Casio to Pebble, back to Casio

My first watch was a Swiss analog watch from an unknown brand¹. It was given to me by my parents and had a Hilti logo on it. Most likely something they got for free when they bought something.

By the time it finally broke, smartphones were gaining popularity. I was using an LG Cookie (and later an iPhone 3G) at that time. It didn't make much sense to spend extra money on a watch when I could see the time on my phone. I always missed the ease of seeing the time on my wrist, though. For the years to come, I caught myself peeking at the place where the watch used to be.

To Pebble

Shortly after I started working at OpenMinds in 2015, a few coworkers were talking about the Pebble. As an early smartwatch, it was able to display text messages on your wrist. We were required to respond to automated texts sent by our monitoring system during after-hours on-call shifts. It made sense to wear a watch again, so I ordered the Pebble Time Steel in early 2016.

Pebble went bankrupt near the end of 2016. Their Android app and servers kept working until a few years later. The watch became useless and disappeared into a drawer. Another few years glancing at an empty spot on my wrist ensued.

To Casio

Then in 2016 I bought the Casio GW-5000U-1ER. It's the best watch I've ever worn; it does almost exactly what I want it to do and nothing else.

• It shows the time, day of the week, and date.
• It charges itself using a solar panel.
• It automatically sets the time using the German DCF77 signal.
• It's water resistant up to 20BAR (200m).
• No Bluetooth

Basically, I can wear it all the time and not care about it.

Back to Pebble

Then, in 2025, Eric Migicovsky brought Pebble back! They released the Pebble app again and included support for their old watches. After all this time, my old Pebble Time Steel still managed to work for more than a week on a charge. (Modern smartwatches usually last a few days; it's sad, really.)

I pre-ordered a Pebble Time 2. They shipped it in May 2026. It was great. Bigger screen, better battery, and an open-source Android app. I could read my messages on my wrist again. It included more advanced health tracking. Heart rate monitoring in addition to the existing step counter. Life was great.

Back to Casio

In the summer of 2026 I started swimming again. The Pebble Time 2 has a microphone and a speaker. Holes in the enclosure that make it harder to keep water out. It's rated as water resistant up to 3 BAR (or 30m). I don't swim 30m underwater, obviously, but that rating is only correct if nothing moves. Jumping into the pool creates much higher pressure than the watch simply lying in the water. That makes swimming with the watch risky. It could be perfectly fine, but it's not as worry-free as the Casio.

So I took my Pebble off and switched to the Casio, then switched back when I got back home.

But why would I switch back to the Pebble? I have checked the health graphs a few times when it was new, but don't really care about them now. Getting messages on the watch is great, but I then have to take my phone out to reply. It does support replying by voice, but I don't feel like talking to my watch in public.

The only feature I do actually use is the vibrating alarm, but using that means I have to wear my watch at night. I find that to be slightly uncomfortable. (Wearing it at night also gives me sleep tracking, but I don't really use that data either..)

So I am wearing my trusty Casio GW-5000U-1ER again. I didn't have to charge it; I didn't have to connect it. It was just lying there, ready to show me the time. It's amazing.