If you’ve been counting down the hours until you could wear something open source on your wrist, then the time is at hand!
You can now buy the PineTime smartwatch pre-flashed with the InfiniTime firmware.
Since announcing the PineTime back in 2019 both Pine64 and its dedicated developer community have beavered away on making a viable, functional open source smartwatch that non-developers might want to use.
Though it’s not an Apple Watch or Fitbit rival (remember: this thing is cheap) its low price and open nature will endear it to FOSS enthusiasts and Linux users alike.
Although the PineTime is designed, partly, to compliment Linux smartphones like the PinePhone, it’s totally open should people want to create apps that let the watch talk to iOS and Android devices (some are already in development) and even desktop Ones too.
PineTime Specs
The PineTime boasts a 1.3-inch captive touch display (240×240). It is powered by a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 processor with 64 MHz ARM Cortex-M4F CPU. It also has a small 170-180 mAh battery, plus a smudge of onboard memory and storage (nothing that users can make use of personally to store, say, MP3s, etc).
Features wise the PineTime boasts Bluetooth 5, a motor for vibration, a (recently upgraded) accelerometer, and a heart rate sensor. So, in theory, it could be used as a basic fitness tracker.
Overlooking the thick, utilitarian design of the watch case itself (remember: this thing is cheap) the design of the InfiniTime system is interesting, though the font used looks quite low-res and jagged. I’m not sure if the pixelated look is a hardware limitation or a stylistic choice, but if at possible it’d be great to see a refined UI introduced, like the one proposed by Maarten de Jong.
Buy the PineTime
Want one? You can snag yourself a sealed unit (not a developer prototype, which had been available previously) from the Pine Store at the link below. Do be aware that the listed price does not include shipping or any taxes for which you may be liable for.