Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 tipped to get a battery life boost
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If Samsung sticks to the same schedule as last year, then the successor to the Galaxy Watch 5 could be with us in August – and the latest updates to the rumor mill suggest the Galaxy Watch 6 could beat it in terms of battery life.
This is from Galaxy Club (opens in new tab) (through Phandroid (opens in new tab)), and according to certifications for the upcoming smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 6 will have a 300mAh or 425mAh battery, depending on size (40mm or 44mm, if following last year’s lead).
That’s 284mAh and 410mAh respectively, so while we’re not talking about a huge jump in terms of battery sizes, we hope the extra capacity and a few extra hardware and software tweaks mean noticeable improvements in battery life.
Watch this space
Officially, Samsung says you can expect “up to 40 hours” between charges for the 40mm and 44mm Galaxy Watch 5 models, so we’re talking about a day and a half before you have to reach for your charger again.
Check out our Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 review and you’ll see we’ve managed to get the smartwatch to last through a day with a workout session included. If you want more than that, you’ll need to be careful using the wearable.
There’s no mention in this leak of the Galaxy Watch Pro 5, which lasts about twice as long as the cheaper model thanks to a 590mAh battery. We’ll have to wait and see if Samsung manages to improve that this year.
Analysis: Wearables have a battery life problem
Of course, longer battery life is always better whether we are talking about smartphones, laptops or any other kind of electronic device. With wearables, however, it’s particularly important: these gadgets are designed to be worn all the time, not placed on a charging dock.
For example, with smartwatches they keep track of your steps, your heart rate, your sleep pattern and more. When you’re not wearing them, there are gaps in the data being collected that make these devices less useful.
However, by their very nature, these wearables are small and light. No one wants a chunky smartwatch that presses down on their wrist – and that means there’s not much room for a battery. Manufacturers are essentially in a no-win situation for now.
Perhaps the best approach as far as smartwatches go is something like the Garmin Instinct 2: it uses a monochromatic display and can last a month between charges, while the solar-powered option may never need charging if you live somewhere in the sun.