Pebble is slashing the prices of its smartwatches in response to the upcoming release of the Apple Watch, in addition to including more features for its devices.
Starting Tuesday, the entry-level Pebble smartwatch will only cost $99, which represents a price cut of $50. The Pebble Steel, a version of the same device but encased within a body made of metal, will only cost $199, representing a $30 price cut.
Pebble smartwatches function with both Android-based smartphones and iPhones. The devices show the user any incoming notifications such as text messages, calls, emails and tweets that the connected smartphone receives. Pebble also has its very own app store, where users can download and install apps for their smartwatches.
The screens of Pebble smartwatches only have a black-and-white display, compared to the colored displays of competitors such as the smartwatches made by Samsung and the Apple Watch. However, the display allows Pebble smartwatches to last around seven days on a single charge, whereas its colored Samsung counterparts only last for two days.
In addition to the price cut to attract new Pebble users, current users will gain access to a software update on the same day that Pebble will be slashing prices. The update will unlock the fitness-tracking features of the Pebble smartwatches, which will allow the devices to track some basic data such as the number of steps that the user takes and the amount of sleep that the user has.
The fitness features will be aided by software created specifically for Pebble by Misfit, Jawbone and Swim.com, which is a service that is capable of tracking a user's swimming exercises.
The price cuts and software update are significant steps forward for Pebble, which is one of the most successful projects aided by crowdfunding ever after it raised $10.2 million in Kickstarter two years ago.
With the price cut, Pebble smartwatches at $99 are much cheaper compared to competitors such as Google's Android Wear smartwatches, which have price tags of at least $200 and are only compatible with specific Android smartphones. The Apple Watch, which will be released early next year, will have a starting selling price of $349 for the basic ones and as high as thousands of dollars for the high-end versions.
"We're not trying to make a luxury product like Apple's making," said the CEO of Pebble, Eric Migicovsky. "Pebble is a watch. It has notifications, but it's not meant to be anything more. It's not meant to be a computer on your wrist. And the price reflects that."
