Samsung, Google, and Apple’s flagship watches go head-to-head If you’re a fan of smartwatches, you know they’re feature-rich, but each new generation of features comes at a price. While our insatiable desire for devices to do more isn’t slowing down, battery technology isn’t advancing at the same pace, and watch batteriesare one of the biggest concerns when choosing a reliable smartwatch. phones, which can be designed thicker to accommodate a larger battery but hide it well, smartwatches need to be designed as watches first and technology second.
This doesn’t bode well for smartwatch makers, and while devices like the Garmin Venu 3 and Withings Scanwatch 2 achieve multi-day smartwatch battery life, they offer a feature set that’s better than the phone maker’s top three smartwatches More limited: Apple Watch Ultra 2, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and Pixel Watch 2. So, which of these devices has the best smartwatch battery life and charging? Does all-day battery life really mean all- day? Is the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s battery better enough to justify costing nearly twice as much as the competition? Let’s take a look!
Charge showdownHow fast do top watches recharge?
The idea of charging your smartwatch every night is inherently flawed. All smartwatch batteries are designed to work best at a state of charge of 20% to 80%, rather than draining first and then fulling again. So five 10-minute charges are better than one 50-minute charge, and every watchmaker offers some form of rapid “top-up” charging.
To see how well the charge works, I measured the time it took for a full charge and the impact of 15 minutes of charging. Note that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes in two sizes, each with a different size display and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic battery. The 43mm Watch 6 Classic has a 300 mAh battery; the larger 47mm model has 425 mAh. My testing was conducted with the larger model. Neither of these watches charges quickly, although you won’t have a problem if you charge overnight. On a top-up charge, 15 minutes of charging will give you a few extra hours of use, but 30 minutes is the ideal charging time to get an extra half-day of use.
In this test, I fully charged each watch while wearing them (each connected to a different phone with similar apps and complications), and checked their watch battery percentage at different intervals over two days . This isn’t the most scientific test due to a range of variables, but it does give an indication of the range
and smartwatch hbattery modes of each smartwatch. In this test, the Pixel Watch 2 and the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic performed nearly identically in terms of endurance and watch battery usage patterns. Both Samsung and Google claim to offer all-day battery life ,and it’s clear from this test that both devices generally meet that claim. However, if you forget to charge it overnight, it’s unlikely you won’t need a top-up charge at the end of the day. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is an entirely separate discussion. Apple claims the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has up to 36 hours of battery life (up to 72 hours with power saver mode turned on), and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 easily surpassed that number in my testing.
Average and maximum battery lifeApple Watch Ultra 2 battery takes the lead with bigger batteryHow accurate is the one-day test I performed above? I ran similar tests over several days to decipher this, using all three watches simultaneously and individually. I logged various battery life percentages and paid close attention to each smartwatch’s individual smartwatch battery life characteristics.
Most of my testing found that all three smartwatches follow the same battery trends detailed in the chart. My more extensive testing also allowed me to determine average battery life, with each smartwatch tested and recorded seven times (including both simultaneous and standalone use).
Here are my average battery lives for each smartwatch: What’s the maximum battery life? With power saving mode turned on, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 achieved 76 hours of Apple Watch Ultra 2 smartwatch battery life, the Pixel Watch 2 achieved 47 hours, and the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic achieved 48 hours. Using a smartwatch in these modes renders most of their smart features useless, so I don’t recommend it, but it will help extend your smartwatch battery life. gh to the end of the day.
Does smartwatch size matter?
Bigger smartwatch batteries mean longer battery lifeWhile we’re focusing on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in this comparison, Samsung and Apple offer alternatives that you can also consider. The Apple Watch Series 9 is half the price of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, but has almost half the Apple Watch Ultra 2 battery size (308mAh vs 564mAh). In our brief testing of the Apple Watch Series 9, we found that the Apple Watch Series 9 battery lasted about 32 hours, which is good for a full day of use even with Heavy use.
What are the dimensions of the watch?
Here’s how battery size compares by model and size: As I mentioned above, this product was tested using the larger 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The smaller 43mm model naturally comes with the smaller Galaxy Watch 6 Classic battery You might also consider the Galaxy Watch 6 instead of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic featured here. Aside from the different case sizes, the 40mm Watch 6 and 43mm 6 Classic have the same specs; as do the larger 44mm Watch 6 and 47mm 6 Classic .
Both smaller Watch 6 versions come with the same 300mAh Watch 6 battery , while the larger version comes standard with 425mAh. With that in mind, we’d expect battery life to be significantly shorter (and charge faster overall) the smaller the watch, but the exact impact has yet to be determined. Assuming everything but battery capacity remains the same, we’d expect the smaller battery to shorten the watch’s battery life, but the smaller watch face should offset some of that loss.
Every OEM delivers on its promises and moreA refreshing change of pacePixel Watch 2 and Galaxy Watch 6 classic sides shown inWhat was the biggest surprise for me about doing this test? Every OEM delivers on their promise of all-day battery life, and every watch actually lasts longer with regular use. This goes against the grain of how every company sells phones, but they promise either too little or too much about watch battery life, which is logical. Of course, your battery life will almost certainly vary based on your usage.
What about the Apple Watch Ultra 2?
Are the extra weight and battery life worth the extra cost? The answer is no, but it’s important to note that it doesn’t matter: the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has the longest battery life of any Apple Watch, and has a much better ecosystem than the Apple Watch Series 9, and you’ll end up choosing One of the two.
If you’re an Android user, the battery life of the Pixel Watch 2 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is almost identical. If that’s your main deciding factor, I’d probably go with the Galaxy Watch 6, as I prefer Samsung’s health philosophy. There are two styles to choose from, and I find the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic to be the better value overall. If you opt for the Pixel Watch 2, though, you probably won’t be disappointed with the watch’s battery life.
>>> ＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞3.86V 542mAh Replacement Smart Watch Battery for Apple A2749
＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞＞ >>>> 3.88V 350mAh Replacement Smart Watch Battery for Samsung EB-BR890ABY