Samsung is expected to launch new Galaxy Watch smartwatches in the second half of 2022, and a new report has revealed that the Galaxy Watch 5 (tentative name) will be getting a battery boost. The battery life of Wear OS watches can barely surpass a few days and the Galaxy Watch 4, which is the current Wear OS flagbearer, has an advertised battery life of 40 hours, just under two days.
While Wear OS smartwatches and even Apple Watches struggle to last longer than a day of use, smartwatches that run lighter operating systems such as an RTOS-based one boast battery life that can last weeks. For example, the Honor Watch GS3 can last for up to two weeks on a single charge. While the Honor smartwatch is not sold in the U.S., an alternative is Garmin's line of smartwatches which not only run a proprietary operating system but also include models with a low-power display and batteries that can run for weeks.
The Galaxy Watch 5's battery life should be better than that of its predecessor based on a report by SamMobile which has revealed details of the smartwatch's battery capacity. The source says the battery for the watch was spotted online at a regulatory agency. The part number is “EB-BR900ABY” which is similar to the Galaxy Watch 5's “SM-R900” model number. It has been reported that the battery has a rated capacity of 276mAh which is about 11.74% higher than the Galaxy Watch 4's 247mAh cell.
Battery Upgrade Across All Models
The increase in battery capacity should translate to an improvement in battery life for the Galaxy Watch 5 when compared to the Galaxy Watch 4. While the battery capacities of the other models are yet to be known, it is probably safe to assume that Samsung will extend the battery upgrade to them too. The Galaxy Watch 4 comes in 40m and 44mm sizes while the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes. The watches also come in Bluetooth and LTE variants. The 40mm and 42mm watches are the ones with a 247mAh battery while the larger models have a 361mAh battery.
Samsung appears to be planning key changes for its next-gen Galaxy Watch smartwatches. Apart from the greater battery capacity, an earlier report disclosed that there may also be a temperature sensor that will allow for accurate measurement of a user's body temperature. Hardware features are most likely not the only upgrades planned as there should also be a number of improvements on the software side too. The Galaxy Watch 5 is expected to feature a new version of Wear OS with Samsung-exclusive features and enhanced health tracking.
Source: SamMobile