It looks like a Pebble, it works like a Pebble, but don’t call it a Pebble. Eric Migicovsky, the original creator of the Pebble smartwatch, just unveiled two new smartwatches — the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2. Those spiritual successors to the Pebble smartwatches are available for pre-orders for $149 and $225 respectively.
If you aren’t familiar with Pebble, this Palo Alto-based startup was one of the first breakthrough successes of the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform back in 2012. The company created smartwatches before the Apple Watch and Android-based smartwatches existed.
While Pebble managed to sell over two million devices, the company abruptly closed in 2016. After an insolvency process, what was left of the company was acquired by its rival Fitbit.
Fast forward to 2024, Migicovsky had a bold idea. What if we could back to these simpler times and simpler tech devices? What if we could bring back Pebble smartwatches?
Google has been surprisingly helpful in this process as the tech giant is open-sourcing PebbleOS, the operating system that powered the original Pebble smartwatches.
It turns out that Google acquired Fitbit a few years after Fitbit acquired Pebble’s assets. But Pebble’s IP wasn’t worth much for Google, so the company decided to give it back to the community of Pebble enthusiasts.
Now, Core Devices, Migicovsky’s new company, is unveiling two new smartwatches that will run PebbleOS. The Core 2 Duo is essentially a new Pebble 2 running the original Pebble software.
It has an always-on E Ink display with a few buttons on the side of the device. Compared to 2025 smartwatches, it’s a pretty basic watch. That E Ink display is a non-touch, black-and-white display. But the smartwatch supports alarms and timers — groundbreaking, I know.
It pairs with your phone using Bluetooth so that it can display notifications and connect to the internet. You can also control the music on your phone thanks to this Bluetooth connection.
But the two things that made the Pebble stand out from its successors are still true today. First, the battery life is excellent. The company promises up to 30 days of battery life. Second, it’s a fun, hackable device. There are thousands of watchfaces and it’s easy to create small apps for the device.
“This project is a labour of love rather than a startup trying to sell millions of watches. There may be some rough edges (literally). Things will get delayed. Some features will not be ready at launch. Things could break. Things could not last as long as you’d like,” Migicovsky wrote.
“The only thing we can guarantee is that it will be awesome and a lot of fun! Every time you look down at your watch, you will smile 🙂” he added.
The other smartwatch announced today, the Core Time 2, essentially shares the same specifications as the Core 2 Duo, but with a bigger, 64-color display in a metal casing. It’s also a touch display, but Pebble apps don’t support touch interactions for now.
Migicovsky says shipments for the Core 2 Duo should start in July. The Core Time 2 will take a bit longer to produce as it should only be available in December.
