- Repod is a ‘mech suit’ for your old Apple Watch
- The Ultra version is titanium, with a scroll wheel, but no headphone jack
- Designed to replace your smartphone
It’s safe to say that the tech world has a healthy obsession with the ‘classic’ model of the iPod, created back before gadgets were a smorgasbord of subscription services and addictive social apps – I personally dusted mine off and wrote about it last year, and someone made a cheap dupe of it recently, complete with click wheel-like controls. Another recently revealed piece of technology brings the iPod into the modern era with quite a few twists.
A company simply called WGP has started selling on Kickstarter (via Notebookcheck) a device called the RePod Ultra. The incredibly low initial funding goal of HK$10,000 (approx. $1,200 / £940 / AU$1,820) was surpassed almost immediately, so the device is officially funded. It should ship in April, but never count your Kickstarter chickens before they hatch.
The RePod Ultra is essentially a ‘mech-suit’ for an Apple Watch Ultra case. You house the portable in a titanium frame, turning it into a pseudo-iPod, complete with a large scroll wheel and its own side crown. It costs $159 (about £130, AU$260) and comes in silver, black or ‘natural’ colors, which are described as “bold” but… well, that’s how I’d describe the shades.
Not the proud owner of a dust-collecting Ultra smartwatch? The Kickstarter also offers the RePod C1, designed for Apple Watches since Series 3, or Apple Watch SE models. This costs $99 (about £80, AU$160) and doesn’t appear to be made of metal, but plastic or silicone (it’s not listed). So you have options if you own other of the best Apple Watches.
iPod, therefore iAm
According to WGP’s posting, the RePod turns your Apple Watch into an iPod-like replacement phone. It can play games, make contactless payments, navigate with Apple Maps, set alarms and reminders, check your messages and, of course, stream music. Via Bluetooth, of course; this is not an iPod with a headphone jack.
In a way, it makes perfect sense. RePod offers a half-step digital detox for people who find their phone too addictive but still want most of its features. But WGP’s listing makes a few eyebrow-raising claims.
The product depends on you owning an Apple Watch that you are not currently using. That’s quite a lot possible with the older, cheaper models, but still—I don’t know about you, but if I owned the $799 Apple Watch Ultra, it’d probably be on my wrist every moment to justify the eye-popping price tag. And if I had a new one, I’m not sure I would have just let the old one gather dust.
I’m curious to see how well the scroll wheel can be used to manipulate the Watch OS, beyond moving through the main menu. WGP promises it can also help with “volume adjustment, game interaction, option selection”, but it also says “no tapping” – old iPod owners will remember that the swipe wheel doubled as a D-pad, and I can’t tell if the RePod Ultra does the same.
The RePod is designed to give extra life to Apple Watches you no longer use, and I’m interested to see if it would encourage people to start using their wearables regularly again as some kind of super-advanced iPod nano, or if it would inspire a brief resurgence of interest and then become a paperweight.
I’ll definitely say I’m skeptical of the claim on the Kickstarter that “Held in the hand makes the Apple Watch Ultra easier to control” – the Apple Watch certainly works well as something designed for the wrist – but if it’s good, this could be a great anti-e-waste device: don’t throw out an old gadget you no longer wear, turn it into something else.
And it could be especially handy if your Apple Watch can no longer be used as a watch, but still works for other functions; if the heart rate scanner is broken or the strap connector no longer holds the strap, you can use the RePod to make sure it’s still handy.
This is not the first such gadget to offer the same conversion. The TinyPod came out about a year earlier and it does almost the same thing; it turns your Apple Watch into an iPod, with the main difference being that it’s a thin plastic device instead of a large titanium device. It comes in three sizes for different watch models and has a Lite alternative that misses the scroll wheel.
The best music players for all budgets
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
