Smartwatches were the most talked about device of 2014. Google’s Android Wear changed the way we use a simple watch on our wrist. From checking out notifications, alerts and messages, to monitoring our health and making phone calls, a smartwatch can even help you get directions using the GPS on your smartphone.
Google’s Android Wear debuted with big brands such as LG, Samsung and Motorola unveiling their wearables during the Google IO event, which showcased Android Lollipop in 2014. ASUS, Sony and now Apple a few others are also hopped on the bandwagon with their smartwatches. However, though the smartwatch can give you more productivity with every version, the only issue that is presently haunting the smart wearable is the battery life.
Most smartwatches out there can barely make it through a working day before it needs to hit the charging dock. 8 hours is the most you could achieve with a smartwatch, unless you use it as a timepiece with basic notifications. If you are a power user, a smartwatch would keep you running to the charging dock every few hours.
In a recent news uproar, Apple’s yet-to-be-launched Watch is allegedly suffering massive uptime issues citing poor battery life. The main reason—the power guzzling processor and the high-end display that can do 60fps.
A past leak stated that Xiaomi was allegedly working it’s their own smartwatch, but most of the information was just in the air. The last information did also reveal that Xiaomi is talking to its fans if they really need one and what they wanted on it. At the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 4, we were pleased to meet Jai Mani, Ex-Google executive and now Product Manager for Xiaomi India. We asked him about Xiaomi’s plans for a smartwatch, since we know the company would not want to be left behind with one of the smart wearables that the industry is heading towards.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Jai casually mentioned that there was a prototyping happening on a smartwatch, but did not spill any more beans on the topic. However, he did mention that they are waiting for some more light on battery life. Since a smartwatch needs to have a powerful-enough processor within, the room for a large battery is next to impossible. The small battery cannot power a high-end processor for long hours. Jai mentioned that they also need to work on the operating system firmware, on the core level, to ensure that the battery being used is minimised.
Since the recent news about a battery charger, which can charge a smartphone in less than a minute, could make their day. However, the battery also needs to be a unique one, and not a conventional lithium ion or lithium polymer type. If the new batteries can be made thinner, smaller and lighter, they can be implemented in all portable smart devices, soon. However, since the technology is pretty much in its early stage, the price for implementing such batteries could hit the roof. If Xiaomi acquires some breakthrough in both hardware and software fronts, then definitely we could see a wearable from the Chinese tech giant. For now, the Xiaomi smartwatch is only a rumour, unless something is leaked out.
