Pebble’s latest smartwatches have built-in heart rate monitors, and they also made a supercharged iPod Shuffle competitor
Remember that big announcement Pebble teased? Well, turns out their hype was well-warranted as they’ve doled out not one, not two, and not even three new products — we have 4 new goods on tap.
First up are two new smartwatches. They’re calling them Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2, which would make them the first ever direct sequels to Pebble’s original lineup. Surely they have something big in store for us, right?
Well, the big new feature these two wrist dwellers will adopt is a heart-rate monitor. Previously you had to buy a third-party smart strap to get this functionality, but having it built-in allows you to get a premiere fitness experience without having to sacrifice your sense of style.
Beyond that, these are largely the same watches you know and love. The Pebble 2 has an e-paper display that’s easy to view in daylight and contributes to a full 7 days of battery life. The Time 2 is a direct improvement on that with 10-day battery life and its color e-paper display. Both are running the latest health-focused Timeline software, and both are still water resistant up to 30 meters. The Pebble 2 and Time 2 start at $99 and $169, respectively.
Moving on, the company also had a new wearable to show off. It’s a $69 puck ($99 when it launches) called the Pebble Core that’ll play your Spotify tunes while you’re running. It has a GPS chip inside, as well as 3G connectivity. This means you can snap it onto your shirt sleeve, belt, or wherever it is you’d prefer it to be and go for a run without your smartphone.
All the data will be synced to supported fitness applications such as Runkeeper, Strava, and Under Armour Record. The Core can also record voice notes and has an SOS feature that’ll send an emergency text message to whoever you want in case you ever need it. It has enough battery to last 5.5 hours while playing music and actively using GPS, and you can get an optional wireless charging accessory if you want want to have to deal with USB cables to top it back up.
For the geeks out there, a different version of the Pebble Core can be had. The device is just like the regular Pebble Core, only the 2 buttons are programmable to do anything you need it to do. This isn’t all that dissimilar to Amazon’s IoT button. You can have it call you an Uber, open your door, control your smart home and more. You’re going to need to be handy with a lot of code and an SDK, though, so it’s probably best to hold off on getting one if you aren’t comfortable with all of that.
Want any of these? Kickstarter has a wide range of pledge options so be sure to explore them right here, and be on the lookout for deliveries as soon as September.