The New Pebble Smartwatch Is Shipping This Month, But With Some Changes

Back in March, the founder of Pebble announced the much-loved e-paper smartwatch would return. After all these months, it’s finally happening. Pebble 2 Duo is officially in mass production, and you might get to have one on your wrist this month—with a catch.

As a refresher, the Pebble 2 Duo is essentially a slight rework of the original Pebble 2. However, it’s the same old Pebble you loved: long battery life, e-paper screen, physical buttons, and that classic, quirky design. All 10,000+ of the existing apps and watchfaces from the old Pebble Store are still compatible as well.

Eric Migicovsky, the founder, published a new blog post with some updates. First, he admits that the new watch band is a bit basic. It’ll get the job done, but you’ll probably want to swap it out for something a little nicer. Thankfully, it’s a standard 22mm quick-release strap, so you can pick whatever you want. He also says the buttons take a bit more force to press than the original model, but that’s because they were reinforced for durability.

Before we go on, here’s the big catch. Eric was hoping the Pebble 2 Duo would be IPX8 rated, but they missed that mark. The Pebble 2 Duo is rated for 20 meters. On the surface, that sounds pretty good. However, Eric makes it very clear that these are not dive watches. Furthermore, you shouldn’t even expose the watch to hot water from showers or baths, or direct exposure to water from a shower head or hose. Basically, you’re good to wash your hands and sweat with it, but don’t push the limits.

It should be noted that there isn’t a giant company behind this thing. It’s a small, dedicated team trying to bring back something they loved. The goal is to keep making these watches for a long time, and Eric notes that keeping the team small will ensure that.

Now, for the shipping update. The first 300-500 units will be shipping out “mid-September.” A larger second batch will ship out “at end of September.” The final shipments will head out in October. A few things to know: shipping takes about one week from the warehouse. There is an $8.42 tariff on each watch shipped to the US. Watch color choices will happen closer to the ship date. Check out Eric’s full blog post for even more information.