Introduction and display
Wind the clock back to 2013 and the Pebble smartwatch was taking the fledging wearable market by storm, bringing notifications to the wrists of gleeful iPhone users.
It wasn’t exactly a looker, and the e-ink screen was hardly eye popping, but it sold by the bucket load and it was no surprise when the swish metal and leather Pebble Steel swooped in.
A lot has changed since the Pebble’s early days in the wearable market and the Steel now faces some seriously tough competition from the army of Android Wear watches plus the imminent Apple Watch.
Launched back at the beginning of 2014 the Pebble Steel took a while to come to market, and in that time more contenders arrived, so it’s not sporting the latest technology.
It’s not particularly cheap either, and at £179, $199 it’s on par with the latest Android Wear offerings from Motorola, LG, Samsung and Sony.
That outlay gets you a 1.26-inch 144 x 168 e-paper display which has an optical hard coating to prevent it from getting scratched.
It’s not a touchscreen, and that’s the thing which most annoyed me when I first started to use the Pebble Steel.
I’ve used the LG G Watch R extensively as well as trying out all the other Android Wear smartwatches and it’s a natural reaction to prod the screen, expecting something to happen.
Being forced to use the buttons on the side felt like I was taking a step backwards, but after a few days with the Steel I’d got used to not tapping the display.
The joy of the e-paper technology is it’s perfectly readable even in direct sunlight, where as you can struggle with the Android Wear army, plus a LED backlight activated at the flick of the wrist means you can also see the time at night.
It’s also has a lower power consumption, which means the battery inside the Steel lasts longer than its colourful rivals.
Don’t be put off by the low resolution of the screen, as predominantly you’ll only be staring at text – this isn’t a device you’ll be viewing pictures on, watching movies with or attempting some graphically intensive gaming sessions.
It may be low on thrills, but if the Steel can get the basics right it could be a winner.
Design and comfort
Compared to its predecessor, the Pebble Steel has come on leaps and bounds in the design department with a slicker, more premium finish which makes the watch look less like a child’s toy and more like a professional piece of technology.
Unsurprisingly the body is finished in marine-grade stainless steel (see what they’ve done there?), and it feels robust. The display does have a sizable bezel around it, which is a shame as there’s space for a larger screen, but it’s not the end of the world.
I’m not totally won over by the Steel’s design, the chunky buttons on either side of the watch makes the smartwatch look a little dated compared to the Android Wear fleet, but it sits subtly on the wrist.
Where as offerings such as the Moto 360 dominate the wrist and draw attention to themselves, the Pebble Steel is more reserved and for some a discreet smartwatch is exactly what they want.
I found the Steel to be a good size (46 x 34 x 10.5mm), and even those with smaller wrists shouldn’t feel too swamped.
At 56g the Steel is also a comfortable weight, just heavy enough to let you know it’s there, but not distracting or painful.
You can take the Steel for a dip in pool or a soak in the bath thanks to it’s IP68 rating, making it waterproof up to a depth of 50 metres.
As I’ve already mentioned the chunky buttons – three on the right and one on the left – do appear a little dated, although they are easy to hit.
The left key acts as a back button, the central key on the right is select and the two flanking that are up and down.
It’s simple stuff and it didn’t take me long to get used to the system – apart from the times I was frustratingly jabbing at the screen forgetting it’s not touch enabled.
The Pebble Steel comes with a leather strap by default and I much prefer its finish over the leather straps bundled with the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R which just feel cheap in comparison.
If you want to smarten the watch up more you can invest in a steel band to replace the leather option, but it will set you back $20 (around $20, AU$25).
Interface and performance
When Pebble originally launched it was only available to iPhone users, but support for Android came at a later date which means the Pebble Steel will work with most people’s smartphones. Unless you’re rocking a Windows Phone or BlackBerry that is.
When you first take the Steel out of its box and switch it on you’ll be asked to download and install the free Pebble app, so head over the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android) and sort that out.
Once you’ve gone through the simple pairing process for the Pebble Steel and your phone (you’ll need to turn Bluetooth on) you’ll have access to a variety of options on your handset.
You’ll be able to manage the notifications which are sent to the Steel – either turn everything on or tailor them on an app by app basis.
The app is also required when it comes to getting apps onto the Steel, but it can only hold eight apps at any one time – which is one of its biggest weaknesses.
What I found more frustrating is the fact watchfaces, which appear in a separate store of the smartphone app to the “Get Apps” store, count as an app. So if you fancy having a few faces to play with on your Steel there will be fewer spaces for actual apps.
Changing watch faces on the Steel is pleasingly simple, just hit the up and down keys (the two outside buttons on the right of the unit) and you’ll be able to cycle through them.
I did find a couple of times during the review period the watchface had changed, with the buttons obviously getting hit during my day to day activities. It’s not a huge issue as it’s easy to flick back, but it can be a little embarrassing if you turn up to a meeting and your Steel has switched over to the Pokemon theme. Gotta catch ’em all.
Notifications automatically flash up on the Steel’s screen accompanied by a gentle, but noticeable vibration, allowing you to instantly read the message without having to press anything.
Due to the screen being just 1.26 inches you don’t get a great deal of text on the display at once, so you’ll more than likely have to use the keys on the right to scroll down to continue reading.
Something I found frustrating is the fact notifications don’t automatically clear from the phone/watch when read on the other. This gets annoying, especially when the Steel alerts you to a text message, you get your phone out and reply and the notification is still on the watch’s screen.
Perhaps I’ve just been spoilt by the slick integration of Android Wear, but I found this rather irksome.
The interface itself is relatively straightforward, mainly because there are very few options. Click the central key on the right of Steel to enter the main menu, and from here you can get to a historical list of notifications, settings and any apps you have installed.
Alarm and music playback functions are also included by default on the Steel. You can set multiple alarms on the Steel and even set a snooze duration as well, which is a nice feature.
There’s no speaker on the Steel, so you’re disturbed by the vibration instead. Fine if you’re wearing it, but if you’ve taken if off to go to bed it’s unlikely to wake you.
The music controls are less impressive. With certain apps, such as Pandora, you get track information displayed on screen, but when I used Spotify all I got was “no music found”.
I could still skip and play/pause my tunes using the buttons on the right of the watch, but it’s a jarring and confusing experience.
This is made more confusing by the fact you can select your default music service in the Pebble smartphone app, and if I hit play on the watch Spotify will start up and play me a banging tune. My playlist is just that good, but the Steel acts as if there’s no music playing.
In terms of performance the Steel doesn’t have any issues, basically because it doesn’t have to do a lot most of the time. I was able to skip through menus and scroll past notifications with ease and I never felt like I was waiting for it to catch up.
Apps and battery life
Apps and fitness
As I explained in the previous section the Pebble Steel can only store eight applications on the watch at one time. Any others are kept in your “Virtual Locker” within the smartphone app, and you’ll need to go here to swap apps on/off the watch.
What the Pebble platform has had is time, especially compared to Android Wear, so there’s actually a surprisingly high number of applications available for the Steel.
From games to tools to health and fitness, the scope is impressive considering the platform isn’t being backed by an Apple or Google.
The dedicated developer community has embraced the platform, and even some of the bigger companies such as RunKeeper, Endomondo, ESPN, ebay have got on board.
There are plenty of firms who haven’t opted to develop for Pebble, but when you consider the limitations of the screen, controls and app storage capacity it’s easy to see why.
It’s not just the range of apps and games which is impressive however, there’s a whole host of watchfaces for you to choose from too. The fact that everything is free is another feather in the cap of the Pebble ecosystem.
If there are one or two apps you constantly find yourself using on the Steel you can set quick launch options from the settings menu. A long press down on the up or down key will see you jump straight to the app of your choice. Perfect for my Pixel Miner addition – a wonderfully simple, yet addictive little game.
Unfortunately it all comes back to that limited app line up available on the watch. While you can “add” as many apps as you like, the fact is you’ll never have more than eight on your wrist at a time and I found many of the apps I downloaded early on were left to rot in my locker.
It’s a sad summation, but you’re unlikely to regularly visit the smartphone app to swap applications around. At the end of the day the smartphone equivalent will be much better and if you already have your phone out you might as well just use that.
A lot of the apps on the Steel don’t have the functionality or complexity to really hold your attention and keep you coming back for more (Pixel Miner being an obvious exception), so while there’s plenty of choice a lot will sadly fall by the wayside.
Dive into the settings menu on the Pebble Steel and you’ll notice there’s an “activity” option, although it’ll ask you to download a fitness tracking app before it does anything (basically, a list of your installed fitness apps).
Head to the app store in the Pebble app on your smartphone and you’ll find a variety of trackers. I plumped for the MisFit app, as it didn’t require a companion smartphone application, and it was able to track my steps and sleep.
The step tracker was relatively generous, awarding me steps for arm movements while seated, but it gives you a general idea of how much exercise you’ve had each day. There’s no heart rate monitor here, so no bpm for you, but that’s hardly an issue.
Battery life and connectivity
Battery life is the Pebble Steel’s strongest feature. Thanks to the e-paper display and lack of demanding applications the Steel is extremely power efficient.
Pebble quotes 5-7 days of life from one charge on the Steel, which may be slightly generous, but I was comfortably able to get a solid four days from the smartwatch – and that included a lot of time spent on Pixel Miner.
That’s much better than the one to two days of life provided by the various Android watches, and makes the Steel a much easier device to live with day to day as you don’t need to worry so much about battery life.
There’s a magnetic connection of the left side of the watch, allowing you to clip the charging cable on to in a similar fashion to the magnetic cables you get on a MacBook.
It’s easy enough, and the fact you don’t have to do it every other day like the bunch of Android Wear offerings it makes for a much more pleasant user experience.
It’s not as quick to charge as the Moto 360, with 50% taking at least a couple of hours, so while you’ll be charging it less you may need to plan your refuels.
In terms of connectivity the Pebble Steel makes do with Bluetooth 4.0 which it uses to communicate with your smartphone. There’s no GPS or NFC in play here, reducing its effectiveness as a running device and ruling it out of mobile payments.
Hands on gallery
Verdict
The Pebble Steel gets the core smartwatch functions right; customisable notification control, decent battery life and simple operation. It does lack features compared to the competition, but its reserved design means it’ll blend into your life.
We liked
The battery life is a clear plus point for the Pebble Steel, with a strong four day performance on a single charge easily achievable.
That’s at least double the life the Android Wear army, and if you’re careful you can go beyond that but you’ll need to turn off most of the notifications which leaves you with, well, a watch.
It’s also a premium looking device, and while I found the buttons to be a little chunky, the Steel looks sleek, professional and discrete.
We disliked
Considering the price is pretty much the same as most of the Android Wear watches, the Pebble Steel lacks massively in functionality.
With just eight apps available at one time on the watch I found I gave up switching them out for others. Smartwatches are supposed to be convenient and the Steel isn’t for the power users at there.
There’s plenty of choice from the dedicated developer community, from fancy watch faces to some rather useful tools and applications, but it’s that app limit which makes it seem like a chore.
I was also frustrated by the way notifications didn’t clear themselves on the opposite device (be it phone or watch) once read, making for a slightly annoying user experience.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a simple smartwatch to deliver notifications to your wrist and doesn’t require a charge every other night the Pebble Steel delivers, but it doesn’t offer great value for money.
The LG G Watch R for example, is only a touch more expensive now, and it outstrips the Steel in terms of features, functions and notification handling.
With the Android Wear crowd sporting similar price tags it’s difficult to really recommend the Steel over them, and with Google’s backing and a heap more power the future for those is greater than the Steel’s.
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