A cult classic smartwatch is returning 9 years after the last model

When we think of smartwatches these days, we think about the likes of Apple Watch, Samsung's Galaxy Watch and Google's Pixel Watch, with maybe few extras depending on what phone you have and the features you're after.

But, there was a time before Big Tech took over the smartwatch world, where the hottest smartwatch to buy was a Pebble.

Back when it first launched, Pebble broke crowd-funding records on Kickstarter, and offered a charming wrist device with a simple interface that landed before proper smartwatches were even a thing.

Sadly though, we haven't seen a new Pebble device since 2016, but that's about to change. Its IP is currently owned by Google following the acquisition of Fitbit, and it has just open-sourced the Pebble software, as spotted by Engadget.

What does the future of Pebble look like?

By open-sourcing the software, it means anyone can make a Pebble-like watch, and that's exactly what the person who originally created the brand, Eric Migicovsky, plans to do. He's first to detail plans for a comeback.

In a recent blog post, he said: "You'd imagine that smartwatches have evolved considerably since 2012. I've tried every single smartwatch out there, but none do it for me. No one makes a smartwatch with the core set of features I want."

Migicovsky then lists the features he desires in a smartwatch, which includes an always-on e-paper screen, long battery life, simple and beautiful user experience, buttons, and be hackable: "Apparently you can't even write your own watchfaces for Apple Watch? That is wild. There were >16k watchfaces on the Pebble appstore!"

The blog went on to say that he had asked Google to open-source the Pebble software, which it said yes to and after a year of work, it went live on 27 January 2025. Migicovsky then detailed that he and a small team were "diving back into the world of hardware to bring Pebble back".

He went on to say that there will be much of what made the original watches so popular, but with a few modern twists: "The new watch we’re building basically has the same specs and features as Pebble, though with some fun new stuff as well.

"It runs open source PebbleOS, and it’s compatible with all Pebble apps and watchfaces. If you had a Pebble and loved it… this is the smartwatch for you."

Migicovsky's blog doesn't detail a timeline for the rejuvenated Pebble smartwatch, but if nostalgia has hit you hard reading this, you can sign up for updates at rePebble.com.