Impressive developments have been made in the past a few years toward the establishment of Na-ion batteries as next-generation energy-storage devices and replacements for Li-ion batteries. Na-based cells have attracted increasing attention owing to low production costs due to abundant sodium resources. However, applications of Na-ion batteries are limited to large-scale energy-storage systems because of their lower energy density compared to Li-ion batteries and their potential safety problems. Recently, Na-metal cells such as Na–metal halide and Na–air batteries have been considered to be promising for use in electric vehicles owing to good safety and high energy density, although less attention is focused on Na-metal cells than on Na-ion cells. This Minireview provides an overview of the fundamentals and recent progress in the fields of Na–metal halide and Na–air batteries, with the aim of providing a better understanding of new electrochemical systems.