A Beloved Gadget Is Making A Comeback And We Can't Wait To See It

Allow me to tickle your nostalgia bone just a bit as we delve back into the world of Pebble. Pebble smartwatches were once the darling of wearable devices and, at the time, one of the more successful Kickstarter campaigns in the site's history up to that point. Put simply, the Pebble smartwatch was an e-paper based smartwatch with a bunch of novel (at the time) functionality like displaying notifications and fun watchfaces.

Of course, you might be thinking to yourself "What's so novel about that?" and that's a fair question, but remember this was back in 2013, before smartwatches were a thing. This was a really new innovation that people just fell in love with because, if you can imagine, you got notifications on your wrist. Crazy stuff.

Well, as it turns out, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky and some of his old crew are back to re-release a pair of smartwatches based on Pebble's original philosophy. Migicovsky's new company Core Devices is launching the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2 this year. I had a chance to chat with Migicovsky about this revived venture, but first, let's talk about the devices that are coming.

The Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2 are both coming this year in July and December respectively. Their prices are attractive. The Core 2 Duo will retail for $149 and the Core Time 2 will ship for $225. The Core 2 Duo (which is short for "do over") is very similar to the Pebble 2 that launched in 2016, now with updated electronics and components. Highlights are a 1.26-inch black and white display which is good for up to 30 days of battery life, a polycarbonate frame, microphone and speaker, step and sleep tracking, Bluetooth LE, and a better linear resonance actuator.

Meanwhile, the Core Time 2 will have a 64-color 1.5-inch display, a metal frame, a touch screen, heart rate monitor, water resistance, step and sleep tracking and a microphone and speaker. Both watches will have standard 22mm lugs, so you can swap out the straps if you prefer.

Both watches will run PebbleOS, which Google has open-sourced. Since the announcement of the new watches earlier this year, thousands of watchface and app developers have stepped up to make sure their faces and apps are working with the OS, according to Migicovski. There are over 10,000 watchfaces already available through the app store at apps.rebble.io.

Of course, the big question to ask is why Migicovsky is doing this in 2025. Back in 2013, this made a lot of sense. There were very few smartwatches on the market. There actually wasn't much of a market at all. Today, there is no shortage of excellent smartwatches that you can take your pick from. Last month, I reviewed four different smartwatches, and two of them came very close to a perfect score.

When I asked this question, Migicovsky said there was one core reason to bring back PebbleOS smartwatches. Put simply, he spent years looking for a smartwatch that was better than what the original Pebble was, and nothing had the exact set of things that he loved. The blog post announcing the pair of smartwatches lays out what he was looking for. "Always on e-paper screen, long battery life, simple and beautiful design, physical buttons, and hackable" are the items on the list.

I asked Migicovski if there was anything that he learned from smartwatches that had launched since 2016 that he wanted to integrate onto a new smartwatch, and he said a touch screen was a huge thing for him. Specifically, he cited smartwatch complications, and the ability to get glanceable information but also to launch the associated app with a tap was a new feature he really liked. This is why the Core Time 2 has a touch screen, and frankly, I'm here for it.

Aside from the e-paper display and hackability, I can name a few smartwatches that tick the rest of the boxes, but I will concede that I can't think of one that necessarily ticks all of them at once. You can get long battery life out of the Amazfit T-Rex (one of our best of IFA 2024 picks) for example, but that watch is ridiculously huge. You can get a simple and beautiful design out of the Pixel Watch 3, but you won't get long battery life, and so on.

Before you run for your wallet and start throwing money at a new PebbleOS watch, it's important to note who the watches are not for. Migicovsky waxed poetic on this point, but the Core Devices watches are meant primarily for people who want a simple smartwatch without a ton of extra functionality, not those looking for the latest features and technology. Some of the features you will not find on this smartwatch include the ability to make and receive calls and GPS. These watches are not meant for athletes looking to log their miles.

They're also not meant for people who, according to the blog post, need "a perfectly polished smartwatch" which is a little scary. I'm inclined to believe, based on my previous experience with Pebble smartwatches, that the watch will be most of the way there. This is not going to be a "some assembly required" kind of situation. All the same, if you want something with a ton of detail and polish, you have other options.

But if you're a Pebble fan from a decade ago, and you want a new smartwatch that evokes that same sense of nostalgia, this is very exciting news indeed. You can visit the Core Devices website to put in a preorder for either watch. Again, the Core Duo 2 will ship in July, while the Core Time will ship in December. Both watches will be produced in limited quantities, so there is some amount of urgency there. If you put down your hard-earned dollars and later change your mind, you can get a full refund until the watch ships. By the way, the watches will only ever be sold on the website.

That's a tough question to answer, and it very much depends on your use case. Personally, I'm excited about the idea of a new PebbleOS smartwatch, especially one with a touchscreen and 30-day battery life, which I should reiterate is an estimate — but honestly, even half of that would be pretty awesome.

As for reasons I might want to shy away — Migicovsky's references to physical buttons (and the fact that the Core Duo will not have a touch screen) makes me wonder if the operating system will ever be optimized for touches and swipes — the navigation that's possible when a touch screen is introduced. Also, the lack of GPS feels like a table-stakes omission — not necessarily for me, but for those looking for a fitness tracker.

Regardless, I love the idea of new PebbleOS hardware, so that alone has me excited to try these watches out. My time with my old Pebble was fun but looking back I wonder if Pebble was a choice or a lack of options. There is certainly no lack of options available today, so that is one hurdle Migicovsky will have to clear. I suspect there will be enough nostalgia and legitimate new functionality to allow him and Core Devices to do so.