Pebble Watch was on it's way out, now the strap broke

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Pebble Watch was on it's way out, now the strap broke

dryburn

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#231805 14-Mar-2018 11:03

I have had a secondhand 1st Gen Pebble for about 2 years now, really liked the simple display, always on, and also the affordability. But I have looking for a replacement since the vibration has been glitchy and screen flashes now and then requiring me to press buttons until it displays properly again. I could get a new strap for the time being but looks like a replacement is needed.

Whats on my the list so far

Versa - $350 - newest Fitbit, but wouldn't wanna spend that much

https://www.fitbit.com/nz/shop/versa

Amazfit - $95 - Xiaomi pebble knock off, not sure of the longevity

https://www.dicksmith.co.nz/dn/buy/xiaomi-huami-amazfit-bip-black-xiaomi/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_ads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9ILFt5_q2QIVkbXACh01kw7TEAQYASABEgLp3vD_BwE

What other watches am I missing?

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Amanzi
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#1976411 14-Mar-2018 11:13

Depends on what you want - activity tracking, smart phone notifications and/or integration, GPS recording, water proof/resistant, bluetooth, wifi, etc...?? Garmin and Fitbit both have a range of similarly priced watches with a variety of features, ranging in price from $100 to $1,000. I have a Garmin Vivoactive and that works well for me - I wanted a watch with GPS, waterproof for swimming and smart phone notifications.

side note... I had no idea that Dick Smith were still operating in NZ.

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dryburn

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1976414 14-Mar-2018 11:18

Affordable! $100-$250

waterproof

smart phone notifications

sleep tracking

alarms

I remember looking at the Vivoactive when before buying my pebble but it wasn't that appealing to me

tchart

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#1976415 14-Mar-2018 11:20

I replaced my 1st Gen Pebble with An Asus Zen Watch (also Gen 1). Its fine but I still pine for my Pebble. I hate having to charge it every 2 days but it does have some good features. I did replace the leather strap with the Pebble strap! In terms of Apps I dont really use any of them, primary uses are time (duh) and notifications. Having google assistant is nice (i.e Ok Google etc) albeit hit and miss since I upgraded to Android 7.

If I was buying right now I'd get the Amazfit, it ticks most boxes for me.

amanzi

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#1976426 14-Mar-2018 11:34

That Amazfit looks amazing at that price... Only concern would be around quality and warranty.

dryburn

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1976428 14-Mar-2018 11:39

Dick smith offer a 5 year warranty for $20 more, of course they aren't that reliable and may at some point disappear but for some reason dick smith is cheaper than online Chinese stores

amanzi

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#1976432 14-Mar-2018 11:43

Yeah, I looked up that watch on G e a r b e s t (for some reason I'm not allowed to post the actual word??) and Aliexpress and was surprised to see Dick Smiths cheaper than both. $20 for 5 year warranty seems good but would need to see the fine print - also seems doubtful that Dick Smith *and/or* that particular watch will still be around in 5 years time...

BuffyNZ

239 posts

Master Geek

#1976433 14-Mar-2018 11:46

Awesome find on the Amazfit!

I just ordered one to replace my pebble time.

Found that using the discount code 'CHEAPSKATE' gives you $20 USD off.

Edit: And then I aborted the order when they wanted to charge me US$50 for postage via mail, or US$70 for courier.

Recursion: See recursion.
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dryburn

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1976436 14-Mar-2018 12:03

No sure where you are ordering from but dicksmith gives me $126.98

Xiaomi Huami AmazFit Bip (Black)

1 × $95.00

Tax Free

Delivery

$9.99

Freight Protection

$1.99

Standard Care Warranty and Extended Care

5 Year Warranty
for Xiaomi Huami AmazFit Bip (Black)

$20.00

Total

$126.98

shk292

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#1976441 14-Mar-2018 12:09

BuffyNZ:

Awesome find on the Amazfit!

I just ordered one to replace my pebble time.

Found that using the discount code 'CHEAPSKATE' gives you $20 USD off.

Edit: And then I aborted the order when they wanted to charge me US$50 for postage via mail, or US$70 for courier.

Where did you want it delivered to? I just went through the checkout process out of curiosity and it estimated $9.99 for delivery to Auckland

Looks like a nice watch. I bought a Pebble Time Steel from amazon.com at a very cheap price about a year ago, there may still be some there

BuffyNZ

239 posts

Master Geek

#1976445 14-Mar-2018 12:20

I was looking at the Amazfit webstore. I have ordered from DSE now.

BuffyNZ

239 posts

Master Geek

#1976448 14-Mar-2018 12:35

shk292:

Looks like a nice watch. I bought a Pebble Time Steel from amazon.com at a very cheap price about a year ago, there may still be some there

My understanding is that the Pebble infrastructure will stop working at the end of June. :(

Voice recognition features, and SMS and email replies will stop working.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16928792/fitbit-smartwatch-pebble-end-support-date-june

shk292

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#1976456 14-Mar-2018 12:54

BuffyNZ:

shk292:

Looks like a nice watch. I bought a Pebble Time Steel from amazon.com at a very cheap price about a year ago, there may still be some there

My understanding is that the Pebble infrastructure will stop working at the end of June. :(

Voice recognition features, and SMS and email replies will stop working.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16928792/fitbit-smartwatch-pebble-end-support-date-june

That's not good - I knew it had to happen some time and some apps have already stopped working. I mostly just use it for watch + notifications so may be able to do without those features

nzkc

1274 posts

Uber Geek

#1976467 14-Mar-2018 13:17

As a long time Pebble user (currently a Pebble Time that I love and will probably shed a tear over when it dies) I've started looking at what might come next.

Fossil have some smart watches now that look pretty tasty. I used to role with Fossil watches in the past too. So these are very tempting for me. May be a little out of your price range.

michaelmurfy

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#1976482 14-Mar-2018 13:29

@dryburn I've got a Pebble Time if you want it? Been unused for a while now (as I have switched to the Fitbit Ionic) but should keep you going for a while. Silver + White with a white strap. Let me know via a PM.

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WolfmanNZ

124 posts

Master Geek

#1976504 14-Mar-2018 14:08

As an aside for anyone still using their Pebble 2 watches, I would no longer trust the '30 meter water resist' part of the feature list. The missus and I were swimming in surf with the the kids a month back and both our Pebbles died that same afternoon. I guess the seals didn't last.

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