Apple Watch was released on March 9 with much fanfare and here is an insider view on the battery life and its power.
Power Levels and Reserve Mode
Good news is that Apple has firmed up itself contrary to reports that heavy usage of the watch will give you just about 2 hours of battery life. Apple Watch should now be up for up to 5 hours even under heavy usage of the device applications. And, for an average user, your battery life will run for a day. The only problem is that you will still need to recharge the battery every night as it will not last for the second full day.
There is also feature called “Power Reserve Mode” that can now be enabled when it is fully charged so that the device uses minimal power. It is not solely activated when the device’s battery life is at a certain level. The feature once switch one dims the display screen, slows the device’s communication with your iPhone and puts the screen display to sleep after two seconds of inactivity.
Power hungry
The fitness app is the most power thirsty of all and maintaining the battery life is going to be a painful experience. Under severe tests, with heart rate sensor the battery will last only for 6.5-7 hours and if you take phone calls, it is just about 3 hours. However, if you are happy using the Watch as a simple timepiece it will last you two days!
Another drawback with the battery, we are told by most testers, is the device takes four to five hours to fully charge up to 100% from 0% through the MagSafe charger. And, unlike the iPhone, the Watch does not show a popup the level of battery life left. Instead, when there is 20% life left, the Battery Life glance turns orange/amber as a sort of alert for the user. And when it is at 10%, it becomes red. The good side is that your iPhone’s battery will not suffer much due to connection with the Watch.
Powering Off, Force Quitting and Settings
There were lots of people asking whether they will be able to turn off the Apple Watch as it was suppose to come without a dedicated power button. And it did come as feared and we all saw it. However, the rumor that you will not be able to shut it down is totally wrong. You can simply turn it off by keeping on a long press at the “communication button” which is on the right side of the Watch. When you pressure tab this, a confirmation slider just like the one in iPhone, iPad and iPod comes up and you just have to swipe it to turn off the device. You can also do a Force Quit on some an unstable application by going to the shut down screen and then immediately press the button on the right side.
The device also includes a Settings app through which you can do manual power saving of your device. You can turn off the Bluetooth or simply put it in an Airplane Mode when you know you need to save the battery for later use. However, there is no Wi-Fi settings panel and this is probably going to be an issue in the long run. Oddly enough, you will need to use the WiFi setting from your iPhone.
Battery is Replaceable
The only good news to cheer about the battery life is that it has a lifecycle of three years and it is replaceable. Despite this assurance along with a promise of 18 hours non-stop usage, the device is not going to work as a replacement for your iPhone (anyway you are going to need the iPhone to fully utilize the power and features of the Watch).
