How Do You Make The Best Smartwatch Even Better? Here's How

I think it’s safe to say that the Pebble smartwatch is currently leading the pack when it comes to wearable technology.  It earns points for style, features, battery life, and integration with both iOS and Android smartphones.  The recent CES announcement of the Pebble Steel reaffirms that the company is looking to maintain a a sense of fashion while keeping functionality.  It’s these reasons why we love the Pebble here at BestTechie but we do have one request for the Pebble team: drop the physical buttons on the watch.

Currently the Pebble sports four physical buttons, three buttons on the right side of the watch and one on the left side.  On the right side of the watch the buttons serve three unique purposes: scroll up, scroll down, and select.  On the left hand side of the watch, the single button serves as a “Back” button.  Now instead of these physical buttons, I would like to propose using capacitive touch sensors.

There are two key reasons why I think this proposal would benefit the Pebble.  The first is that it would eliminate some of the bulk associated with the watch.  The second is that it will also improve functionality and ease-of-use.

How would a buttonless Pebble work?

Imagine this: you get a notification such as an email or instant message that requires you scroll down to view the entire message on your Pebble.  Currently you need to push the Down button a few times to view the whole message.  But what if you could just swipe towards you (down) on the side of the watch using your thumb to scroll? Wouldn’t that be quicker and easier?  I think so.  You can just as quickly swipe away from you (up) using your thumb or pointer finger to scroll back up on the message.  It would just as effective scrolling through a settings menu on the watch.

When it comes to selecting an option on the Pebble the touch sensors work too.  Instead of having to push the Select button you would just have to single tap on the side and tada — you just selected a new watch face.  The same logic can be applied to replacing the Back button on the left side of the watch.

Simple, fast, and buttonless.

I’m not sure how much it would affect the current pricing of the watch or if this is in the works for future models of the Pebble, but I would love to see it happen.

Do you have any improvements or suggestions for the Pebble?  Let us know!