Gadgetory

how to pebble steel in the original compare let's take a look I'm Tanner Martin this is PocketNow and this is the pebble steel versus the original pebble when we first learned we'd see new pebble Hardware at CES 2014 we got very excited maybe a little too excited we loved the original pebble and many of us here at PocketNow have adopted the pioneering SmartWatch but the watch was not without faults and any improvements on the original would be graciously welcomed it's fair to say however pebble steel wasn't quite what we expected on several levels is it the Smart Watch to beat and most importantly is it worth the additional $100 over the original model that's what we're here to find out as we compare pebble steel with the original pebble we typically start our comparisons with hardware since so many of the devices we compare are so drastically different in the hardware department most also have a healthy portion of software differences as well this comparison is different the software on the pebble steel and the original pebble is for all intents and purposes exactly the same on the user end they're both compatible with all the same watch faces and apps and operate identically on the software side the brunt of the differences reside on the hardware side of the equation and boy are they drastic and great we're all familiar with the appearance of the original pebble the casing is made almost entirely of polycarbonate with a glossy finish on the top side it comes in five color options orange cherry red jet black arctic white and gray it also ships with the TPU watchstrap but it's also compatible with any standard 22 millimeter watch band and it's easily replaceable Michael and I both quickly replaced our standard watch straps with PVD coated steel straps to add some weight and polish to the otherwise understated design pebble steel as the name suggests is made almost entirely of steel a marine grade stainless steel and comes in two style options brushed steel or PVD coating regardless of the color you choose pebble steel ships with two watch bands a steel band or a leather strap and it's not compatible with just any other watch strap dimensions of the faces are notably different as well the original pebble measures 52 millimeters from pin to pin 36 millimeters wide and 11 point five millimeters thick pebble steel is six millimeters shorter 2 millimeters narrower and one millimeter thinner those differences may sound minuscule but they're significant particularly to someone with small wrists and as you would imagine steel is a tad heavier than the original 56 grams to the originals 38 toss the steel band on and you can add another 99 grams to the weight however since we've added the strap to our original pebble the difference is less noticeable simply from a design perspective pebble steel is far superior and far better looking than the original pebble you can try to disguise the stark nerdiness of the original by throwing the steel band on it as Michael and I have done but there's something off about how it looks a plastic watch faced with a $50 steel band is a dead giveaway that something else is going on pebble steel on the other hand is under a near-perfect guys regardless of which band you prefer leather or steel pebble steel closely resembles a luxury watch in fact it is a luxury watch the only tales that will give away its true nature are the sharp attention-seeking buzzes and unusual watch faces or apps oh and the pebble running at the bottom of the face which is new along with the better build quality comes some other improvements for instance the buttons both models feature the same button configuration but we've always felt the buttons on the original have over sort of difficult to press with very little tech tivity more or less they're mushy with a lot of resistance and they wobble when you press them on pebble steel the buttons are very easy to press and offer a nice click the other upgrade on the face is Gorilla Glass 2 the plastic on the face of the original pebble scratched on my personal unit on the very first day Gorilla Glass will help avoid shattering and hopefully keep nasty scratches at bay so far it's also appeared to be less prone to smudging despite so vast external differences they are practically identical on the inside both are powered by a 120 megahertz arm cortex-m 3 cpu come with Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy support have 130 million power battery and come with a host of sensors both also come with a water resistance rating of 5 atmospheres and gets all ok to shower or even swim with either pebble on the displays are identical as well a 1.2 6-inch display with a resolution of 144 by 168 pixels with an LED backlight however the pebble steel does have two more upgrades the inbuilt storage has been doubled from 4 megabytes to 8 megabytes though both the steel and the original are capped eight aftermarket watch apps it's unclear whether this additional storage will be for future proofing with software updates or more user storage in the future for more watch apps it also has an RGB notification light which only currently shows charging status Orange when charging and green when fully charged and finally speaking of charging the magnetic charging ports are different the new one is smaller and more squared than before killing any hopes of using the current Pebble charging cables with pebble steel or any existing owners looking to upgrade with virtually the same exact internals and software the user experience is approximately the same between both models but note that there are finished differences the tactility of the buttons makes it far easier to navigate through menus scroll through notifications and interact with pebble pebble steel doesn't feel as if it's fighting back when you want to control your music or check into a location using Foursquare and for some especially those who have already spent extensive time with pebble this will go a long way all you've only had pebble steel for a day there's no reason to suspect battery life will be any different from before both are rated at 5 to 7 days on a single charge and I've exceeded that estimate many times with the original pebble so the hundred dollar question is pebble steel worth it or should you go with the lower end pebble for just 150 dollars if you're in the market for your first pebble you have to answer some questions first do you want a watch that will go just as well with dress attire as a casual outfit or do you want something more sporty are you okay with slightly lower build quality for much lower price both are great but your answers to those questions should also answer which is the better choice for you for anyone who already has pebble if you're considering the upgrade we strongly suggest it if you're looking for a better experience the steel chassis gives a watch an entirely different field the vibrate is more Stern in a good way and the finesse of the buttons is something you will enjoy as for the price it's certainly justified aftermarket PVD watch straps run for about fifty dollars bringing the overall price of the original around $200 throw in other chassis improvements and the fine tuning here and there and we fill $250 is easily justifiable folks that's going to do it for this video if you enjoyed it be sure to click the thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel to see more videos in the future as well as more pebble steel coverage over the next week finest in 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