The first smartwatch I ever used was the original Pebble, it was amazing. I used it for a few years until the zebra strip went bad. At that point I switched to Android Wear for about a year until I got fed up with it, so I bought a Pebble Time Steel.

Eventually, I wasn’t satisfied, I wanted fitness tracking so I bought a Fitbit. Worst watch I’ve ever used. The only thing it has over any competitor is battery life, and even that sucks in comparison to my OG Pebble.

Eventually I switched back to my time steel. One day however, I started having issues with bluetooth that I could never fix. So I switched to a Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar (awful naming scheme). The battery life is awesome. It’s truly a joy to not have to charge my watch but once ever 2-3 weeks.

I’ve been with my Garmin for about year now. Today I started to do some spring cleaning and found my Pebble Time Steel again. I powered it on and it still had 50% of it’s battery remaining, exactly how I left it. I fiddled with it for a while, then went back to cleaning.

Even 11 years after the original Pebble was released, I still love it. It’s miles ahead of modern competition, and the only company that comes anywhere remotely close is Garmin, but their developer community and software pales in comparison to Pebble, even as it stands today.

I guess I’m writing this because I’m at another crossroads in my journey. I really like the fitness tracking provided by my Garmin, but it’s software is not good enough. It’s not intuitive, it’s not responsive, and it just doesn’t have the charm that my Pebble has.

I know it’s unreasonable, I know that’s it’s just a watch, but it feels like a member of my family. It’s been through hell and back with me. I can’t give it up. I won’t give it up. It’s in my sad memories and happy memories alike. Always there. Always ready to do its job with a pep to its step.

I’ve accepted that I will never get a replacement. There will never be another Pebble. I’ve tried too many alternatives to recall them all. All I can do is keep my beloved Pebble working and take good care of it, as it has taken good care of me through years of neglect.

I used to have pretty bad issues with panic attacks. The best solution I’ve ever found to getting myself to calm down was an app called Breathe. I think that’s part of why I’m so attached to it.

My Garmin has a similar feature but it doesn’t work anywhere close to as well. It stops and wants to try to “get a feel” for your breathing. I don’t need that. All I want is a guide.

This has been all over the place. Sorry.

My struggle is this: Is fitness tracking worth the tradeoff? Everything except battery life is worse, but I’m a data-driven person. If I’m going to make a change to my life, I need data to back up my choice. That’s just how I am. I want both. I want it badly.

I’ve tried both. I used a Garmin Vivosmart 4 alongside my Pebble for a few months, but it ended up feeling silly. I just want a solution.

This all feels silly to me; I hardly have an emotional attachment to anything, but I actually feel bad for leaving it to rot in a box full of other neglected watches. It doesn’t deserve that. It’s so much more than those are.

Long store short, I’ve decided to stick with my Garmin Fenix 6. That’s all.