A DIY Watch You Can Actually Wear
by sarusso on 4/21/2026, 8:52:33 AM
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-diy-watch-you-can-actually-wear-8f91c2dac682
Comments
by: MrDrMcCoy
There are only a few features I care about in a smartwatch:<p>1. O2 monitoring. I have sleep apnea and live at high altitude, so this matters to me.<p>2. Motion sensor. Also mostly for tracking sleep.<p>3. Vibrator for notifications.<p>4. A screen backlight.<p>5. Battery life longer than a week.<p>6. Waterproof enough to survive a splash in the shower/rain.<p>I consider GPS, cellular, AI, touchscreens, cloud-only sync and control apps, and just about everything else to be anti-features. There are no devices that really cover all this that I've found. A few Garmin and Amazfit/Zepp devices come close, but they have enough drawbacks for me to not be happy with them. The new Pebble is nearly perfect, but the lack of an O2 sensor is a dealbreaker for me :(
4/23/2026, 5:51:32 PM
by: briandw
[delayed]
4/23/2026, 5:51:15 PM
by: jblezo
That's more a programmable watch than a DIY one :-)<p>I build mine from scratch, including the PCB and a 3D printed case.<p>For sure, that's not at all the same level of customability, programmability, capacity, nor quality. But It is really a DIY one.<p>For anyone interested: <a href="https://github.com/jblezoray/hpdl1414-watch" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jblezoray/hpdl1414-watch</a>
4/23/2026, 4:49:06 PM
by: oritron
I like a good smart watch and I appreciate open source, but an ESP32 isn't a great pick when low power consumption is important and the device is going to be communicating regularly. I'm surprised LILYGO went that direction in a watch form factor.
4/23/2026, 5:31:37 PM
by: gitowiec
This device looks capable of a lot of features and possibilities. Unfortunately nothing comes to my mind because I'm not good with diy hardware (once connected raspberry pi zero with led strips). Could someone tell examples of interesting and/or useful projects one can implement with this watch?
4/23/2026, 5:21:53 PM
by: Retr0id
It's cool that the firmware is hackable but I think "DIY" is an imprecise way to describe that.
4/23/2026, 4:51:03 PM
by: HardwareLust
LILYGO site shows pre-orders of all 3 versions are sold out unfortunately.
4/21/2026, 10:57:11 AM
by: jwr
This does look very cool. Every peripheral one could think of, even LoRA!
4/23/2026, 5:10:16 PM
by: ImPostingOnHN
Preorders sold out already!
4/23/2026, 5:36:42 PM
by: gamerslexus
s/Watch/Smartwatch<p>Regular DYI watches aren't big news...<p>(I would be over the moon for a DIY smartwatch with zero AI and e-ink screen.)
4/23/2026, 4:24:49 PM
by: ck2
have wished for decades now there was an open-source Garmin on the level of Cyanogenmod / LineageOS for Android<p>not sure if it will happen this decade but definitely next decade<p>proper running/cycling metrics are hard as demonstrated by how many well-funded competitors are somewhat close but not there 100% yet (Coros, Amazfit, etc)<p>someone once hacked and decompiled older Garmins but newer ones are encrypted/signed/locked-down
4/23/2026, 4:26:11 PM