For Wear OS smartwatches, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 represents a significant improvement in terms of performance and efficiency, and Qualcomm is making bold battery life claims.
A significant improvement over Qualcomm’s previous generation of chipsets, Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 is constructed using a 4nm manufacturing process. For comparison, the Snapdragon Wear 4100 used a 12nm process, whilst the Snapdragon Wear 2100 and 3100 both used a 28nm process.
According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 boasts power savings of between 30 and 60 percent for some important use cases when compared to the Snapdragon Wear 4100 . The main area for improvement appears to be background notifications, which have a 57% reduction in power consumption, but the biggest drain on the active battery is VoLTE calls, which should use about 34% less power with the new processor.
As you can see in the table below, Qualcomm breaks down the power savings.
What impact does that have on the battery’s actual life? Qualcomm has some impressive statistics to provide.
ESTIMATES FOR THE SNAPDRAGON W5 GEN 1 BATTERY LIFE First, Qualcomm provides a picture of a stylish smartwatch with a 300 mAh battery. On the Snapdragon Wear 4100 , if that device could last 28 hours, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 would allow it to last 43 hours.
The 300 mAh total is crucial to the plot because it is roughly average for smartwatches. For instance, the 300 mAh battery in the Fossil Gen 6 is touted for a 24 hour battery life. According to Qualcomm’s statistics, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip in the gadget would provide at least 40 hours of battery life.
And in all honesty, that is in line with what we would anticipate from the switch to a 4nm processor.
The Galaxy Watch 4’s 5nm Exynos chip is rated for a 40-hour battery life, thus Qualcomm’s prediction is very plausible.
Moving up to a 4G Connected Smartwatch, Qualcomm claims over two days of battery life with a 450 mAh battery. On the W5 , same wristwatch would have 54 hours of battery life if it had 36 hours on the Snapdragon Wear 4100 .
The last example provided by Qualcomm is a 4G Connected Sportswatch with a 600 mAh battery. Qualcomm claims that a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 would have a battery life of 72 hours, as opposed to the 48 hours that a Snapdragon 4100 would have. When considering that number, it’s crucial to remember that there isn’t a single Wear OS smartwatch on the market right now with a capacity that high.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which hasn’t been released yet but is anticipated to come with a 572 mAh battery, is the only smartwatch that comes close to what we’re talking about. A 500 mAh battery and two days of battery life, including eight hours of workout tracking, were claimed for the Polar M600 had in the Wear OS past. The more modern Suunto 7 undoubtedly has a battery of a comparable size, but we couldn’t discover anywhere where Suunto reveals the battery’s precise dimensions; all we know is that it lasts two days when used normally.
Google’s 9TO5 Without a doubt, if accurate, this is quite significant.
The majority of people’s issues would be addressed if the typical Wear OS smartwatch could operate for over 40 hours on a single charge, putting them on pace with the Apple Watch, at least in terms of battery life. This makes it possible to create considerably smaller Wear OS smartwatches that can nonetheless function for a full day while lacking space for a full-sized battery.
Of course, it’s difficult to accept things at face value, and Qualcomm is aware that these projections might not come true.
You should absolutely expect genuine Wear OS products employing the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 to differ significantly in actual battery life since Qualcomm claims that it developed these estimations based on internal measurements and projections.
However, if Qualcomm’s comments are to be believed, Wear OS’s battery problems may be at an end. For those of us who are rational enough to acknowledge that a fully functional smartwatch doesn’t necessarily need to last a week on a charge.
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