The Not-Pebble Watch Is a Sign We Crave Something Unique

The return of Pebble offers a chance to reset the clock on smartwatches. Eric Migicovsky, the original idea man behind Pebble’s simple, pared-down e-paper wearable, is back with a device that looks akin to that decade-old smartwatch brand in the Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2. The first footage of Migicovsky’s resurrected wearable shows promise, not for any big feature that sets it apart from your typical Apple Watch, but because it’s not like anything else you can buy today.

The regular slate of smartwatches from the likes of Google, Samsung, and Apple hasn’t left us truly excited. Samsung and Apple are in a race to add as many health sensors to the back of their devices, and still the most we can hope for on the impending Apple Watch Series 11 is a slimmer body and slightly better display. Core Devices’ Core 2 Duo, in its current iteration, is practically the same device as a Pebble 2 but with a few tweaks. It includes a relatively small, 1.2-inch display and—get this—no touchscreen. You control it with buttons. The Core 2 Duo screen is black and white, while the $225 Core Time 2 has a 1.5-inch color touchscreen display and a heart rate monitor.

In a video posted Thursday, Migicovsky offered some insight into the smartwatch itself, plus more on what people in the U.S. can expect to pay for one due to Trump tariffs. He confirmed the Core 2 Duo is being made in China, but the company will bulk ship the devices to the U.S. to try and shift the burden of the 27.5% tariffs on smartwatches to what they pay to the factory. The cost of smartwatch shipments may go up by $10 to $25, he said. Things could change, and there’s a chance that prices could be impacted once President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on worldwide tariffs on countries other than China is over. The ship date still hasn’t changed from July this year.

There are upgrades on the way. Migicovsky said he hopes to integrate complications—aka those little widgets that tell you the time or offer app alerts— alongside deeper Beeper integration for having an all-in-one chat app. The Pebble founder said he would also like to add some sort of AI companion onto the smartwatch. He cited the app Bob.ai, which can offer quick answers to simple queries through Google’s Gemini AI model. The maker has already mentioned users could connect with ChatGPT via a built-in microphone, but the new smartwatches will have a speaker for ChatGPT to talk back.

The Core 2 Duo is supposed to retail for $150. That sounds relatively low compared to the $400 MSRP Apple Watch Series 9 or Series 10, but when you consider how often these devices go on sale only a few months out of the gate, Pebble is going to compete against Apple and other, much larger brands. If that’s the case, is there a market for these lower-powered, less health-focused smartwatches?

That depends if Core Devices wants to rely solely on those nostalgic for the Pebble ecosystem. Nothing, the company started by OnePlus alum Carl Pei, has managed to capture a chunk of the Android phone ecosystem by simply making eye-catching transparent phones. Nothing’s CMF budget sub-brand is producing interesting alternatives, like the new Phone 2 Pro, to Pixel or Galaxy devices.

Migicovsky, who’s much more low-key than Pei, isn’t flashing any “glyph” lights to entice customers to his alternative smartwatch. He’s relying on fans and word of mouth to build a brand without any emphasis on overt smart features. The Pebble founder said he enjoys smartwatches for the sake of easy-to-access notifications. “It’s fun,” he said, before showing off a watch face with an octopus holding an ice cream cone. “I love having a device in my life that makes me feel happy.”