Customers in the U.S. who want to get their hands on the new color e-ink Pebble Time can soon reserve their own by preordering via Best Buy.
Pebble community manager Joseph Kristoffer announced in a company blog post that Pebble has partnered with Best Buy to ship the very first Pebble Time units to customers who did not pledge their support via Pebble's massively successful $20 million Kickstarter campaign.
Last month, Pebble confirmed that preorders for its $199 plastic-backed Pebble Time will begin on June 22, which is less than 10 days from now. To preorder a Pebble Time, customers simply have to go to the Best Buy website and place their orders. The partnership will last for an unspecified period of time until Pebble decides to ship its latest smartwatch to other retailers.
"Best Buy is teaming up with us to get Pebble Time on your wrist before arriving in stores," says Kristoffer. "On June 22nd, customers in the U.S. can preorder Pebble Time exclusively at BestBuy.com. Preorders start shipping soon after. All Pebble Time preorders for customers within the United States will be placed through Best Buy."
Preorders will be available only for the Pebble Time, which features a stainless steel bezel and a silicone band. Those who want to get their hands on the Pebble Time Steel, the all-stainless steel version that sports a battery that can deliver up to 10 days of continuous power as opposed to the seven days on the Pebble Time, will have to wait for a little longer. Customers are encouraged to sign up to Pebble's mailing list to receive updates about the Pebble Time Steel.
Meanwhile, customers outside the U.S. do not have to move stateside to preorder the Pebble Time. On June 22, they can visit the Pebble website to place their preorders.
Pebble has begun shipping thousands of Pebble Time units to its Kickstarter backers who pledged $179 to be one of the customers who get the smartwatch early.
The Pebble Time is the successor to the e-ink Pebble and Pebble Steel, which have both become the darling smartwatches of the indie crowd. Moving away from the standard battery-guzzling LCD displays such as those found in the Apple Watch and the Moto 360, all Pebble smartwatches sport e-ink displays that allow the device to last up to a week on a single charge.
However, the Pebble Time differentiates itself by sporting a color e-ink display that continues to go light on battery consumption. It is also water-resistant up to 98 feet deep and features a microphone to allow voice commands on the new smartwatch. Also, unlike its predecessors, the Pebble Time can contain more apps than the previous eight apps.
