Crowdfunding project of the week - Pal Strap offers extra battery and GPS for Pebble watches

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are full of creative and innovative products, but there’s also plenty of campaigns we could live without. This is why we created the ‘Crowdfunding project of the week’ weekly series, in which we find the hottest gadgets around and bring them to your attention. Shall we get started?

Here at Android Authority we are a bit tired of Josh complaining about his “lackluster” 3-day battery life on the Pebble Time Round. He has it better than most other smart watch users, but a better experience is always welcomed, and he can finally have it with something like the Pal Strap.

This companion strap for your Pebble smart watches adds an external battery and GPS. More battery life is always good, and the lack of GPS on Pebble devices is one of the biggest complaints from users, making this strap a very enticing accessory.

The strap is supported by the Pebble 2, Time, Time Steel, Time Round and Time 2. Newer devices are out of luck. But chances are you are using one of these, which means you could take advantage of an extra 250 mAh battery. That is a very good amount of extra juice, especially considering most Pebble watches don’t even reach 200 mAh.

Powerstrap claims this device can keep a Pebble watch charged for 7 days, but keeping the smart watch powered up is only one of the battery’s jobs. GPS works standalone and takes all its energy from the strap’s battery. It doesn’t even need to connect to a smartphone. All its information gets transferred to the Pebble watch, and data can then be transferred to the official application whenever you choose to. But it’s also possible to view all the data from the watch, which could prove to be very convenient for adventurers.

What’s the damage? You can sign up to get your Pal Strap for as low as $65, but most early bird specials are gone by now. Check out the Kickstarter page to learn more details and hit the comments to let us know if this is something you were looking for! Josh is definitely looking into it.