A built-in rechargeable battery promises about a day of typical use, although video recording will consume more energy, as will leaving the active preview window open on the Apple Watch. Photos and videos are saved to the internal 8GB flash memory, where they can be later downloaded to your iPhone over a Wi-Fi connection. A discrete button below the main camera lets you quickly snap pictures or start recording video without opening the Wristcam app. A 2-megapixel (MP) camera located directly above the watch face points toward you when looking at your Apple Watch, while an 8MP shooter is aimed outward in a perpendicular direction, in line with the plane of your hand. Wristcam has two cameras to handle both selfies and normal photography. The strap that attaches to the top of your Apple Watch contains the Wristcam hardware, while the bottom part is just a typical strap in the style of Apple’s sport band. Like most Apple Watch bands, Wristcam comes in two pieces. While you can snap pictures with Wristcam more surreptitiously than pulling out your smartphone, it’s still pretty obvious to anybody paying attention - and there’s a bright LED to help ensure they are. Wristcam’s less than subtle appearance also means it isn’t intended to be a spy cam - a good thing, in my opinion. I’ve worn it with my 44mm Apple Watch for a few days, and it still feels bulky, but not so much that it bothers me when I’m out cycling or going for a walk.
This is about function over form, and it’s probably fair to say this won’t be an issue for most situations where you’d want a camera on your wrist. Nobody is going to accuse Wristcam of being a fashion accessory, but that’s not really the point. If anything, at 0.41 inches at its thickest point, it’s impressive that it’s not larger considering the technology packed inside. Since Wristcam contains two cameras, a battery, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi hardware, and 8GB of flash storage, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s bulkier than the average Apple Watch band.
Hence, Wristcam is an Apple Watch strap that attaches like any regular band and links up with the Apple Watch via Bluetooth and Wristcam’s own WatchOS app.
The company has done an admirable job of building a very functional accessory despite the limitations of Apple Watch hardware and software.įor example, the Apple Watch doesn’t offer any way to physically connect an external accessory, nor does WatchOS have any clue what a camera is. Since Apple doesn’t offer any native support for cameras in WatchOS, Wristcam has had to get pretty creative. This replacement watch band with a built-in camera is a clever solution for shutterbugs who want to venture out with nothing more than their Apple Watch on their wrist without the risk of missing any photo opportunities. A camera for the Apple WatchĮnter Wristcam. And I recently tried a watch band that let me do just that. If you’re an Apple Watch owner who likes to go out for a run or spend a day at the beach without your iPhone in tow, it’s not a bad idea to have a camera on your wrist. Although the Apple Watch still needs to be paired with an iPhone, advancements over the past few years have made it quite capable of functioning independently - especially for users who opt for the cellular-capable models. Of course, just because Apple hasn’t embraced a camera on the Apple Watch doesn’t mean there isn’t at least some demand for the feature. Meta’s rumored Facebook smartwatch was also supposed to include a dual-camera system, but that now appears dead in the water. Oppo recently showed off a prototype under-display smartwatch camera but hasn’t said when that will be ready for prime time. Samsung tried it about ten years ago with the first two iterations of Galaxy Gear but quickly abandoned the idea after that. So, other than some pretty obscure smartwatches from a handful of Chinese companies you’ve likely never heard of, no one seems to be in any hurry to add a camera to their wearables. Nearly all the flagship smartwatches have to be paired with a compatible smartphone that’s guaranteed to have a better camera than anything that can be crammed into a wrist-sized device. Among the concerns I commonly hear from smartwatch users, wishing for a camera barely makes the list. Realistically, there may not be much demand for cameras on smartwatches.
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