An unusual repairable, upgradeable smartwatch has taken one step closer to becoming reality after receiving a sizable investment ahead of its crowdfunding launch. It’s called the Una Watch, and is described as being the world’s first “modular GPS sports watch,” and is shown in adventurous situations in the few promotional images on Instagram, suggesting it’s going to take on existing smartwatches like the Apple Watch Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, and various models from Garmin and Polar.
This is where the device’s modularity makes sense. In extreme (and some not-so-extreme) sports it’s easy to damage parts of a watch, but almost all the Una Watch’s components appear to be easily removed and replaced. On the preview website it’s promised all you’ll need is a single tool to take the smartwatch apart, much like with HMD’s repairable smartphones, and it appears the battery, screen, front panel, and potentially even internal components will be replaceable.
The Una Watch has received financial backing from SFC Capital in the U.K., adding 300,000 British pounds (around $387,360) to a variety of other investments including a share of the prestigious Scottish Edge innovation awards prize for the Edinburgh, Scotland-based company. The funding comes ahead of the Una Watch’s launch on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, where it’s expected to cost 270 pounds, or around $350, before any early bird discount promotions.
This will see it cost less than the Apple Watch Ultra and its competitors, and the proposed specification tells us why. It’s expected to use a 1.2-inch Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) LCD screen with a 240 x 240 pixel resolution rather than a full OLED touchscreen, along with an ARM Cortex M33 processor, which is more commonly used as a co-processor in smartwatches like the Google Pixel Watch 3. However, it’s the sports tech that will attract most to the Una Watch, and it has an array of sensors including a heart rate and blood oxygen sensor, and dual frequency GPS. Interestingly, the smartwatch will only need a USB-C cable to recharge, a far more convenient solution than the usual proprietary charging puck used by most other smartwatches.
The modular aspect makes the Una Watch unusual. HMD has shown repairable smartphones are still possible today, and it has made the process of taking the repairable phones apart very simple. Using modularity to upgrade hardware has been a lot less successful over the years. Worse, the most notable modular smartwatch, called Blocks, ended in failure in 2019 before it even managed to ship to its Kickstarter backers. It’s a reminder to think carefully before backing any Kickstarter campaign.
It appears many are interested in the Una Watch already though, with 7,000 people apparently expressing interest through the website, and around 1,000 people already placing a deposit for the smartwatch. It’s unclear when the Kickstarter campaign will launch, but you can sign-up for news on its official page now.
