Pebble Time 2

What hackers pick instead

• Pebble Round 2Recommended for a thin, stylish smartwatch with weeks of battery life and a simple button-driven interface; the main caveat is the 30-day manufacturing warranty.38recommend
• Pebble 2 DuoRecommended for its readable display, long battery life and open third-party apps. The most common caveat is rubber buttons that crack or fail, plus shipping delays.17recommend
• PineTime smartwatchA cheap, open, hackable smartwatch that runs custom software and has good battery life. Critics say its RAM and processing power are too limited, and the case can crack.12recommend
• SQFMI WatchyOpen, hackable e-paper smartwatch that you can program yourself, with reliable timekeeping. The most common caveat is that it is bulkier than expected and not built for daily wear.6recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 91 comments. Each links to the original.

1. It's great as a watch that can tell you if it's going to rain, give you TOTP authenticator codes, and control music playback.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch”

2. I remember it feeling really snappy too, and it feels great to use a UI that moves like that with physical tactile buttons

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Pebble Production: February Update”

3. They are building devices that are just like the original Pebbles, but with smaller bezels and longer battery life.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

4. The only issue I had with Pebble Time Steel was the battery, even after changing it, was up for maximum a week.

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch”

5. I have a Pebble Time 2 on order (said I'd buy one if they made it less ugly, and they did!)

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Pebble, Rebble, and a path forward”

6. I am quite a fan of it). Open source and comes with standard sensors for health monitoring

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Oura says it gets government demands for user data. Will it share how many?”

7. the alarm feature to wake you up when you were in a light phase of sleep worked very well

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

8. it has a sunlight readable ALWAYS on display, really good battery life and is open source

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

9. To me, a Pebble is better than an apple watch due to battery life and hack-ability.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

10. it gets way way way more battery life WITH an always on , sunlight readable display

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

11. it's free and I don't have to worry about it's software getting redesigned

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

12. The PT2 is already a marked improvement over that watch's build quality

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

13. I can start a timer in seconds when I am meditating, when I am cooking

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch”

14. Just enough bells and whistles and battery lasts for weeks. Love it!

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

15. Since Pebble is open source, AI tools are very good at building it

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)”

16. will be cancelling it if I don't hear a positive outcome from this

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Core Devices keeps stealing our work”

17. i own PT2 due to buttons but charging thing is not such a problem

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

18. The open ecosystem means it'll be supported for a long while.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Apple Watch or Don't Bother”

19. How can I know I'm not buying $225 brick supported only by a single person who ditched the community?

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Pebble, Rebble, and a path forward”

20. The downside of the old one was the battery life, on the order of 2 days when the battery is new

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Pebble, Rebble, and a path forward”

21. When I had a Pebble Time (dead, waiting on PR2) I basically had notifications turned off.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch”

22. 51 broken screens in less than two months results in a yearly failure rate of over 1%

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

23. I'm not really that thrilled about them I just wanted to support the project

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

24. pebble time 2 with worse (bigger) dimensions, worse battery life

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “New Casio F-B100W – Upgrade to the iconic F-91W after 40 years”

25. the adhesive connecting the front bezel(?) to the back case

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

26. I'll cancel this week if there is no satisfactory response.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Core Devices keeps stealing our work”

27. the bezel of the Time scratched if you looked at it wrong

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

28. considering cancelling my order for the duo and time two

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Pebble, Rebble, and a path forward”

29. The heartrate sensor on the PT2 can also do O2 monitoring, they're planning on implementing it in the future

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “A DIY Watch You Can Actually Wear”

30. The torch is super underrated. I use it regularly, like when getting out of bed in the middle of the night.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch”

31. I’m not willing to settle for less than the Pebble Time Steel’s week that it holds a charge for nowadays.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “The Last Quiet Thing”

32. Given their track record hitting the battery life projections for the P2D and PT2 (almost)

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

33. The Pebble Time 2 is a huge step up from the Pebble 2 Duo in almost every conceivable way

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

34. I was constantly looking for something similar in terms of capabilities and battery life

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”

35. IPX8 should be good for more than being "water resistant" to incidental splashes.

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Pebble Watch software is now open source”

36. the thing has held up amazingly well under all the stress I have put it through

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

37. I like it for tracking my exercise, heart rate, calendar, and time.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

38. There is brand new Pebble hardware coming soon, the Pebble Time 2.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Please suggest a smart watch that can be customized”

39. it does exactly what I want in a smartwatch sans wireless payments

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

40. its utility is seriously limited by its dependence on a smartphone

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Pebble Mega Update – July 2026”