Gadgetory

so the same thing always happens when a new device launches the media gets review units ahead of the official launch and we get to use them while we write our review then the press embargo lifts every outlet posts their reviews and videos at the same time writers and commenters go back and forth and it's a huge frenzy of opinion and buzz for about a day and then it all goes away sure there's some follow-up coverage but after that initial blast almost no one revisits the device to see how well it's aged because we're all on to the next big thing already so let's do something about it let's take a look at a device several months after its release but it's not shiny and new anymore I'm Taylor Martin with pocket now this is pebble steel and this is episode 34 of after the bus when we reviewed pebble steel back in March we caught it a SmartWatch in disguise unlike other smartwatches which are often unapologetic about their visibly nerdy appearance pebble steel was designed to hide its true nature under the guise of a standard timepiece we still feel pebble did a great job with what they were working with frankly it's difficult to disguise a wrist-mounted device that incessantly buzzes all day as anything but a SmartWatch but if you're not looking closely and choose the right style of watch face the pebble steel at a glance looks like your run-of-the-mill legacy watch the only visual cues hinting at something else going on are the pebble branding located at the bottom of the face and the magnetic charging port along the left side over the last few months our personal pebble steel unit has held up exceptionally well the gorilla glass screen has fared much better than the original pebble which was an all plastic scratch magnet there's only a single hairline scratch on the glass which is impressive considering how many times we managed to smack the pebble steel on table corners walls doors and practically everything else every day on our map black model other signs of wear are just as minor the PVD coating has surpassed all our expectations there are slight signs of wear on the outside half the band where our wrist often rests on abrasive surfaces the clasp has a few minor scratches on it while the inside part of the band is more like new under close inspection you can find other small blemishes but they're virtually invisible to the naked eye at more than a nose length away if you're worried about minor blemishes you might fare better with a brush steel model or the black they're strapped but we're happy with how well the PVD coating has held up everything else has stood the test of time quite well the buttons are just as snappy and tactile as they were to start with the clasp has somehow managed to withstand our incessant opening and closing a personal fidgeting tick of mind that I can't seem to shake and the display in the pebble still seems more reliable than its predecessors visual distortion light refraction and discoloration are no longer issues still we would have liked to have seen a display upgrade but we understand why pebble passed on bumping resolution or switching to an RGB panel we're sure developers are thankful after a few months the biggest complaint we have with hardware is and we want to stress how minor this is how we still struggle with the magnetic charging connection at times sometimes it appears to snap into place and the LED will come on but charging will stop if you slightly bump the pebble it's fixed by an ever so slight adjustment the catch is you have to see that you disconnected the charger so instead of having a fully charged pebble like you thought you would it's still nearly dead when you disconnect the charger this has only happened a handful of times since April if connected properly the first time the magnet is easily strong enough to stay connected and continue charging after all this time we're still just as impressed with pebble steel as we were when seeing it the first time at CES that said the honeymoon phase is over it's faded into the background and just become a piece of a tire we throw on our wrists every morning and we think that's exactly what pebble was going for a really nifty and useful gadget that doesn't get in the way of your daily life kudos pebble software has only improved on pebble steel the accompanying Android and iOS apps are fully functioning with pebble appstore in tow what you'll find in the App Store has improved as well the number of applications has grown from nearly 1,000 in March to now more than 3,200 with over 15,000 registered developers evidence of the strong development community comes in the form of some big names such as Evernote having an official pebble app forswear Yelp ESPN and many other well-known brands have pebble apps as well and the functionality only continues to grow apps like music boss which allow the user to totally control the audio and even switch music apps on the flash straight from the watch show the potential of a device like pebble the application situation will only continue to get better but it's not all about work or fitness there are plenty of games too if your thing we've been stuck on tiny bird a flappy bird port and Petrus a Tetris clone but what about the actual pebble software it's improved to quite a lot actually there's now a notification history don't like the order of the apps on your pebble long press the select button and order the items how you want want to change the volume of the music playing on your phone without taking it out of your pocket long press the select button in the music app and the up and down button switch from skip to volume control each tiny revision of the software has brought stability and a better user experience the one negative note we have to give pebble steel is battery life after the 2.0 update when paired with some newer versions of Android like KitKat battery life on pebble steel is dramatically worse we used to only charge pebble steel every seven or eight days now we charge every two or three days we took pebble steel off the charger two days ago around 5pm currently the battery level is sitting at approximately thirty percent at two-fifteen p.m. less than 48 hours later it will most likely die before midnight some people are forms are claiming to have fixes or workarounds for the battery issues but the issue still affects many pebble owners today despite the battery life concerns pebble steel is just as impressive today as it was when it was announced in January the software has only become more functional and the application support is growing rapidly users now have more control over pebble steel than ever and surprisingly the hardware is held up better than we would have expected especially considering how rough we are on watches here at Pocket now if you're in the market for a SmartWatch and simply cannot wait pebble steel is still definitely worth a look the 249 dollar price tag still stings a little but we have no problem recommending it as a solid SmartWatch go to work on iOS and Android how it will compare to the competition once Android wear watches or the rumored iWatch land is currently the biggest calls for concern the pebble says it is willing and ready to take the challenge of tough competition head on folks thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video be sure to click the thumbs up button below and of course subscribe to the channel to see more videos like this one in the future be sure to follow us on all the usual places twitter facebook and google+ at pocket now i'm taylor martin you can find me on twitter at casper tech and i will see you next time