Even though Pebble was recently dissolved and the plans for it purchased by fitness band mogul Fitbit, I still feel like everyone should own a Pebble smartwatch before they eventually fade from the market. Of course, I suppose any smartwatch will do, but since I’ve personally only ever owned the Pebble I decided to share my thoughts on this simple piece of technology.

1. They Were Recently Purchased

Like I had mentioned, Pebble was purchased by Fitbit and may begin phasing out the Pebble smartwatches. What this means is there will soon be a supply of perfectly good Pebble Time watches out there that will be dropping in price. I have even seen some refurbished models on Amazon for almost half the normal price of a new Pebble.

Some may be wary of purchasing a product that will soon most likely be loosing tech support and replacement, but as rugged as this watch is that may be a moot point.

2. They’re Rugged

Sure, a lot of watches can say they are shockproof and waterproof, but can many electronic smartwatches say that? The Pebble Time that I own is lined on the inside with rubber seals to keep out moisture and allows you to take it to depths of 40 meters (130 feet) underwater. I personally have swam in a lake, washed my hands, and reached into buckets of water with mine on. Some users were finding after submerging theirs they were getting condensation on the inside of the screen. However after doing some digging I found piece of information from Pebble that stated their watches are waterproof as long as you don’t press any of the buttons. When a button is pressed under water the seal is displaced and it does allow some water to get in. They also don’t recommend taking a shower with it on, but that just seems like a silly practice anyways.

Over the two years of usage on my watch, I’ve also gotten many bumps and scratches on my watch case without damaging the actual watch itself.

3. The Battery Life

Pebble Time watches taunt an average 5 day battery life that conquers over others like the Apple watch. The technology used to display things on the screen uses very little power. I’ve found that the less your watch face updates, the more power you save. It does also seem that the less notifications you receive the more power you save as well, so for all those lonely anti-social folks, you’ll be in heaven.

Because you can change the watch faces via the paired phone app, you can even pick faces that only update every five minutes. My favorite one of these is Fuzzy Time International which displays a vague “half past two” or “quarter to three”, which sometimes is all the accuracy you need.

Did I also mention that the watch face is displayed ALL THE TIME. Unlike other smartwatches that have to save battery by turning off the screen when you aren’t looking at it, the Pebble Time displays the time all the time! With new smartwatches, gone are the days of being able to look at your desk neighbor or classmate’s wrist and see what time it is over his shoulder. Or even making a quick glance at your own wrist without having to make a spectacle show of flapping your arms and wrist about like a wounded duck just to see what time it is.

4. They’re Silent

I will admit that in the two years that I’ve owned my Pebble Time, I have actually been using my phone with ALL of it’s notification vibrations and ringers turned off. I found in the first few weeks that receiving dual notifications, a buzz on my wrist and a ping or buzz from my pocket was just downright annoying. After realizing I could permanently silence my phone, I did so and have not turned back since.

Now, this does pose some problems if the watch runs out of battery and I’m on the go and can’t charge it, or if I’m currently charging the watch and it’s off my wrist. But this can be simply rectified by switching the notifications back on the phone with a few button presses.

All your notifications or some, you can choose via the app, will come to the watch. Some notifications work better than others, but they are all pretty useful. Emails, for instance, only show you a snippet of the mail. Whereas text messages show you the entire message, even the lengthy wife-is-mad ones.

Also, gone is the day of waking up to a blaring alarm clock. For two years I have been using the built-in alarm feature of the watch have have woken to being gently buzzed int he wrist. While sleeping with a watch on has taken some time getting used to, it’s definitely helped keep from scaring myself awake.

5. They’re Customizable

With the ability to change your watch face at-will from the mobile app, and the ability to create your own with some apps that can be found on the Google Play Store, this watch makes for a very custom user experience. You can even update the straps to any standard 22 mm watch strap of your choice. Metal bands, leather bands, nylon bands, silicone bands, you name it! Using a simple spring bar system like most other watches, you can quickly and easily update your watch strap to add a little extra splash of color or comfort, without having to pay for proprietary bands.

All points aside, the Pebble watches are pretty amazing and they will keep on going for years after you purchase them. It’s worth the investment that’s nearly 1/4 the price of an Apple watch.

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