4 ms·

I know there are limits to battery technology but I'd much rather see the watch track towards 7 days than see additional sensors / a larger brighter screen. Th

by haney 5y ago

I know there are limits to battery technology but I'd much rather see the watch track towards 7 days than see additional sensors / a larger brighter screen. This may be compounded by the fact that the watch needs its own special charging cable, my main pain point is that I always forget to pack the watch charger when I travel so my watch always dies if I'm going for a night.

laurent92 5y ago
We’re in 2021, why wouldn’t a watch last a month. I don’t know, use e-ink, use something else than bluetooth, have a solar panel behind the screen, innovate!
- ben_w 5y ago
  If you want a watch whose battery lasts that long, it can’t be a smart watch. All the other stuff these things do use too much power for to get that battery life from just switching to a even a (not physically plausible) 100% efficient photovoltaic e-ink screen. It could be a fitness tracker like the Fitbit Zip (advertised at 4-6 months), or a plain watch like the Casio F-91W (when I had those as a kid, the battery outlasted the straps), but it can’t be a smart watch.
  - quitit 5y ago
    It's like people speaking fondly of their old nokia phones with week-long battery life, while ignoring that it only had a 2 hour talk time. The Apple watch lasts all day when used normally (workouts, apps etc) - for people who are just using it to receive notifications, a bit of siri and telling the time - it easily gets up to 30+ hours. All of this is moot anyway, it can get 8 hours of sleep tracking in 8 minutes, or fast charge in 45 minutes to 80% - these are far better metrics than if they managed to get it to last 2-3 days.
  - nradov 5y ago
    You can get a smart watch with battery life over 30 days: Garmin Enduro. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/702797 https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/702797
    - ben_w 5y ago
      Huh, I’m genuinely surprised! Thank you :) > Get up to 80 hours of battery life in GPS mode[1], up to 300 hours in max battery mode[1] and up to 65 days in smartwatch mode with solar charging[2].
Steltek 5y ago
My aged Pebble Time Steel lasts 8 days (fresh from factory, it was 10!). I still consider it the pinnacle of smart watch tech. The tradeoffs are that the screen is "e-paper" without touch functionality. Personally I think it's the right choice: always-on tech and having tactile controls vs a clumsy touch-screen (due to small size). The watch itself is pretty small so there's room to increase battery life by making it bigger.

by haney 5y ago

laurent92 5y ago

We’re in 2021, why wouldn’t a watch last a month. I don’t know, use e-ink, use something else than bluetooth, have a solar panel behind the screen, innovate!

ben_w 5y ago
If you want a watch whose battery lasts that long, it can’t be a smart watch. All the other stuff these things do use too much power for to get that battery life from just switching to a even a (not physically plausible) 100% efficient photovoltaic e-ink screen. It could be a fitness tracker like the Fitbit Zip (advertised at 4-6 months), or a plain watch like the Casio F-91W (when I had those as a kid, the battery outlasted the straps), but it can’t be a smart watch.
- quitit 5y ago
  It's like people speaking fondly of their old nokia phones with week-long battery life, while ignoring that it only had a 2 hour talk time. The Apple watch lasts all day when used normally (workouts, apps etc) - for people who are just using it to receive notifications, a bit of siri and telling the time - it easily gets up to 30+ hours. All of this is moot anyway, it can get 8 hours of sleep tracking in 8 minutes, or fast charge in 45 minutes to 80% - these are far better metrics than if they managed to get it to last 2-3 days.
- nradov 5y ago
  You can get a smart watch with battery life over 30 days: Garmin Enduro. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/702797 https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/702797
  - ben_w 5y ago
    Huh, I’m genuinely surprised! Thank you :) > Get up to 80 hours of battery life in GPS mode[1], up to 300 hours in max battery mode[1] and up to 65 days in smartwatch mode with solar charging[2].

Steltek 5y ago

My aged Pebble Time Steel lasts 8 days (fresh from factory, it was 10!). I still consider it the pinnacle of smart watch tech. The tradeoffs are that the screen is "e-paper" without touch functionality. Personally I think it's the right choice: always-on tech and having tactile controls vs a clumsy touch-screen (due to small size). The watch itself is pretty small so there's room to increase battery life by making it bigger.