Pocuter's Spectra Smartwatch Finishes Crowdfunding, with iFixit Teasing a Potentially Perfect Score

Pocuter's Spectra, the miniature-computer company's first shot at a hackable, repairable smartwatch, is preparing to ship to backers of its crowdfunding campaign — and has already received the seal of approval from right-to-repair outfit iFixit.

"Pocuter’s overarching vision for the Spectra is something tinkerer- and maker-friendly — they expect customers to make custom components and software, and plan to support them along the way," iFixit's Carsten Frauenheim explains. "According to Pocuter, their team plans to provide replacement options for every single part, including an upgrade to a stainless steel case. They also expect to support those parts with video tutorials and technical drawings."

Pocuter is best known for its eponymous coin-sized all-in-one computer, a custom design that paired a Microchip ATSAMD21G18A microcontroller and an Espressif ESP32 communications chip with up to 512GB of storage, an on-board accelerometer, light sensor, and microphone, and a tiny 0.95" 96×95 color OLED panel. If that sounds like the sort of thing you might use as the guts of a smartwatch, you're following the same train of thought as Pocuter itself — which, earlier this year, unveiled the Spectra.

Based around a larger, higher-resolution 1.8" 368×448 OLED panel and powered by a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 and an Espressif ESP32-S3, the Spectra is a considerably more refined take on the Pocuter concept. It's also, iFixit says, potentially the most repairable smartwatch it has ever seen — arriving, as it did, split into individual components to be assembled by the buyer using just seven Phillips screws. The only thing holding it back from getting top marks: the fact iFixit has not yet seen a production model, and that Pocuter hasn't yet published repair documentation nor opened a store for spare parts.

"We’ve only seen the prototype so far. Pocuter has big ambitions, so we’re excited to watch their progress as they make it through crowdfunding, finish prototyping, start production, publish manuals and support, and work out spare part supply chain logistics," Frauenheim writes. "We're hopeful — if they're successful, this might very well be the first smartwatch to land a 10/10 on our repairability scale. We're crossing our fingers and our toes."

iFixit's full build-up and tear-down is available on the company's blog, and while the Spectra crowdfunding campaign closed over the weekend its Kickstarter page is still accepting "Late Pledge" backers starting at €199 (around $210); devices are expected to ship in July next year.