Here at WWR, we like all types of smart watches. In particular, I like the ones that have GPS onboard (rather than relying on your phone’s GPS) to track distances on a walk, jog, or hike. The UNA Watch is another watch that does just that, but with another – very excellent – trick up its sleeve.
UNA Watch: what’s the trick?
The “trick” comes from the very way that the UNA Watch was designed. You can tell that the crew behind the watch are staunch believers in “right to repair”, because they’ve designed the watch in a modular fashion. Ended up bashing the display on a rock? You can replace it. Battery gone through too many charge cycles, and isn’t lasting as long as you need? You can replace it!
This is great for the longevity of what is – in this day and age – a basic consumer device. From the perspective of an end user, this is what we like to see. Will the watch be a bit thicker than something comparable from, say, Garmin? Sure, it will be, but in a fitness GPS watch, I’m ok with it. Especially with ability to replace components.
And that doesn’t just have to be for a broken component, either. A few years down the line, they might release a higher resolution screen, higher capacity battery, or maybe even a new sensor pack. Instead of having to buy a new watch to get all of that, you can replace the component that you want, and you’re off to the races. At less cost than a new watch, and with far less ending up in the landfill.
What can the watch do?
At this point, a watch like the UNA Watch should feel pretty familiar. It has multiple sensors (heart rate, oxygen saturation, barometer) to quantify your health and effort in a workout, dual-frequency GPS to track the distances in those workouts, and of course a gyroscope to track your steps. You can see what’s going on with the 1.2″ MIP LCD, and get alerts via either a piezo sounder, or (our favorite) silent haptic vibration.
You’ve got bluetooth, of course, so you can send the data over to your phone (and yes, there will be an UNA app as well). What about powering all of this? There’s a 280 mAh battery (no specs yet on expected life or charge cycles) that has an interesting charging method – USB-C. That’s right, no proprietary connector or cable that you have to be worried about losing. Just a USB-C connector right in the case. And it’s IPX8 rated, which means you don’t have to worry about water getting in the case.
Wrapping things up
Frankly, there is a LOT to like about the UNA Watch – especially for a watch that’s launching at $335. That places it square against most other fitness GPS watches that people would consider, in terms of price point. And, if you want an even steeper discount, you can pre-register for $1 before the campaign launches to get another $100 off (even better than Kickstarter early bird pricing).
The campaign for the UNA Watch is going to launch on April 2, 2025 at 8am Eastern. Along with that presale link, you can also head to the preview page to see details, and get notified when the project is live. We definitely like what we’re seeing, and think that if you’re in the market for a new fitness watch, this is worth taking a look at. kickstarter.com / unawatch.com
UNA Watch Tech Specs
- UNAcore: Ultra-low power Cortex-M33 Microcontroller, 4 GB eMMC storage, Haptic Vibration, Piezo Sounder
- UNAview: 1.2” MIP LCD, 240 x 240px, Hardened Mineral Glass, LED Backlight
- UNAlink.1: BLE 5.2 Co-processor
- UNAlink.2: Dual Frequency (L1 & L5) GPS Receiver supporting GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou/NavIC/QZSS constellations, 6-axis Accelerometer/Gyroscope, 3-Axis Magnetometer
- UNAbody: Heart Rate & Oxygen Saturation Sensor, Barometric Altimeter
- UNApower: 280mAh hard-shell replaceable battery
- Watch Dimensions: Watch Face Diameter = 40.25mm, Watch Thickness = 14.4mm
