APPLE WATCH BATTERY LIFE: How many hours does it last?
'Up to 18 hours', claims
Apple. Here are more specs about the battery life of this new device
No one wants to charge another
gadget every day. But the limited Apple Watch battery life like nearly all
smart watch batteries -is going to require daily charging. And that has led us
to ask, “How long does that thing last?“ The answer is more complicated than
any one number.
The official Apple Watch battery
life specs are listed as both “all day“ and “up to 18 hours“, according to
Apple. Yes, that “all day“ claim technically syncs up with a normal sleep
schedule and it takes only two and half hours to fully recharge. But Apple's
methodology behind these numbers and how they compare to the best smartwatches
deserves a deeper dive.
How is battery life calculated
Apple claims that its
iPhone-compatible smartwatch achieved all-day battery life of 18 hours while
being tested during pre-production. Its 18 hours of “mixed use“ consisted of 90
time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use and a 30-minute workout
with music playback via Bluetooth.
Check the time or light up the
screen fewer times, and Apple Watch's battery could beat these estimates. Get a
deluge of notifications, and it may die on your commute home from work.
More battery life tests
More granular tests by Apple yielded
differ ent results. A “watch test“ netted 48 hours from five time checks every
hour, with Apple noting that each screen-lighting timecheck lasted four
seconds.
The most power-draining battery test
was a “talk time test“ using the Apple Watch phone app. It lasted three hours
in this Dick Tracyesque mode. Apple's “workout test“ and “audio playback test“
each resulted in 6.5 hours of battery life.
Power Reserve mode
What happens when the Apple Watch
battery is about to die? Instead of becoming a wearable sundial, it can still
tell the time in what the company calls a `Power Reserve' mode.
Like today's best smartphones, this
special battery-saving mode turns off app functionality in favour of giving
users the ability to check time on the smartwatch for up to 72 hours. This
little known three-day exten sion is based on four time checks per hour, again
lasting four seconds each time.
42mm size battery
The Apple Watch battery mAh and size
are unknown, at least until someone brave does a teardown. Until then, we know
that the battery is the same in all cases, from the entrylevel aluminum sport
to the ridiculously expensive gold edition.
However, the larger 42m Apple Watch
size has a bigger battery than the smaller 38 mm version. That fact and the
larger touchscreen area make this the better choice for most people.
Charging time
As fast as the Apple Watch battery
drains, it recharges even quicker using Apple's MagSafe inductive charger,
which is included in the box. Recharging the smartwatch to 80 per cent takes
1.5 hours, according to Apple's official tests, and a full charge takes 2.5
hours. That's about the same time as other smartwatches take, which of course
you won't really notice at night, unless this thing constantly dies on your
wrist before the day is through.
Is the battery replaceable?
Apple Watch is unlike a smartphone
that's destined to be upgraded every year or two, so it's important to be able
to replace the battery eventually. While this is no easy task compared to a
normal watch, the sealed battery can be replaced by Apple for an unspecified
amount.
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