Your next smartwatch could have 90 HOURS of battery life on a single charge: Qualcomm claims to be working on a new wearable chip to rival Apple and Samsung
- Qualcomm is working on new chips for a smartwatch to rival Apple and Samsung
- The chips would provide smartwatches with up to 90 hours of battery life
- This is due to the chips’ ability to efficiently transfer heat and a new lower power mode
- Oppo is set to be the first smartwatch maker to use the new chip, it’s device launches August
Your next smartwatch could stay powered for 90 hours, according to Qualcomm which is developing new W5 chips to rival Apple and Samsung.
The chips, called Snapdragon W5 and W5 Plus, measure just four nanometers, which is a fraction of the 80,000-nanometer size of a human hair.
The American-based company notes that the secret is the chips’ ability to efficiently transfer heat and a new lower power mode.
This feature only ‘wakes up’ features needed to perform tasks and allows the others to hibernate in order to conserve energy.
Oppo is set to be the first smartwatch maker to use the new chip, it’s device launches August, followed by Mobvoi’s new TicWatch that will launch this fall – pitting these not so popular brands against the powerhouses in the smartwatch space.
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Your next smartwatch could stay powered for 90 hours, according to Qualcomm which is developing new W5 chips to rival Apple and Samsung. The chips, called Snapdragon W5 and W5 Plus, measure just four nanometers, which is a fraction of the 80,000 nanometer size of a human hair
While the Apple Watch might be the most popular, it only provides up to 18 hours of use.
Samsung’s Galaxy watch, on the other hand, has a battery that lasts around 40 hours.
The key player in Qualcomm’s new chips is their ability to decrease how much power the battery is pumping out.
This is done by only ‘waking up’ features that are being used and allowing the others to ‘rest,’ CNET reports.
Oppo is set to be the first smartwatch maker to use the new chip, it’s device launches August. Pictured are the current Oppo smartwatches on the market
While the Apple Watch might be the most popular, it only provides up to 18 hours of use
For example, if you are going for a run or listening to music, only the satellite GPS, WiFi and audio functions would be activated, while anything else would go dormant.
Qualcomm says this translates to 57 percent lower power consumption for notifications compared to the last-gen Wear 4100+ chip – the predecessor of its new Snapdragon W5.
Qualcomm’s senior director of Head and Wearables, Pankaj Kedia, compared this ability it to only turning on a few lights to get to the kitchen at night instead of turning on every light in your home.
‘The rest of the SoC is power collapsed so you get longer battery life,’ Kedia said.
And because the chips are 30 percent smaller than what is currently on the market, smartwatch makers could finally add a camera to their device.
The size reduction also allows companies to design thinner and sleeker watches altogether.
And because Qualcomm’s chips are 30 percent smaller than what is currently on the market, smartwatch makers could finally add a camera to their device
According to TechCodex, Qualcomm’s chips will also include ECG, motion sensing, PPG Biosensing (for heart rate measurement), and optical sensing.
It is unlikely Apple will use Qualcomm’s chips, but rumors of the tech giant’s upcoming Series 8 suggest it will have a five percent larger display and the ability to track the wearer’s body temperature.
According to prolific Apple tipster Mark Gurman in Los Angeles, the firm will add body-temperature detection to its Series 8 model, expected to be released this autumn.
Meanwhile, another leaker, Ross Young in Austin, Texas, claims the Series 8’s screen size will measure 1.99 inches diagonally.
This would make the Series 8 the biggest Apple Watch screen yet, although the biggest on the market overall is the Domiwear DM100, which has a whopping 2.86-inch screen.
In comparison, the Apple Watch Series 7, released last year, was available with either a 1.691-inch or a 1.901-inch screen.
Apple is expected to release a total of three smartwatches this autumn, including the Series 8, which is also rumored to have a flat screen.
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