Pebble Founder Eric Migicovsky speaks about the smartwatch’s return

Pebble Core Duo 2

Ewan Spence

I’ve a Pebble again on my wrist. That’s a sentence that’s going to result in fairly just a few questions. The most important one is more likely to be “what’s a Pebble?” There will likely be others who assume “Ooh, that’s a special strategy to a smartwatch.” After which there’s going to be these with an extended reminiscence of wearables that recognise one of many first smartwatch manufacturers and assume, “I assumed they closed up store years in the past?”

So as, Pebble is a minimalist smartwatch, it strikes away from the cumbersome app-focused mannequin present in Apple’s WatchOS and Google’s WearOS in the direction of a extra supportive position; and sure, they did shut up store years in the past.

I not too long ago spoke with Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky about the relaunch of Pebble in a new decade. I began off with one thing easy. Why?

“As a result of my field of working Pebble watches was empty,” Migicovsky laughs. “I attempted an Apple Watch. I attempted a Garmin. I attempted Samsung, Google, nothing did it for me.”

Going Again In Time To Uncover Pebble’s Origins

Let’s be a part of the story in 2012, and the very early days of Kickstarter. The poster baby for Kickstarter, the lighthouse of ‘this may work’ was Pebble. It was one of the earliest visions of a consumer smartwatch that delivered real benefits; it created and was backed by its personal group, which helped drag the smartwatch idea to the smartphone, and it knew precisely what it needed to be. At the very least at the beginning.

Pebble seemed to different areas, akin to introducing a common well being smartwatch and a sports activities smartwatch, and, in chasing these areas the place the grass seemed greener, the corporate’s “hackers and builders” ethos was misplaced. “We tried to be one thing that we weren’t”, he admitted. “I overlooked the unique imaginative and prescient”

The corporate introduced it will be shut down in December 2016 and was subsequently offered to Fitbit. Sources for Pebble homeowners wound down and went darkish in June 2018.

The group banded collectively because the Rebble group to proceed providing assist the place potential, however the days of Pebble as a trailblazing wearable have been over. …till Google (which bought Fitbit in 2019) introduced that it will be open-sourcing PebbleOS.

Open-sourcing PebbleOS

Unsurprisingly, that is the Rosetta Stone that enables Migicovsky to deliver Pebble again to the {hardware} market.

“If Google hadn’t open-sourced the working system… I would not have executed it as a result of I knew that that was the proper working system for me. It was simply an excessive amount of work to breed what we constructed, and that i wound;t be happy if we constructed a duplicate of it that wasn’t pretty much as good.”

How did that initiative inside Google begin? “I requested Google. “There wanted someont inside Google who would simply carry it. This was not their job; they have been doing it out of a labour of affection, and we’re eternally appreciative of them.”

What Makes Pebble A Smartwatch?

The panorama for smartwatches has modified since Pebble left the scene in 2016. The main gamers, together with Apple, Google, and Samsung, have concepts about what a smartwatch must be. What does Migicovsky assume?

“A smartwatch must do 4 issues rather well,” he lays out.

“First, it exhibits you notifications; while you get an e-mail, name or textual content, it vibrates in your wrist, you look down, and may see what it’s. And it must be a superb watch – to me, that’s one you don’t have to consider. It sits in your wrist however is not there till you want to know the time, which implies it wants a long-lasting battery. Our new suite of Pebbles have battery lives of weeks.

“With the intention to be a superb watch, you want to have the ability to learn the time at any time. The watch face is all the time on, and we selected e-paper for all our watches as a result of I didn’t like the concept of a glowing, vivid, tiny smartwatch hooked up to my wrist.

“Fourth is buttons. Which means you should utilize Pebble with out trying on the display screen. If I get a name i can simply really feel the decrease button and press to dismiss the decision. I do know the center button skips tracks when listening to music. Touchscreens require you to look.”

“Lastly, the watch must be enjoyable. You realize the distinction between a Swatch and a Rolex? Pebble to me was all the time extra like a Swatch.”

Pebble’s New Merchandise

Pebble introduced itself again to retail life in 2025 with the launch of the Pebble 2 Duo and the Pebble Time 2; successfully bringing the usual fashions again from Pebble’s first time round.

The previous is a rework of the basic Pebble design, which had a small manufacturing run, partly as a result of it used elements sourced from the unique Pebble 2, together with plastic circumstances, buttons, and ePaper screens. The latter is constructed on an unreleased 2016 design, a sequel to 2015’s Pebble Time.

Two new merchandise have been introduced and have been on present at CES 2026. The primary is the Pebble Spherical 2. Once more, constructing on a earlier Pebble, this round smartwatch comes with a full-face display screen, a smaller bezel, and, curiously, a touchscreen.

“There are some issues {that a} touchscreen can do {that a} button can’t do, and that’s swipe,” BRACE SAID “Folks love swiping, particularly via notifications, in order that’s one of many issues we’re engaged on including.”

The second announcement is a smart-ring called the Pebble Index 01. It’s not solely a departure for Pebble, but in addition the very best illustration of the corporate’s ethos in 2026. The aim is easy sufficient: press the one button on the ring to file brief audio messages, that are saved and despatched over Bluetooth to your telephone when accessible. The battery life is measured in years, so there’s no want for sophisticated charging circuits.

“It’s indicative of this subsequent section of Pebble,” factors out Migicovsky. “We’re an organization that builds cool devices that we wish ourselves. On the planet of {hardware}, it will value the identical amount of cash to construct them for different folks as it will to construct them for me. It brings me pleasure to know that there are different folks on this planet who’re loopy sufficient like me to need this stuff.”

Is that sufficient to make sure Pebble doesn’t fall foul of the identical points in its earlier technology?

“The entire firm is based on that. We tried to be somebody that we weren’t. Now we all know we’re. I feel that comes with the advantage of hindsight. We’re constructing our dream merchandise, we’re assured we all know what we wish, we don’t must ask somebody for permission.”

The brand new vary of Pebble smartwatches and smartwear might be discovered at repebble.com.