If Samsung sticks to the same timeline as last year, the successor to the Galaxy Watch 5 could be with us in August – and the latest updates from the rumor mill suggest the Galaxy Watch 6 could beat it in terms of battery life.
this is with Galaxy Club (opens in a new tab) (By Phandroid (opens in a new tab)), and according to certifications for upcoming smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 6 will have a 300mAh or 425mAh battery depending on its size (40mm or 44mm if it follows last year’s lead).
That’s more than 284mAh and 410mAh respectively, so while we’re not talking about a massive leap in terms of battery sizes, we’re hoping the extra capacity and a few more hardware and software upgrades mean a noticeable improvement in battery life.
Watch this space
Officially, Samsung says you can expect “up to 40 hours” between charging the Galaxy Watch 5’s 40mm and 44mm models, so we’re talking about a day and a half before you need to reach for a charger again.
Check out our Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 review and you’ll see that we’ve managed to make the smartwatch last a day with an exercise session on. If you want to get more, you need to be careful how you use your wearable.
There is no mention in this leak of the Galaxy Watch Pro 5, which offers around twice the battery life of the cheaper model thanks to its 590mAh battery. We’ll have to wait and see if Samsung is able to improve that this year.
Analysis: Wearables have a battery life issue
Of course, longer battery life is always better, whether we are talking about smartphones, laptops or any other electronic device. However, this is especially true for wearables: these gadgets are designed to be worn all the time, not placed on a charging stand.
For example, smartwatches track your steps, heart rate, sleep patterns, and more. Whenever you don’t wear them, there are gaps in the data collected, making these devices less useful.
However, by their very nature, these wearables are small and lightweight. Nobody wants a bulky smartwatch weighing down on their wrist – and that means there isn’t much room for a battery. For now, producers are basically in a dead end situation.
Perhaps the best approach when it comes to smartwatches is something like the Garmin Instinct 2: it uses a monochrome screen and can last a month between charges, while the solar-powered option may never need to be recharged if you live in a sunny place.
