Pebble is now playing a gambit, whereby they think they will sell more of the premium model to people who will be using it for exercise and health reasons.

There's an explicit line in their site that says these are not made to be fitness trackers, and that garmin are good for that (or some other brand, can't remember). It would be very odd to say that if it was their target.

Because that's the feature people actually want. The biggest use of these watches is having an active heart rate monitor, as evident by even most of the cheaper watches having them.

Seriously, even my $30 PineTime has a heart rate monitor.

I've never once used a compass on my watch, mostly because the phone it's attached to is a much better compass and even has its own barometer built-in. Plus it's a pain to use a compass on a watch because you have to hold your whole arm up.