Gadgetory

pebble makes some of my favorite smartwatches why because they offer stuff that other watches lack battery life up to a week or more water resistance you can wear them swimming and are always on screen pebbles newest watch that pebble time round is here and while it does a lot of what the other pebbles do it turns a lot of its best features on its head in the name of fashion it is really thin I mean this round version is super super thin it's thinner than nearly any other SmartWatch I've ever seen and it feels like a regular watch feels great on my wrist and it's comfortable but that display is small compared to its thick side bezels it is always on and it looks even better in bright sunlight but it could have been larger and there's no touchscreen you use buttons on the sides just like other pebbles to check the time open apps control music check messages or look at your daily timeline there are many colors and designs you can choose from and either 14 or 20 millimeter watch band options my version is black battery life is shorter it now lasts just two and a half days on a charge not bad but not nearly as good as other pebbles it uses the same charger at least but I miss having it last a week it can't be worn swimming you can get it wet but this isn't a pool watch anymore the water resistance has been downgraded which is a shame and it won't work with every pebble app because of its round display only some watch faces and apps work on the new pebble time round you're going to have to hunt and peck in the pebble app store and so far a lot of my favorite apps have not made the leap will they who knows it has the same features otherwise as the pebble time and the time steel color reflective screen and accelerometer and gyro for fitness tracking apps vibration for silent alarms and messages and a microphone which you can respond to messages with on Android but it also works with a lot of cool new voice enabled apps that can be used with the iPhone like a new voice dictation note app but the round is expensive $250 the same price as the pebble time steel yes it's smaller but I'd prefer more of that battery life swim capabilities and more apps maybe you feel differently at least pebble offers you a choice just before warned that the round makes compromises for it's cool size I'm Scott Steinman CNET looking at the pebble time round