Like Clockwork, Pebble Time Steel Smartwatch Debuts With 10-Day Battery
Last week, Pebble caught the attention of the wearables market with the announcement of the new Pebble Time. The smartwatch is 20 percent thinner than the original model, includes an e-paper display, and still manages to last for seven days on a single charge. I stated in my previous article that I was a bit disappointed with the toy-like looks of the Pebble Time and hoped for a “Steel” version to up the style content.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, Pebble has answered rather quickly with the Pebble Time Steel. The Pebble Time Steel trades the mainly plastic casing for CNC-finished 316L stainless steel. Upgrading to the more premium material results in some additional heft and thickness (10.5mm versus 9.5mm), but it’s well worth it in the looks department. It should also be noted that the additional thickness is the result of a larger battery that boost runtime to an even more impressive 10 days. The Pebble Time Steel also features a laminated display that eliminates the air gap seen on the recently announced Pebble Time.
The Pebble Time Steel will be available in a natural, black, and gold finish and each smartwatch will come boxed with both a metal link bracelet and a premium leather strap.
In addition to the new Pebble Time Steel, Pebble also announced what it calls “Smart Straps.” Smart Straps are part of an open platform that allows third-parties to bring additional functionality to the Pebble Time series of smartwatches using the data port on the bottom of the device. This could open up endless possibilities including the addition of GPS, heart monitoring or even possibly longer runtimes with battery straps. Pebble isn’t releasing its own Smart Straps just yet, but it is providing specifications to developers so that they can come with their own creations.
The Pebble Time Steel will be available in retail stores this July for $299; however, you can pre-order the device on Kickstarter right now for $250.
