My retro dreams are coming true. The Pebble Watch, my favorite wearable of the early mid-2010s, is making a comeback. Even better, though, is that the new Pebbles have a battery life that can last a month on a single charge. Yes, Pebbles plural, because there's a lower-end black and white model and a fancier color one with heart rate monitoring.
The two new Pebble watches have been revealed and are up for pre-order. They're familiar designs, too: the Pebble Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 are like remastered 2025 versions of the Pebble 2 and never-released Pebble Time 2. Both run 10,000 older Pebble watch faces, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky told me over Zoom ahead of the news. They're hackable, too, so anyone who's been working on clever Pebble ideas over the last decade could run them on these new watches.
What surprised me the most are the upgrades. These new Pebbles have massively improved battery life, both up to 30 days, which Migicovsky credits to improved battery and chip technologies. They also have microphones and speakers onboard -- not to answer calls but for apps that might dip into the functions. Migicovsky says he's working on an app that might work with ChatGPT.
Two Pebble watches side by side, both showing text messages.
Another look at both watches side by side. The Core 2 Duo (left) is smaller, for sure, but they run the same watchfaces and apps. Pebble
The $149 Core 2 Duo, arriving in July, is like the return of the basic plastic Pebble watch: simple black and white, with a 1.26-inch display that's also backlit. There's step and sleep tracking and dedicated buttons, just like before.
But the $225 Core Time 2, arriving later on in December, gets interesting: it has a larger color 1.5-inch display, optical heart rate monitor, and a touchscreen. There are still side buttons, too, but the glass touchscreen will be available to tap on complications or work with apps that could take advantage of it. Pebbles never had touchscreens before. The Core Time 2 has a metal body.
A close-up look at the color-screened Pebble Core Time 2 watch
The Pebble Core Time 2 has buttons, but also a touchscreen for the first time. Pebble
One thing these new Pebbles lack is true swim water resistance. They're rated at IPX8 for water resistance, which means they could survive dunks in pools, but they're not meant as true swim watches. That's the only part I wish Pebble had been able to solve.
But these new Pebbles look very much like the ones I used to wear, and they're made to work that way, too. They'll pair with dedicated phone apps just like the old Pebbles did, and access the same classic Pebble store for apps and watch faces.
Migicovsky says that the new Pebbles are being made this time with the understanding that they won't be for everyone, and they're a personal project that he's excited about bringing back to life. These new Pebbles are also arriving at an interesting time for smartwatches, too. The Apple Watch, while widespread, feels like it's become a predictably boring fitness watch with a 1-2 day battery life. Most other smartwatches feel the same. The new Pebbles won't do all the things modern smartwatches do -- contactless payments, wrist calls, music and deeper fitness and health tracking -- but they'll do notifications, run apps, have some basic type of fitness tracking, and they'll show lots and lots of funky watch faces. I can't wait to try one on again.