The Galaxy Watch 6 is Samsung’s newest smartwatch, announced alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5. On paper, both variants carry a bigger battery than last year’s Watch 5. So is there an improvement in battery life?
The Galaxy Watch 6 is split up into two versions – Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The Classic holds a couple of key differences, like a rotating bezel – which Watch 4 Classic fans will appreciate – and a stainless steel body rather than titanium or aluminum. Regardless of those factors, the difference between the Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic is negligible.
Related: These new watch faces debut on the Galaxy Watch 6
The battery loadout for each device is the same, at 300mAh and 435mAh for the small and large variants of each watch, respectively. In both devices, Samsung also touts the same battery life at 30 hours with AOD on and 40 with it off. For some like myself, the always-on display is nonnegotiable, and I’ll accept that 30-hour figure.
With Samsung’s expanded focus on Sleep Coaching, there’s a need for the Watch 6 to be able to handle a full day of normal usage paired with a night’s rest in Sleep Mode, which turns the display off completely and saves battery.
Battery performance on the Galaxy Watch 6
During the pre-order phase of the Galaxy Watch 6, we’ve had the chance to put the watch through its paces. That means wearing it day and night, checking notifications, and tracking workouts and activity. With all of that, we’re really pleased with the battery life of the Galaxy Watch 6.
Samsung is right on the money with the 30-hour average estimated. In our usage, it’s easy to get a full day of normal usage and end up with around 50-60% battery left. With sleep mode on, efficiency increases tremendously, and you can make it through a night using only 10-15%. That leaves you with around 40% or more when you wake up in the morning.
At that time, it’s probably good to pop the Watch 6 on a charger for a quick resupply. The included 10W charger makes that easy, with 8 hours of extra battery life in around 8 minutes. We’ve found that to be pretty spot on, considering that translates to around a 30% top-up.
Is the battery any better?
Let’s compare that to the Galaxy Watch 5, which comes in two variants with dramatically different specifications. The Watch 5 carries a 410mAh power source while the Watch 5 Pro hulks around a 590mAh battery. At that kind of power, the Watch 5 Pro is rated for around 80 hours of usage, and that’s more than a fair estimate. The Watch 5 – 44mm 410mAh – is limited to around a day and a half under normal usage.
In comparison to the Watch 5, yes, the Galaxy Watch 6 has better battery life.
Users should see an increase in their usage time with some wiggle room for charging and recording a night’s rest. On our 44mm Watch 6 model, it was easy to make it through the day and night without worrying about charging it. In fact, it took another 8 hours or so to notice that the device had only so much power left. At that point, it was necessary to consider charging it, which is exactly what you’re looking for in a wearable.
The jump in performance is definitely a result of increased capacity and likely somewhat due to the change to an Exynos W930 processor over the W920 and its increased Bluetooth efficiency, which, in turn, affects battery life.
If you’re looking at the Watch 5 Pro compared to the Watch 6 or Watch 6 Classic, then no, the Watch 6 doesn’t have better battery life.
The newest release from Samsung isn’t going to get three days’ worth of screen time, but it’s ok to leave that to the “Pro” edition. That’s expected with the 5 Pro being targeted to a different audience that puts more emphasis on a rugged, do-it-all watch. The Watch5 Pro is still the epitome of Wear OS watches with fantastic battery life and will remain that way until Samsung or another company dethrones it.
The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic see a battery performance that walks the balance of producing enough power to last a day and night while also allowing for wiggle room in needing a charge. In combination with relatively speedy charging, the Galaxy Watch 6’s battery life falls well within “acceptable” and definitely comes as an improvement over last year’s smartwatches.
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