You’ve probably heard people say that it’s impossible to go back and correct a mistake from the past. To these people, you should raise your middle finger in defiance (they are miserable, after all), then show them the story of Pebble’s unlikely rebirth. The return of the smartwatch pioneer it was a 2025 surpriseand now the company has resurrected one of its last great triumphs. He announces Pebble Round 2, and the company’s founder, Eric Migicovsky, seeks to fix what went wrong.
The Pebble Round 2 is the successor to the Pebble Time Tourwhich debuted in 2015 in what can only be described as frustrated reviews. It was a really thin smartwatch, with a beautiful round display, but that came at the cost of battery life and durability. The more sophisticated components also added to the cost, pushing it to an unreasonable for the time price of $249. It’s these flaws that the company sought to address with Round 2, as well as some of the issues that weren’t deal-breakers at the time, but certainly weren’t ideal.
For example, the massive bezel around the screen is now a thing of the past, with the Round 2’s 1.3-inch e-paper color touchscreen now extending all the way to the edge of its case. Viewing angles have also been significantly improved, allowing you to check the time without having to move your wrist. The screen has also been bonded to the glass crystal, reducing reflectivity and glare, another drawback of the original model.
Better yet, battery life is now over two weeks on a single charge, giving it the kind of Pebble-esque longevity its users demand. And it has retained that thinness – measuring just 8.1mm – which is much sleeker than bulkier smartwatches from other manufacturers. Additionally, there are dual microphones for interacting with AI agents and dictating messages, as well as step and sleep tracking.
Migicovsky explained that the goal here isn’t just to fix some of the first model’s more glaring problems. Like he wrote In 2022, Pebble’s failure was due to its attempt to broaden its appeal beyond the users who so heartily embraced it in the first place. Therefore, rather than including bulky features like a built-in optical heart rate sensor, the focus is on utility. Not to mention the desire to reintroduce some much-needed whimsy into the hardware and allow users to tinker with their devices, allowing them to create their own watch faces.
Hopefully we’ll get some in-person time with the Pebble Round 2 in the coming days, but in the meantime, it’s up for pre-order starting today. It will cost you $199 and will start shipping in May. And if you’ve already put down money for a Pebble Time 2 and want to change your mind, you can reorder with no questions asked.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pebble-brings-its-round-faced-smartwatch-back-from-the-dead-150000172.html?src=rss
