Pebble continues its comeback – will ship its next E Ink smartwatch from July

Pebble has confirmed that it expects to start shipping the Pebble Round 2 in July, as the original founder, Eric Migicovsky, looks to bring back the iconic wearable brand.

Pebble was one of the early smartwatch players, originally launching in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, with its devices notable for using E Ink displays. In 2016, Pebble's software was acquired by Fitbit, which in turn was acquired by Google.

Bringing things full circle, Google made the software open source in 2025, at which point Migicovsky started working on new devices – including the new Pebble Round 2, which was announced in January 2026.

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Sharing the details on X, Eric Migicovsky highlighted that he'd been looking at pre-production samples, but some adjustments are needed to the tooling to get the quality that's expected.

That should see samples landing with preorder customers from July, as Pebble looks to make something of a quiet comeback.

While a typical Garmin or Apple Watch aims to do absolutely everything, Pebble's philosophy is different. It's about creating nice devices that people will want to use and not overwhelming them with features and functions.

That in turn focuses on battery life and experience, rather than hitting every point on a spec sheet. The result should be a watch that you enjoy wearing, not one that leaves you bamboozled. It's very much a case of less is more.

I tried the new Pebble devices with Migicovsky when they were announced at CES 2026 and I left impressed. The Pebble Round 2 should be a conversation starter, a device that's thin and elegant, will tell you the time with a 1.3-inch colour e-paper display, and sports two weeks of battery life, with step and sleep tracking.

There are a selection of apps to use and a built-in mic to provide a gateway to AI companions on your phone.

The Pebble Round 2 is priced at $199 direct from Pebble.