A lot of lifestyle improvements that have been recorded in recent times are largely due to advancements in technology. Technology has revolutionized so much about how we live and interact with our bodies and health. One technological innovation that has contributed greatly to the prevalence of healthy lifestyle choices today is the smartwatch.
The possibility of effectively tracking the duration and intensity of physical activities has contributed immensely to the rising levels of fitness awareness. Being able to share fitness progress with others on social media and the integration with the mobile phone which essentially makes it possible to control the phone gives the smartwatch an important selling point.
However, like all electronic devices and everything good, the smartwatch does not last forever. It needs to be regularly charged after prolonged use which depending on the brand of the watch can be between two to four days.
This is a good timeline and battery life but the truth is nobody likes having several devices to charge and I know that if you could, you will like to have a smartwatch that functions all the time without needing a refill. Although it is impossible to not charge the smartwatch, below is a list of things you can do to maximize the battery life of the watch and cut down the frequency of charging.
Don’t overdo it
The smartwatch is amazing and it is very trendy at the moment. You are likely to see people staring at their wrists every other minute even as they walk on the street. This is simply overdoing it. The goal is not to turn the smartwatch into another smartphone that you get attached to and addicted to. The watch is supposed to inject some organization and orderliness into your daily schedule.
I know that the lines are getting blurry especially with features like the eSIM and the regular SIM card slots but you have to remember not to overdo it. There is a direct relationship between use and battery discharge. The more features and apps you have on your smartwatch, the more its power requirement and the faster will be the loss of capacity and the need to recharge.
Operational Settings
The smartwatch is similar to the smartphone, so there are some settings that can optimize power consumption.
Limit the number of notifications you don’t have to receive notifications from every app that is installed on your device. Again, this is not your phone and notifications should be reserved for only important apps.
Limit the number of apps I know the excitement that comes with unwrapping your new smartwatch, reading the manual, and discovering that it is capable of so many things. The fact that you can connect and sync the watch to almost everything on your phone does not mean that you should. If you do though, you will pay for it with faster battery deterioration.
Change the brightness level low brightness levels consume less power. Depending on the environment, whether you are outside or inside, you can adjust this level to optimize power capacity.
Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections when not in use these are probably the most power intense applications on the smartwatch. You will notice that your watch often gets heated after prolonged usage of these features. It is a testament to the amount of power that they drain from the battery, so if they are not in use, turn off the features and do not sync with your phone. The reduction in temperature after this is also good for your battery.
Use the resources available for battery health there are features like battery-saver that should be turned on automatically after a threshold has been reached. Also, the device gives an indication of the applications draining the most power from the battery, use this feature to monitor the battery health.
Charging and Discharging
Charge and discharge are the wear and tear process for the battery. These processes contribute to the deterioration of the battery life and close attention should be given to them. It is important to not overcharge your smartwatch. I know that leaving the smartwatch plugged into the power supply at night when you sleep is one of the easiest and most convenient ways of charging but it is not the best. Prolonged charging after 100% capacity of the battery has been reached can result in the disruption of the chemical makeup of the battery. Ultimately, this affects the lifetime of the battery.
Discharge should also be closely monitored. Under no circumstances should you allow the battery of your smartwatch to be fully drained before you recharge. Generally, it is advisable that you do not continue to use your device after it has approached 5% battery life as this can place a strain on the battery.
Turn off your watch at night
Except you are using the watch to monitor your sleep pattern, there is no need to keep the watch on throughout the night. Electronic appliances not in use should be turned off overnight. This will improve save battery life and keeps it at a constant level by the time you turn it on the following morning. If you leave your smartwatch on through the night, the battery charge level will drop. This is because even though you were not actively using it, there are some background operations going on in the watch that needs to be powered.
Conclusion
It is important to note that a lot of these observations and suggestions are not rigid at all. They might not have dramatic battery life savings but they will keep your device healthy and the lifespan will not be unnecessarily reduced due to carelessness.
While it is true that the effect of overcharging once in while or leaving your watch on throughout the night a couple of times is not hugely significant. However, the aggregation of all these factors over time will in no doubt result in poor battery health for your smartwatch device and ultimately affect the longevity of the device.
So, it is important to be a decent device user and not use the smartwatch carelessly. The fact that you cannot see the immediate effects of carelessly handling and unnecessarily overusing the smartwatch does not mean it is not happening.
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