Fortunately, the Apple Watch isn’t the only player in the market. If you’re curious about smartwatches, but don’t want to make a big financial commitment, Amazon currently offers the Pebble Time Smartwatch for $80, which is a $70 discount from its traditional $150 price tag.
It’s not as good, but it’s still a decent smartwatch, and better than many others. For years, Pebble was the smartwatch company to beat. Its original monochrome smartwatch won the attention of many and subsequent updates managed to raise over $20 million on Kickstarter. Overtime, competition muffled Pebble’s rise, but its smartwatches were still praised by many.
Compatible with Android and iOS, the Pebble Time Smartwatch lets you keep track of your day-to-day emails, calls, and more. Like most fitness watches, it can track and analyze your daily activity and sleeping patterns, sending you weekly reports so you know where improvement is needed.
Design-wise, the Pebble Time has a geeky retro vibe going for it. According to Pebble, its Timeline UI was built to reduce clutter and give you quick access to the information they care about. Pebble’s user interface has been embraced by developers and though it may not be the premiere smartwatch OS, the Pebble App Store has plenty of watch faces and apps available for download, including apps from the likes of Uber, Runkeeper, and Pandora.
The watch’s 1.25-inch color, epaper screen offers an easy-to-view timeline that’s visible even in bright daylight. While it may not be as bright as say an OLED display, the benefit to an epaper screen is that the watch’s face is always turned on without compromising battery life.
Pebble rates its Time smartwatch as having a seven-day battery life. It’s also water resistant to 30 meters, which means you can use it at the gym, in the pool, or during inclement weather without fear of ruining your watch.
A built-in mic lets you fire out quick voice replies via text or email. Alternatively, you can use the mic to record memos or reminders.
The Pebble Time Smartwatch isn’t for everyone, but if you want a respectable alternative to Apple and Android, this budget smartwatch won’t disappoint.
$80 on Amazon $150 on Best Buy
