Hi, it's HandyAndy Tech Tips here. So the Pebble Time, which was released back in May,
is a great smartwatch. It swapped the monochrome screen of the original
Pebble for a full colour e-paper display, and included a completely
revamped operating system. But it has been the target of some criticism. For example,
many people have called its design toy-like and
geeky.
In contrast, the Apple Watch has always been both a smartwatch and a fashion accessory.
While a lot of the press attention surrounding it might have more to do with
the Apple brand name than with the watch itself, it's still fair to say that the
Apple watch has received more positive feedback about its design than either the Pebble Time
or the Pebble Time Steel.
But now it seems like everything is about to change. Pebble have just announced the
Time Round, which has a round display and is apparently the thinnest and lightest smartwatch
in the world. So what does this mean for the Apple Watch? Let's do a
head-to-head comparison.
Firstly, let's look at the most important feature of any watch - the design! The new
Pebble Time has a round case that is just 7.5mm thick and weighs 28 grams. The
stainless steel case comes in three finishes: silver, black or rose gold -
and it also comes in two sizes, with 20mm and 14mm straps available. The diameter of
the watch itself is 38.5mm, which should mean that it's large enough to look
impressive, but not so large that it looks out of place on your wrist.
By contrast, the Apple Watch sport - which is the closest in price to the Pebble Time
Round - comes in two models - a 38mm and a 42mm. It has an aluminium case with
your choice of silver or space grey finishes, and the thickness measures in
at 10.5mm, which is 3mm more than the Pebble. Interestingly, even though the Pebble is made
of stainless steel, it's roughly the same weight as the aluminium Apple Watch,
which, depending on which model you choose, ranges between 25g and 30g.
So we've looked at the cases, but what about the displays? Well, here's where the two watches
really start to differ. The Apple Watch uses a touch sensitive square
OLED panel, and the Pebble Time Round has a non-touch sensitive e-paper display
that appears to be round. Now apart from the obvious difference in shape, the actual technology
used for the displays is worlds apart.
Due to the e-paper, the Pebble can only display 64 colours, while the Apple Watch has theoretically
millions to choose from. Of course, the advantage of e-paper
smartwatches in the past has been that their battery life is measured
in days, not hours, but unfortunately the Pebble has had to compromise on battery size
to acheive its ultra-thin chassis. You will need to recharge it every
two days, which is still better than the meagre 18-hour battery life of the Apple
Watch, but nowhere near the six days of the original Pebble Time steel.
And now we get to a controversial feature of the Pebble Time Round - that bezel. Yep,
it's quite large, and you'll either love it or hate it. My personal opinion is
that, if it were unfeasible to have a larger screen, Pebble should have made
the case smaller. Because let's face it, inlike traditional watches, the bezel on a smartwatch
serves no real purpose.
But even with a large border around it, the round Pebble still looks more like a traditional
watch than the Apple Watch, and that's a good thing. You'll probably draw
less attention to yourself when wearing the Pebble, and the fact that the
display is always-on means that it's easier to quickly glance at the time without tapping
or shaking your watch.
So in the end, I suppose the choice between these two watches comes down to personal preference.
If you have an iPhone, then the Apple Watch will still offer greater
integration with iOS, but it has poor battery life and a relatively
high price. Personally, if I had a choice between the $349 Apple Watch Sport and the
$249 Pebble Time Round, I'd still choose the Pebble, despite its limitations.
I'm HandyAndy Tech Tips and thanks so much for watching my video! Please subscribe for
more tech videos.