perfect smartwatch for a select group of people

The review praises the Time 2 for what it omits as much as for what it includes. It is not a fitness watch, and it does not run a full app platform. Instead, it shows notifications, controls music playback, checks the weather, and runs basic single-purpose apps. As Engadget puts it, “it’s a second screen for your phone.” That design philosophy, the review argues, was lost when Apple, Samsung and Google turned smartwatches into general-purpose platforms with LTE radios and standalone capabilities.

Hardware details in the review include a 1.5-inch, 220 x 228, 64-color, always-on e-paper touchscreen, a CNC-milled PVD-coated body, and stainless steel buttons with knurled edges. The watch runs on a SiFli system-on-chip based on ARM’s Cortex M33 dual-core platform from 2016. Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky jokes that compared to the chips in Apple and Google watches, the Time 2 runs on a “calculator chip.” Engadget notes the watch’s bottom cover is held by screws for easier repair, and that the battery can be replaced by someone comfortable with a soldering iron. It has a 185mAh battery and is rated to last more than a week on a charge. The charging adapter, designed by Nomad Goods, connects via USB-C.

Engadget’s review unit was the Black and Red edition, which ships with two different sizes of bottom straps. The reviewer found the e-paper screen harder to read in peripheral vision depending on the watchface, and said the backlight needed a somewhat hard wrist flick to trigger. But the review adds that once the right watchface is chosen, the device works smoothly.

The review also recounts Pebble’s history as a cautionary tale of the early 2010s. The original Pebble raised more than $10 million with nearly 90,000 pre-orders on Kickstarter, and the Pebble Time later raised $20 million with 80,000 more pre-orders. The company collapsed less than a year afterward, with Fitbit buying its remnants for about three percent of its previous valuation. Last year, Google, which now owns Fitbit, returned the Pebble trademark to Migicovsky. Engadget reports that in January, Migicovsky said his mission is to make a smartwatch that empowers its user, and that Pebble has already taken 20,000 orders for the new device.