With a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, the Time and Time Steel smartwatches proved to be pretty big hits for Pebble in 2015. But the company isn't done for the year just yet, now introducing the Time Round. With a, you guessed it, round face, the new timepiece is much more fashion-conscious than anything else we've seen from the company, but that focus has lead to cut backs in other areas.
One glance at the new watch is enough to see how much more stylish it is than its predecessors. It's available in three body finishes (black, silver and rose gold), and two strap sizes (20 mm and 14 mm), with both metal and leather band options.
Pebble also claims that the Time Round is the world's thinnest and lightest smartwatch, coming in at 7.5 mm (0.3 in) thick and tipping the scales at 28 g (0.99 oz).
Of course, it's not all about the body of the watch – there's also that new round display. The circular panel uses the same always-on color e-paper tech you'll find on the square Time smartwatches, and runs the same Timeline interface as those wearables. There's no touch input here, with buttons on the side of the case used to navigate the UI.
You'll be able to connect the watch to your iPhone or Android smartphone, and the company has released an SDK for the Round so that developers can start retooling their apps for the circular display.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of downsides to this more stylish Pebble. Firstly, the battery life isn't quite as stellar, rated for two days per charge – significantly less than the Time's seven days and the Time Steel's 10 days. There is however quick charging tech included, with a 15 minute charge providing enough juice to run the smartwatch for a full day. You'll also have to be a little more careful near water, too, as the Round only has IPX7 splash resistance (square-faced Time wearables are water resistant up to 30 m or 98 ft).
The Pebble Time Round is available to pre-order right now, and is set to ship in early November, priced at US$250 for all variants. In the meantime, you can check out our review of the Pebble Time.
Source: Pebble
Moto 360 is 46mm x 11.5mm and 49 g (1.7 oz).
At 28g it's 21g lighter than the Moto 360. Some people (especially women) feel the 360 is too big but an extra day of battery life in the Time Round probably wouldn't have been that hard to do.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a "Pebble Time Round Steel" later on that does pretty much that.