Apple Watch Battery Life Currently 'About a Day', but May Improve for 2015 Launch

[Haifisch]

Folks, my Fitbit Flex gets five days of battery life. It's a little nub that counts steps, connects to your phone via Bluetooth, I think has a gyroscope, and only has five tiny LEDs for a display. It cost $99.

So I'd love to know how people expect the Watch to get 2-3 days.

And I had a heck of a time getting it to sync to my phone reliably.

 

[CloaknDagger]

Huh?

True but the Nike Fuel band doesn't have a screen, its only has a LED display that basically has on/off lights. The band is "hard" and doesn't flex.

Was that your expectation from Apple Watch? On/Off lights and inflexible band.

Image

No... More like the below bands. The point being that the battery issue you speak of need not lie directly beneath the screen; it can be embedded in the band itself, stretching around the wrist.

 

[whiteboytrash]

No... More like the below bands. The point being that the battery issue you speak of need not lie directly beneath the screen; it can be embedded in the band itself, stretching around the wrist.

It can?

I'm seeing a watch face extending the width of the wrist. Then you need a latch to connect into band like the fuel band leaving very little space left for a battery.

Not to mention that humans have different sized wrists. So like the Fuel Band they add or remove link. You also lose versitility on the types of bands, it becomes a one look watch, not to mention reduced sized batteries to accommodate.

Then you have to think about a curved battery - do they actually make those in the circumference you are suggesting?

Not sure you actually thought about this much. Sounds like an idea with zero traction and wouldn't be able to provide extended battery life, most likely worse.

 

[ANTAWNM26]

Wtf is about a day?

 

[Jspring86]

You're using your day of battery life wrong!

 

[Thunderhawks]

And where would the bacteria get their energy?

Sweat or whatever is on the wearers skin.

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Wtf is about a day?

The sequel to the movie

About a boy?

 

[Michael CM1]

And I had a heck of a time getting it to sync to my phone reliably.

Yeah, that too. Worked better than the USB dongle for a computer, but sometimes it was a little bitch with me. Since I usually have my iPhone 5s on me and I didn't appreciate the rash I had for a month or two, I'm just using my 5s to track steps. Fitbit needs to make other types of bands like Apple is doing. It's a decent product but that rash really scared me that I would have a huge blob on my wrist for life because I tried to track my GD steps.

 

[HiRez]

They don't have power outlets in airports and on planes?

So carry your charger around with you. Plus possibly adapters. Then glue yourself to a wall in an airport (if you are able to) to charge your watch? Basically you have a small wireless device that requires you carry a bunch of accessories with you, and oh yeah, a phone as well. Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic experience.

Look, if you are happy with that, good luck to you, you'll love it. For me that is absolute B.S. If a wrist-worn device can't get me from sleep cycle to sleep cycle reliably, it's worthless. Now maybe it will, we don't know the battery life yet. Apple does have time to improve it. They said "early 2015" so technically that gives them between 4 and 10 months to work on battery life, and a lot can be done in that much time. So, I'm skeptical but hopeful.

 

[7heOne]

My Pebble lasts 7.

But you might not want to include it since it's low power/res black & white, non-touch LCD - and that's completely fair.

all depends on your usage, my pebble lasts 2-4 days, I use multi timer for gym, motive8(track activity and calories) and morphesuz to track sleep.

 

[CairnsRock]

For the most part it is providing you information from your phone to a visible element on your wrist. Its also providing haptic feedback via pulses to your wrist.

Why do this?

The same reason people have been wearing watches for hundreds of years. Its one part of the body that can wear a device that provides them information because they can raise their wrist to the their line of sight and read the information.

So why do it to an Apple Watch?

Because your phone is in your pocket, handbag etc. and you can't see it instantaneously like you can a watch.

The question would be next - why would it need to be on its own? Are you suggesting it should be sync'ed with iTunes every night?

For the life of me I cannot see the argument you're presenting. You're saying it "should be on its own" and "its for apple to work that out" - but why?

Watches used to be in people's pockets, then around WWI they started wearing them on the wrist, but they did not keep the one in the pocket as well.

 

[Bensalama21]

too little. It needs at least 2 or 3 days.

It "needs" one day at least... 3 would be in the next gen most likely. One day is fine for 99% of people since you can charge it with everything else you use.

 

[HerbieMac]

all depends on your usage, my pebble lasts 2-4 days, I use multi timer for gym, motive8(track activity and calories) and morphesuz to track sleep.

I never got more than 5 days with my pebble (before it bricked itself).

 

[SHNXX]

I would be more interested if it looked good, regardless of battery life.

 

[whiteboytrash]

I would be more interested if it looked good, regardless of battery life.

Have a look at this article. May assist on its looks; http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/hodinkee-apple-watch-review

 

[SHNXX]

Have a look at this article. May assist on its looks; http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/hodinkee-apple-watch-review

I read it and posted it many places on this and other forums.

Bottom line is that while it looks better than other smart watches, the design has no sex appeal.
The side by side picture with the Patek Perpetual calendar sums up everything about why smart "Watches" are not suitable competitors for wrist time.

 

[ds2000]

Battery life is not the biggest problem with the Apple Watch.

The biggest issue I see is that, for most functions, it must be tethered to your iPhone to work. Whats the point of being able to use Maps, Messages, etc when you could just pull your phone out of your pocket and get a better experience on a bigger screen? It has no GPS chip so you can't even use it to track your hiking/running route like most GPS watches.

Clearly, it's been designed with untethered use in mind. But current GPS chips and cellular radios couldn't fit in to the Watch without unacceptable battery drain.

Buying this version of the Apple Watch will be a bit like buying the first generation iPad: There's some cool technology there, and a lot of potential - but you know that in a year or so there'll be a second generation that's thinner, has better battery life, and has built-in cellular data and GPS.

As someone who runs and cycles (and often chooses a new route and gets lost) having the ability to just look at my watch would be fantastic. For instance I was running last week, took a few new turnings, had no idea where I was and had to battle with my iPhone in its arm case (while it was raining) to get maps to load.... siri is still plain useless

I'm still not sure whether I'll bother getting one though.

 

[6836838]

2 things they could of done IMHO to have made is a little nicer.

1: The screen is too small given the size of the case.

You don't notice it at first, but there is actually a large black dead bezel area around the actual display. The screen should be almost out the the edge, not stuck in the middle of the black area.

This hurts the looks as all the watch face designs you see are set well in from the sides of the case.

2: A perhaps slightly curved screen would of looked a little more designed and modern, not just a flat lump

If it was a little curved to make it more ergonomically shaped and the display pretty much fitted the black screen area, it would of helped a fair bit I feel.

Did anyone teach you the word 'have'?

 

[6836838]

To those wishing for a round watch, I would point out that this is a very inefficient use of space.

It's the reason round houses, rooms, etc. never caught on, in all of human history.

Also monitors, TV sets, cars....

Clocks were obviously round from day one for obvious reasons.

Why perpetuate inefficient space arrangement if you do not need to?

Yeah, round wheels are really inefficient, eh!

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The problem is the "sleep monitor" set all assume that it will take all night to charge. It's not water proof so you won't be showering with it; for all any of us know you will be able to charge it in the morning while you are getting ready for your day.

The reality is if Apple gets a real day (18-24hrs) out of a single charge with all of the functions it showed on Tuesday it will be a frickin' miracle. So, until it's actually released, why not assume Apple is going to make it work and don't lose sleep over it (see what I did there).

I would recommend everyone take a deep breath and appreciate what we were shown yesterday as it was pretty awesome, never before seen tech. But then what would we do with our lives if we couldn't bitch about something we don't actually know about.

Batteries have limited charging cycles. You don't want to be charging it twice a day. The battery would only last a year!

 

[6836838]

They should have put the accelerometer + a very small bat or capacitor (for sleep monitoring) in the strap and have the main watch pop off the strap such that it can be charged. That would have been a neat solution. That strap could then be worn in the shower etc and would be fully waterproof.

 

[LandoVol]

1 day is too short. I bet the screen and flashing lenses that take your heart rate kills the battery.

Hopefully the heart thing can be turned off. I could give a **** less what my heart rate is throughout the day.

 

[diamond.g]

It can?

I'm seeing a watch face extending the width of the wrist. Then you need a latch to connect into band like the fuel band leaving very little space left for a battery.

Not to mention that humans have different sized wrists. So like the Fuel Band they add or remove link. You also lose versitility on the types of bands, it becomes a one look watch, not to mention reduced sized batteries to accommodate.

Then you have to think about a curved battery - do they actually make those in the circumference you are suggesting?

Not sure you actually thought about this much. Sounds like an idea with zero traction and wouldn't be able to provide extended battery life, most likely worse.

The Qualcomm Toq has it's battery in the wrist strap, you have to cut the strap to fit. It too lasts 3-5 days on a charge (depends if you have the step counter on or not). Mirasol touchscreen with color display.

 

[whiteboytrash]

The Qualcomm Toq has it's battery in the wrist strap, you have to cut the strap to fit. It too lasts 3-5 days on a charge (depends if you have the step counter on or not). Mirasol touchscreen with color display.

You mean this watch?

Ummmm ok, if wearing a tablet on your wrist is your thing.

Each to there own

 

[Fabio_gsilva]

Nope.

The iWatch doesn't work without the iPhone; that's how it access the internet, and does almost everything else. When iOS gets updated, and people update their iPhones, the iWatch will update too since it's in synch with the iPhone.

Try using the original iPhone you described with iOS 8. Oh wait, you can't Guess what's going to happen when the original iWatch tries to run the newer, made for faster devices iOS. It will slow to a crawl, and you will be (unfortunatelly, Apple would say ) pushed to buy a new device.

The iWatch is not only trash; it's short-lived trash.



I think the innability to strive for something good, settling for less instead, is the difference between random poster X and Steve Jobs. Sometimes it feels like that, if people here were in charge, the iPad would be an iPhone accessory. I mean, why would it need to be on its own? Should the iPad be sync'ed with iTunes every night?

It is impossible to use the iPhone original with iOS 8, but it still capable of being used as a phone, internet device. That is the point. A watch has much fewer uses and need for a upgrade. It can last longer.

 

[Verita]

IMHO, you are not seeing in its best light. The Apple Watch is, by what we saw, a watch with really cool other features - and those features will keep running as long as the watch does. But it is mostly a watch.
In this sense, it is just a regular watch you purchase today: it is only a watch, with the functions that was designed by in its creation process. Usually, next year collection of watches changes the form, add or adjust some functionalities, colors, whatever, and your watch is still your watch and you will still be able to do the same with it that it was designed to do.

Apple Watch 2 will or 3 or 4 will not render your watch obsolete, it will probably have newer and/or advanced capabilities that yours do not, but the core use that is serve as a watch, and a smart one with a calendar, payments, notification, everything, will keep rolling indefinitely.

Like the iPhone 1, it is still usable as a phone, to send and receive text messages, to navigate the internet, to send and receive emails… not as fast, with not as much advancements as a iPhone 6, but It is still and iPhone nevertheless.

Moreover, any traditional watch, by definition, are already obsolete as this newer ones also serve to register time and many other things...

Your opinion is correct, and it's one that I partially share depending on the perspective. A nice gold watch with interchangeable high-quality bands, and what we could describe as free advanced features, well not suddenly become obsolete next year.

However, because this product is designed more as a piece of technology with elements of traditional watchmaking, as opposed to the opposite approach, I'm speaking for the majority of people in saying they will covet the next generation. Apple will likely institute some upgrade mechanism where they open the watch and stick in new hardware, swap devices and melt down the gold on the old one, etc. So I'm sure they're tackling it, but until they clearly define the upgrade process, anyone who is stretching to buy this item will likely buy a base model or wait for v2.

Apple is probably differentiating themselves with the highest tier, as opposed to expecting a large profits from the gold watch. Let's be honest here though, and give Apple credit for designing an identical product which doesn't add complexity when all you're doing is swapping the case.

 

[flur]

You don't think apple is marketing like this as the only watch you'd need?

You're thinking you should make decisions based on how Apple (or anyone else) markets something? Sorry, but that's a bad idea all around.

When I make the decision about buying this, it will be based on me and my wants/needs and not on some marketing campaign. I expect it will go on my left wrist (should I get one) and my UP24 will still be on my right. I expect, like any other watch I'd wear, I'll take it off at night and before runs, when I'll swap it for my GPS watch. *shrugs*

I think it will eventually be the only watch I'll need, but it's not there yet, because the tech is not there yet. I don't see that as either a crisis or a let down.