Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. Mobile
  4. News

You can now pre-order the new Pebble Watch, but it’s got a different name

Add as a preferred source on Google
Digital images of Pebble smartwatches Core 2 Duo in white and Core Time in black against a gray background.
Core 2 Duo (L) and Core Time 2 (R) Pebble

The Pebble Watch has returned, thanks to new company Core Devices setup by Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky. After weeks of teasers the new rePebble store went live on March 18 with two new smartwatches available to pre-order.

There’s new names for the watches, the first of which is the Core 2 Duo with a 1.26-inch black and white display, priced at $149.

Recommended Videos

Migicovsky says it’s basically an upgraded Pebble 2 with battery life being improved from seven days to a mighty 30 days. Considering many color screen smartwatches need a daily charge, the potential ability to go almost a month between topping up will likely appeal to those interested.

“We also added a speaker, linear actuator motor, compass and barometer, and improved the buttons” Migicovsky says.

The second watch is the Core Time 2 which features a 1.5-inch color display and costs $225. Again this has taken inspiration from an old Pebble watch, the Pebble Time 2.

As Migicovsky explains, additional features over the original Time 2 include “a speaker and touch screen, and boosted battery life.” For Pebble fans, you’ll note the design is a little different between the original and the new Core-branded wearable. That’s because the top glass is flat rather than curved this time around.

The original Pebble Watch arrived on the wearable scene back in 2012 with an e-paper display and chunky design. It smashed its Kickstarter goal, but four years later the company was sold to Fitbit (which Google then went on to acquire) and production on its watches ended.

However, that all changed at the start of this year, when Google made PebbleOS (the software which ran the original Pebble watches) open-source. This allowed Migicovsky to reclaim the operating system and develop the Core wearables we see now.

Order today, but no guarantees

The new Core 2 Duo is set to start shipping in July 2025, while the Core Time 2 won’t start shipping until December 2025. However, there’s no guarantee you’ll receive your order.

As part of the ordering experiencing you need “understand and acknowledge” a number of caveats;

  • The ship date is an estimate. Delays may happen
  • Core Devices may cancel and refund my order at any time
  • Duties and customs fees (tariffs) may be added later
  • I can cancel my pre-order and get a full refund any time before shipment
  • The FAQs at the bottom of this page

That’s because Eric is personally funding the project, so there will likely be various milestones which will need to be passed to get physical products into the hands of buyers.

And if you’re an iPhone owners, there’s an additional disclaimer you’ll need to accept before placing your order.

The iPhone disclaimer on the Core Devices store page.
Core Devices / Digital Trends

Core 2 Duo specs and Core Time 2 specs

Core 2 Duo Core Time 2
Display 1.26″ B/W 1.5″ 64-colour
Resolution 144×168 pixels, 176 DPI 200×228 pixels, 202 DPI
Interaction 4 buttons 4 buttons + touchscreen
Frame Polycarbonate Metal
Sensors 6-axis IMU, compass, barometer 6-axis IMU, heart rate
Health features Step and sleep tracking Heart rate, step and sleep tracking
Battery life 30 days 30 days (est.)
Price $149 $225
Shipping starts July 2025 December 2025
John McCann
John has been a consumer technology & automotive journalist for over a decade.
Google is making it easier to adapt Android apps for laptops and foldable phones
Google is helping developers make Android apps work beyond smartphones
Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Google updated its adaptive Compose skill to help developers adapt existing Android apps for laptops, foldable phones, tablets, and other form factors, including the upcoming Googlebook platform. The goal of this update is to help AI coding agents customize apps for different screen sizes and input methods without developers having to maintain separate codebases for different devices.

The new skill goes beyond responsive layouts, adding support for desktop-focused features and foldable-specific interface adjustments. Google is also signaling that adaptive app experiences will be more prominent on Google Play, with the company planning to pay more attention to how apps and games perform on foldable devices next year.

Read more
Meta’s next cute attempt at forcing AI into your life is an AI pet journal app
Meta wants you to tell your secrets to a cute AI pet in Waddle World app.
meta-waddle-world-ai-pet-journal

Meta wants to make its AI feel like a cute tiny friend through a newly launched pet journal app called Waddle World. Think of it as Tamagotchi, but the pixelated pet can actually chat with you and doodle little illustrations based on what you tell it about your day. Right now, this free app is available on iOS and Android only in the Philippines, with access limited to adults.

Waddle World is a pet that wants to know about your day

Read more
A tiny smartphone gadget can detect some of the nastiest chemicals in your water
Scientists built a tiny smartphone gadget that can spot toxic 'forever chemicals'
Smartphone-connected drinking water safety sensor Featured

What if checking your drinking water for dangerous chemicals were as simple as plugging a tiny gadget into your smartphone? Researchers in Japan have developed a compact sensor that could make that possible, potentially bringing sophisticated water contamination testing out of expensive laboratories and into people's hands.

Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have created a portable device capable of detecting extremely low concentrations of PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals." The findings were published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, which demonstrate how an inexpensive sensor and a smartphone could make identifying potentially harmful chemicals in water a lot easier.

Read more