The Pebble Time 2 Will Finally Launch As 'Core Time 2' For $229, And It Has A Touchscreen

Remember the Pebble Time 2? The long-awaited, modern-looking Pebble that was supposed to launch in 2016 had the hearts of fans at the time, but was brutally killed when Fitbit bought the company, leaving the hardware to never actually ship. Finally, though, that dream is being realized as the “Core Time 2” will be launching later this year, and it has some big upgrades.

As discussed in an earlier post, Pebble smartwatches are making a comeback, sort of. Following PebbleOS going open-source earlier this year, the original founder of Pebble, Eric Migicovsky, has announced that he will be launching new Pebble-like smartwatches, and the first two are the “Core 2 Duo,” a reboot of the Pebble 2, and the “Core Time 2,” a reinvention of the Pebble Time 2 that we never actually got.

Pebble smartwatches are back as ‘Core,’ starting at $149 with 30-day battery life

The Core Time 2 is a smartwatch running PebbleOS that’s being built pretty much from the ground up, but it has all of the points that people wanted from the Pebble Time 2 nearly a decade ago.

The color e-paper display is 1.5-inches in size, bigger than any Pebble that’s been released to date and the same size that was promised for the Pebble Time 2. It also has a metal frame and metal buttons, a heart rate monitor, and an upgraded vibration motor from prior Pebble generations (and better than what the 2016 release would have had).

*The bigger display leaves room for more text*

Battery life is also way longer than it would have been, with 30 days estimated on a single charge as opposed to just 10 days.

Perhaps the single biggest upgrade, though, is a touchscreen on the Core Time 2.

This was never planned for the Pebble Time 2, largely because touchscreens have never been a “Pebble” thing. Founder Eric Migicovsky explains that watchface complications are the reason for this addition, as it’s a feature he likes from newer watches (i.e. Wear OS, Apple Watch) that isn’t as useful without a touchscreen. But the buttons will still be the primary means of interaction. The touchscreen also doesn’t have an impact on battery life, he says.

Migicovsky explains:

…I want to add the concept of ‘complications’ to watchfaces and widgets. Like on Apple Watch, these complications/widgets will show glanceable information like weather, next calendar event, step count, etc. The touch screen adds the ability to tap on the complication and directly open the associated app. This is much faster to use than opening an app via the button menu, and saves your quick launch (long-press on the buttons) for other apps. The touchscreen may be used for other interactions, like swiping to rapidly scroll down a list, but that will be lower priority.

The design of Pebble Time 2 obviously differs from the Core Time 2, with the newer product looking a lot more like the Pebble 2 with its angular design as opposed to that 2016 design’s slightly more curvy look. One benefit of that, Migicovsky points out, is that the flat glass of the new watch will prove a lot less prone to glare and reflections than the Pebble Time 2 would have, had it ever actually shipped.

The Core Time 2 is now available for pre-order at $229 and due to ship in December 2025. Quantities will be limited, Migicovsky says, but there are still some details to be finalized. For now, this product is still in the “first prototypes” stage. The watch will come in black and white colors, with others to follow in time (I’ll see myself out for that one).