Smart watches that do not require charging. How many are there?
The battery life is one of the most criticized parameters of modern smart watches. And each manufacturer is chosen differently to solve the problem. Recently, there are more and more options when the clock should work forever, “feeding on” heat, sun, holy spirit , kinetic energy, etc. We have collected several of the most vivid examples, concepts, prototypes and working gadgets in this collection.
First of all, we need to designate that we will not consider options for clocks that simply can work for a long time on battery: here we can include a hundred “hybrids”. I inserted the CR2032 and for a year forgot about the need for some kind of charging.
Another thing is that for most users a watch that can work for a year or two and a watch that does not need to be charged is never the same thing, after all, such examples are not exactly the same.
LunaR is an eternal hybrid smart watch, the cost of which is $ 299 . The source of uninterrupted power for them is solar energy, which is collected in an integrated panel.
The watch supports two time zones, analyzes physical activity and receives notifications, which are displayed on the display as diode signals. Works in tandem with a smartphone.
According to the developer, an hour of stay in natural light or a few hours in artificial light is enough to provide a continuous supply of energy. In this case, of course, we must remember that the clock display should not be hidden by the sleeves of clothing!
The amount of energy collected is available in the mobile application.
This is perhaps one of the most promising projects that is still under development . Pre-order can be issued on Indiegogo (Kickstarter has already collected a fair amount of money). The cost of "early" - $ 400.
The watch promises an eternal power reserve, the energy for which will be provided by kinetic energy: you move - the watch is charging.
In this case, the model will be able to support such sensors as the heart rate monitor and GPS, which are quite energy-intensive.
Steps, calories, notifications - wherever without them. Looks like something fantastic.
At the moment - this is more of a concept, not even a prototype, and Frederique Constant is in the subtitle, rather, to attract attention.
The fact is that the partner of the brand, who participated in the development of smart watches for the company earlier, is working on technology . The talk is still about hybrid watches, in which the “newest” solar panel will be integrated, which will accumulate so much energy in an hour that it is enough to count the steps and receive notifications.
In general - it looks like LunaR.
Matrix PowerWatch is already a serial copy that you can buy. The watch comes in three versions: two models are “watch-pedometers”, model X is a smart watch with the ability to receive notifications.
The work is based on the Seebeck effect, opened in 1821. The bottom line is that a thermocouple of different materials with a temperature difference is capable of producing a certain amount of energy, which can be enough for anything: in this case, the work of a pedometer, a sleep tracker, notifications and a digital clock. Yes, unlike all models from the list - Matrix - digital models.
The heating element in this context will be your wrist in contact with the back of the case. The external “cooler” will be the external environment. The charge index and temperature difference will be displayed. In particularly hot climates, the clock may not charge, but in this case, the accumulated energy is enough - up to one year of autonomous work.
With the new firmware version, PowerWatch X got a localized display.
Matrix is not the first to experiment with this method of charging gadgets. One of the earliest cases is the Bulova Thermatron model .
In 1980, the watches turned out to be too expensive, and the model practically did not remember the market, so that after almost 20 years Seiko was shown the Thermic model, which was based on the same principle of power, everything went as if in a new way.
The viability of this model was tried to be confirmed in Citizen by the Eco-Drive Thermo model.
However, in each of these cases we are not talking about smart watches: these are the usual “switch” models without any additional functions for their owners.
First of all, we need to designate that we will not consider options for clocks that simply can work for a long time on battery: here we can include a hundred “hybrids”. I inserted the CR2032 and for a year forgot about the need for some kind of charging.
Another thing is that for most users a watch that can work for a year or two and a watch that does not need to be charged is never the same thing, after all, such examples are not exactly the same.
LunaR - solar energy
LunaR is an eternal hybrid smart watch, the cost of which is $ 299 . The source of uninterrupted power for them is solar energy, which is collected in an integrated panel.
The watch supports two time zones, analyzes physical activity and receives notifications, which are displayed on the display as diode signals. Works in tandem with a smartphone.
According to the developer, an hour of stay in natural light or a few hours in artificial light is enough to provide a continuous supply of energy. In this case, of course, we must remember that the clock display should not be hidden by the sleeves of clothing!
The amount of energy collected is available in the mobile application.
SEQUENT - kinetic energy
This is perhaps one of the most promising projects that is still under development . Pre-order can be issued on Indiegogo (Kickstarter has already collected a fair amount of money). The cost of "early" - $ 400.
The watch promises an eternal power reserve, the energy for which will be provided by kinetic energy: you move - the watch is charging.
In this case, the model will be able to support such sensors as the heart rate monitor and GPS, which are quite energy-intensive.
Steps, calories, notifications - wherever without them. Looks like something fantastic.
Frederique Constant - “the newest solar panels”
At the moment - this is more of a concept, not even a prototype, and Frederique Constant is in the subtitle, rather, to attract attention.
The fact is that the partner of the brand, who participated in the development of smart watches for the company earlier, is working on technology . The talk is still about hybrid watches, in which the “newest” solar panel will be integrated, which will accumulate so much energy in an hour that it is enough to count the steps and receive notifications.
In general - it looks like LunaR.
Matrix PowerWatch X - thermoelectric element
Matrix PowerWatch is already a serial copy that you can buy. The watch comes in three versions: two models are “watch-pedometers”, model X is a smart watch with the ability to receive notifications.
The work is based on the Seebeck effect, opened in 1821. The bottom line is that a thermocouple of different materials with a temperature difference is capable of producing a certain amount of energy, which can be enough for anything: in this case, the work of a pedometer, a sleep tracker, notifications and a digital clock. Yes, unlike all models from the list - Matrix - digital models.
The heating element in this context will be your wrist in contact with the back of the case. The external “cooler” will be the external environment. The charge index and temperature difference will be displayed. In particularly hot climates, the clock may not charge, but in this case, the accumulated energy is enough - up to one year of autonomous work.
With the new firmware version, PowerWatch X got a localized display.
We have a coupon
On model X until the end of October there is a 10% discount - HBRX .
Matrix is not the first to experiment with this method of charging gadgets. One of the earliest cases is the Bulova Thermatron model .
In 1980, the watches turned out to be too expensive, and the model practically did not remember the market, so that after almost 20 years Seiko was shown the Thermic model, which was based on the same principle of power, everything went as if in a new way.
The viability of this model was tried to be confirmed in Citizen by the Eco-Drive Thermo model.
However, in each of these cases we are not talking about smart watches: these are the usual “switch” models without any additional functions for their owners.