(Credit: Pebble)
The Pebble Round 2 isn’t meant for everybody. It doesn’t have the fitness-tracking features of a Garmin wearable or even those of flagship smartwatches from Apple, Google, or Samsung. Instead, it’s meant to follow the same core philosophy behind the Pebble Time 2 as a playful device that’s fun to use, with long battery life, and an always-on e-paper screen visible without a glow in any lighting conditions.
With preorders now underway, you can snag the Pebble Round 2 for an attractive $199, and it’s expected to ship in May. It’s a stylish alternative to the square Time 2, with the same thin frame and light, stainless steel design as its predecessor, the Pebble Time Round from 2015. It comes in three colors (gold, silver, and black) and two wristband sizes (14 and 20mm).
What Goes Around
The original Pebble smartwatches were among the first to popularize the category before the company was acquired by Fitbit, which was subsequently acquired by Google. They were known for simple designs, with a pleasant e-paper screen and long battery life. Years later, Pebble co-founder Eric Migicovsky was still on the hunt for other wearables that filled the same niche of simplicity plus longevity, so he resurrected the brand after Google open-sourced the Pebble software.
The Pebble Round 2 is now the third product being offered by the company, alongside the Time 2 and a smart ring for recording your thoughts called the Index 01. The Round 2 eliminates the large bezels of its decade-old predecessor, and increases the expected battery life from three days to 10 to 14 days. It has access to the same Pebble store as the Time 2, complete with new and old watch faces and simple apps.
The screen on the Round 2 is a memory-in-pixel, color e-paper design with a refresh rate between 30 to 40 frames per second, allowing for some simple animations. The lower power use of the screen is what grants the watch its longevity, and it's meant to be visible under any lighting conditions and not cast a glow in darkened rooms.
While the watch doesn’t have all the health, lifestyle, and safety features of big-name competitors from Apple or Samsung, it does support basic activity and sleep tracking, including step counting. Otherwise, it’s meant to show your phone’s notifications and provide a spot for simple apps without aiming to replace the functionality of your smartphone.
A New Start for an Old Favorite
The Pebble Time 2 will start shipping in March for $225 and includes a heart rate monitor and an even longer battery life expectancy of three to four weeks. Oddly, the Round 2 doesn’t have the heart rate monitor for active exercise tracking, and won’t last as long, but it does look like a more traditional watch at a glance and is slightly cheaper.
Once they’re available, we’ll test the models to see how these classics fare against modern competition. In the meantime, check out our picks for best smartwatches currently on sale.