Smartwatch segment:

Pebble Time Steel: Display dim but superb battery life

The dim e-paper display makes it difficult to read the watch unless you are outdoors. Activating the backlight needs a vigorous twist of the wrist. PHOTO: PEBBLE

Updated

Published

Dec 23, 2015, 05:00 AM

The Pebble Time and the Pebble Time Steel are very similar - the latter has a stainless steel case.

Both Pebbles feature a 1.25-inch (144 x 168 pixels) always-on, e-paper display with 64 colours.

The cheaper Pebble Time ($329) is available in red, black and white models. The Pebble Time Steel, which is not sold in Singapore yet, comes in gold, gunmetal and silver. I reviewed the gold version.

TECH SPECS

PRICE: US$249.99 (S$353), available from www.pebble.com

CASE MATERIAL: Stainless steel

COMPATIBILITY: Android 4.3 or higher and iOS 8 or higher

WEIGHT: 62.3g (with leather strap)
RATING

FEATURES: 3/5

DESIGN: 3/5

PERFORMANCE: 4/5

BATTERY LIFE: 5/5

VALUE FOR MONEY: 3/5

OVERALL: 3/5

Pressing the top right button toggles through past events, while the top left button allows you to scroll through future events. The events can include appointments, missed calls, Instagram posts, the weather, and sunrise and sunset timings.

Notifications appear with vibrations. Setting the watch to "Quiet Time" prevents notifications from showing. The Pebble Time OS offers a myriad of watch face designs, as well as apps and games that you can download.

My quibble with the Time Steel is its dim e-paper display, which is difficult to read unless you are outdoors and in bright sunlight. To activate the backlight, you have to twist your wrist quite vigorously.

The Time Steel is water-resistant to 30m depth, but the leather strap is not water-friendly. You can replace this with a standard 22mm rubber watch strap that is more suitable for swimming.

Battery life is superb for a smartwatch, lasting nearly a week before it needs recharging.

Trevor Tan

Verdict: The Pebble Time Steel is a smartwatch without bells and whistles like GPS or heart-rate sensor, but it has good water-resistance and long battery life.