The first batch of Pebble Time smartwatches have found their way into the wrists of Pebble's early Kickstarter backers, but those who also want to get their own Pebble Time but were unable to pledge on Kickstarter can soon have their own color e-ink smartwatch.
As promised, Pebble is now accepting preorders for its record-breaking line of color e-ink smartwatches through Best Buy. In a blog post posted a couple of weeks ago, Joseph Kristoffer, community manager of Pebble, said Pebble is partnering with Best Buy to sell the Pebble Time in the United States exclusively before the smartwatch appears in other retail stores later.
"On June 22nd, customers in the U.S. can preorder Pebble Time exclusively at BestBuy.com," he said. "Preorders start shipping soon after. All Pebble Time preorders for customers within the United States will be placed through Best Buy."
The Pebble Time will be available in black, white and red variants and preorders will ship to buyers within the first half of July. Best Buy will sell the smartwatch for $199, which is $20 more than what backers paid for through Pebble's Kickstarter campaign and $50 more than what the earliest backers, who are now enjoying wearing the Pebble Time on their wrists, pledged.
Meanwhile, customers outside of the U.S. don't have to be left out, as they can place their preorders for the Pebble Time via Pebble's own website.
Preordering is only available for the Pebble Time. For the more premium Pebble Time Steel, which carries an all-stainless steel build and a longer battery life of 10 days for the price of $299, customers will have to wait a little longer.
In February, Pebble announced the Pebble Time to a largely enthusiastic response on Kickstarter, where fans of of the original black-and-white Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel pledged $1 million in seven days. The campaign closed with more than $20 million raised to manufacture the new Pebble Time and the Pebble Time Steel.
Like its predecessors, the Pebble Time boasts of the same low-power screen and week-long battery life, but it promises more color with a color e-ink display. It is also water-resistant up to 98 feet deep and features a microphone for accepting voice commands. The Pebble Time runs on Pebble OS but is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones.
