Over a decade ago, a company called Pebble launched a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for an e-paper smartwatch. After releasing a few models, Pebble was eventually overshadowed by the Apple Watch and Wear OS, but a similar product has been missing. Now, Pebble is officially back with two new devices.
How Did We Get Here?
The original Pebble e-paper smartwatch made its Kickstarter debut all the way back in April 2012. Its initial fundraising goal was $100,000, but it had raised over $10 million by the time it closed funding. This made it the most funded project in the history of Kickstarter. The smartwatch began shipping to backers in January 2013.
Pebble would go on to launch several sequels to the original e-paper smartwatch. The Pebble Steel launched in 2014 with an upgraded metal design. By this time, Pebble already had over a quarter of the budding wearable market (Fitbit was the dominant brand).
The original Pebble smartwatch.
In 2015, the company launched the Pebble Time, Pebble Time Steel, and Pebble Round. These smartwatches offered big upgrades in the form of 64-color e-paper displays and much more polished designs. The previous models were black and white only. By this time, the Apple Watch and Android smartwatches were arriving on the scene with touchscreens and tighter phone integration.
Then, in 2016, things really took a turn. Pebble launched Kickstarters for the Pebble 2, Pebble Time 2, and Pebble Core, with bigger displays and more focus on health and fitness features. However, the company was acquired by Fitbit in December 2016, and those watches were canceled before release.
When Google acquired Fitbit in 2021, Pebble became its property as well. That’s where things stood until earlier this year, in January 2025, when Google open-sourced the Pebble operating system, opening the door for Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky to create new wearables for the platform.
Two New Pebble Smartwatches
With the history lesson out of the way, let’s talk about the new smartwatches. The newly open-source PebbleOS will debut on two devices: the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2.
Core 2 Duo
If you were bummed that the Pebble 2 never launched, the Core 2 Duo is for you. This is a very similar smartwatch to the one that was announced and canceled back in 2016, but there are some improvements as well.
These features are pretty similar to the Pebble 2:
- Ultra crisp 1.26” black and white e-paper display
- Runs 10,000+ Pebble apps and watchfaces
- Lightweight polycarbonate frame in two color options – White or Black
- Water-resistant (targeting IPX8)
- Microphone
- Step and sleep tracking
- Standard 22mm watchstrap
And here are the improvements:
- 30 day battery life (up from 7)
- Nordic nRF52840 BLE chip
- Speaker
- Linear resonance actuator (quieter and stronger than vibrating motor)
- More reliable buttons (up to 30% longer lifetime in testing)
- Barometer and compass sensors
The Core 2 Duo is available now for pre-order from store.rePebble.com in black or white for $149. It will begin shipping in July.
Core Time 2
While the Core 2 Duo is a throwback to the past, the Core Time 2 is what founder Eric Migicovsky calls his “dream watch.” It’s essentially a Pebble 2 fully upgraded for 2025.
- 64-color 1.5” e-paper display. Same display as Pebble Time 2 – much more room for text and details (53% bigger and 88% more pixels)
- Runs 10,000+ Pebble apps and watchfaces
- Metal frame and buttons (Black/White and likely a 3rd color option as well)
- 30 day battery life (estimate)
- Flat glass lens (less glare and reflections than Pebble Time family curved lens)
- Touch screen
- Heart rate monitor
- Water-resistant (targeting IPX8)
- Step and sleep tracking
- Linear resonance actuator (vibrator)
- Microphone and speaker
- Standard 22mm watch strap
The Core Time 2 is available now for pre-order from store.rePebble.com in black or white for $225. It’s not as far along as the Core 2 Duo, so it won’t begin shipping until December.
PebbleOS
These watches run on the open-source PebbleOS, which includes all the classic features: notifications, timelines, watch faces, alarms, timers, calendars, music control, and basic fitness tracking. The really cool thing is most of the 10,000+ PebbleOS watch faces, and apps should still work.
Eric says some of the old apps and watch faces might try to ping servers that have long since vanished. He also notes that on the Core Time 2, you’ll see a border around older apps until developers update them, thanks to its larger display. You can browse the full app store at apps.rebble.io.
There will be a new companion mobile app for Android and iPhone as well. A former Pebble employee, who Eric simply calls “Steve,” has joined the team to spearhead this. There will also be an updated SDK for those who want to create new watch faces and apps.
Source: Eric Migicovsky
