Pebble is still winning
by Volker Weber
As I wrote yesterday, the Withings Activité is the opposite of a Microsoft Band. It does very little and in a very good way. What I did not mention: it is waterproof to 5 atmospheres. If you are not wearing the leather strap, you can dip in the pond after your morning run without worrying about the watch. I found only one flaw: it does not work in the dark. No fluorescent hands, very low contrast.
Microsoft Band on the other hand is the all singing all dancing fitness tracker. It even has autonomous GPS. It has many flaws, some of which can be fixed in software. The biggest one is that it is not waterproof. I'd like the display to come alive when flicking the wrist so you don't need to use two hands.
Having seen both ends of the spectrum, Pebble is still winning. I want notifications that I cannot get from Activité. I want waterproof, which I can't get from Band. I want the display to be on all the time. I want to be able to read it in the dark. I want to customize the watch face to show me the information I need. I want to be able to quickly check the outside temperature. In short, I want buttons.
Pebble is the only smartwatch winning the editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award.
Now, for that Apple watch ...
