SQFMI Watchy
Shares rank 17 of 20 smartwatches by recommenders
Open, 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.
Open, 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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Open to custom firmware and apps
“You can flash your own firmware, call HTTPS endpoints, parse JSON, and render custom UI without a phone in the loop.”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Programmable Watches with WiFi?” Reliable, good timekeeping
“its a bit bulkier than I'd thought it would be, but its a fine piece of timekeeping”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “A DIY Watch You Can Actually Wear” “Otherwise a great reliable device.”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Programmable Watches with WiFi?” Unique e-paper smartwatch design
“the only actual e-paper smartwatch I ever wanted to have”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Python on My Wrist”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Bulkier than expected
“its a bit bulkier than I'd thought it would be, but its a fine piece of timekeeping”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “A DIY Watch You Can Actually Wear” Screens break with daily wear
“broke 2 screens before I gave up wearing it... It's really not meant to be work in daily life”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “A DIY Watch You Can Actually Wear” Firmware can be hard
“I remember struggling a bit with firmware.”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Pebble, Rebble, and a path forward”
Other smartwatches people recommend
The four most recommended other smartwatches, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Watch | 246 | 272 | 47% | 12 | 5 yrs29 owners | — |
| Pebble smartwatch | 117 | 37 | 76% | 12 | 12 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Pebble Time 2 | 53 | 19 | 74% | 10 | 3 mo4 owners | Approved |
| Google Pixel Watch | 41 | 57 | 42% | 10 | — | — |
| SQFMI WatchyThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the only actual e-paper smartwatch I ever wanted to have”
“broke 2 screens before I gave up wearing it... It's really not meant to be work in daily life”
“its a bit bulkier than I'd thought it would be, but its a fine piece of timekeeping”
“Otherwise a great reliable device.”
“You can flash your own firmware, call HTTPS endpoints, parse JSON, and render custom UI without a phone in the loop.”
“I remember struggling a bit with firmware.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.