Pebble just announced their newest smartwatch, the Pebble Time, but that wasn’t the only thing the company had to show off. The Pebble Time Steel is, as the name implies, a higher-end version of the same watch but with some extra must-have features.
An Upgrade from the Upgrade
The original Pebble Watch took the market by surprise since it was really one of the first smartwatches to hit the market, and it was developed by a startup company. The Pebble Time takes some of the things that the Pebble Watch did well and improves them across the board. The Pebble Time Steel takes things up another notch. First off, the entire smartwatch is made of steel, which looks leagues ahead of the original Pebble Watch. Interestingly, the Pebble Time Steel is also water resistant up to 50 meters — inline with the original Pebble Watch, but better than the Pebble Time. It also sports a 182 ppi screen and has a higher rated battery. The most notable change to the two devices involves its e-ink display. Aside from the higher pixel density, the display is also all in color now, as opposed to the black display of the previous model.
New Software
The new Pebble software is called Pebble Timeline, and it gives users more functionality when it comes to you calendar, weather, and many other things. These are all features present in the old watch, but Timeline changes the way users interact with this information. Now, the buttons on the side of the devices allow users to navigate pinned events. The up button corresponds to past events, the middle button is for present events, and the down button is for events that are coming up in the future. The good news? Pebble Timeline is coming to the Pebble Watch as well, so all Pebble users will be able to take advantage of the new software.
Availability
For anyone who just wants to upgrade their old Pebble Watch, you can grab the Time straight off the website today. It’s $199.99 and comes with either black, white, or red bands. The Pebble Time Steel only opened for pre-order, but has more options. For $249.99 users can have their choice between a black, tan, and red genuine leather band, or can get a black, silver, or gold stainless steel band for $299.99. Shipping for the Pebble Time Steel is currently set for 6 to 8 weeks.
