I've had a Pebble for a little while, and I'm extremely happy with it. I bought it last fall for under $100 on Black Friday. My main goal was to give this smartwatch craze a try before the Apple Watch came out. The Pebble also has some apps, although in much smaller quantities, and with fairly elementary UX. But the main thing for me was the notifications. That's the killer app for me.

It's hard to understand the value of this unless you use one. I frequently used to miss text messages, or even phone calls because I wouldn't feel my iPhone vibrating in my pocket. With the Pebble, I have the phone on "Do Not Disturb" at all times, and never miss any notification of importance. It's gotten to the point that the idea of having a device in your pocket broadcasting a loud noise to the entire surrounding seems like the stone age.. A little vibration on the wrist, and I know something happened. Then I can choose to take out my phone to react on it, or just postpone that.

I actually found that this increases the battery life on my phone (despite Bluetooth being turned on). Since I used to miss notifications (and would look at the time..), I would frequently take out my phone, unnecessarily lighting up the screen. No more!

So my idea of the perfect smartwatch is one that can provide decent notifications, and has a long battery life. I'd appreciate it if it looked good.. :)