The Pebble Time Steel is a outstanding smartwatch comes in a frontier design. With excellent craftmanship,it offering a promised 10 days on a charge.
Take the Pebble Time watch and cover it in metal, and you have the Pebble Time Steel. But the funny thing is, most people probably won’t notice the difference. That’s because the Pebble Time already had a steel front bezel that made it look like it was all-metal, even though the body was plastic. The gunmetal version of the Time Steel I received to review isn’t easily identified as an “all metal” watch, either: the sides and back are muted gray, blending with the faded brown leather strap it came packed with. 
Compared to the gleaming, squared-off retro look of the Pebble Steel from a year and a half ago, this watch is more bulbous, and less eye-catching. And the Pebble Time Steel’s thick black bezel only emphasizes how small the display looks in the middle. This new Pebble is the better watch, but also somehow the less impressive-looking one.
It’s nearly the same size and thickness as a 42mm Apple Watch, leading a lot of people to ask me if this Pebble was an Apple Watch. In some sense that’s a compliment to Pebble, but in reality the Steel’s design is clean but somewhat innocuous. It doesn’t look bad at all, but neither does it leap out and make a statement.
With a steel band, my opinion might change. The Pebble Time Steel does come with both a leather and steel link band, but I only got the leather band, and it doesn’t do the watch any favors. The band’s faded leather feels too faded for me, and doesn’t seem to match the watch’s design. The band can be easily popped off and swapped for another: either one of Pebble’s, or a 22mm watch band you find anywhere else.
In a side-by-side test, several people in my office preferred the less expensive Pebble Time with a silicone band, as, perhaps more pertinently, did my wife. Maybe that would change with one of the Pebble Time Steel’s other colors or watch bands. With the steel-link band that’s not currently available yet — but is part of the Kickstarter backer package — it cuts a much sharper profile.
The Pebble Time Steel is water resistant to 30 meters, just like the Pebble Time, which I love. But you need to change out the leather band before you dive in a pool or the shower: leather doesn’t hold up when wet.
Pebble‘s app connects to an app and watch face store with hundreds of little apps to download. They’re often quirky. Some are fun, some are weird, some seem like trademark violations. Timers, stopwatches, sports score tracking and weather apps galore are available to try.
If you’re an Android phone user, the Pebble is a tempting alternative to Android Wear, and simpler to use. It’s got awesome battery life, and handles notifications well.
