I have the og PineTime, and in my opinion, we don’t really need better hardware. What we need is better software!
this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2026
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Isn't a bit of the challenge with the software to write something that supports the very modest hardware?
Couldn’t they theoretically just use PebbleOS?
Supposedly the pro can. I'd imagine it's quite a bit harder to run than infinitime
Agreed, I never felt like the software quite got the support it needed. Know it's not easy, but even basic needs like can we maintain a connection and can the device update itself were not guaranteed.
If you're new to Pine - the watch and phone are Open Hardware devices for people who are want to help build that future of open hardware. As a coder, I think this is a good thing. I have several but I wouldn't give one to a family member, just yet. Pine itself is about open hardware - but that process happens over a large time when smart people do good work. By comparison, Linux has been around 35 years.
Did they ever solve why the original PineTime had weird charging behavior? Mine and several others, when charged to 100%, would not behave correctly and would bootloop.
Kinda wish it had nfc
Seems like a missed opportunity to make it a viable alternative
I like the idea of keeping track of my hikes using GPS to be able to remember exactly where I've been, but I don't trust the kind of data gathered by a smart watch with any company out there, and I don't want to drain my phone by keeping the GPS on constantly. If this has good battery life it sounds interesting to me.
I'm generally sceptical of introducing another screen into my life though. Something about smart watches just seems inherently intrusive even if the software itself isn't spyware.
Love my PineTime on InfiniTime. Looking forward to this.
I want them to make a smart ring
What does a smart ring do that a smart watch doesn't?
It's more about what it doesn't have. I already have a phone and a laptop, so I don't need another screen. But it would be neat to be able to track things like sleep quality with an inconspicuous ring
Ugh, it has a microphone. Eavesdropping malware incoming. And it's another big clonky smartwatch.
It's nice that it has a blood oxygen sensor I guess. And there's a 6d accelerometer. I don't see mention of a temperature sensor either, though with the wireless connectivity and presumed frequent recharging, I guess you can keep correcting the time.
I still like the Sensorwatch (sensorwatch.net) better. Much more modest, smaller, etc. Runs for a year on a coin cell, has a temperature sensor which can used to correct the oscillator and give timing accuracy to within a few seconds a year, and other cool stuff.
I bet your phone also has a mic.
Yes and it's a constant issue, and there is tons of security stuff in the phone to deal with the mic's presence. I've elsewhere suggested making phones with no mics, so if you want to make a voice phone call you have to use an external mic. At least the phone has an important application that uses the mic.
The mic in this watch seems to have been added to the hardware just because they could. But as they say, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Smart watches often have mics because they can be used to take calls without having your phone on you (still has to be near you unless it's a cellular smartwatch), or to use the assistants or whatever.
The PineTime (Pro) is the one place where this shouldn't worry you because whatever software you're running on it was installed by you so you've hopefully vetted it for security.
I didn't hear a mention of this watch being usable for phone calls but if that's in the cards, then I guess that's a legitimate application, though I don't see how it would work. You hold your wrist up to your ear? Sounds painful. Is it somehow better than using an earbud? If you don't want to walk around wearing an earbud like a Borg when you're not on a call, maybe they could put an earbud holder onto the watchband. The watch could be shaped to accomodate the earbud and maybe even recharge it, if it's shaped like an Airpod.
With the Apple Watch, there's a fairly loud speaker and fairly decent mic, you can pretty much talk with the thing on your hand. No idea if this can do the same though.
I see, like putting the person on speaker phone. Not nice, but thanks!
“It has a mic, so it’ll definitely have eavesdropping malware” is quite a logical jump to make. Everything has a mic nowadays.
The crappy old Casio that I use now has no microphone and no wireless comms. Just an LCD and some pushbuttons.
I have a pinephone, and it has hardware on/off switches for mic, wireless, camera. my bet would be so will the pine time pro.
This is about a watch, not a phone. It looks like they added the mic as an afterthought.