this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2026

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128

PineTime Pro Introduction (pine64.org)

submitted 3 months ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Lobsters.

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[–] SomeDudeFromSpace@lemmy.ml 25 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I have the og PineTime, and in my opinion, we don’t really need better hardware. What we need is better software!

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 9 points 3 months ago

Isn't a bit of the challenge with the software to write something that supports the very modest hardware?

[–] BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago

Agreed, I never felt like the software quite got the support it needed. Know it's not easy, but even basic needs like can we maintain a connection and can the device update itself were not guaranteed.

[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Couldn’t they theoretically just use PebbleOS?

[–] vikingtons@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Supposedly the pro can. I'd imagine it's quite a bit harder to run than infinitime

[–] Lutra@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If you're new to Pine - the watch and phone are Open Hardware devices for people who are want to help build that future of open hardware. As a coder, I think this is a good thing. I have several but I wouldn't give one to a family member, just yet. Pine itself is about open hardware - but that process happens over a large time when smart people do good work. By comparison, Linux has been around 35 years.

[–] galaxy_nova@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Kinda wish it had nfc

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Seems like a missed opportunity to make it a viable alternative

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 9 points 3 months ago

I like the idea of keeping track of my hikes using GPS to be able to remember exactly where I've been, but I don't trust the kind of data gathered by a smart watch with any company out there, and I don't want to drain my phone by keeping the GPS on constantly. If this has good battery life it sounds interesting to me.

I'm generally sceptical of introducing another screen into my life though. Something about smart watches just seems inherently intrusive even if the software itself isn't spyware.

[–] sepi@piefed.social 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Love my PineTime on InfiniTime. Looking forward to this.

[–] codenul@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Agreed. Wear my Pinetime everyday and was super excited to hear them announce this.

[–] kayohtie@pawb.social 4 points 3 months ago

Did they ever solve why the original PineTime had weird charging behavior? Mine and several others, when charged to 100%, would not behave correctly and would bootloop.

[–] inari@piefed.zip 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I want them to make a smart ring

[–] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

What does a smart ring do that a smart watch doesn't?

[–] inari@piefed.zip 1 points 3 months ago

It's more about what it doesn't have. I already have a phone and a laptop, so I don't need another screen. But it would be neat to be able to track things like sleep quality with an inconspicuous ring

[+] solrize@lemmy.ml -8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Ugh, it has a microphone. Eavesdropping malware incoming. And it's another big clonky smartwatch.

It's nice that it has a blood oxygen sensor I guess. And there's a 6d accelerometer. I don't see mention of a temperature sensor either, though with the wireless connectivity and presumed frequent recharging, I guess you can keep correcting the time.

I still like the Sensorwatch (sensorwatch.net) better. Much more modest, smaller, etc. Runs for a year on a coin cell, has a temperature sensor which can used to correct the oscillator and give timing accuracy to within a few seconds a year, and other cool stuff.

[–] piyuv@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

“It has a mic, so it’ll definitely have eavesdropping malware” is quite a logical jump to make. Everything has a mic nowadays.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago

The crappy old Casio that I use now has no microphone and no wireless comms. Just an LCD and some pushbuttons.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I bet your phone also has a mic.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes and it's a constant issue, and there is tons of security stuff in the phone to deal with the mic's presence. I've elsewhere suggested making phones with no mics, so if you want to make a voice phone call you have to use an external mic. At least the phone has an important application that uses the mic.

The mic in this watch seems to have been added to the hardware just because they could. But as they say, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Smart watches often have mics because they can be used to take calls without having your phone on you (still has to be near you unless it's a cellular smartwatch), or to use the assistants or whatever.

The PineTime (Pro) is the one place where this shouldn't worry you because whatever software you're running on it was installed by you so you've hopefully vetted it for security.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I didn't hear a mention of this watch being usable for phone calls but if that's in the cards, then I guess that's a legitimate application, though I don't see how it would work. You hold your wrist up to your ear? Sounds painful. Is it somehow better than using an earbud? If you don't want to walk around wearing an earbud like a Borg when you're not on a call, maybe they could put an earbud holder onto the watchband. The watch could be shaped to accomodate the earbud and maybe even recharge it, if it's shaped like an Airpod.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

With the Apple Watch, there's a fairly loud speaker and fairly decent mic, you can pretty much talk with the thing on your hand. No idea if this can do the same though.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I see, like putting the person on speaker phone. Not nice, but thanks!

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 months ago

Pretty much. It's not for everyone. I don't have a watch myself anyway, but I use the speaker option on my phone sometimes... But only at home when I want my hands free but don't have headphones on when I get a call. I hate everyone who does this in public.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

The PineTime (Pro) is the one place where this shouldn't worry you because whatever software you're running on it was installed by you so you've hopefully vetted it for security.

good luck to vet its unique bluetooth stack for vulnerabilities and unknown debug modes

[–] Lutra@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I have a pinephone, and it has hardware on/off switches for mic, wireless, camera. my bet would be so will the pine time pro.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml -1 points 3 months ago

This is about a watch, not a phone. It looks like they added the mic as an afterthought.