The marketplace is pretty well served when it comes to clever hydration systems, such as H2OPal, Sippo, Hidrate the Thermos Smart Lid and more. Many of them have some form of hydration reporting system going on, usually linking to your smartphone. With this in mind, any new player in the space needs to step things up a notch, and that's what Seattle-based Bazaarian believes it's done with the Hydrade smart bottle.
Launched on Kickstarter with a May 6 deadline, the Hydrade has already smashed its US$50,000 funding goal by $37,000.
The 700-ml (24 fl oz) stainless steel, solar-powered, double-walled, 100 percent recycled bottle links to your smartphone, Apple Watch and even your FitBit via Bluetooth to tally your drinking and send you alerts to remind you to stay hydrated. So far so good. This is pretty much what most of the other smart bottles do too.
Bazaarian also claims that the bottle will keep your drink ice-cold for 22 hours, and hot for up to 13. The Hydrade stands out from the rest though – for now – with three unique features. It's completely solar powered, it knows when your drinking (and not just tipping the water out) and every ounce you drink donates that same amount of clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.
The self-contained solar-power system means there's no charging port on the bottle, which also means the Hydrade can truly go anywhere, including into the water. To fully charge the battery though, the bottle will need to stay in the sun for around 20 hours in total, but a full charge will last for 20 days of use.
The monitoring system takes things a step further as well. Like other smart bottles, your water consumption is reported back to your smartphone, which then provides feedback, stats and coaching, but the Hydrade employs its own unique Behavioral Measuring Tech. This specialized sensor can tell if you're really drinking the water or pouring it down the sink (or giving Fido a drink on your walk).
Perhaps the most compelling feature for the socially-minded among us, is going to be the partnership with Charity: water. For every ounce of water you drink from your Hydrade, that same amount of water will be donated to people in need of safe drinking water in 27 countries around the globe.
Kickstarter pledges for a Hydrade smart bottle start at $35, representing quite a saving on the expected retail price of $75. If all goes to plan, shipping is estimated to start in November. The video below has more.
Sources: Hydrade, Kickstarter
