Skip to main content

Wristcam brings two cameras to your Apple Watch — again — for $299

What’s the one big feature your Apple Watch is missing? If you said a camera, then your wait is almost over. It’s called Wristcam, and it brings a pair of cameras that can shoot stills and video to your Apple Watch’s strap. Cameras on smartwatches are a forgotten genre, with past examples adding dubious benefit to the first wave of serious smartwatches years ago. And it turns out that despite the new name, Wristcam is itself not entirely new either.

The Wristcam

The Wristcam has an 8-megapixel main camera that faces out into the world, and a second 2MP camera for taking selfies. The Wristcam app shows a viewfinder on the Watch’s screen, along with a shutter button, and the main cam can shoot 1080p video. It has its own battery rather than adding additional strain to the Watch’s own cell, and is recharged using a USB cable. The Wristcam’s battery is expected to last for a day. All photos and videos are stored in its own 8GB memory.

Wristcam Painting

In addition to stills and video, the Wristcam has a feature for sharing live or recorded video clips with friends. Photos and video can be shared straight from the watch, or transferred to your iPhone to edit. A Quick Capture system makes it easy to use, with a single tap to take a still, a long press to record video, and a double tap to switch from the front camera to the main camera. It connects to the Watch and iPhone using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Why would you want such a thing? According to Wristcam, it’s to ensure you always have access to a camera even if you leave your iPhone at home, or don’t have it on hand. There are two LEDs to tell those around you the camera is active, in an effort to avoid privacy concerns. The sacrifice you make is in wearability. The bulbous, 23=gram Wristcam module is attached to its own special Apple Watch strap, which comes in four different colors, and it does add a lot of bulk to the usually svelte Apple Watch.

Recommended Videos

Glide, CMRA

Putting a camera on a smartwatch isn’t a new idea. Samsung put a camera on the original Galaxy Gear (released in 2013) and its sequel, the Galaxy Gear 2, but abandoned the feature after these models. Other smartwatches with a camera include the disastrous Neptune Pine, and odditiess like the Arrow Smartwatch. Cameras on the Apple Watch aren’t new either, as the team behind the Wristcam has explored the concept before.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ari Roisman, Wristcam’s CEO and co-founder, started video messaging app Glide, and at CES 2017 revealed a complementary product called the CMRA, which was a band for the Apple Watch with two cameras inside. The company has since rebranded as Wristcam, according to a post on the CMRA support page hosted on its otherwise defunct website, with functionality and design of the product largely very similar.

Digital Trends contacted Wristcam to understand the situation better, and received the following response by email: “Wristcam originally launched as CMRA in 2016. The team has spent the last four years working on the design and the technical aspects of building a camera into a smart band, and they worked closely with Apple to ensure the functionality and design was just right. It paid off and they received “Made for Apple” designation.”

Regarding the original CMRA band, this is only now shipping to those who ordered it when it was first available in 2016. Deliveries should arrive before the end of the year.

The newly branded Wristcam is available to purchase today from the company’s own website for $299. This makes it more expensive than an Apple Watch SE, and also more than the CMRA band when it was first announced.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Could an all-glass Apple Watch design be in its future?
A fictional all-glass Apple Watch.

Over the years, Apple has employed various materials for its Apple Watch, including aluminum, ceramic, stainless steel, and titanium. While glass has sometimes been used for the display, it has never been used for the entire watch.

Is an all-glass Apple Watch in the future? Probably not, but some signs suggest Cupertino is at least contemplating this possibility.

Read more
watchOS 12: everything you need to know
The Apple Watch SE 2 with the Apple Watch Series 10.

One of the great things about modern smart devices is that they’re gifts that keep on giving, thanks to their frequent software updates. Whether it’s a phone, a watch, or even a TV, chances are the device you’re using today isn’t quite the same one you bought three or four years ago.

That’s just as true with the Apple Watch. When Apple releases its watchOS 12 update later this year, many Apple Watch owners will find themselves with an even more powerful wearable than they first bought.

Read more
Apple Watch might get a camera upgrade in the near future
The front of the Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple hasn’t delivered any major hardware-focused health breakthroughs on its recent smartwatches. The current-gen Series 10 smartwatch is mostly a slimmed-down avatar of its predecessor, and it appears that next-gen facilities like blood pressure monitoring continue to run into hurdles.
But Apple could add a different kind of sensor to its smartwatch, one that we are all too familiar with. According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to add a camera to the Apple Watch — both the mainline as well as the top-end Ultra model.
“The current idea is to put the camera inside the display of the Series version, like the front-facing lens on the iPhone. The Ultra will take a different approach, with the camera lens sitting on the side of the watch near the crown and button,” says the report.
Interestingly, Meta explored the idea years ago, but eventually killed the project. It isn’t clear how soon we are going to see these camera-equipped Apple Watch models hit the market. Moreover, there is no word on what exactly these cameras will accomplish. However, a quick look at Apple’s AI and health stack gives us a clear idea.

It could be a wellness boon

Read more