EEVblog #760 - Pebble Time Smartwatch Torture Test! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 01, 2015, 12:56:04 pm
content: Dave takes the new Pebble Time Smartwatch through the 2015 Tough Bloke Challenge in Sydney. 8km of mud, water, and obstacles. Will it survive?Unfair test? - YesFun? - Hell yes!

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2015, 01:22:32 pm
content: There's an event called the "Tough Bloke Challenge"?Only in Oz.Looks like fun. Were there any Shielas?I'll stick with my Casio Mudman -designedfor jobs like that!

author: ElectroIrradiator
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2015, 02:46:19 pm
content: Has Sagan been writing on your left arm with a permanent marker while you were sleeping?I had hoped for the obstacle with the dangling electrified wires but alas, this wasn't the right event for that.

author: eneuro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2015, 09:50:22 pm
content: Bloody buttons are not such smart in this smartwatch - not resistant to mud and sandNope, I hate buttons.This week stopped working one of two buttons in my bicycle "computer" after 2 years or so...everything else is in good shape-I can't press only this one buttonProbably teardown, and PCB will land in new custom enclusure... without mechanical buttonsIt is clear, those buttons in those toys are made to make this thing to fail within a few years and... to press you to buy another one.Holly crap-we are in XXI century-lets forget about mechanical buttonsIn the case of mud test... failed much faster... well done

author: Dongulus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 05:18:28 am
content: @ 4:19 - There's a quote for Pebble's website"That's a quality watch" -- Random Tough Bloke Challenge Participant

author: eneuro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 08:51:33 am
content: I'd like to see another test-debunk its claimed 30m in water submersionI believe in Dave could do it, since this thing seams to survived his latest teardown.Lets calculate pressure 30m below water level, put this thing into pressure chamber filled with water... and see how those bloody buttons will let this watch sink in deep oceanThe only, problem now is top enclosure was removed, so we need to glue it back-it probably doesn't matter too much, since I think those butons will fail first under rising water presureMaybe, someone else wants to see water torture test-submersion in mud is nothing, when high pressure comes

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 08:54:11 am
content: Quote from: eneuro on July 02, 2015, 08:51:33 amThe things with this sort of stuff is that you have to test multiple units across different production runs and against time to get real data. A good manufacturer will continually sample test batches.

author: Lukapt
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 02:22:59 pm
content: 30M doesn't mean that you can dive to 30m deep.There is Water resistance classification for watches, 30M means Splash/rain resistant nothing more (actually after mud challenge that watch is better than this).Soooo no deep water challenge for this thing.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 06:37:13 pm
content: Dave's torture test was beyond what 30m is rated for.For what he did, the watch needed to be 50m:QuoteSource:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resistant_mark#Water_resistance_classification

author: eneuro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2015, 08:24:26 pm
content: Copy thatSo, what this 30M mark really means? It looks like nothing, because I can DIY myself even better protected watch without those bloody buttons.Anyway, thanks for its teardown I've found a few interesting I2C stuff inside- I'd like to reuse in my custom watch this cool magnetometer MAG3110 for sure, since it has much better stability than gyro and combined with accelerometer can be very usefull:-+My plan is make this watch completly water and pressure proof and make its teardown much more difficult, since... I want to use spot welder to solder its enclosure edgesHowever, after watching this bracelet concept, if it is not a fake, but probably this video is and no real thing exist-nothing could beat something like thisCode:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J7GpVQCfmsAnother watch whatever they named it - strange Pebble brand, similar to Apple, probably with a little help of specialists of marketing spam, doesn't mean it is something worth to use at daily basis.I do not know, maybe you notice this, whet time changed from 12:40 to 12:41 or so, it looks like Pebble team did not managed such basic thing like using proper font to display this timeWhat I mean? Simply hours (12) and whole time shifted slightly, since time text with font they used was centered, and since they do not care where hours and minutes separator should be (do not move), it is detail, but if they want to be professional, they should take care of things like this, because of this is a watch, a watch is to display time, so at least such thing should be made in a very professional way... but maybe target of this thing are youngsters, who do not care about such details, but want another gadget to link on his "facefoot" pages, etcWrist bracelets are much more practical and probably it is a way to go

author: kcozens
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 01:47:34 am
content: Did the name of the event change this year? IIRC, the last time it was just called Mud Run, as is shown on the banner seen behind you at the start of the video. BTW, you never showed us how the control watch fared the torture test.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 03:02:03 am
content: Quote from: kcozens on August 06, 2015, 01:47:34 amThere are a dozen or so events like this. The Mud Run is one of them and I believe is run by the same organiser, hence the banner at this event.I've done the Mud Run, Tough Mudder, True Grit, Tough Bloke, and Spartan Race. And a zombie one coming up in few months. Have missed a few others I wanted to go to.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2015, 03:05:29 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on July 02, 2015, 06:37:13 pmThat Wiki page is not up to date. There is a new version of the standard that says 30m is actually 3 atmopheres pressure. Whether or not a manufacturers choses to actually use this new standard is not know. Pebble chose to and basically didn't advertise the fact properly. Hence the obvious assumption on my part that 30m water resistance meant what it meant in the rest of the industry, and that it as per the wiki article. Many people got their nickers in a knot over this