Apple Watch 4 (44 mm, 2019) vs Pebble Steel Classic (2014)
I bought my Pebble Steel Classic in 2014, right before the release of the very first Apple Watch (0 series) (you can read my review of the distant 2014 https://habr.com/en/post/364677/ ). I remember how much I doubted taking Pebble or waiting for the release of the Apple Watch (it's Apple!) And how I was relieved when Apple watches still reached the shelves (braking, not working without a smartphone, barely a stretching day for use).
After that, I looked at the progress of the Apple Watch every year and every year I didn’t understand what it was worth to spend on this rather expensive gadget and how it would be better than my current Pebble.
As a result, in 2019, he received the watch as a present for his birthday and, as they say, all doubts disappeared by themselves. There was an opportunity to compare these two hours without regard to their cost, but simply as two functional devices between which 5 years of technological abyss.
1. Battery and time of use: my Pebble is almost 5 years old and they easily care for 5 days with daily use (after the purchase it was 7-8 days). Apple Watch needs to be charged once every 1-2 days, depending on the degree of their use. Because of this, Pebble is more likely to be seen as a watch, and the Apple Watch is more like an electronic gadget. In addition, Pebble can be charged simply with two wires from USB, and the Apple Watch requires a separate specialized charge.
2. Screen:Pebble has a monochrome screen that is always on, the resolution is 144x168 pixels, the Apple Watch has an OLED screen of 368 × 448 pixels, most of the time it doesn’t display anything and wakes up only at an event (receiving a message) or turning its hand / touching the screen. Because of these features, two effects arise: on Pebble you can see information from any angle, you can glance at the clock, watch the time, or read the message that arrived. On the Apple Watch, all your movements are immediately visible, which can, in some situations, cause some discomfort. The second effect is if you launched some long-running application on the watch, for example, a timer, then on Pebble you constantly see how much time you have left, on the Apple Watch you constantly need to either move your hand or tap on the screen.
3. Appearance - here is an amateur - Pebble has a massive, brutal look, the Apple Watch is sophisticated, they resemble a fashion accessory rather than an electronic gadget.
4. Management- Pebble has 4 control buttons, the screen does not touch, all control using buttons. The Apple Watch has a touch screen, a Digital Crown wheel that mimics the crown of a watch and a button on the side. Subjectively, on such a small device as a clock, it’s rather inconvenient to control using taps on the screen, especially on the go - there is a big chance to miss the small icon / button. Digital Crown - well suited for flipping something / zooming, but again, managing with jewelry accuracy on the go is quite difficult. At Pebble everything is done according to the workers' and peasants. One button scroll up, one button scroll down, one button performs the confirmation function, one cancel.
5. Performance- Pebble has no delays. At all. The response is instant. Specifically, with the Apple Watch 4 generations, everything works pretty smartly, but owners of previous generations complain about speed.
6. Well-thought-out interface - Pebble resembles a Kalashnikov assault rifle - zero decorations, everything is clear on business without frills and beautiful things. At Apple everything is rendered very beautifully, with animations, a well-thought-out arrangement of elements. But in the end, there are a few points that just infuriate me, since the basic function of smart watches for me is to show the time and work with notifications.
What happens when you receive a message on Pebble? - it is displayed on the main screen and you immediately see all the information in this message - you do not need a second hand to read the message, you immediately see a notification. What happens when a message arrives on the Apple Watch? You see such a stretched picture, because the developer of the application (and the vast majority of them are now) decided to use Rich Notification (which was generally for another) and presented the icon of his application for beauty as an attachment there. In the end, you need to scroll through this picture (using the second hand) to see the actual text of the message received. And nowhere in the settings you can fix this situation (for example, reduce the size of the picture or even make it not show on the Apple Watch). After that, you want to take advantage of the progress and use the advertised Default Reply function to quickly reply to a message without reaching out your phone. And in the end, you will find out that you can configure these answers only for iMessage / SMS and mail. They don’t work on Whatsapp,neither in Telegram (it appears inside Telegram itself there is the possibility of customization) - there are shown several tightly nailed messages like "Hello!", "How are you!" In fairness, you can dictate a message, it is recognized, but it is far from always convenient in the metro at rush hour, dictate this message and wait until it is recognized when the Internet is bad.
7. Third-party applications- Pebble has several thousand, I even wrote an application for displaying RuCurrency currencies. Almost everything is free, you can find it for every taste and color (within the framework of the platform of course). All applications are independent and most do not require binding to any application at all. At Apple Watch, the entire application is now nailed to some iOS application and will not work without it (they promise to fix the situation in watchOS 6). The applications themselves are certainly much richer than on Pebble with animations, synchronizations, etc., but the problem is that in the first place normal applications are all paid, and in the second I do not need a combine, I need a small lightweight application that performs a small specific task.
Let me give you a simple example: Pebble has a GymTimer application - it “automates” weightlifting in the gym, counting the number of approaches and including the timer between sets during rest. Very useful - you do not need to remember how many approaches you have already done and reminds you that it is time to start doing the next approach or exercise if you are talking to someone in the room. It is controlled by one button - just choose a timer between sets of 60/90/120 seconds and then just press the button, counting the number of sets and starting the rest timer. There are a lot of applications on the Apple Watch, but they are all made on the principle that “on board our ship there is a library, a cinema, three bars, a restaurant, a pool and two tennis courts. Now I’ll ask you to fasten your seat belts, because now we’ll try to take off with all this garbage ”- you need to create an account in some kind of social networks for athletes (plus a subscription inside this network costs quite decent money, and without it the application is very limited), they show how to do the exercise by animation, try to count using the accelerometer the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September. using an accelerometer, they try to count the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September. using an accelerometer, they try to count the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September.
8. Sports opportunities - here the Apple Watch puts Pebble on the shoulder blades - heart rate measurement (and even cardiograms in some regions), the presence of built-in GPS, accelerometers, barometers and other sensors allow you to record almost the number of trips to the toilet while analyzing physical activity there . Pebble (in my version) has only an accelerometer that can count the number of steps + the ability to pair with the phone and display speed through RunKeeper. In terms of sports, Apple Watch is the undisputed leader.
9. Integration with the phone- Pebble essentially only displays notifications received on the phone, without any processing. In Android, it is possible to respond to messages with predetermined text, and in later models, voice is recognized. You can control the music (forward / backward, volume control, the current position of the track) Apple Watch with iOS integrates just like a glove, you can control some applications right from the clock (Deezer - music, Overcast - podcasts, Shazam - music recognition), you can reply to messages any applications, they can even answer an incoming call. There is an opportunity to see pictures, it is possible to control the camera of the phone. Alarms, timers or stopwatch are quite conveniently made in both Apple Watch and Pebble. The flip side - with Android, Apple Watch does not work from the word “completely”, i.e. You are limited by the Apple ecosystem.
As a result of this post, the impression was that I think the Apple Watch is something terrible and not usable. More likely not - I just compare the cost of these watches, the number of necessary opportunities that they give their owners and the 5 years that the industry has developed. And what I see is a little disappointing: for Apple, a watch is a secondary gadget that does not generate sales and which they pay attention to last but not least - I see the basic functions being ill-conceived. Tolley on the market is a crisis of ideas about why, in principle, a smart watch is generally needed (approximately the same situation with watches is also observed in other manufacturers - Samsung, Xiaomi, only there it is justified by an adequate price). Do I think the purchase of Apple Watch 4 is justified - most likely not. If you really want Apple, it’s better to buy a 3 series, which is 10,000 rubles. cheaper, and its capabilities are almost the same, with the exception of a slightly smaller screen. In appearance, no one will understand what series you have - they all look almost the same, and the advertised ECG function does not work in Russia yet.
After that, I looked at the progress of the Apple Watch every year and every year I didn’t understand what it was worth to spend on this rather expensive gadget and how it would be better than my current Pebble.
As a result, in 2019, he received the watch as a present for his birthday and, as they say, all doubts disappeared by themselves. There was an opportunity to compare these two hours without regard to their cost, but simply as two functional devices between which 5 years of technological abyss.
1. Battery and time of use: my Pebble is almost 5 years old and they easily care for 5 days with daily use (after the purchase it was 7-8 days). Apple Watch needs to be charged once every 1-2 days, depending on the degree of their use. Because of this, Pebble is more likely to be seen as a watch, and the Apple Watch is more like an electronic gadget. In addition, Pebble can be charged simply with two wires from USB, and the Apple Watch requires a separate specialized charge.
2. Screen:Pebble has a monochrome screen that is always on, the resolution is 144x168 pixels, the Apple Watch has an OLED screen of 368 × 448 pixels, most of the time it doesn’t display anything and wakes up only at an event (receiving a message) or turning its hand / touching the screen. Because of these features, two effects arise: on Pebble you can see information from any angle, you can glance at the clock, watch the time, or read the message that arrived. On the Apple Watch, all your movements are immediately visible, which can, in some situations, cause some discomfort. The second effect is if you launched some long-running application on the watch, for example, a timer, then on Pebble you constantly see how much time you have left, on the Apple Watch you constantly need to either move your hand or tap on the screen.
3. Appearance - here is an amateur - Pebble has a massive, brutal look, the Apple Watch is sophisticated, they resemble a fashion accessory rather than an electronic gadget.
4. Management- Pebble has 4 control buttons, the screen does not touch, all control using buttons. The Apple Watch has a touch screen, a Digital Crown wheel that mimics the crown of a watch and a button on the side. Subjectively, on such a small device as a clock, it’s rather inconvenient to control using taps on the screen, especially on the go - there is a big chance to miss the small icon / button. Digital Crown - well suited for flipping something / zooming, but again, managing with jewelry accuracy on the go is quite difficult. At Pebble everything is done according to the workers' and peasants. One button scroll up, one button scroll down, one button performs the confirmation function, one cancel.
5. Performance- Pebble has no delays. At all. The response is instant. Specifically, with the Apple Watch 4 generations, everything works pretty smartly, but owners of previous generations complain about speed.
6. Well-thought-out interface - Pebble resembles a Kalashnikov assault rifle - zero decorations, everything is clear on business without frills and beautiful things. At Apple everything is rendered very beautifully, with animations, a well-thought-out arrangement of elements. But in the end, there are a few points that just infuriate me, since the basic function of smart watches for me is to show the time and work with notifications.
What happens when you receive a message on Pebble? - it is displayed on the main screen and you immediately see all the information in this message - you do not need a second hand to read the message, you immediately see a notification. What happens when a message arrives on the Apple Watch? You see such a stretched picture, because the developer of the application (and the vast majority of them are now) decided to use Rich Notification (which was generally for another) and presented the icon of his application for beauty as an attachment there. In the end, you need to scroll through this picture (using the second hand) to see the actual text of the message received. And nowhere in the settings you can fix this situation (for example, reduce the size of the picture or even make it not show on the Apple Watch). After that, you want to take advantage of the progress and use the advertised Default Reply function to quickly reply to a message without reaching out your phone. And in the end, you will find out that you can configure these answers only for iMessage / SMS and mail. They don’t work on Whatsapp,
7. Third-party applications- Pebble has several thousand, I even wrote an application for displaying RuCurrency currencies. Almost everything is free, you can find it for every taste and color (within the framework of the platform of course). All applications are independent and most do not require binding to any application at all. At Apple Watch, the entire application is now nailed to some iOS application and will not work without it (they promise to fix the situation in watchOS 6). The applications themselves are certainly much richer than on Pebble with animations, synchronizations, etc., but the problem is that in the first place normal applications are all paid, and in the second I do not need a combine, I need a small lightweight application that performs a small specific task.
Let me give you a simple example: Pebble has a GymTimer application - it “automates” weightlifting in the gym, counting the number of approaches and including the timer between sets during rest. Very useful - you do not need to remember how many approaches you have already done and reminds you that it is time to start doing the next approach or exercise if you are talking to someone in the room. It is controlled by one button - just choose a timer between sets of 60/90/120 seconds and then just press the button, counting the number of sets and starting the rest timer. There are a lot of applications on the Apple Watch, but they are all made on the principle that “on board our ship there is a library, a cinema, three bars, a restaurant, a pool and two tennis courts. Now I’ll ask you to fasten your seat belts, because now we’ll try to take off with all this garbage ”- you need to create an account in some kind of social networks for athletes (plus a subscription inside this network costs quite decent money, and without it the application is very limited), they show how to do the exercise by animation, try to count using the accelerometer the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September. using an accelerometer, they try to count the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September. using an accelerometer, they try to count the number of exercises done, etc. Another extreme of watchOS - after 5 years of development - is the lack of basic applications: there is no calculator, no notes, no voice recorder, no ordinary calendar. Some of this is only promised in watchOS 6, due out in September.
8. Sports opportunities - here the Apple Watch puts Pebble on the shoulder blades - heart rate measurement (and even cardiograms in some regions), the presence of built-in GPS, accelerometers, barometers and other sensors allow you to record almost the number of trips to the toilet while analyzing physical activity there . Pebble (in my version) has only an accelerometer that can count the number of steps + the ability to pair with the phone and display speed through RunKeeper. In terms of sports, Apple Watch is the undisputed leader.
9. Integration with the phone- Pebble essentially only displays notifications received on the phone, without any processing. In Android, it is possible to respond to messages with predetermined text, and in later models, voice is recognized. You can control the music (forward / backward, volume control, the current position of the track) Apple Watch with iOS integrates just like a glove, you can control some applications right from the clock (Deezer - music, Overcast - podcasts, Shazam - music recognition), you can reply to messages any applications, they can even answer an incoming call. There is an opportunity to see pictures, it is possible to control the camera of the phone. Alarms, timers or stopwatch are quite conveniently made in both Apple Watch and Pebble. The flip side - with Android, Apple Watch does not work from the word “completely”, i.e. You are limited by the Apple ecosystem.
As a result of this post, the impression was that I think the Apple Watch is something terrible and not usable. More likely not - I just compare the cost of these watches, the number of necessary opportunities that they give their owners and the 5 years that the industry has developed. And what I see is a little disappointing: for Apple, a watch is a secondary gadget that does not generate sales and which they pay attention to last but not least - I see the basic functions being ill-conceived. Tolley on the market is a crisis of ideas about why, in principle, a smart watch is generally needed (approximately the same situation with watches is also observed in other manufacturers - Samsung, Xiaomi, only there it is justified by an adequate price). Do I think the purchase of Apple Watch 4 is justified - most likely not. If you really want Apple, it’s better to buy a 3 series, which is 10,000 rubles. cheaper, and its capabilities are almost the same, with the exception of a slightly smaller screen. In appearance, no one will understand what series you have - they all look almost the same, and the advertised ECG function does not work in Russia yet.