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The Pebble stands out by not standing out — almost every other smart watch is a bulky, chunky affair, but chances are most people won’t even realize you’re wearing the Pebble until you tell them. It’s slim and sleek, and when the backlight is off the screen blends in seamlessly with the borders of my black review unit. On the right side you’ll find up / down and select buttons, while the left side has a back button and a set of contacts for the Pebble’s magnetic power connector, which aligns and latches on like Apple’s familiar MagSafe system. It’s a clever way to keep the Pebble waterproof without resorting to clunky port covers or flaps.

As for the screen itself, I would call it just okay: Pebble calls it "e-paper," but it’s really a 114 x 168 "transflective" LCD that’s designed for watches. It’s functional, but ultimately it’s a low-resolution black and white LCD, and low-resolution black and white LCDs are not renowned for their beauty. It’s also covered by a curved plastic lens that can reflect light in weird ways — it’s not a huge problem at all, but you’ll notice it from time to time.

Let's hope Pebble finds a better screen next time

The screen itself always has content on it, whether it’s the time, the music player, or a notification, and it’s fairly readable in daylight without the backlight on. But the backlight makes a big difference: when it’s off, the screen is roughly black and white, in the same way a Nook or Kindle screen is roughly black and white. But incoming notifications and particularly fast movements trigger the backlight, which adds an unexpected bluish tint to the screen. It works fine, but there’s no way for it to feel super-premium if the screen looks cheap — the experience here is fundamentally all about the display, after all. I hope Pebble finds a better part the next time around.

The Pebble’s polyurethane watchband is entirely unremarkable. It’s there, and it holds the thing to your wrist comfortably. But it’s tremendously boring and even somewhat cheap feeling, and I’m already shopping for a replacement — you can fit any standard 22mm band, so your options are basically unlimited.

But overall, the Pebble is a very nice piece of hardware — it’s comfortable and small, and it works. You could put it in the designer watch case at a department store and it would blend right in, which is a big accomplishment. Holding it in your hand, it’s amazing to think that it was designed and assembled by an independent hardware startup funded by Kickstarter. But we’ve known the Pebble looks cool for months now. The big question is — does it work?