Smartwatches tend to fall into two camps: those with e-ink screens, like the Pebble watches, which provide a week or so of battery life; and those with LCD or AMOLED screens, like most Android Wear devices and the Apple watch, whose life span is measured in hours or a day at best. Whilst manufacturers often try to increase the capacity of their batteries in an attempt to prolong life, it is often in the processor, which drives the watch, that the best changes can be made. Qualcomm, the leading provider of chips for Android Wear watches, has announced its new Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor. This, the company claims, is a specific new chip just for watches and is not only 30% smaller and cleverer than its current chips, but it consumes 25% less power. What difference this makes in practice is hard to say, given that it depends on the rest of the tech packed into the watch, but it’s certainly a good sign. The new chip is also bluetooth and wifi enabled, and provides LTE connectivity. The chip is available now to manufacturers, and LG has already announced that it will produce devices later this year that use it. Would greater battery life persuade our readers to buy a smartwatch?
More details can be found here.