Pebble Core - InsideHook

Long before Apple cast a lazy eye toward the smartwatch, the guys at Pebble had already delivered the internet to your wrist.

Now they’re back, with a soon-to-be-essential piece of gear: the Pebble Core.

What it does: Spotify streaming. GPS-enabled pace, distance and location tracking. An emergency beacon with one click. It’s pretty much the ideal toy for every tech-savvy biker/runner/outdoor exerciser.

All in a device not much bigger than your earbud headphones … for less than 80 bucks.

A special note for tinkerers: “Core is a tiny, hackable Android computer that fits on your keychain to become your magic button for anything.”

Pebble’s examples of this functionality include programming the Core to pilot a drone from the web and tracking your pet from anywhere in the world. We’ll probably stick with the very worthwhile one-click Uber summoning, personally.

Because you don’t know what you’ll meet in that big world outside.

Most likely: a chance to listen to your favorite music. Record an idea too good to forget. And get lost, on purpose.

Core can help make that happen.

Which makes it the best $79 we’ll spend all week.

Diane Rommel

Diane Rommel has written for The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, Wallpaper and Afar, as well as The Cut, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and McSweeney’s. She once drove from London to Mongolia, via Siberia.