I demand BangleJS3! #7341

espruino-discuss2 · 2025-02-12T18:07:36Z

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer

Posted at 2022-03-24 by Micha_home

[not really, but I oftenthink about it]
If the watch were a smartphone, you should by now announce the next iteration of Bangle :)

I haven't really followed the Kickstarters and I'm pretty new to owning a Bangle2 myself, so I have no Idea how the whole philosophy for introding new watches is.

I there a place for feedback? Is a 3rd version planned? (soon, next year, in 3 years, maybe eventually, never)

In my opinion, the Bangle2 is already a masterpiece and almost perfect:

My battery lasts a little longer than a week of standard usage (I can charge it every Sunday night)
The watch is super lightweight.
Having standard-straps is a plus.
It's always on. Readable in sunlight. Color display.
Enough memory for my needs. Enough speed for my needs. Enough water resistance for my needs.

There is just one thing that I miss: having the 3+1 Buttons that I had with my pebble. Man, i would KILL for a few buttons :)
It's not that THIS touch screen is horrible to use... In my experience ALL watch touch screens are hard to use. Controlling music on the bike: With buttons always easy. Didn't even have to look at the display.
Buttons always give that tactile feedback that you hit exactly what you wanted to hit :)

espruino-discuss2 · 2025-02-12T18:07:39Z

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

Posted at 2022-03-24 by Ronin

If there ever was a Bangle.js 3 I would love for it to have a full 16bit color display like Bangle.js 1.

Posted at 2022-03-25 by user141815

I have to agree if I'm honest. I really like my Bangle.js 2, but I won't be buying another touchscreen only watch again, even if it is a Bangle.

Posted at 2022-03-25 by andrewg_oz

I'm pretty sure Gordon didn't design or even spec the Bangle2. He just chose the best option already being manufactured (by SMAWatch on this case).

I, too, would like more buttons. However, in my opinion the power cost of a full colour display is not worth it. The Pebbles 64-colour display is ideal. Still very low power and sunlight readable, but enough colours to not need dithering to the extent the Bangle2 does (it's already too easy the make text unreadable).

Posted at 2022-03-25 by Ocim

+1 for more buttons

Posted at 2022-03-25 by Raik

... and a truly round display.

Posted at 2022-03-25 by user140377

+1 buttons. At least the 3 of the Bangle1, better 4 (Casio layout). The touchscreen can just not replace the velocity and accuracy in the operation of the watch. I still prefer the Bangle2 over Bangle1 because of its dimensions and display readability (sunlight!).

Posted at 2022-03-25 by Numerist

As for colours, I don't need 64, but 8 are too few. I can get by, but 16 would be better by more than what the factor of 2 suggests. A little higher resolution would be good, also better accuracy if possible (although @malaire has taken care of that for this watch). I don't need more buttons, however.

All said, it's still a joy to work with this watch as it is and to see the results.

Posted at 2022-03-26 by myownself

Am I unimaginative if the Bangle 2 is already exactly what I need? There are things that can be improved, but they're software things and that's half the appeal. Sure, more colours would be nice, but I'd probably have been happy with monochrome too. The only thing I'd wish for that can't be done in software is better waterproofing, and even that is mostly peace of mind because I rarely swim.

Posted at 2022-03-26 by andrewg_oz

This is mostly for @numerist but others might be interested. The reason for 64 colours rather than something smaller, like 16, is due to the way colours work. Displays produce colours using red/green/blue sub-pixels. For the Bangle2, these three sub-colours are 1-bit meaning the total colours produced are 2^(31)=8. For the Pebble Time the sub-colours are 2-bit (just 1 more bit each) and the total colours are 2^(32)=64.

I suppose a display manufacturer could take inspiration from digital cameras and come up with something based on a Bayer filter - 1 bit for red, 1 bit for blue and 2 bits for green: 4 bits total per pixel or 2^4=16. I've never heard of anything like that, though, and suspect the Pebble Time screen is the simplest next step up from what the Bangle 2 has.

Oh, and -several million for a round display. If you want a smart watch over a regular watch, you're wanting to display information - text. There's a very good reason your phone, PC, and even books all have rectangular displays and not circular ones.

Posted at 2022-03-26 by gfric

I used to have a Amazfit Bip (S). It only has one button, but the UI was optimized for that. We should improve the menu and apps. There is no need for a new hardware.
64 colors were nice. I'm not a fan of the rasters used for 'orange' e.g., but if you know it, 8 colors can be enough.

Posted at 2022-03-28 by @gfwilliams

Hi - I have actually got a list of things I'd like from a new Bangle here. It'd be nice to be able to actually spec what I want and have one custom built, but the last folks I talked to had a minimum 50k unit volume for that - which is a long way off what I'm doing with the Bangle! Maybe if I start to reach that level it'll be worth it though.

Having said that, doing the KickStarter this time was just amazingly difficult and tiring. There's been a lot of great support from everyone, but also some negativity (most of which you won't see because it's directed at me personally) - basically I'm in no rush to repeat it any time soon!

@gfric are you using the cutting edge builds with the new menus? I think you'll find that'll help a lot!

Main things on my list:

More/better buttons
Waterproofing
Microphone/speaker (but these + waterproofing doesn't seem sensible, and waterproofing is more of a priority)
SWD pin gating - leaving the pins on the back disconnected normally, but allowing USB and/or digital IO on them.
... or ditch all the pins and use wireless charging
64 color LCD

I feel like the sunlight readability is a massive step forwards over the Bangle.js 1 in usability, matching with the CPU, and battery life, and I wouldn't want to sacrifice that for 16 bit color.

Also I think it helps to set expectations. If you had something with a really fancy screen people might start seeing it and expecting the Bangle to be like an Apple watch. Something about a low BPP screen seems a bit more 'honest'

Having said that, the 64 color screen from the Pebbles does sound perfect. I'd definitely use one of those next time if at all possible.

It may at some point be possible to abuse the existing LCD to provide 64 colors. For example this code:

var t = 0;
g.reset();
g.clearRect(0,0,58,175);
g.fillRect(117,0,175,175);

setInterval(function() {
  t = !t;
  g.setColor(t?0:-1).fillRect(58,0,117,175).flip();
}, 1);

Will display a very flickery greyscale, but with faster rendering and by pushing the LCD bitrate past what's usually accepted, it may be possible to provide better color but at the expense of significantly higher power consumption when it was enabled (eg maybe it could be turned on when the backlight was on).

Posted at 2022-03-28 by user140377

but also some negativity

Most, if not all probably never designed a watch (me neither) nor designed anything else electronic. So far, you are doing good.

Also, I'm not using my Bangle to watch pictures, nor plan to do so...

Posted at 2022-03-28 by myownself

It may at some point be possible to abuse the existing LCD to provide 64 colors. For example this code:

This was actually one of the first things I tried when I got my hands on the physical device. Needless to say I didn't feel the need to try it again.

Microphone/speaker (but these + waterproofing doesn't seem sensible, and waterproofing is more of a priority)

I wouldn't need, maybe even want, a microphone, but a speaker would be nice (but not at the expense of waterproofing). In the mean time, I wonder whether the beep using the vibration motor could be improved? I find it inconsistent at the moment, as mentioned somewhere in another thread.

Posted at 2022-03-28 by Numerist

Text-based media may give odd results, including unwanted, undeserved remarks. @gfwilliams has enabled me to do things I've only dreamed of and deserves high credit and plaudits for his hard work and devotion, not to mention knowledge and skill.

That is unchangeable even if another boon would be easier workings with Apple's mobile phones. Apple doesn't make it easy, I know. Still, perhaps some day, even with Bangle 2.

Posted at 2022-03-28 by melstav

Hardware-wise, my main wish would be a beefier vibration motor.

I find the touch-screen maybe a little fiddly, but it's serviceable.

I actually liked the look of the Bangle 1, but I got a 2 because it's what's current.

Posted at 2022-03-28 by dapgo

for the version 3, i would like:

physical buttons; 3 or 4 ,
good readability under the sun
seamless compatibility with software for previous models. (note)

(note) compatible software must be designed before the model exist, so i think espruino (i know that there are already some functions that allow that) and devs should use more generic functions that can be easily "translated" to different hw interfaces by any model maybe the software

Posted at 2022-03-28 by HughB

doing the KickStarter this time was just amazingly difficult and tiring.

From the outside it looked amazing. Brilliantly executed. Totally delivered. We are all indebted to you for bringing JS2 to market - no one else has done anything close as far as I can see. JS2 is a massive leap from JS1.

For JS3 my wish list would be:

64 colours as per Pebble, definitely must be sunlight readable
352x352 resolution display (double what JS2 has)
This would be total luxary though. Not a fan of 3 buttons.

But mostly JS2 is perfect and will get better and better over time. Key area's to improve on JS2 are the heart rate monitor and low power GPS - both can probably be fixed but will need a lot of dedication and effort.

Posted at 2022-03-29 by @gfwilliams

Thanks!

In the KickStarter a lot of people wanted a microphone - I guess voice commands/memos would be neat. But you can see from this thread that lots of people want lots of different things, and not all of them are compatible :)

If someone made one, a 352x352 display would solve a lot of issues. Even if it were only 3 bit, dithering would hardly be visible.

Posted at 2022-03-29 by jesstelford

Just got my v2, and love it!

Thank you for the hard work @gfwilliams ❤️

RE: colours & display: Is there sub-pixel rendering support? What's the layout of the LCD like? It's not extra colors, but it might go a long way in making the screen feel larger until a hypothetical v3 is built.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by @gfwilliams

There is antialiasing, but really it's only useful on Bangle.js 1. I'm pretty sure the LCD is just RGB stripe, but because it's only 3 bits I feel like the amount of subpixel magic you could perform is pretty limited. It's always worth a try though!

Posted at 2022-03-30 by uname

Personally I am very happy with my BANGLE 2, the most important thing for me is the sunlight readability and an "accessible" software (which can be fixed over time)
One thing I would like in future releases is some certainty that it is waterproof.

Thanks for all the work you have done @gfwilliams, regarding the problems you had with the kickstarter campaign I still think you have been very honest about what this smartwatch is and what it is not.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by Indridi

Regarding the Bangle 2, daylight readable screen was probably the most important feature to me (besides, you know, all the other fantastic features...).

Should there be a version 3, better waterproofing would be sitting very firmly on the top of my wish-list, making it a bit more of a "action watch" that one can wear while on the water (kayaking, in my case). More buttons a distant second.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by @gfwilliams

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

I ask because it's really the only reason the Bangle isn't significantly more waterproof, and right now I don't believe it's getting a great deal of use

Posted at 2022-03-30 by Fteacher

I don't need the barometer. I suspect it's a niche usercase.
Not kayaking, but running under the rain, or while sweating heavily didn't cause any problem so far with the watch.
If the watch is seriously waterproof, people will want to use to swim. They will want to know their swimming distances which is challenging because the gps signal is lost each time the watch goes into the water. That's not going to be any kind of easy. Swimming distances in the swimming pool and in open waters, also 2 different things.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by uname

The change in barometric pressure causes a sudden change in the weather.
And for the altitude, as we said.
If it was reliable I think it is a good point in favor.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by Indridi

I'm using the barometer.

Even made a clock face that shows falling/rising pressure (coming to an app loader near you soon!).
@uname said :

If it was reliable I think it is a good point in favor.

I'm reading it every ten minutes, and applying a median filter with window-size of 3 samples (=30 minutes). This irons out most outliers, this way I find the barometer to be quite reliable.

Not a crucial feature, but interesting.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by uname

@user141090 do you have what is usually called "storm alert" with your clock face?

Posted at 2022-03-30 by Indridi

@uname (I'm user141090 - just changed the default user name to something that makes sense). Well, functionally it might be a "storm alert". It just displays the change over the past 3 hours along with the current value in a subdial behind the clock dial.

You can check it out in my repo. It's split in two apps. First is a background widget to handle barometer readings :
https://github.com/indridieinarsson/BangleApps/tree/master/apps/widbarom
And then the clock face :
https://github.com/indridieinarsson/BangleApps/tree/master/apps/ieclock
which relies heavily on the clock construction kit (https://github.com/rozek/banglejs-2-analog-clock-construction-kit).

Posted at 2022-03-30 by gfric

I don't use the barometric sensor, because I bought the Bangle.JS2 for these reasons, in that order:
-Battery lifetime
-Always on display
-Hackable

So, yes, waterproof would be on top of my wishlist. But I really like my new watch and it has all I want. I'm so happy.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by Tx

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

It's nice to have, but in general as with all barometers the readings are kind of useless because you need either altitude fixed or air pressure fixed to calc altitude. So real world use cases are rare. This is not a Bangle issue, but a basic problem. I like the touch screen: On my watch I have to use the button only for restart.

But in general: For me Bangle 2 is perfect as it is. I really appreciate your work on v1 and v2.
If I want a perfectly designed watch I would buy an Apple Watch. Limitations give interesting hacking problems. If you ever plan to make v3 I think you have to decide whether to make a hacker or an end user product. V2 is now somehow in between.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by user140377

you need either altitude fixed or air pressure fixed to calc altitude.

some of us might like to have relative height. Also you can get the absolute height from GNSS. You can then feed height from baro and GNSS in a e.g. kalman filter.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by melstav

This is my first non-Pebble smartwatch, so my experience with the Pebble Time and the Pebble2 shapes my expectations, considerably.

The Pebble Time had a microphone that you could use to reply to text messages. You spoke into the mic on the watch and the app on your phone converted it to text, then sent the text back to the watch for confirmation. If you hit the ok button, the text got sent as a reply.

It was a cute feature, but it didn't always work very well. It stopped working at all once Pebble shut down their servers. I don't remember if the Pebble2 had a mic or not. Once I realized how unreliable the transcription was, I quit trying to use it.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by melstav

re: barometer

I think it's kind of nifty, and potentially a nice feature to have.

That said, I don't have anything installed yet that uses it yet (I just got my Bangle2 last week) and might or might not actually end up using it. If support for it went away in the future, I suspect I wouldn't be terribly disappointed.

Posted at 2022-03-30 by uname

thanks @indridi!

Posted at 2022-03-30 by HughB

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

I'm not bothered about it. I cant think of any really useful use cases for it.
Lets just say I've never bothered to try it.

Posted at 2022-03-31 by andrewg_oz

RE: colours & display: Is there sub-pixel rendering support? What's the layout of the LCD like?

The data sheet for the display is here: https://www.j-display.com/product/pdf/Datasheet/5LPM013M126C_specification_ver03.pdf

If I had to choose between more colours and more pixels I'd choose more colours. The display is already 194DPI (near enough to 200DPI) - basically the same as a 4K 24" screen. There's also the memory and power needed to generate and drive the display to consider.

Japan Display have a 64-colour version of what the Bangle2 has (dimensions are the same, pinout is slightly different, but still an SPI interface): https://www.j-display.com/product/pdf/Datasheet/5LPM013M601B_specification_ver01.pdf

Posted at 2022-03-31 by @gfwilliams

Japan Display have a 64-colour version of what the Bangle2 has

That's great, thanks! I didn't even realise that was the case. I'm certain last time I looked at https://www.j-display.com/english/product/reflective.html only the 8 color version was listed.

I think that's actually pretty attainable for a Bangle.js 3 then - as far as SMA (the CM) are concerned it's probably just a matter of changing the part number they order as the physical dimensions and even pinout look the same.

Posted at 2022-03-31 by fparri

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

✋ But, of course, water resistance is better, especially is you can get barometric data via the internet, in case you need them (which I think might be the case in the future 🤞 )

Posted at 2022-03-31 by Stiralbios

I love the BangleJS 2 and for having backed 7 kickstarter projects I can tell you, you handled it very well and delivered a good product. It's my favorite from the 7 I backed.
This thread is great to give ideas. But when you will be looking to make a new BangleJS you should do a proper survey to know which features are most wanted.

What I really like about my Banglejs 2 is:

The always on display
All the open source software and apps (watch side)
Most of the hardware features (HRM, GPS, accelerometer)

What I don't like:

The lack of colors (a 64 color display would be great)
Not fully waterproof
Feel kind of slow sometimes ("Loading..." message on a lot of actions)
The integration with Gadgetbrigde is somehow lacking (works well when connected but don't load any history from the watch)

What I don't need:

The barometer
The speaker

What else would I like the most for the next model:

An oximeter
Bigger resolution display

Posted at 2022-04-01 by user141815

Another + for more buttons. With the ability to turn touch off completely, if not it becomes close to useless to use when wet.

Posted at 2022-04-19 by MoeMoep

Dragging that out of the nethers.

I have also been a Pebble user. After my pebble showed severe battery issues I found BangleJS2.

I guess I'll have to echo what most people already said:
I miss/would like/have to criticise

the 3+1 buttons
the vibration motor seems very weak to me
having to disconnect from Gadgetbridge to be able to get the app manager
waterproofness

I really like:

hackability/openness (I am starting to teach my nephew+niece) a little programming, currently with a Calliope Mini, but will look into the BangleJS for that as well (only problem here is, that i don't live close to them).
standard watchbands
always on-display (although I'm used to that from the Pebble)
the low weight (It's so much lighter than the pebble)

What would be my priorities for future iteration?

water proofness
buttons!!!
always on-display
heart rate sensor
.
barometer (I guess this is an edge case thing, some people will want it, but for most people this will be more of a toy than anything else.)

Posted at 2022-04-19 by yngv126399

A survey would indeed help shape JS3 into what most current users would like to see. And having the older alternatives is good for those who want the specialty items (like the barometer, or full color LCD). It depends on what Bangle's intended use really is.. a smart watch for hackers, or a hackable smart watch (they sound similar, but they're different!)

Myself, I am into the visual, and would enjoy the screen to be physically larger, hopefully without making the case TOO much larger. That would help touch screen behaviour as well. With more pixels (240x240 or greater) one can forgive the lack of colors (as anti-aliasing would be less necessary). I found the 64 color screen on the DK08 to be fantastic, if a tad too small and (sadly) low contrast (watches must be visible INDOORS on cloudy, dark Canadian "days"!)

That said, I also want to thank Gordon (and team!) for the fantastic work they've done and continue to do. I will certainly be a Kickstarter when the BJ3 is ready.

Posted at 2022-04-19 by yngv126399

with a combination of online meeting tools / screen sharing, and the Web IDE relay, you can probably still teach them remotely?

Posted at 2022-04-19 by MoeMoep

I will certainly be a Kickstarter when the BJ3 is ready.

I ... don't think BJ is the best shorthand for the BangleJS 🙄

with a combination of online meeting tools / screen sharing, and the Web IDE relay, you can probably still teach them remotely?

They are not that technically interested yet, but the idea that something they do makes it onto a physical device in the real world they can interact with is captivating. They don't really have a concept of "everything is designed and procuded by someone". The physical "I can touch that" part is quite important for their motivation.

Posted at 2022-04-19 by yngv126399

Agreed.... on both counts!

Posted at 2022-04-20 by diejuse

Bangle 2 is a brilliant device for my opinion. For Bangle 3 my main petition is: a bigger screen (1.5 to 1.8 inches) make more use of the surface of the watch.

Posted at 2022-04-20 by NoMusicTuesdays

An interesting idea, Andrew. The Bayer filter concept makes sense, but could there be a CMYK version of that concept? As comfortable as I am working/thinking in RGB, LCDs work on the principle of subtractive color, so perhaps we could get more out of an LCD display by thinking in terms of the subtractive model. Of course that would mean finding a manufacturer who
produces that type of screen. Do CMYK LCD displays even exist?

Posted at 2022-04-22 by andrewg_oz

I'm not aware of CMYK displays. Maybe actual e-paper displays that default to white and need to subtract colours to work (like actual paper and printing). I think we're mostly likely to get an upgraded display via the 64-colour one I found, since it's basically exactly the same as the current one, except for the extra colours.

Posted at 2022-04-22 by @gfwilliams

I saw something recently about CMYK epaper but I think that's a reasonably new thing - and I haven't seen any LCDs with it (since you'd effectively have to stack 3 LCD panels).

Realistically we'd have to be selling maybe 1000x more watches even to start thinking about getting a custom LCD made, so we're stuck with off the shelf options at the moment.

As @andrewg_oz says the 64 color one seems to be almost a slot-in upgrade so is by far the most likely, but even so if it adds 25% to the cost of the watch (which is likely) I think it's going to be hard to justify.

Posted at 2022-04-22 by MoeMoep

LCDs work on the principle of subtractive color

I guess what NoMusicTuesdays wants to say is, that physically LCD is a light covered by coloured filters that reduce the amount of light passing through, so physically speaking it's a substractive light technology. (Please correct me if I am wrong!)

Nevertheless. Displays usually are driven with "rgb technology" (meaning that the software controlling the display expects whatever inputs it received to be in RGB values). (Also I don't know, where I am going with this now...)

Posted at 2022-04-22 by rigrig

I saw something recently about CMYK epaper but I think that's a reasonably new thing

It also has a refresh rate of 1 second, that's fast for epaper, but not great if you want to draw a watchface every second. I'd probably still take it over the B1 LCD, but not over the B2.

My B3 wishlist:
Things I'd like to see improved (over B2):

more buttons: 1 left, 3 right (or maybe even 3 on each side)
slightly larger screen, 240x240 was nice
user-serviceable (i.e. openable with just a screwdriver)
6 bit colours (I'm quite happy with 3 bits though)
charging with a standard USB-C port (but that would probably kill the IP rating)
audible beep, or even a speaker
more battery+memory (it's great already, but more is always better ;-)
USB connection (to keep it connected to your phone while fiddling, and maybe upload a bit faster)
IP68 (I still wouldn't swim/shower, but more is safer)

Things I can do without:

HRM
GPS (my phone can do that and has more battery for it)
barometer

TBH, there's quite some things I liked more about the B1 than the B2, but the always-on, sunlight-readability and full touch still make the smaller screen so much better that the B2 wins out, (the larger memory is also nice).

Posted at 2022-04-26 by NoMusicTuesdays

Well cheers to the bangle.js team on both the js1 and js2! I've been having so much fun with the js2 this past week, that I purchased a gently used js1 on ebay, and just received it today. So far I've just upgraded the firmware and swapped a few apps in and out (and LOVING the color and contrast on the js1) but I'm super excited to have it in time to be able to develop my second app on both watches! This whole thing really is a great project, easy enough for an entry-level dabbler like myself to take on the challenge, with rewarding results, and a nice community to share ideas and projects. Very cool.

Posted at 2022-04-26 by NoMusicTuesdays

I guess what NoMusicTuesdays wants to say is...

Yeah, that was my train of thought exactly!

Posted at 2022-04-26 by Tx

V1 was clearly a hacker's device. If you see V2 also as a hacker's device it's perfect as it is. If you see it as a smartwatch it can be improved. I personally think it's perfect for hacking and it's perfect as it is. I like the simple technology - otherwise I would buy an Apple watch. BTW: More buttons mean more buttons that may stop working ... :-)

Posted at 2022-04-26 by jamesh

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

Personally, I'm not sure I see the use-case for having a pressure sensor on the watch, it's certainly not worth sacrificing waterproofing for. However, I think people could see real value in a microphone / speaker, and that would be something I would see as a good trade-off with regards to waterproofing.

My wishlist would be:

Speaker, I think there are some really good use-cases for having a speaker for audio feedback e.g. listening to instructions, music etc.
Microphone, the ability to answer a call or even just send voice commands to your phone via the Bangle would be such a cool feature.
Stronger vibration motor, I think it's just a little too subtle. If I am for example working in a physical job and I have an alert setup on my watch, I'm not sure how likely I am to feel it.
Richer screen, the ability to render higher quality images would be great e.g. being able to set a background photograph or just view images from apps like WhatsApp.

Disclaimer - I was not one of those people who were complaining to you about there not being a microphone or speaker. I think you've done an amazing job with these, and not just from a hardware perspective but with the whole Bangle ecosystem (emulator, app loader, docs etc.). So only support & praise from me, keep up the great work!

Posted at 2022-09-01 by user140377

Add higher quality PPG/Acc sensors to the wishlist, so we can run algorithms that cancel motion artifacts.

Posted at 2022-09-14 by NoMusicTuesdays

Whatver the js3 turns out to be, you can count on my pledge!

The Js2 does everything I could want... except light up with vibrant color like the js1...
And for those citing power draing, my js2 kept it's charge over a week at a time for the first month, after that it needed to be charged every day and a half, which doesn't make up for the supposed power drain of the LED js1 screen, so I'd rather have that brilliant color light display.

I'd like a big round watch like js1 (feels more classic than the square pebbly things) although I'd like the screen to fill up the watch face fully. That could mean a bigger screen within the large watchface, or a smaller watch to match the screen, either way is fine.

I don't care much about waterproofing or touchscreen. I'd be more than willing to scrap the touchscreen in favor of more buttons.

The main thing I'd like to see is improved processing/RAM/draw speed.

The limitations of both the js1 in terms of bandwidth, and the js2 in terms of resolution and color depth, are a fun part of the project, forcing creativity on our part. I can say that I will for sure sign up for js3 on day 1!

Posted at 2022-09-14 by Mark_M

Hi all, JS2 is very good. What is important for me:
1 - Sunlight readability
2 - Waterproofing
3 - Good GPS

Nice to have:
4 - larger screen size.
5 - more buttons
6 - good gold plated contacts, they also can be on a side, so they do not touch skin.
7 - rugged body / pins.

Posted at 2022-09-28 by TTBangler

Just wanted to say that I love both my Bangle 1 and Bangle 2 and use them for different activities that each is more suitable for. FWIW, here are features I wish could be added or improved in a Bangle 3:

gyroscope (would be useful for improving accuracy of apps that analyze movement, such as gesture or step tracking)
better GPS (Bangle 1 is acceptable, Bangle 2 disappointing though temporarily resolvable via A-GPS)
brighter screen (I use the Bangle 1 for certain activities because the Bangle 2 screen is just too dim to use under low-light conditions)
3 physical buttons (I designed an app to make use of the left/right touchscreen of the Bangle 1, but never imagined that sweat on my fingertips would make using a touch-based UI impractical--thank goodness for Bangle 1's 3 buttons! Also, being able to "double-click" Bangle 1's buttons for input has been quite useful, so having high-quality buttons is a must)

Keeping my fingers crossed for a Bangle 3 someday--many thanks to Gordon for making Bangle 1 and Bangle 2 such amazingly useful and capable devices!

Posted at 2022-09-28 by @gfwilliams

Thanks! I may not reply to every post here but I am reading them and making a wishlist!

The vibration power is something I tried to get improved in the most recent batch of Bangle.js 2, but the manufacturer just won't put a more powerful motor on there. They say the problem is the motor is attached to the battery in the middle of the watch and they're worried about anything more powerful causing damage - really it needs to be placed so it'd physically attached to the rear of the watch.

In terms of Graphics draw speed, hopefully I'll be able to make some firmware optimisations there at some point. I believe there are still a few opportunities for big improvements.

Posted at 2022-09-28 by yngv126399

If the plan is to use an existing watch for a base, I'll just toss in the TK78G: https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&tab=all&SearchText=tk78g It may be on the way out (it's mostly disappeared from AliExpress) but it has some features that make it an interesting blend of B1 and B2: NRF52840, two physical buttons, GPS, Thermometer (external), heart rate sensor, accelerometer, touch screen and a nice 1.6" screen. I have it running Espruino right now (in the process of RE the screen and sensors). It may not replace the B2's always-on display, but it may be a replacement for B1?

Posted at 2022-09-29 by @fanoush

As for the TK78G it all depends whether custom firmware flashing is possible, this seller/manufacturer
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/TK78G-Smart-Watch-with-GPS-Smartwatch_1600344217582.html
says:
Customized logo(Min. order 1000 pieces)
Customized packaging(Min. order 1000 pieces)
Graphic customization(Min. order 1000 pieces)

Not sure if "Graphic customization" means they can sign/flash custom firmware binary we would give them, if yes it could be an option.

And BTW the HR sensor is VC32S - not sure if this is good or bad.

Posted at 2022-09-29 by @gfwilliams

Thanks! TK78G does look very interesting! I love the idea of proper body temperature measurement, and it has a proper Ublox GPS too.

If I was just on Bangle.js 1 right now I'd totally be behind moving to that, but I'm not sure it quite adds enough to Bangle.js 2 to warrant the time and expense of moving to a new watch. If anyone spots any new watches I'm always interested in hearing about them though!

I have it running Espruino right now

How did you get the firmware on yours? Did you have to crack it open?

I know there's https://github.com/jeffmer/WatchApps but I am open to bringing support for more watches into the main Espruino project if it doesn't mess the code around too much. Ideally we should be able to build firmwares such that the Bangle.* APIs still work and you can still run apps from the main app store.

Posted at 2022-10-05 by @fanoush

If I was just on Bangle.js 1 right now I'd totally be behind moving to that, but I'm not sure it quite adds enough to Bangle.js 2 to warrant the time and expense of moving to a new watch.

I guess @yngv126399 's idea was to replace Bangle 1 with it and keep two watches - one smaller/lighter with less buttons/colors and one possibly larger with full color screen which is not always on like Bangle 1. However it probably doesn't really work that way for you since you need to support bangle 1 for existing customers anyway so that makes it 3 watches. I see it still being listed here https://shop.espruino.com/ble/banglejs so maybe after that one is gone completely? Well, unless two watches sold in parallel is simply too much to handle.

EDIT: Oh, I see now the big bold sentence "Bangle.js 1 is now discontinued"

Posted at 2022-10-06 by yngv126399

How did you get the firmware on yours? Did you have to crack it open?

Yes. I've opened several watches now, and this one is not too bad. Hair dryer to heat the screen edges, then a plastic spudge to loosen the screen.

I am open to bringing support for more watches into the main Espruino project if it doesn't mess the code around too much

Some of jeffmer's solutions use a modified spi_lcd_unbuf to accommodate shared SPI between LCD and Flash chip, but that looks like it's only a few #ifdefs to make it happen. He also exposes a function that lets you send init commands to the LCD from Espurino, so custom init sequences don't require custom firmware.

...you can still run apps from the main app store

Mostly you can, obviously with some exceptions for watches that don't have barometer, GPS, etc. but he has a "Bangle" object that honours many functions, and that can be embellished.

Posted at 2022-10-06 by yngv126399

and yes, my thought was sunset Bangle 1, and use this as Bangle 3 (only supporting B2 and B3). It's darn impossible to find ONE watch to make everyone happy, with these two you cover a lot of ground.

BTW: the TK78G has a 405mAh battery inside (likely to accommodate for all the sensors) and 64Mb (8MB) SPI flash. I've mapped quite a few pins so far, but I am not an electrical engineer so I am likely missing some step to get SPI Flash working (like setting, resetting or toggling some pin). I've found 10 pins on the LCD/touch panel connector and am running through those permutations when I can.

Posted at 2022-10-07 by Serj

My B.js3 wishlist:

Leave the same screen technology as Bangle.js v2 have. It's great, height of perfection!
Light weight, not much larger than the second model.
A larger screen size, because in the second version some elements feel small. Resolution can be left at the same level.
Slightly improve the screen in terms of color.
Ability to disassemble case with simple methods, with the same IP level (or higher).
Lack of problems with contact corrosion (possibly by adding only one charging method - Qi wireless).
A simple speaker.
Saving all sensors from the second version.
Buttons. On the one hand, it's nice when there are several buttons and you can control it in winter with gloves, like in the first Bangle.js model. For example, the position of the buttons can be as in Pebble watch. But on the other hand, the buttons are unreliable, they can break, which we observe in the second version of BJS. Now I try not to use the button as much as possible, waking up my BJS2 screen by tapping on the case (top right corner) + adding software control buttons. Maybe, a good engineering solution might be to completely abandon the buttons. Is it possible? Let's say an ideal tapping mechanism on the case that imitates buttons (virtual buttons) + make one button recessed into the watch case for a hard reset and flashing, so that you can only press the button with a needle.

Posted at 2022-10-10 by @gfwilliams

and yes, my thought was sunset Bangle 1, and use this as Bangle 3 (only supporting B2 and B3).

Well, I don't sell Bangle.js 1 anyway - since I have to order in batches of 3000, if I bought another batch I'd never sell through them. I'm still supporting it with software updates though.

And thanks @serj - the disassembly is something I'd really like too - I was wondering whether it was possible to resurrect the SMA Q2's design (screwable case, more buttons) but with new innards and a 6 bit screen - but I think as you noted for any new watch we really need to get the screen further to the edges... Either with a bigger screen or smaller body

Posted at 2022-10-14 by g_lander

Hello, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as a B1 and B2 owner:

As for the screen, I would love it to be bigger and/or have more colors, but retain the always-on aspect, since I think it's one of the biggest things the B2 improves on. I think the TK78G's screen is perfect, but I personally don't know how feasible would it be to have more colors, bigger screen and an always-on display.
I'd prefer if the watch would have multiple (at least two, again, like the TK78G) buttons, though I wouldn't be too upset if there was only like one button, but I think it's important to retain the touchscreen - menus are kinda painful with the B1.
I'm not much of a water guy, so the watch being waterproof is not really important to me, but I think a better IP level would be more beneficial than something like a barometer.
A better vibration motor or maybe even a speaker would be really cool, but it's not a necessity, in my opinion.
My B2's HRM was broken out of the box, but if the B1's is anything to go by, it's fine as is, and I think it should stay.
I don't know if it's a thing smartwatches are "allowed" to have, but having multiple Bluetooth connections would be really sweet, since Espruino is all about hacking, so having to disconnect from my smartphone to use the IDE is a bit annoying. (I assume this is a hardware thing)
Built-in Wi-Fi would be epic but mostly unnecessary.

Posted at 2022-10-15 by sp

Hey Gordan,
If there is a Bangle3 in the works I would like to see more health sensors on board. Like the HR cum SpO2 sensor from Maxim + Body temperature sensor + any hydration solutions if possible.
Spotify integration ??
Any payments app??
Messaging app integrations??
Wireless charging??
bigger screen smaller bezels,
more smoother and nicer fonts,
simpler way to place fonts on the screen and size them as per need,
The Bangle2 is already a remarkable watch! Hats off. Anything more is definitely a bonus.
Cheers!

Posted at 2022-10-15 by @thyttan

Here's my go at a wish list :)

Screen:

Reflective screen technology as in bangle2 is nearly a must for me both for visibility and battery consumption advantages.
All for larger screen and especially together with smaller bezels.
A little higher PPI screen and more colors would be nice but not essential for me.
I probably think square screens are a little smarter than round ones. I'd imagine square is a little cheaper and also easier to program and make UIs for, especially for novice programmers like me. Also for text square is good and the corners also provide some landmarks for using the device. However, I don't think it really matters too much either way.

Sensors:

Gyroscope as complement to the accelerometer would be cool. Don't have a use in mind right now but being able to get more precise spatial measurements would surely improve/make some applications more viable.
Improved precision for GPS and body trackers over bangle2 would be nice, also additional sensors to allow more advanced applications. Again, I don't have any in mind myself right now though.
I'm torn on the microphone/speakers vs. high IP-ratings debate. I don't think I have a preference going either way.

Miscellaneous:

I absolutely want to be able to use anything other than silicone straps, I use a nylon strap with the bangle2 that I am pleased with.
Higher specs for CPU/RAM/Flash/Storage/Battery is always nice but I'm also quite content with what bangle2 offers. However if more storage meant we could start having e.g. a music app independent of a phone with tracks on the bangle3 that would be a neat addition.
Choosing what device to connect to on the bangle was a neat idea I like. Switch between paired devices, connect to new ones etc. I suspect this can be accomplished already on the bangle2 with software though? So it would just be a matter of someone doing a PR.

Thanks for considering! :)

Posted at 2022-10-15 by @fanoush

having multiple Bluetooth connections would be really sweet, since Espruino is all about hacking, so having to disconnect from my smartphone to use the IDE is a bit annoying. (I assume this is a hardware thing)

It is software thing and there are several reasons on different layers for this. On the uppermost layer the issue is that there is only one javascript console input/output and both the phone connection and the WebIDE uses same console input to run bits of javascript. Allowing two concurrent connections would randomly mix input and output so both could fail in unexpected way. It is of course solvable but for now simplicity wins.

Posted at 2022-10-17 by @gfwilliams

having multiple Bluetooth connections would be really sweet

Bangle.js does support multiple central connections now (eg for a bluetooth ECG and a bike speed sensor).

The smartphone disconnection thing is a pain though - are you using Android? I'd been considering adding the ability to forward the bluetooth connection from the phone to a PC (like we do for https://www.espruino.com/ide/relay/), so that could solve that problem quite nicely

Posted at 2022-10-23 by crisp

For the Bangle.js 3, I'd like to see stronger water resistance and higher build quality.

I'm disappointed to see my Bangle.js 2 suffer water damage even though I have never immersed it in water. An occasional splash from using the sink faucet was enough to make the device unresponsive and cause it to constantly reboot. This is surprising to me because IP67 rated devices are supposed to be protected from not just occasional splashes, but also water immersion of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. The Bangle.js 3 should ideally have a 5 atm water resistance rating or an IP68 rating like some of the higher-quality imported watch models, or at least meet the IP67 standard more consistently.

The Bangle.js 2 has a body made of plastic, with sides that are easy to scuff and discolor. Some type of metal would be an improvement. The plastic button also feels mushy when pressed, and a more "clicky" button would be more pleasant to use. The electrical tape that covered the contacts at the bottom came off for me after wearing the watch for a month, and I'd like to see a more robust solution. I suppose the silicone protective cover would have made up for the plastic body and the electrical tape, but I didn't buy it at the time of my order since I've never purchased a case for a watch before and I didn't feel that one was necessary.

On the other hand, I'm very impressed with the functionality and ease-of-use of the Espruino platform. If a future Bangle.js model addressed the water resistance and build quality issues, I would purchase or pre-order it immediately.

Posted at 2022-10-23 by johan_m_o

An occasional splash from using the sink faucet was enough to make the device unresponsive and cause it to constantly reboot. This is surprising to me because IP67 rated devices are supposed to be protected from not just occasional splashes, but also water immersion of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

FYI: If it was just a splash it shouldn't be any worries, but if the watch ended up directly in the water stream underneath the faucet it could have been exposed to water pressure that would greatly exceed the pressure it would experience when just immersed to 1 meter.

Posted at 2022-10-23 by @halemmerich

As far as I know the IPX7 rating does not include IPX5/6 which would be necessary for any relevant protection against splashes and jets of water from all directions. So even dropping an IPX7 device from some distance into 1m deep water is probably not tested so I would only expect such a device to be able to be slowly submerged to this depth without damage.
For my Bangle I would not shower or swim with it, but I expect it to survive rain,sweat and the occasional few drops during washing my hands.
An 5ATM rating like my old BIP S would be very nice, that watch survived showers just fine. But even for that rating Amazfit suggests not showering/bathing with it and warns against pressing the button when under water.

Posted at 2022-10-24 by user150470

[used wrong email to log in, please ignore]

Posted at 2022-10-24 by crisp

I see your point about IP67 not protecting against water pressure. To clarify, I didn't bring the Bangle.js 2 into the shower and I didn't intentionally put it under a stream of running water. On the other hand, I didn't remove the watch before washing my hands and I allowed water to run down my hand and make contact with the watch. Since the Bangle.js 2 product page describes the watch as "waterproof", I didn't think this kind of common situation would be an issue, but I was apparently wrong.

If 3 atm or 5 atm water resistance is needed to protect the watch against common water exposure situations, then I would like to request this feature in the Bangle.js 3.

Posted at 2022-10-26 by @gfwilliams

Hi @crisp, I'm sorry you've had problems with this. How long have you had your watch and where did you get it from? What kind of water damage was there? The Bangle definitely should be able to put up with a few seconds of hand washing - this sounds like a manufacturing issue to me. Maybe send me a PM or start a new thread?

As far as the case goes, it's a tricky one. I already get complaints that the current Bangle is too expensive, but if I were to increase the quality (and hence price) it starts getting comparisons to things like the Apple Watch and then I get more unhappy customers. Ideally I'd definitely use higher quality plastics in the next one though.

... and yes, changing the arrangement for the SWD pins is something super high on my list. I wouldn't produce a Bangle 3 with the same arrangement as now at all :)

Posted at 2022-10-29 by HughB

Does anyone actually care about the barometer?

No. Never use it, happy give it up for better water resiliance.

Posted at 2022-10-29 by @halemmerich

Barometric pressure gives better altitude information than GPS can, especially when GPS reception is not that great like on the Bangle.

Posted at 2022-11-05 by Serj

I'm just thinking why a speaker is needed in a new B.js 3 watch, f.e.:

To quickly find the watch (you can set a signal to BT disconnect, for example);
For alarm;
For games (simple music like a midi, sfx), MIDI support would be cool;
For a speech synthesizer, for example, to tell the current time;
For extreme situations, if the speaker is loud enough, it can be used when a person lost in the forest or to be more noticeable when riding a bicycle at night or as a bicycle bell (nothing unusual is needed here, just a loud squeak).

Your options :)

Posted at 2022-11-17 by youphyun

I am happy with the Bangle.js 2 and would buy it for my kids if it was better waterproof and the charging connector would be improved.

Posted at 2022-11-17 by Serj

@gfwilliams is there any chance that the new B.js watch will have wireless charging according to the Qi standard?

Posted at 2022-11-18 by @gfwilliams

Maybe? My concern is that I'd have to supply with with a Qi charger then rather than a cheap cable, and suddenly the cost skyrockets.

Bangle.js only works because it's a sensible price. If I charge Apple Watch money people expect an Apple Watch, and nobody is happy

Posted at 2022-11-18 by @fanoush

Also if you need to charge your watch/phone every day or two wireless is helpful, when charging every 14 days or more I guess attaching cable is not such burden?

EDIT: BTW just checked https://www.apple.com/watch/battery/ and it is indeed so insanely low as I guessed

Posted at 2022-11-18 by user141815

I'd say don't supply one out of the box, only as a optional extra. Many people already have a QI charger or would rather choose their own.

Posted at 2022-11-19 by b3-4r

I suspect my view is the antithesis to what people expect of (open source) watches- I like a watch to be completely independent of a phone and be packed with sensors and stand-alone functionality. Phone battery lasts one day tops and sometimes I don't even want to bring it with me. I vote to keep as many sensors as possible, including the baro, which is useful for rudimentary weather forecasting.

My v2 wishlist would probably include:

round display (if doable, resolution and colour depth don't matter much)
buttons as well, for gloved operations
better GPS (first and foremost for precise timekeeping)
a basic beeper for alerts
LoRa if doable, imagine connecting to meshtastic with a watch alone
how do they get the baro sensors waterproof in regular ABC (alti-baro-compass) watches? Are those some bespoke waterproof sensors, or is there like an elastic membrane barrier?

Posted at 2022-11-21 by @gfwilliams

Hi,

Thanks! I think LoRa might be a bit of a stretch, but as this is a bit of a hackers' watch personally I'd love to go back to a point where we had more buttons and an unscrewable case.

I can imagine there maybe being some IO pins on the inside, so you could unscrew the case, maybe insert a spacer (or swap to a smaller battery), and then a second PCB with whatever extras you wanted in it.

how do they get the baro sensors waterproof in regular ABC (alti-baro-compass) watches? Are those some bespoke waterproof sensors, or is there like an elastic membrane barrier?

It's a good question - I'm not sure. Maybe there are different sensors that are designed to be exposed to water (maybe which have a membrane internally). Even if you could seal them to a hole in the watch, I don't think the normal MEMS ones like getting wet

Posted at 2022-11-21 by user140377

Slightly offtopic today on hn someone wish a watch wishlist:
https://lock.cmpxchg8b.com/watch.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33674904

Posted at 2022-11-21 by b3-4r

I can imagine there maybe being some IO pins on the inside, so you could unscrew the case, maybe insert a spacer (or swap to a smaller battery), and then a second PCB with whatever extras you wanted in it.

Oooooh! That does sound good, perhaps this could be made compatible with Sensor Watch daughterboards, I'm sure there is some overlap in user bases, and you could take advantage of the open HW framework already in place.

https://lock.cmpxchg8b.com/watch.htm

Coincidentally I wear that exact Protrek and it feels like it's for the same reasons! I love the DCF77-disciplined timekeeping and the ability to sense one's surroundings to an extent. I just wish this kind of functionality and form came in a tweakable, open source package.

Posted at 2022-11-22 by user151014

Hi Gordon, haven't been on the forum for a while. Now I was looking through it because my barometer seems to have been broken. No more readings for a week or so :(

And yes–I personally care a lot about the barometer. Still planning to write a GPS-calibrated barometric altimeter. That probably needs way less battery than alt by GPS. Also to judge the weather. But I get it, waterproof would be nice.

Anyway, any ideas what I could do about the sensor?

EIDT: just read the other threads. Will try out firmwares (I think I'm on 15) and battery flattening.

Posted at 2022-11-22 by user140377

Could you also try the reset as in https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/381706/ IF you also have a SPL06.

Posted at 2022-11-23 by @gfwilliams

perhaps this could be made compatible with Sensor Watch daughterboards

Wow, that's such a cool idea using old Casio watch housings! But yes, something like that would be great (especially if there was room for a FPC connector).

my barometer seems to have been broken

Sorry to hear that - as above though, that post could help you. Or actually just running your watch right down (there's an option in Settings->Utils) and seeing if the full power cycle fixes it.

Still planning to write a GPS-calibrated barometric altimeter

That would be great! I have actually added seaLevelPressure to Bangle.setOptions so it should be reasonably easy to make an app that looks for a GPS event, and when it's received it then compares that with the barometer's reading and sets the value accordingly.

Posted at 2022-11-23 by Serj

Yes, I understand, but the Qi charger can be sold separately, in general, it’s good if it is possible to charge the future model both by wire and without wire by Qi.

Let's say there will be 2 models on sale, the old one will be cheaper, and the new one will be more expensive (pro version). On the contrary, I would like a more thoughtful device, even more expensive ( x 1.2, x 1.5, x 1.7 $). With a simple good speaker, good vibro, fast GPS, with case which can be simply disassembled and replaced with parts, no oxidized contacts, and so on. But inside there should be a low-power SoC and more biggest AoD screen.

If someone needs a minimalistic Open Source watch, at the cheapest price, then this is PineTime, with all their limitations.

Posted at 2022-11-23 by Serj

Yes, there are no problems if you do not load the watch, but I constantly use timers, voracious watch faces, so I charge my B.js2 1-2 times a week. And now I not use GPS every day, as I did with the first B.js.

With Qi will be very convenient. Let's say I have a power bank with Qi, which can be used to charge both the phone and the watch while traveling. Some phones even have Reverse Wireless Charging.

Posted at 2022-11-23 by Serj

And to be honest, cheapest version of Apple watches costs $ 250 - $ 300, and the max is > $ 800

Posted at 2022-11-23 by @fanoush

The Apple watch (or Android or WearOS based watches) are scaled down phone chips, see e.g. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-S7-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.575945.0.html - 1GB RAM, 32GB flash, dual core CPU running at 1.8GHz.

Bangle 2 is 256KB of RAM, 64MHz CPU, 8MB of flash - that is 4096 times less RAM, 30 times less CPU speed . You basically expect different class of device than Bangle 2 is and are willing to pay premium price for that. There are also people that are not buying Bangle 2 because current price is already too high.

If someone needs a minimalistic Open Source watch, at the cheapest price, then this is PineTime, with all their limitations.

Well Pinetime is previous generation (like Bangle 1), I was actually thinking Bangle 2 is current generation of minimalistic Open Source watch.

Posted at 2022-11-23 by Serj

Yes, I know the specs of the watch. No, I do not expect a completely different watch than B.js 2, I need a low-power microcontroller on my wrist, but with additional features.

About the premium price: I'm willing to reasonably overpay for the things that are needed: Qi, speaker, larger AoD screen, different case, different GPS module.
And above, I gave examples of premium prices, relatively speaking, this is from $ 300 and more, this is not at all x1.5-1.7 B.js2 price.

Posted at 2022-11-24 by @gfwilliams

It's a tricky one - I guess in theory I could design a higher priced, low-volume watch with a CNC milled case and all those features.

But I'm not sure there's enough demand at the moment that I would ever make my my money back on it :(

Maybe that will change, but as you can see from this thread, everyone had different ideas about what they want, and many of them are conflicting.

For instance Qi charging would make a lot of sense to enable some good water resistance, but then you also want a speaker, which for it to be loud would probably make water resistance very difficult.

Posted at 2022-11-24 by dapgo

so maybe after that one is gone completely?

I think keeping support for old models like bangle.js1 is not bad at all for the project neither for users of new models. As it forces to apply better coding practises, help detecting the lack of abstraction between the code and the hardware.
It would be amazing having the official espruino and most apps working in some of the watches that jeffmer made to work with its espruino fork.

Yes, the different display sizes are a challenge, but I am sure there is a solution for it :)

Posted at 2022-11-24 by Serj

Well, these are just thoughts, suddenly there will be a wider choice among donors for the next B.js watch :)

Posted at 2022-11-24 by b3-4r

If the design ticks most of my boxes I'm more than happy to pay in advance without expecting immediate results.

As far as the speaker goes, a piezo disc conducting sound into the case back has been tried and tested method of getting waterproof watches to make sound for years and imho the use cases for actual sound playback are quite limited in a watch, the sound feature will likely be used for simple notifications most of the time. Two use cases come to mind, TTS for blind/ partially sighted users, and navigation directions. This could perhaps be accomplished using BT earbuds.

Re Qi charging, I'm sure this is dealt with in phones and other smartwatches or perhaps it's no issue at all but it might be worth checking that the charging EMF or the magnetic core disc don't damage or interfere with the magnetometer.

Posted at 2022-11-27 by user151014

SPL06

Is that optional? I thought the Bangle2 comes with "Air Pressure/Temperature sensor (Bosch BMP280 / Goertek SPL06)".

Posted at 2022-11-27 by user140377

Both the BMP280 and SPL06 are pressure sensors. So I read that as you can have either the BMP280 or the SPL06, not both. Like a car, which can have a stereo from panasonic or sony.

Posted at 2022-11-28 by @gfwilliams

Yes - after the first run, with the component shortage the sensor had to be swapped - so original ones have BMP280 and any Bangle you buy now will have the SPL06. Nice thing is because it's JavaScript running on top it really doesn't make a difference to code or how the watch behaves at all.

Posted at 2022-11-30 by b3-4r

Turns out there are waterproof baro sensors, e.g. (first hits) BM1390GLV or LPS33HW ..

The sensor could be installed in a separate open cavity with a flat flex passing into the main sealed cavity either through a potted section or between soft gaskets.

Posted at 2023-01-02 by user140377

With inspiration from https://github.com/joeycastillo/Sensor-Watch: Route i2c to the additional pins of the watch so we can attach external sensors.

1 reply

grzmyr Feb 26, 2025

I wouldn't disqualify features that can help achieve the goal described here: https://github.com/baljo/fall_detection
And I don't mean to use Bangle together with Nicla Sense ME, but to use it instead of Nicla Sense ME :-)
I don't know (yet) if that's possible with Bangle2, but I hope that in Bangle3 it will be easier to achieve :-)

espruino-discuss2 · 2025-02-12T18:07:41Z

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

Posted at 2023-01-03 by @fanoush

Well, this could also be done over BLE. what type of sensor is worth the hassle of wiring it to the watch and wearing such combined result on your wrist? puckjs or any cheap nrf52 module running espruino can do such BLE to i2c/spi/serial bridge and you can have the sensor in a pocket or other suitable location

Posted at 2023-01-05 by HughB

@gfwilliams - this thread has been running a while. I'm wondering how you are leaning for a Bangle JS3. What features are definitley on the list and what gets dropped?

Also do you have any immediate plans for a Bangle JS3 ? Have you recovered from the BJ2 kick starter ?

Posted at 2023-01-05 by fanoushs-punching-bag

nm

Posted at 2023-01-06 by @gfwilliams

Have you recovered from the BJ2 kick starter ?

Not really, no! I think in all likelihood I won't be doing any more KickStarter campaigns :)

Also do you have any immediate plans for a Bangle JS3 ?

I don't have plans at the moment - I feel like there's still a lot than Bangle.js 2 does right, and I have a bunch of companies starting to use it so I don't want to suddenly change things under their feet. I've also got enough stock to last me at least a year!

For the moment the plan is to get some other Espruino devices out there this year - it's been a long time of me basically just doing Bangle.js stuff and I have some good ideas for new hardware :)

... but even if I don't sell other hardware, I'm all for making some of the homebrew watches a bit more compatible (eg with the Bangle.* methods) so they can be used with existing apps

Posted at 2023-01-06 by user140377

Well, this could also be done over BLE

I prefer wires

or bring some of the other watches people have been flashing 'into the fold' and make them official.

Sounds cool, but also like a maintaining problem nightmare. I always test GUI-changes on BangleJS1 and 2. Now imaging you have to test for multiple watches. Or we get a good test/emulator infrastructure..

and I have a bunch of companies starting to use it so I don't want to suddenly change things under their feet.

Interesting, I wonder what the companies use the BangleJS for, do you have any specific information? And are you allowed to say something?

Posted at 2023-01-06 by @thyttan

Sounds cool, but also like a maintaining problem nightmare. I always test GUI-changes on BangleJS1 and 2. Now imaging you have to test for multiple watches.

I'd think that you'd probably not have the same expectation on app developers to have apps be stable for all unofficial espruino watches. And it's more on the person using such a watch to fix bugs themselves to a larger extent.

Posted at 2023-01-06 by @halemmerich

The userbase for the Bangle watches is in the thousands, the user base for unofficial but half decent working other watches will probably be more like lower single digits ;)

Posted at 2023-01-07 by HughB

Not really, no!

Sorry to hear that.

I feel like there's still a lot than Bangle.js 2 does right,

It gets better all the time. We just need someone with a bit of energy to get heart rate working when moving about.

Posted at 2023-01-09 by @gfwilliams

I'm not saying that I'm not going to do a Bangle.js 3 - just that Bangle.js 2 has only been out a year, and I think that probably most owners would like to know their Bangle was going to stay well supported and keep improving for at least another year.

... but KickStarter campaigns can be difficult. I think maybe some people would be fine with it but I feel personally responsible, so when things don't go right (like EU shipping!) I'm under a lot of stress, which I'm in no hurry to repeat. So I'll still do a Bangle.js 3 at some point, but almost certainly not via KickStarter!

I wonder what the companies use the BangleJS for, do you have any specific information?

There was some Covid-related tracking in the pandemic, and we've got companies developing asset tracking, sport tracking, health research and also elderly care stuff. There are a few more but I can't think of them right now, but generally everyone wants to white-label them and not make it known they're using Espruino so it's hard to give you any specific names!

Posted at 2023-01-09 by pancake

I'm super happy with banglejs2, i actually own two of them and i really miss a bigger community because i think it's the best opensource smartwatch.

is the only smartwatch that can switch off the bluetooth
with my watchface the battery lasts for 2 month

But i'm aware about some issues I would love to get them fixed, maybe in a revision or a new model, but I also hope the community grows and the system gets better, this is my wishlist:

use a proper speaker (not a 12V on a 5V battery) because right now it can be only used as a subsonic vibrator.
support wifi (i know some espruino chips support wifi, and having this will open the door to do amazing things)
water resistant and inductive charging support to avoid rust
two buttons in the left side (that's actually supported by the API)
real leds instead of emulating them in the screen
microphone, maybe useful for voice notes or to use it as a bluetooth headset

I understand every line of my wishlist implies a lot of work, but I think this is the most amazing piece of hardware I own and I enjoy it every time i code things for it. So I want to greet you all for the amazing work you put in that little device :)

Posted at 2023-01-09 by L0cutus

I think some kind of "Energy Harvesting" would be great too!
Like this:
https://www.powerwatch.com/

Posted at 2023-01-17 by @fanoush

Someone designed his own nrf52833 watch https://hackaday.com/2023/01/16/zswatch-this-oshw-smart-watch-is-as-diy-as-it-gets/ , planning to switch to nrf52840 in v2 so definitely could run Espruino. Maybe a good starting point for own design however I guess ready made mass produced watch from China will still be cheaper.

Posted at 2023-01-17 by @halemmerich

Wow, that is very cool. Throw GPS in there and some kind low power display (epaper or transflective LCD) and it would be very close to perfect for me.

Posted at 2023-01-24 by labarks

Agreed. I backed/own the original PowerWatch X and the Series 2. The PowerWatch 2 is great and has that form factor that about half of the users would want in a B3. The biggest problem right now is that they have been sold out since 2020 and don't even have parts for repairs (broke both of them by wearing them in the pool for too long under water).

Posted at 2023-02-11 by rchateauneu

A wish, on top of the ideas here, would be a metal case for a DeLuxe Bangle2, and here is why:

I had a Casio bought in 1993 but it died last year and anyway could give the day of the week only between 1980 and 2020.

So I chose another model, and found in the "vintage" serie of Casio the "W-800H-1AVES", with a steel case that I like :
https://www.watch.co.uk/casio-vintage-edgy-black-digital-sports-watch-w-800h-1aves.htm

Also, I loved the aesthetics of Nixon Regulus silver : https://uk.nixon.com/products/regulus-stainless-steel-black?gclid=CjwKCAiAlp2fBhBPEiwA2Q10D1wAO4czbvxt15Gse9mIXjw_imRU1_q4yu4KgjDOs6VsNXAt8xpW0BoC0E0QAvD_BwE

For both of them, the software does not do much beyond giving time, and has useless features (No need of two timers)

This is when I discovered Bangle 2, immediately loved the concept, and happily chose it (and offered one to my son).

So, ideally, I would love another Bangle 2 but with a steel case.

Posted at 2023-02-20 by @gfwilliams

Thanks - a metal case would be very cool, but it would add a lot to the cost and would make the GPS basically useless (as well as hurting bluetooth range).

It might be possible to do a limited run of them though - I guess we could just get the case CNC cut and then put the normal innards inside it

Posted at 2023-02-20 by user140377

Unless the case becomes the antenna...or the antennas are build into the case. I mean something like this https://blog.antenova.com/4-ways-to-increase-wireless-antenna-performance-in-metal-devices

Sure, would not reduce the cost of the case...

Posted at 2023-02-22 by @gfwilliams

Yes, it's definitely possible - the issue is really the design costs. Especially a full metal device I might sell a few hundred of at the moment. The cost of designing and certifying an aerial for Bluetooth and GPS in a metal case is going to be tens of thousands of pounds - and per-device for 100 devices it's just not going to be something most people are willing to pay for :(

Posted at 2023-03-23 by Geza

First of all: i like the Bangle js concept.
Size and design: I prefer the V1 to the V2
Screen: V2
I miss the loud speaker.

https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2021/03/Mo-Young-Ltd-uses-nRF52840-in-Leadoys-C16-Smart-Watch

Attachments:

C16.jpg

Posted at 2023-03-23 by @fanoush

Interesting that they had press release with Moyoung, yes this watch (called Rock or C16) runs unofficial builds of Espruino. It has basically same hardware as Magic 3 (C17) and QY03. All three are posible to update to Espruino without taking apart.

Posted at 2023-03-23 by Geza

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that. I shared it mainly because of the design.

Posted at 2023-03-23 by @fanoush

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that. I shared it mainly because of the design.

Yes, what a coincidence :-) More info e.g. here https://github.com/jeffmer/WatchApps#rock-and-magic3 But of course as unofficial port it is not properly maintained and currently it is outdated and only some subset of apps work. However with some effort it could be usable. You get what you pay for :-)

Posted at 2023-03-23 by Geza

I don't really understand why you wrote that it was a "coincidence". I was deliberately looking for a watch that looks good and uses an NRF52 chip. I don't think - although I could be wrong - that the Bangle JS 3 project has a budget for its own design. What I like about Gordon's projects is that they are rationally planned. Besides all that, really thanks for the info!

Posted at 2023-03-24 by @fanoush

I don't really understand why you wrote that it was a "coincidence"

You randomly found a watch that you like. This exact watch is one of the very few that already can run Espruino. That means someone wrote support for most/all the hardware inside, figured out and documented installation procedure and made usable build for you. That looks like quite a coincidence to me.

And BTW 99% of NRF52 watches cannot be updated with custom firmware without taking them apart because the firmware is signed by private key of the manufacturer and the device update won't accept any other. Da Fit - mobile app+watch firmware made by Moyoung company is rare exception. Bangle2 hardware is rare exception too with SWD pins on charging connector allowing custom firmware installation too.

Posted at 2023-03-25 by Geza

if you type this into the google search engine: "nrf52840 smartwatch" the third search result (for me) is this watch. When I searched for a picture, it was the second one. I think other people look for it in the same way, there is nothing surprising about it. For me, the question was basically what type/style the new watch should be. The retro line (e.g. Casio) is also interesting, but for corporate use it is not serious enough for me, I vote for such a form, that's why I shared it. If anyone, then I definitely support Gordon's developments, I have already bought a lot of factory Espruino devices.

Posted at 2023-05-25 by @andresdju

First of all, bangle.js 2's hardware is good enough for me, so while there is availability of it and no interest from Gordon's side in a new model, I'm very happy with it. In my opinion software support and quality apps are more important that a new model. Nonetheless I'm going to give my preferences, more or less in this order, for a future model:

Good BT LE like bangle.js 2 is a must.
Good battery life at least as good as bangle.js 2.
I'd like more buttons of better quality (better if recessed for fewer unintended pushes).
Very good sensors (GPS, HR, accelerometer, gyro...). Barometer is not that important for me.
Water resistance for swimming would be ideal.
The screen quality of bangle.js 2 is very good (transflective), but having more screen percentage of the total surface would be great (less bezel, smaller watch or bigger display).
Not glued case, so it would be easier to open it without damage for repairs. Better with user replaceable battery.
Sturdier case.
Thinner is always good for a watch.
Rectangular is better than round, more comfortable and easier to make the most of the display.
USB-C for charging and even for data would be much better. I know that USB-C would be difficult and it would take a lot of internal space and be detrimental to the overall size and thickness of the watch.

Did I said that free software is the most important thing for me and the reason I chose bangle.js 2?

Posted at 2023-05-26 by @gfwilliams

Thanks! A lot of those are on my wishlist too.

I'm very tempted to overmould the case with rubber and have rubber buttons and wireless charging so there was a really nice water resistance and maybe an unscrewable rear cover - but that probably makes USB/baro/mic/speaker a no-go.

I think there's got a be a decision about whether we go for water resistance or not - because to be properly able to go underwater it really means no holes at all.

Posted at 2023-05-26 by @andresdju

[...] that probably makes USB/baro/mic/speaker a no-go.

I don't think USB and water resistance are totally incompatible. About microphone and speakers I care so less about them that I forgot mentioning. Now I realize that I forgot to mention that a slightly more powerful vibration motor would be nice.

Posted at 2023-05-28 by Fteacher

About water resistance, being able to swim with it would be great, but without going that far, resistance to washing the dishes and shower would be good. I happened to run under medium rain and I took it off because I was too worried for it. I'd be happy not to worry for so little.
Also +1 for gps. Altitude is also very imprecise in my runs, I think it's related to another captor (baro ?)

Posted at 2023-06-04 by @thyttan

I think the rapid development of AI, specifically chatbots, boosts the case for having a microphone and maybe even a speaker.

Couple it with an open source LLM chatbot could be cool - accessed via an android app or via http-requests.

Although one could argue it's better to connect some bluetooth headset to the bangle for audio interfacing. Counter to that, you might not always want to have a headset on you.

This does not mean I argue strongly for a mic/speaker though.

Posted at 2023-06-04 by stweedo

There was talk of being able to use your phone's mic for input. Would need some kind of speech to text on the phone then.

In lieu of a mic or speaker, it might be useful to make a predictive text input that contextually predicts chunks of words it thinks you might want to enter into your prompt and present them as a list of options to append to your prompt.

Initially it could start with generic "What, when, why, how, where" etc. and probably would need at least one or two other seed words that are input by the user with a keyboard app to give better context.

Here's the basic thought process on how it might work:

The Watch: Display the initial list of options. When an option is selected, send the selected word to the server.

The Server: Receives the selected word from the watch. This selected word is used as a seed to generate new potential words/phrases using an LLM. The server then sends the generated words/phrases back to the watch.
The Watch: Receives the new words/phrases from the server and displays them as new options. Once the user is satisfied they can send the whole prompt to be answered like normal.

Back on topic... I thought it would be nice for Bangle.js 3 to have an LED indicator that could double as an ambient light sensor. Similar to how the LED is being used on this open source chirp device.

From the description:

Light sensing

A simple LED is used as a light sensor. Capacitive properties of diodes are used. LED is driven forward-biased for some time, then it’s driven reverse-biased to charge the internal capacitance. The time it takes for this internal diode capacitance to discharge depends on the amount of light that falls into the diode. Microcontroller timer is used to measure this time and estimate how much ambient light is out there.

Posted at 2023-07-18 by @thyttan

This hw would be pretty cool for a Bangle.js 3 (transflective display!):

https://youtu.be/uqrNepmk4ls

I guess the platform doesn't gel easily with espruino though?

Following 2:42 in the video what looks to me like swd connectors are shown.

I think these are its specs: https://www.phonemore.com/specs/xiaomi/amazfit-pace/

Edit:

Bonus link (someone compiled a list of watches with transflective displays):
https://www.reddit.com/r/smartwatch/comments/r6nn1b/comment/i8lvybh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Posted at 2023-07-18 by Ivor

Runs a build of Android. Apparently uses a chinese "Ingenic M200" cpu - http://www.ingenic.com.cn/en/?newton/id/13.html so no, unlikely to be an option for Espruino.

Posted at 2023-07-18 by user140377

Can someone please explain me what the advantage of this transflective display is? I have no problem to read the Bangle.js 2 outdoors. (to be fair, we do not have much sun here in northern europe).

The one thing I like is the 4GB storage to play music from.

Posted at 2023-07-18 by @halemmerich

The Bangle.js 2 already has a transflective display :)

Posted at 2023-07-19 by user141569

Reflective LCDs work by reflecting ambient light. They are readable without a backlight, but cannot be backlit well if at all. They work well if there's enough light, but not very well in the dark. At best, you might have a frontlight that lights the screen unevenly.

Transmissive LCDs instead pass light through. They have a backlight to cover dark environments, but they are only properly visible with the backlight. In brighter environments, you need to turn up the brightness to compete with the ambient light. In sunlight, you end up needing to use a lot of power, if your backlight can even get that bright at all.

Transflective LCDs are capable of doing both reasonably well. In a dark environment, they can be lit evenly with a backlight. In a bright environment, the ambient light helps rather than competes, so the backlight can be turned off and the display remains visible. This saves a lot of power. As halemmerich has pointed out, we already have one on the Bangle 2. This is a huge reason why we can have multi-week battery life with an always-on display.

Posted at 2023-07-27 by HopeToBeUseful1day

Dual-frequency GPS please

Posted at 2023-07-27 by @fanoush

Although one could argue it's better to connect some bluetooth headset to the bangle for audio interfacing. Counter to that, you might not always want to have a headset on you.

Just noticed this comment. Unfortunately Bluetooth headsets are so far all classic Bluetooth which nrf52840 does not support. There is LE audio standard coming but it still might take some time to get widely used and unfortunately nrf52840 may be too slow to support this as per https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/72791/bluetooth-5-2-support-for-nrf52840/299994#299994

The LC in LC3 codec name means low complexity so decoding should be OK but we are talking about encoding here if we want to send audio to the headset.

Some CPU numbers for encoding are here https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/93689/nrf5340-lc3-decoder-question - 48% CPU for encoding stereo stream but that is on 128MHz Cortex M33 nRF5340 so it will be at least twice as much for 64MHz 52840.

Posted at 2023-07-27 by @thyttan

Ah - bummer.

Posted at 2023-07-30 by HopeToBeUseful1day

Does it mean nrf5340 would drain the battery when working with audio?

Posted at 2023-07-30 by @halemmerich

It sounds like if it is possible at all CPU-wise it will be awfully close. Probably too close for someone (Nordic) to attempt to implement newer bluetooth LE codecs on these chipsets. If it somehow actually works, storage would be the next big problem. 8MB flash is not much to store audio samples.

Posted at 2023-07-31 by @gfwilliams

I guess you might be able to store pre-compressed data on the flash? But honestly it's not likely to be of a great deal of use being able to replay a few seconds of audio...

Posted at 2023-07-31 by @fanoush

Well you could have sidplayer or modplayer app (both C64 and Amiga were slower than Bangle 2!), also speech synthesizer does not need lot of data and the bitrate is lower so could not use that much CPU when encoding

it's not likely to be of a great deal of use being able to replay a few seconds of audio

Navigation directions are quite short samples too.

Still not that much useful/practical I guess.

Posted at 2023-08-30 by user156359

My top wishes would be:

3 or ideally 4 buttons
64 color display like pebble
waterproof enough to handle light splashes like when washing hands with no problems
good/reliable bluetooth
no sensors that'll make watch thicker(like hr), for me it's better to have a thinner watch
ideally - a bit curved case design for better fit on the hand
software: maybe some option to reverse the watch interface(like text&images) if someone would like buttons to face another direction(this depends on the layout, if there are 2x2 buttons than it doesn't matter)
microphone would be nice for voice notes, but not sure how this goes with waterproofing, i mean there should be options for some waterproof membranes but maybe these are too pricey, idk

Posted at 2023-08-30 by @gfwilliams

Thanks, yes that's about where I am with it as well - Bangle.js 2 does have a membrane, and it does seem to work ok - but it's still something you can't really rely on for proper submersion (like swimming).

Heart rate is a hard one for me to add on a custom-designed watch, but I do think it is expected of a wearable at the moment so probably is needed.

maybe some option to reverse the watch interface(like text&images) if someone would like buttons to face another direction

Bangle.js 2 does do this already (well, it allows the screen to be rotated) - check out the LCD page in Settings

Posted at 2023-08-30 by user156359

Bangle.js 2 does do this already (well, it allows the screen to be rotated) - check out the LCD page in Settings
Wow, cool, thanks for info❤️

All i wish for you is inner peace, patience and good luck when you'll want to release a new version

Posted at 2023-09-01 by @gfwilliams

All i wish for you is inner peace

Thanks! With two small kids, inner peace is something I could definitely do with more of :)

Posted at 2023-09-03 by HughB

I'm not convinced inner peace is possible even when your kids are grown up there still worries :)

Posted at 2023-09-03 by HughB

Its looks to me like 3 buttons is a popular ask. I have to say I much prefer the 1 button design that changes on context eg launcher, back, reset

Posted at 2023-09-07 by @gfwilliams

I think probably more buttons wouldn't hurt - especially in winter it's requested because of issues using a touchscreen with gloves.

Obviously exposing that in software could be more of a problem, but I guess if we had 4 buttons we could have the back button behaving the same way, but then up/down/select which would allow any scrollable lists to be selected by button presses too.

Posted at 2023-09-07 by user141569

Agreed. I personally far prefer using the touchscreen over buttons when I can, but having more buttons won't hurt anything when I can still use the touchscreen. It will only make the watch more usable with gloves. Having the watch be usable with gloves would be a major improvement and serious advantage over other smartwatches.

Posted at 2023-09-08 by Ocim

More buttons also allows you to do things without having to look at the watch, for example increase the volume or decline a call

Posted at 2023-09-08 by @andresdju

Having more buttons is not only desirable when wearing gloves. I use the watch mainly as a sport watch, and for that use case the touch screen is nearly unusable while doing the activity.

Posted at 2023-09-13 by Lorenzo

I'm a new BangleJS 2 user. I was using a Garmin Instinct watch before. The main things I really miss are (ordered by importance):

Better GPS. I'm really struggling with the GPS accuracy. I can live with updating the A-GPS data every time I need it, but the accuracy is really bad
Water resistance for swimming/taking a shower
Bigger, brighter display. I don't really need colors
Stronger vibration motor (no need for the buzzer)
Enough buttons to use the watch without touching the screen

Posted at 2023-10-02 by @thyttan

Maybe a flashlight on model 3? Could be neat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA0hAofJ3yU

Posted at 2023-10-03 by ccchan

btw, will you guys prefer 1 way GPS instead of China's 2-way BeiDou (The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS))?

it is told that with GPS, you can only receive signal from the sats, to calculate your location.

with BDS, you can send text back, but with that, if there is spyware, it's worrysome.

the OS espruino is foss i know, but hardware-wise i dont know what we can control.

and i am not sure if BDS provide a read-only framework and is it trust-able.

Posted at 2023-10-03 by @fanoush

with BDS, you can send text back

For that you would need something with much bigger battery and better antenna. Even your phone would struggle with that task https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone#Integration_into_conventional_mobile_phones

But maybe there could be deluxe version of the watch sold as a kit with two tinfoil hats, one small for the watch and one bigger :-)

Posted at 2023-10-03 by ccchan

hey, didn't you heard of huawei mate 60 pro?
they make that huge antenna into the phone now.

a regular size phone can now do satallite phone-ing.

Posted at 2023-10-03 by ccchan

btw, i am writing to AGAINST the 2 way texting.
i dont want a spyware near me 24x7.thx

Posted at 2023-10-03 by @fanoush

a regular size phone can now do satallite phone-ing

That is what the wikipedia link says too. Still we are talking about smartwatch here with tiny battery, not phone. Currently it loses phone connectivity even when you move 10m away and GPS is not the best one even as a receiver. Also we are talking about component that costs about dollar or two (and is connected over simple uart we have under complete control)

Anyway, point taken, next bangle 3 should not be huawei mate 60 pro.

And BTW since we have quite a lot of posts from you in many topics it would be nice if you would chose a nick.

Posted at 2023-10-03 by ccchan

need make a nickname oneself?
okay will do so.
i logged in using email and make a password but it always send me login code

Posted at 2023-10-03 by Serj

By the way, you can use the green light from HRM sensor as a flashlight in bjs2.
Just run HRM and shine it in a dark place, visibility will be much higher than from the screen as a flashlight ⚡

Posted at 2023-10-03 by @thyttan

Thanks for the tip! 🙂

Posted at 2023-10-03 by @fanoush

By the way, you can use the green light from HRM sensor as a flashlight in bjs2

Was also thinking it could be used for some sort of communication when BLE does not work or is too complicated similar to IrDA or NFC - sending via blinking (led or even display) and receiving by the sensor. Display to HR sensor is unidirectional but two sensors pointing each other could be bidirectional.

Posted at 2023-10-04 by user156670

Just chiming in to say that I'm also ready for a Bangle.JS3. My JS2 is getting scratched up and the battery doesn't hold a charge as well as it used to, and I'd prefer to upgrade rather than just get a replacement.

As for what I'd want changed, I'll just have to repeat what other people have said and say that I'd like button controls, more colours and better waterproofing. What I don't need is a GPS and barometer. My phone has a GPS already and I've never felt the need to have a second one on my watch, and I don't know what I'd use a wrist-mounted barometer for in the first place. The heart-rate sensor is nice, though.

This could probably be added to the JS2 through a patch, but I'd really like to be able to configure my watch apps remotely. Dealing with the Bangle's tiny touch-screen is a pain, and it would be really nice if I could do most of my interaction via Gadgetbridge or another app so that I have a larger interface to work with, and mostly use the watch for output.

Posted at 2023-10-04 by ccchan

hi,
if possible, please add NFC to BJ v3.

with that, may be we can replace yubico key with BJ v3.
and use xxx pay, xxx door card with a single device?

ps: google previously have titan key provied in NFC and bluetooth version.

thx

Posted at 2023-10-04 by @gfwilliams

Thanks - yes, NFC would be a nice addition as it's on the chip as well.

GPS is a difficult one - it does make the watch a lot more expensive/difficult, but it does have uses. For example I use my watch for running when I don't want to carry my chunky smartphone but I do want to log the run...

@fanoush in 2v19 I added some code to the firmware so that you could actually turn the HRM LED on/off and could use the sensor to read raw analog values - you could definitely hold the watch against your PC/phone screen and use it to detect the screen flashing on and off in a set way :) I'll try and upload the sample code I have which counts light pulses...

Posted at 2023-11-11 by user156955

It is not safe to listen to music while riding a bicycle, so I am against the appearance of a third version of the watch. I hope if there are no buttons on the watch there will be fewer idiots listening to music on their bike

Posted at 2023-11-11 by ccchan

if you were correct, then how can you explain Sony's walkman -> discman -> mp3 player/ipod -> smart phone+head phone?

illegal drugs are more idiot but it's common among some people.

it's called "natural selection"

Posted at 2023-11-11 by user156955

I completely agree, let's hope that people who listen to music on their bikes don't kill anyone the moment they kill themselves on their bikes. And let's use only legal psychotropic drugs

Posted at 2023-11-12 by HughB

I think it is personal choice, but do agree its a dangerous thing to do. Personally I would never wear headphones on a bike or in a car. I do see people do this. I dont feel safe on a bike unless I can hear what is around me.

I do recall that LSD was first experienced whilst riding a bike.
https://www.bikingbis.com/2013/04/19/worlds-first-lsd-trip-happened-on-a-bike-ride/

NOTE: I am not advocating LSD and would never do it. Besides if you take to much LDS you end up with dyslexia.

Posted at 2023-11-12 by user140377

uhm I wonder what the deal with bikes is here. The first mention I see is the post by user156955 who brought it up with the warning in the very same post. For some reason I don't get this person associates listening to music to music while riding a bike. Lets just stop this discussion here and I spare you my view on it.

Posted at 2023-11-14 by Fteacher

I had lots of fun with this one:

to much LDS you end up with dyslexia.

Not supporting LSD here, btw. About listening to surroundings while exercising, I have to mention that bone conduction earphones are pretty trendy amongst runners and cyclists... It's a bit like having a background music in a movie, while still being able to hear perfectly clearly what's going on around (except if you put volume really too loud). https://piped.video/watch?v=M3xrcsCGnSY

Posted at 2023-11-14 by HughB

:)

Posted at 2024-03-26 by Tx

Is a v3 still an option for the future? I'm just asking because my BangleJS2 (I love it) is getting somehow old. Not in the meaning of old hardware, but simply it becomes worn out and I'm now in the situation of thinking about a new watch. Not tomorrow, but this year. But I don't find a better fit for me than an open watch. BangleJS is sold out at Espruino dealers here in Germany so this is also not an option.

Posted at 2024-03-26 by user140377

uhm, what do you mean by "worn out"?

Posted at 2024-03-26 by Tx

Scratches, Button and one of my two kickstartes died of corrosion of the contacts. On the second one the corrosion is starting although it is covered with a plastic strip.

Posted at 2024-03-26 by user140377

Try nail polish on the contacts. For the display try scratch remover polish. Not sure what to do about the button.

Posted at 2024-03-26 by Tx

Thank you for the hints, but I just wanted to know whether there will be a V3 in sight somewhere in 2024/25, just for the decision to stay or to move to other watches.

Posted at 2024-03-27 by Fteacher

It may come with a higher delivery cost, but I had my Bj2 sent from GB (Espruino shop) to Australia (Kickstarter campaign). I've checked the website and Germany is in the destination country list https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js2 , so it looks like you can still order it :). Also, there's a silicon protective cover in this online shop, you might be interested in if you bump it on a regular base.

Posted at 2024-03-27 by @gfwilliams

Hi - there are no immediate plans for a Bangle.js 3, in fact I'm due a delivery of another large batch of Bangle.js 2 in a few weeks so there definitely won't be anything in 2024.

While I'm interested in getting a wishlist for a Bangle.js 3 to see what people like and don't like, and doing one at some point, I want to release some other Espruino-based devices before I even consider a v3 Bangle.

Right now Bangle.js 2 does a lot of things right, and while it can doubtless be improved the cost of developing a brand new device is huge, so I can't afford to just keep pushing new ones out every 2 years unless it's going to be a vast improvement :)

Posted at 2024-03-29 by Tx

Hi Gordon,

thank you for your reply. That is the information i was looking for. Especially that BangleJS v2 will be continued for the next time. So I consider to buy another one.

Tx

Posted at 2024-04-03 by franz_banglejs

FYI, I bought my BangleJS 2 at Berrybase (here in Germany) in September last year.
They were out of stock but I asked them (via Instagram) when there would be a new batch and iirc they bought a new batch then and after some time they'd be available again.
So you might just give that a shot...

Posted at 2024-04-16 by user107850

My wishlist:

OLED or (even cooler) e-ink
more buttons (useful but not strictly needed)
accelerometer with integrated step counter (Bosch has some really good ones)
PPG sensor with well documented HW and SW
multi color PPG (for example green and infrared) for oxygen saturation

I think that there is demand for really programmable smartwatches. So far the only ones I am aware of are yours and PineTime.

Posted at 2024-04-16 by Michiel

FYI, I bought my BangleJS 2 at Berrybase (here in Germany) in September last year. They were out of stock .

They are out of stock again, but said they will order a new batch which should be available in three weeks.

Posted at 2024-04-19 by user157757

Earbuds would be a good new device to release...we can call them bangle buds, rolls off the tongue...and any new watch should be circular, not the "apple-like" rectangular shape the bangle 2 currently resembles. Apple is the devil

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @gfwilliams

The watch shape really comes down to the display. I think the memory LCD is a good fit for Espruino - it's low power, and low enough pixel count the processor can update it quickly. Having to go for round limits your options a bit - it'll also ensure the vast majority of existing apps won't work... That seems like a bit hit to take just for aesthetics.

For ear buds - I just wonder what features Espruino could add in an ear bud? I guess if it had some voice recognition and synthesis built in, and then with JS you could script what happened - but that's quite a step away from the kind of things Espruino is normally used for!

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @fanoush

For ear buds - I just wonder what features Espruino could add in an ear bud?

In theory what we could add is hacking some way of streaming audio into the ear buds from other BLE espruino devices. However the chances of nrf52 being in earbuds is probably zero, maybe newer (nrf53 and up) are a bit more likely with BLE audio coming.

Or when linking some text to speech engine into the ear buds firmware the data transfers could be pretty low (just sending text). Or MIDI over BLE could work. Also it could act as a HID device.

Posted at 2024-04-19 by user140377

Or how about the buds having build in storage?

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @andresdju

...and any new watch should be circular, not the "apple-like" rectangular shape the bangle 2 currently resembles.

Some of us prefer a rectangular watch while others prefer a circular one. Analog wristwatches used to be circular because they make better use of the space for the hands (rectangular watches also existed, but were less common). Digital watches since the 1970's have been usually rectangular because they make better use of rectangular displays (which are better from a hardware point of view and for displaying information). Circular digital watches are the "new trend" and in my opinion are worse for ergonomics and displaying information. I think that nearly all of us would agree that circular watches with rectangular displays (like Bangle.js 1) are the worst of both worlds.

I really like the Bangle.js 2 display, but I would prefer the display to be larger with thinner bezels.

Apple is the devil

Yes, but they didn't invent rectangular watches (like with most things people associate Apple with).

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @fanoush

Yes, but they didn't invent rectangular watches

Indeed, and by "apple-like" rectangular shape I would understand something bulky, curved, with rotating crow.
Also I'd say Bangle 2 is not ugly at first sight so it is definitely not "apple-like" rectangular shape ;-) https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+watch+ugly

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @andresdju

Also I'd say Bangle 2 is not ugly at first sight so it is definitely not "apple-like" rectangular shape

I agree, Bangle.js 2 is more similar to Amazfit Bip smartwatches.

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @gfwilliams

Definitely from a technical standpoint, round watches are a total pain - you still need to store and transmit a square buffer even for the round screen, so you're wasting 1/4 of your memory and bandwidth.

I can see the appeal of round watches, but I think that for Bangle.js where we're trying to be quite 'down to earth', round isn't a great fit.

And yes, I'd love a bigger display and smaller bezel too, but display choices are pretty limited. For some reason, 1.28" screens seem kind of a standard for transflective displays. There might be some ST7301 based ones coming out at some point, but I haven't seen anything yet

Posted at 2024-04-19 by @fanoush

you still need to store and transmit a square buffer even for the round screen, so you're wasting 1/4 of your memory and bandwidth.

Actually it is a bit of pain but it is doable, if you store the circle as lines with variable length and keep size (or accumulated offset) of each line (which is even symmetrical) you can save the memory. then the pixel location in the framebuffer is not ywidth+x but something like yoffsets[y]+x. when sending over spi it is sent by lines so is not that much slower. Did not do it in the end but was thinking about it for the G5 watch (454x454 resolution). 454454=206116, 3.14*227^2~=161802
So I would save about 21.5% of memory - a bit less with some rounding/byte padding. Not that much actually but still something.

Posted at 2024-04-22 by @gfwilliams

Oof. Yes, I guess that's doable!

On the Starfield watch we did I just used the whole buffer but I used the corners to store extra data. So as the hands moved we stored what was in the background behind them in the corner of the screen so we didn't have to redraw everything - it worked quite well.

Posted at 2024-04-22 by JeonLab

The best feature of Bangle.js 2 is the memory LCD in my opinion. You don’t need to tilt, touch or press a button to check time, date, steps or any other info you’d like to see if you have set up your clock and widgets. I have used TicWatch pro GPS for a while and I loved their dual screen with the LCD on top of the color screen. That really saves a lot of battery and finger or wrist interaction. So if there will be the next versions, I’d like to keep the same or better(bigger) memory LCD.
Speaking of the size of the screen, if there is any LCD about 1.4-1.5 inches, that would be perfect. I found those tiny fonts are hard to read even with my reading glasses on.
I’ve been using my Bagle.js 2 a couple of months now and I love it.

Posted at 2024-04-22 by @halemmerich

There is for example https://ifan-display.com/product/1-2-inch-round-transflective-tft-lcd/ which is a round 240 by 240 pixel display with relatively small borders. At 1.2" it is a bit small but generally square 176x176 pixel Bangle 2 apps would fit in this with only a few pixels cut off at the corners. So there would be a way to use the "legacy" apps without changes on a round display.
Personally I like square better just for ease of app development.

Posted at 2024-05-05 by user158069

I love everything about the Bangle JS 2. It's really the perfect compromise between battery life, size, robustness, and functionality. Upgrading the HR sensor and adding a gyro would be a great improvement for the next version, all incremental changes that maintain Bangle's niche in the marketplace and should be doable based on the current proprietary marketplace. Definitely more flash memory. IMHO, ambient audio is overrated, both input and output. WiFi is way too power hungry, as are more colorful displays.

Posted at 2024-05-05 by @halemmerich

Amazfit BIP S has a very similar transflective display with the same resolution but 64 colors instead of 8. That would remove the need to dither and is lots more readable for text in colors the bangle would have to dither. Needs a bit more bandwidth and RAM but probably makes up for that in saved CPU cycles for the dithering.

Posted at 2024-05-06 by @fanoush

Amazfit BIP S has a very similar transflective display with the same resolution but 64 colors instead of 8. That would remove the need to dither and is lots more readable for text in colors the bangle would have to dither.

Do you have it and can you compare how white color looks on both, preferably outside? Similar/same 64 color screen is in DK08 watch and there the white is not so nice. Bangle 2 screen has better contrast and is a bit nicer outside. As for outdoor visibility I would not trade DK08 64 color for bangle 8 color but maybe Amazfit screen is better. I've posted some photo for comparison somewhere but cannot find it now. DK08 is still good enough but Bangle 2 is better - possibly because of only 8 colors.

EDIT: found it, here https://imgur.com/a/DzYhaIg , bangle 2 screen is actually slightly better also indoors in low light when backlight is turned off

Posted at 2024-05-06 by @halemmerich

I think you are correct in regard to the DK08 probably having the same display as the BIP S, the display differences are very close to what your pictures show. I had remembered the display to be better since it is the one point I liked better on the BIP S as I got my Bangle. But in hindsight the tradeoff between less colors vs. more contrast might actually be in favor of the Bangle display for me overall. The moment the backlight comes into play its hands down the 64 color display of the BIP S.

Posted at 2024-05-21 by Edd

Plus 1 for adding buttons. You don't need loads but 1 just isn't quite enough. I agree re the square screen and I'd prefer better waterproofing to the barometer personally. A few more colors on the screen would be helpful when it comes to reading widgets etc as small ones get harder to differentiate due to the lack of contrast/different colors.

A slightly faster GPS lock would be nice but I assume that can be mitigated with AGPS anyway.

Posted at 2024-05-29 by @devsnd

In the hopes that my voice for a next bangle shall be heard, I also have a wish list for what would make it an even greater device for version 3.

Sorry for the wall of text, you can read the conclusion for a TL;DR:

** Battery **

The battery life of the device is the killer feature for me. If I had to charge the watch every night, I would probably forget to do it every other night (which basically means that I would stop using it). For me the battery lasts around 7 days, which is great. It would be great if there was a way to improve power-monitoring (maybe estimate power-draw of the apps? I had a few watch faces that ate my battery for breakfast).

** Speed **
IDK what the bottleneck for the responsiveness of the watch is, but it would be awesome if it could be reduced. If there was a way to have a clock the CPU or memory faster just for launching apps, that would be awesome. The performance would be perfect if you could achieve full-screen smooth scrolling using the touch screen. If it was possible to have different power-states during active use and during passive use, the overall power consumption should not be much higher I guess, since race-to-idle can also be a way to save power.

** Screen **

Keep the transflective screen. It's awesome! I wish there were mainstream phones and laptops with these screens out there!
Keep the low physical profile: I've seen smartwatches as thick as a pack of cigarettes and as chunky as a tiny phone. I've got rather thin arms, so I'd never wear such a large device. The current size is perfect.
Keep the Rectangular Touch Screen. The resolution is also pretty good. A little higher resolution would be welcome, but I see how this needs to stay in balance with the CPU power / power consumption. I'd love to have a few more colors without dithering though. More colors for images + sub-pixel anti-aliased fonts for text would already do a lot for better legibility.
If I could wish for anything in this regard, it would be great if the screen would fill a larger portion of the watch front. A little smaller bezels would be nice, but I also like that it's pretty rugged, so leaving some margin is also good.
Arguably the resolution should stay the same so that most hard-coded coordinates in apps keep working on a new watch

** Environment Sensors and Water resistance **

Lose the barometer: Having a hole in the case just for a barometer is a pity. It's a big compromise for water resistance for a feature that's IMHO less important than water resistance. The only way I think compromising the water resistance would make sense if the device also had a microphone, which could be a great feature as well. (Given the little computing power for sound processing and how much of the community rather develops for the watch instead of the companion app - such as gadgetbridge - I think that water resistance has still higher priority than a microphone). The one thing I would sacrifice water resistance for would be an SD-card slot + mp3 decoder + Bluetooth-audio to use it as a Walkman on the go, but IDK if that's really such a good idea or if I just think it's cool to have.

Anyway, it would be awesome to keep it on when swimming or when taking a shower. Not necessarily because I need to check my messages in the shower, but rather because I'm often afraid to forget to remove it before.

** Buttons **
More buttons or a wheel like the apple watch would be nice. Even just a second button could make a big difference, but 3 would be perfect I guess. Having a touch screen still is great for building diverse UIs and input schemas for individual apps, but I I'd love to have some standard interactions - maybe similar to an android phone - mapped to the buttons.

** Connectivity **
IDK the details, but I think bluetooth has gotten much more stable over time (with firmware updates) and that's great. But still, sometimes I have disconnects for no reason. For all apps that do some background task periodically that require a connection, this is somewhat annoying. If there was a chance to have better bluetooth (chip/antenna/whatever), this would be pretty high on my wishlist. Maybe it's a phone thing, in which case I retract my statement ;)

Also it would be great if the watch had Wifi. I wouldn't want to use it all the time as that would kill the battery super quick, but I have Wifi available all the time when I am indoors and it would be great if the watch could then work more autonomously, so I could leave my phone at home. My bet would be that a bunch of people would build low-bandwidth server applications that work well with the watch and that would be awesome. (this could also nicely tie into the other espruino powered devices)

** Contactless Payment **
Apparently the nRF52840 already has NFC functionality that could be used to perform contact-less payment operations. IDK if this is a hardware/software/legal limitation, but if I could pay using my banglejs, I could leave my phone home a lot more often.

** Health Sensors **
I never use the heart rate sensor as I found it to be too unreliable. I would love to use when doing sports. Same for sleep tracking. I found the sleep detection to be lacking, even though this was one of the main drivers of me buying the watch in the first place! (instead of returning the device, I got hooked on the eco-system ;). Maybe I should give it another go, but the last times I tried heart-rate sensor and sleep tracking I was rather disappointed.

It would be great to have an hardware upgrade here for more reliable sensors. If I could wish for anything, then also a blood oxygen sensor would be awesome.

** Conclusion **
The BJS2 is already great as is. It strikes a great balance for many features. There's a few things I would love to see improved, but at the same time I see how improving some features could be at the cost of others (also considering small form as factor a feature!). So generally I rather like to see many small improvements on the current hardware, especially reliability and more physical inputs, than a large jump in a different direction, because many things are already in a great balance.

Posted at 2024-05-29 by @fanoush

Apparently the nRF52840 already has NFC functionality

yes

that could be used to perform contact-less payment operations.

no, you need far more than NFC to do that. typical debit/credit card has secure CPU often with specific secure applications (possibly written in Java) uploaded by bank/visa/mastercard/manufacturer at card creation time

also check some answer here https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/18627/nrf52840-hce-as-a-payment-card or the picture in https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/offhost-payment-sync - notably the UICC box there and/or read this https://trustedconnectivityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NFCPaymentUICCConfiguration_v1.0FINAL.pdf (e.g. chapter 7)

EDIT: HCE in the first link IMO means Host Card Emulation - see also https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/nfc/hce

Posted at 2024-05-29 by Ivor

yeah, excellent info, basically "no" :)
but also how do these 'alliances' create such hard to understand or follow specifications? is it on purpose to prevent people implementing them, or am I just not on the right wavelength?
I recall wading through the mheg specifications ages ago trying to add support for part of it and it was similar pages and pages of disjointed statements.

Posted at 2024-05-29 by ccchan

I'll say it's called always on display.

Posted at 2024-05-29 by @fanoush

I'll say it's called always on display.

if you mean the term "memory LCD" that's how Sharp is calling their products
https://www.google.com/search?q=sharp+memory+lcd
The one in Bangle 2 is LPM013M126
https://www.google.com/search?q=LPM013M126+memory+LCD

Posted at 2024-05-30 by user154609

I vote for an epaper-display.

Posted at 2024-06-03 by @gfwilliams

Thanks - I'm not sure if you're aware but there is a power monitor app, and actually the 2v22 release added something into the firmware for power monitoring (but there's no app for that yet). Ideally what's needed is for us to have a way to estimate power usage of apps and report it in the app loader - but doing that is quite a big deal.

A faster CPU might be an idea but also it's balancing power consumption so we continue to get that long battery life. It is possible to build a firmware where the JavaScript code is stored on internal flash (and the data on external flash), which can really help with execution speed - but it was always a bit beta - I could try and make it available for those interested though. @fanoush have you had any success with that recently? I tried doing a build just now and it didn't seem like it was working reliably

Posted at 2024-06-03 by @fanoush

. @fanoush have you had any success with that recently?

Not recently, Espruino is quickly moving target, and I was using it on other watches, however it may be good idea to have build with this for Bangle 2 even if everything by default still goes to SPI flash. Then maybe if the apploader had some settable regular expression to send some files to internal flash it could be better tested. Not sure how much space there is with the factory content present so whether all app js code could fit into internal flash.

Posted at 2024-06-03 by @gfwilliams

Ok, thanks. I just tried again and with a factory reset it appears to work ok now. There are now builds available at:

https://www.espruino.com/binaries/travis/master/

with the name espruino_2v...._banglejs_iflash.zip

You may well need to do a factory reset after installing it (or I guess ideally a backup + restore) though.

The firmware itself puts any .js files (and .boot0) in internal flash automatically so even without any app loader changes there should hopefully be some decent speed improvements.

Posted at 2024-06-03 by @thyttan

Tried espruino_2v22.8_banglejs2_iflash.zip. Really promising results! Hit one issue.

Posted at 2024-06-04 by @gfwilliams

Ok, thanks - that's a shame though. I took a quick look and I can't see an obvious reason why compaction is failing so I've just disabled cutting edge builds for it for now so nobody gets confused and installs a broken firmware.

The one you tested is still available at:

https://www.espruino.com/binaries/travis/9898ae3a57448e441e912b56ba6b28d3ff8e739c/

if others want to give it a try...

Posted at 2024-06-30 by Michiel

FYI, I bought my BangleJS 2 at Berrybase (here in Germany) in September last year. They were out of stock .

They are on stock again at Berrybase.de for €96,70. Interesting option for people in the EU. I just ordered three watches.

Posted at 2024-08-19 by @thyttan

Add to wishlist:

Ability to measure/estimate UV light intensity, either directly or by some sensor that can be used as a proxy.

I'd love to make an app that noticed when I was exposed to high UV for an extended period of time and told me to go into the shade.

Posted at 2024-08-19 by user140377

I have a sensor for that, it sits directly beside (and under) my watch. If it turns red from my usual northern european color it was too long.

Posted at 2024-08-19 by @thyttan

Does it have a name? :)

Posted at 2024-08-27 by @gfwilliams

It is actually possible to attach a microcontroller to the Bangle's SWD pins and to use that to communicate, so with a small PCB with a light sensor and a cheap micro you could communicate that info back to Bangle.js.

... but yes, I think if a Bangle.js 3 was done such that it could be opened I'd definitely add some spare IO so extra sensors/etc could be added. Realistically for something like light you'd need to modify the case though.

Posted at 2024-08-28 by @thyttan

Interesting! I'm probably not the person that would install their own extra sensors though - I think :)

Posted at 2024-08-30 by user158863

I vote for the waterproof feature.
I have a bip lite with an almost dead battery and the lack of waterproofness in bangle js2 stops me from buying it.
Is the "glue" on the barometer solution a good one to obtain at least 1ATM ?

Posted at 2024-08-30 by @andresdju

Is the "glue" on the barometer solution a good one to obtain at least 1ATM ?

What does 1ATM mean? If you mean swimming underwater up to 10 meters, I don't think so. 1ATM more or less means: With a watch in new condition, it should survive light rain if you don't push the button with a drop of water around it. That's what bangle.js already has. Gluing the barometer hole could help, but even then I would not use it for swimming, bathing, showering, putting it under the tap... By the way, salty water would ruin the charging and programming contacts very rapidly.

Waterproofing is a complex topic. There are some comments and conversations here about it:

https://forum.espruino.com/comments/16734558/

https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/389438/

There is also a crazy guy that probably has the most waterproof bangle.js "mod":

https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/396132/

Posted at 2024-09-01 by user158872

I am a die hard Android user, or maybe I should say I am a die hard anti iPhone person.. 🤔

Posted at 2024-09-01 by user158872

I don't know if I need a barometer.. I guess if the question is do you want a barometer or better water proofing then I might choose better water proofing..

Posted at 2024-09-01 by user158872

for me the battery is the most important thing. sure a stronger vibration motor might be nice and a better screen is always appreciated but in considerations for what a new build would potentially look like I would not want to make changes that would decrease the battery life expectancy

0 replies

espruino-discuss2 · 2025-02-12T18:07:44Z

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

Posted at 2024-09-04 by @gfwilliams

Thanks - yes, I think the Bangle's battery life helps to set it apart from a lot of other smartwatches at the moment.

While covering the barometer hole can help, there's also an issue with water ingress in the button. It does have a rubber o-ring seal and grease in there which should fend off a bit of water, but I can't recommend it for submersion. I think in some cases where people have repeatedly showered with it, the detergent has slowly got rid of the grease in the button and then water has got in, or perhaps the tolerances aren't quite right on some of them.

Personally I'd only really be happy calling a new watch waterproof if it had something like a silicone over-cast so there is literally no hole (rubber o-ring or otherwise) that water could get in, but doing that in a way that doesn't look really blocky could be quite tricky!

Posted at 2024-10-11 by Wend1go

It would be nice if v3 had an infrared transceiver LED built in like the Lilygo T-Watch. It would be possible to write an app that records the light pattern of the tv remote for adjusting the audio volume, next/previous channel and then control the tv by swiping on the watch.
Apart from that it would also enable the watch to control various Arduino tinker projects via IR. I guess the LED shouldn't add much to the price.

As someone who loves playing and developing games, I'd also like to have some more input methods for v3. At least 2 physical buttons would be great (better 4) or a gyroscope that could be used for moving a ball through a maze or as a steering wheel.

Personally I don't need it to be waterproof. Making it water resistant with some rubber or silicone would be enough for me, since the sensors aren't able to record sensible data while swimming anyways and you can still take it off when showering. Being able to easily change the battery as an end user would be more important to me.
The barometer could theoretically be used to determine if the wearer is inside a building or outside and maybe trigger some energy saving functions in an app. So if the price for the barometer isn't that high, I'd pledge for keeping it.

EDIT:
I'm curious, have you gotten any functionality wishes for the BangleJs3 from your corporate customers?

Posted at 2024-10-20 by user159149

Hope Watch JS3 come out soon :)

Posted at 2024-12-06 by fanoushs-punching-bag

nm

Posted at 2024-12-07 by @fanoush

I posted a new message about using 'clones' that are close and usable, please put your thoughts in there

You did not add a link to that message. But anyway, I think you are severely mistaken about the 'clones' and also the sustainability. But let's continue there, not here.

Posted at 2024-12-09 by @gfwilliams

This is the message for others: https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/401307/

Posted at 2025-01-28 by @thyttan

@gfwilliams

Hi, the Pebble is coming back: https://ericmigi.com/blog/why-were-bringing-pebble-back

What if the next pebble hardware was also the Bangle.js 3?! Maybe there's an opportunity here for a joint hardware platform that can run PebbleOS and Bangle.js?

May also interest @user156811 ?

Posted at 2025-01-28 by user156955

it seems you've tagged me by mistake. they'll raise money for another proprietary watch and sell the company again, and for sure internet will be full of marketing spam, just like in 2013, why should it interest me?

Posted at 2025-01-28 by @thyttan

it seems you've tagged me by mistake.

That's weird, as you can see in my message I don't tag you in it. 🤔

It seems it will be open source this time around: Today’s big news - Google has open sourced PebbleOS!.

Posted at 2025-01-28 by user156955

yeah, sorry, I've received an email for some reason O_O

it's not opensource, most of parts are closed

Posted at 2025-01-28 by @thyttan

it's not opensource, most of parts are closed

They claim in an interview with the Verge that they will open source stuff they build going forward.

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/27/24352968/pebble-smartwatch-open-source-google-comeback

Posted at 2025-01-28 by @allObjects

@thyttan, interesting! ...and some diversion. Having code open source is a great education / learning opportunity.

Posted at 2025-01-29 by @gfwilliams

Thanks - that really is interesting. It sure feels like Bangle.js is pretty much as close to the Pebble as you can get right now - I wonder if he tried it. It feels like Bangle.js ticks off most of what he mentions in his blog post apart from the fact it only has one button.

Small bit of trivia: back in 2016 Pebble actually looked at using Espruino as a scripting language for the Pebble, but in the end went with something else (JerryScript I think?) because they could compile to bytecode which was faster - Espruino has improved massively in speed/functionality since then though.

Posted at 2025-01-29 by Shiron3ko

This makes me very excited. The Bangle was the first watch I felt was a suitable replacement for my beloved Pebble Time and has been my daily watch for over a year. The additional features of GPS and HR were great for my fitness journey too.

Having used both for long enough now, I can say that for my uses, which are fairly simple, the Bangle is a very close second to my Pebble. There are advantages to the touch screen for on watch applications/configuration, however I feel that my preferred interface is the four buttons the pebble time had. The touch screen interfaces done on watch could be configured through the options in a companion app, admittedly I have no experience writing the applications, but I have used the settings in some apps to control what goes whereon my pebble.

The one feature I miss most from my pebble is being able to assign different functions/applications to the long press of the buttons. i.e. a quiet mode, which silenced the buzz and backlight, long press to open settings, or app a, app b etc.

If Bangle.JS3 comes out with 4 buttons like the pebble time, it would be very difficult for me to to chose between the two.

Posted at 2025-01-29 by @gfwilliams

There is actually a 'pattern launcher' app which allows you to define certain gestures on the touchscreen to do certain things (https://banglejs.com/apps/?id=ptlaunch) so you could combine it with https://banglejs.com/apps/?id=a_dndtoggle to toggle DND - but it's not in there by default.

But yes, buttons would be a huge improvement and would allow for some nice custom shortcuts. I haven't started work on a Bangle.js 3 yet, but buttons and a bigger screen are 100% on the list.

I'm not quite sure how to feel about the new Pebble announcement - it'll be great if it stirs up a bit more interest and excitement in sunlight-readable, low-power watches. Pebble's got such a following that right from the start they're going to be looking at preorders of 100,000+ devices, and that gives them a lot more choice with hardware compared to Bangle.js where we'd be really lucky to ship 5000 a year.

Posted at 2025-01-29 by yngv126399

This could be huge for you. Very exciting...

Posted at 2025-01-31 by Shiron3ko

Hi Gordon, I didn't mean for my enthusiasm and nostalgia for Pebble to be a slight against your product and efforts. I have been incredibly pleased with the Bangle 2 and will continue to use it. I completely understand your uncertainty.

I am of the opinion that simple, low power tech that achieves a core set of goals is better than over the top and fancy things. Pebble found that niche and I think you've done a great job with the Bangle too. I hope more people find it :)

Posted at 2025-02-04 by @thyttan

They're adding nRF52840 (same chip as Bangle.js 2) support in pebbleOS:

So they may be looking at using that for their next/first watch. Getting Bangle.js to run on it may be easier than what might otherwise have been the case? (pushing the 'joint hardware platform' narrative.. :p)

Off topic: Someone over at reddit is looking at porting pebbleOS to PineTime: https://www.reddit.com/r/pebble/s/pOivx2BUPo

Posted at 2025-02-05 by @fanoush

There is nrf52840 board with 4 buttons https://github.com/coredevices/pebble/blob/b7c502b6fd692ef95f7d79fb94611dec2dbb5bd3/src/fw/board/boards/board_asterix.h

What is pretty strange that they use extra Dialog DA14681 bluetooth chip there in the same file that has NRF52 pin definitions and some constants in that file look like from stm32 SDK like RCC_APB1Periph_TIM6 so maybe it is mix of old and new stuff and the old will go away?

Posted at 2025-02-05 by @gfwilliams

@Shiron3ko it wasn't taken as a slight at all! I think the appetite for a new Pebble shows there's still demand for a low-power long-battery-life smartwatch.

@fanoush I'm pretty sure the original Pebble was STM32 with an external BLE chip (the dialog one?) so that may be where they come from - I guess they will try and pull those out into separate files.

Very interesting about the nRF52840 port - that's really good to know! When I was at FOSDEM last weekend someone came up and said "maybe someone could port PebbleOS to run on the Bangle" and that looks increasingly possible now.

Obviously the Bangle lacks the extra buttons, but then it does have a touchscreen so I can imagine you could fake them at least enough for people to have a workable (if not ideal) PebbleOS watch.

... so from that point of view it may actually end up being quite good for Bangle.js - while we might not have people using the firmware, it's possible that quite a lot of Bangles will get sold just to people who want to try out PebbleOS!

Longer term, another benefit is that right now the manufacturer of Bangle.js is struggling to get hold of screens - most cheaper smartwatches are moving to TFTs. If PebbleOS creates more demand for always-on displays that might give us a bit more choice on what we can use for something like a Bangle.js 3.

Posted at 2025-02-07 by @gfwilliams

Just FYI looks like the RePebble project is targeting nRF52840 with Nordic softdevice (7.2.0) and a memory LCD display (at least looking at their prototype): https://ericmigi.com/blog/how-to-help-build-open-source-pebble-software

So it's looking increasingly possible that a build that would run on Bangle.js 2 is viable!

Posted at 2025-02-07 by @fanoush

So it's looking increasingly possible that a build that would run on Bangle.js 2 is possible!

Also the other way, run Espruino/Bangle.js on new Pebble :-)

Posted at 2025-02-07 by @gfwilliams

I've been having a look into porting Pebble to the Bangle.js watch - info at https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/402438/

... and yes, potentially it could be some interesting hardware to run Bangle.js on as well when it arrives.

0 replies

gfwilliams · 2025-02-12T19:38:30Z

gfwilliams
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer

... actual (new) link: https://github.com/orgs/espruino/discussions/7339

0 replies

thyttan · 2025-03-26T08:29:29Z

thyttan
Mar 26, 2025

Is the UNA Watch hardware a Bangle.js 3 candidate?

https://www.unawatch.com/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unawatch/meet-una-the-modular-gps-sports-watch?total_hits=610&category_id=341

4 replies

thyttan Mar 26, 2025

Body held together by screws, waterproof, charge (data connection?) via usb-c.

gfwilliams Mar 26, 2025
Maintainer

Interesting! I guess it depends on the processor. They mention ARM Cortex-M33 and a 'ble coprocessor' so it could be a nRF5340? Nordic aren't supporting their original software SDK for newer processors (requiring Zephyr instead), so despite it being another Nordic chip it might be a bit of a pain to port Espruino to it.

I'd be a little anxious about it - there's no mention of open software anywhere I can see... so even if you can open your watch, if they run out of money and the app gets removes/servers go down there may not be spares or servers running to support it for long :(

USB-C charging is an interesting idea - maybe I'm being paranoid after the issues making a single button-hole on Bangle.js 2 watertight (and also on Bangle.js 1) but I wouldn't have wanted to do it :)

thyttan Mar 26, 2025

I'd be a little anxious about it - there's no mention of open software anywhere I can see...

Yeah, me too

thyttan Mar 27, 2025

Will our software & applications be open-source?
Post launch we plan to release a software development kit to allow third-party application development and even third-party hardware module development. Large parts of our code will be open-source but some will be protected.

https://unawatch.notion.site/una-watch-faq

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Espruino JavaScript

I demand BangleJS3! #7341

{{title}}

Replies: 5 comments 5 replies

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{editor}}'s edit

{{editor}}'s edit

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{editor}}'s edit

{{editor}}'s edit

{{title}}

{{title}}

Select a reply

Espruino JavaScript

I demand BangleJS3! #7341

espruino-discuss2 Feb 12, 2025 Maintainer

Replies: 5 comments · 5 replies

espruino-discuss2 Feb 12, 2025 Maintainer Author

grzmyr Feb 26, 2025

espruino-discuss2 Feb 12, 2025 Maintainer Author

espruino-discuss2 Feb 12, 2025 Maintainer Author

gfwilliams Feb 12, 2025 Maintainer

thyttan Mar 26, 2025

thyttan Mar 26, 2025

gfwilliams Mar 26, 2025 Maintainer

thyttan Mar 26, 2025

thyttan Mar 27, 2025

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer

Replies: 5 comments 5 replies

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

espruino-discuss2
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer Author

gfwilliams
Feb 12, 2025
Maintainer

thyttan
Mar 26, 2025

gfwilliams Mar 26, 2025
Maintainer