In a nutshell: Pebble is revisiting one of its most beloved smartwatches. The new Pebble Round 2 builds on the legacy of the original Pebble Time Round from 2015, giving the rejuvenated wearable specialist an opportunity to address some of the shortcomings that prevented the first model from reaching its full potential.
The new smartwatch features a 1.3-inch color e-paper touchscreen display (260 x 260 pixels, 283 DPI) that encompasses the entire face – no oversized bezels this time around. The timepiece packs core smartwatch tech like an accelerometer, magnetometer, and dual microphones for speech input, and while it affords basic health functionality like step tracking and sleep monitoring, it lacks more advanced wellness features such as a heart rate monitor. As such, it's not going to be a replacement for a dedicated fitness or sports watch.
Pebble went with a stainless steel chassis measuring 8.1mm thick. The watch features four physical buttons around the perimeter, is water resistant to 30 meters, and has an estimated battery life of roughly two weeks. It runs PebbleOS out of the box, which is compatible with the more than 15,000 apps and watchfaces already available in the Pebble app store.
The Round 2 is the second new product from Pebble is as many months. In December, Pebble introduced a smart ring designed solely to record your voice. The Index 01 has a single button that, when pressed, records voice memos. There is no Internet connection or recurring subscriptions – in fact, it's not even rechargeable. Once the estimated 12-15 hours of battery life are exhausted, the device is considered dead and ready for recycling.
Pricing for the Pebble Round 2 is set at $199, and pre-orders are open now in your choice of matte black, brushed silver, or polished rose gold. The matte black model includes a 20mm band, the silver can be optioned with a 14mm or 20mm band, and the gold is limited to a 14mm band. Look for the Pebble Round 2 to ship in May.