Ultra-thin Pebble Round 2 with MiP display takes on Garmin Forerunner in video comparison
The Pebble Round 2 was announced in January, and was originally supposed to start shipping in May. After several delays production has now reportedly started, although most customers probably should not expect delivery before December.
Nick Lum has already been able to use the smartwatch for several months as part of a beta test, and shows the hardware in detail in the video embedded below. The Pebble Round 2 differs from most competitors in three main areas. First, the smartwatch uses an open-source operating system called Pebble OS, which can be tried out in a web browser. Second, the watch uses a MiP display, similar to some Garmin smartwatches. This panel is perfectly readable even in sunlight, while a backlight enables use at night.
And thirdly, the Pebble Round 2 is one of the thinnest smartwatches on the market. The watch is only 8.1 millimeters thick. Since Pebble forgoes a heart rate sensor, the back is flat rather than curved, so unlike most smartwatches, there is no need to account for a bump that manufacturers often omit from the dimensions. As a comparison with the 11.6-millimeter-thick Garmin Forerunner 165 ($196 on Amazon) shows, those few millimeters make a noticeable difference on the wrist.
According to Nick Lum, the Pebble Round 2 averages just under ten days of battery life – the advertised 14 days are only possible if some features, such as the touchscreen, are disabled. The reviewer mainly criticizes the fact that one of the four buttons does not always respond correctly to inputs, a replacement smartwatch also suffers from the same problem. More detailed reviews are likely to be published by the time shipping begins in the coming weeks.
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