The future of gadgets may just rest on this quirky smartwatch

Summary

Pebble’s founder has announced Core Devices and unveiled the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2.
The smartwatches aren’t high-end but offer 30-day battery life, PebbleOS, and a vibrant open-source community.
The Core Time 2 is reminiscent of the Pebble Time 2 and appeals to anyone nostalgic for the golden era of tech gadgets.

I have very fond memories of the original Pebble.

Back in 2013, I backed the smartwatch’s Kickstarter almost immediately and was thrilled to get my hands on what, at least at the time, felt like the tech industry’s future. Back then, even though the long-rumored Apple Watch was still a few years away, industry analysts were already predicting that the smartwatch would be the next big thing in the consumer technology space.

Given how popular the Apple Watch is now, those reports were somewhat accurate, but the smartwatch didn’t become the complete smartphone replacement some predicted it would. Instead, it’s now more of a fitness-focused companion for most people.

The original Pebble was cheap-feeling with a tiny black and white display, but there was something exciting about getting notifications sent directly to my wrist. The OG Pebble was succeeded by the more refined Pebble Time, the Pebble Time Steel, the Pebble Time Round (which I reviewed for MobileSyrup way back in 2015), and finally, the Pebble 2. I still use the Time Round occasionally thanks to Rebble, a community-driven Pebble project that’s kept the smartwatch running long after Fitbit acquired its assets for $23 million in 2017 (Google purchased Fitbit in 2019 for $2.1 billion). I also still have my original Pebble, but its proprietary charger seems to have disappeared from my home office (I likely accidentally threw it out at some point) and its plastic strap is rotting away.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Pebble is a distant memory that likely only the most hardcore gadget fans remember. The smartwatch company’s lifespan was short, but still influential, and the launch of the far more capable Apple Watch essentially killed it off. Then, in late January, Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the smartwatch pioneer, announced that Pebble would be making a surprise comeback.

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Say hello to the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2

Against the odds, Pebble is back

Core 2 Duo

The black and white Core 2 Duo features a polycarbonate frame, a barometer, a compass and more.

Brand

rePebble

Operating System

PebbleOS

Health sensors

Step and sleep tracking

Body material

Polycarbonate fame

Display

1.2-inch e-paper black and white
Core Time 2

The Core Time 2 is basically the unreleased Pebble Time 2 with a different name. It feature a 2.5-inch 64 color e-paper touch screen, a metal frame, and a heart rate monitor.

Brand

rePebble

Operating System

PebbleOS

Health sensors

Step and sleep tracking

Body material

Metal frame

Display

1.5-inch 64 color e-paper display

If you had told me Canadian-born Migicovsky (who is also behind Beeper) had plans to bring his smartwatch company back from the dead even a few months ago, I definitely wouldn’t believe you, but here we are. In late January, Migicovsky announced that the PebbleOS codebase (now owned by Google) was going open-source. Then, swiftly after, the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2 were revealed under a new company called Core Devices. While these new smartwatches aren’t branded as Pebble smartwatches, that’s still basically what they are.

To be clear, the Core 2 Duo, which features a black and white e-paper screen, and Core Time 2, the color e-paper option, don’t compare to the modern Apple Watch and Pixel Watch on any level. A quick glance at their specs reveals that these wearables just aren’t vying for the same high-end smartwatch space. Adding to this, there’s no compatibility with WearOS apps given these new smartwatches run PebbleOS, just like their ancient predecessors. Instead, the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2 are compatible with thousands of existing Pebble watch faces and apps.

Pebble represents an era when gadgets and tech blogging were exciting and fun, and I’m hoping the return of this smartwatch pioneer marks the start of a vibe shift.

With its new wearables, Core Devices is targeting an audience interested in a more minimalist smartwatch that offers impressive 30-day battery life, physical buttons, and a vibrant open-source community. Even Migicovsky admits this on his blog, stating that “these watches are not made for everyone.” As someone who primarily uses their Apple Watch as a standard watch with a few notifications and occasional activity tracking, this is precisely what I want from a smartwatch right now as I continue to remove unnecessary technology from my life. I don’t care that the Core Time 2 (which is basically the unreleased Pebble Time 2) looks like it’s straight out of 2016. In fact (at least for me) this adds to its appeal and is a throwback to an era when gadgets were fun.

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I’m a sucker for nostalgic tech

These smartwatches won’t be for everyone

Core Devices’ new smartwatches offer a fun throwback look that appeals directly to my nostalgic side, and in a tech industry where minimalist, lesser-known gadgets like the Boox Palma and The Light Phone are experiencing success thanks to dedicated user communities, it feels like the perfect time for a niche smartwatch company like Core Devices to appear.

This is why I dropped $225 on the Core Time 2 as soon as it was announced. Along with the stellar battery life, I hope to still get some sort of Strava integration and other fitness tracking from the wearable. That said, I continue to be disappointed by Apple’s limitations on third-party smartwatches like the Pebble. This means I won’t be able to send text messages, reply to notifications, or, in some cases, even receive some notifications with the Core Time 2. It’s unlikely, but I hope Apple’s policies surrounding third-party wearables change in the coming months.

In the meantime, I’ll still eagerly await my Core Time 2’s estimated August shipping date. To me, Pebble represents an era when gadgets and tech blogging were exciting and fun, and I’m hoping the return of the iconic smartwatch maker marks the start of a vibe shift across the tech industry.