Look Out, Apple! Galaxy Watch Could Get Much Better Battery Life

The Galaxy Watch 5 is rumored to offer three-day battery life, making it stand out among a legion of premium smartwatches that barely last 24 hours.

A new batch of rumors regarding the Galaxy Watch 5 indicate Samsung’s upcoming wearable will offer an impressive three-day battery life. Considering the Galaxy Watch 4 could scarcely last two days, that’s a marked improvement for Samsung’s flagship wearable. Samsung is expected to reveal more about the Galaxy Watch 5 during its Galaxy Unpacked event on August 10, but it sounds like the latest rumors could be spot-on regarding the smartwatch’s battery.

“Given the Galaxy Watch 4 could go for two days, a three-day battery sounds very reasonable,” Michael Gartenberg, tech analyst and Apple’s former marketing director, told Lifewire via Twitter. Gartenberg went on to call this a “meaningful” upgrade, as “people could go away for a weekend and not need to bring a charger.”

Three Days Is a Long Time for a (Mainstream) Smartwatch

The Galaxy Watch 5’s supposed three-day battery life isn’t breaking any records. Plenty of smartwatches can go days without a recharge, such as the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar, which can run for a staggering 16 days. But that premium device carries a hefty $750 price tag and isn’t nearly as mainstream as the Galaxy Watch.

However, if Samsung does pack a three-day battery into the Watch 5, it could be among a handful of flagship products to boast that level of longevity. As Ben Dickson, software engineer and founder of TechTalks, told Lifewire via Twitter, the appeal of battery life “depends on the watch” and doesn’t immediately mean the wearable will find success.

“Apple Watch has very good features, but poor battery life. Garmin has decent battery life, but it is not as solid as Apple,” Dickson said. “So three-day battery life would be acceptable on something at the caliber of Apple and Samsung.”

The Galaxy Watch 5 might not boast the longest battery life on the market, but it’s positioned to offer one of the best for a mainstream wearable with a reasonable price tag—and far surpass what the Apple Watch offers. Limited runtime has long been an issue for smartwatch buyers, and reducing the frequency of recharges could be a big selling point.

Rumors Point to a Cheaper Base Price

Speaking of pricing, new rumors put the Galaxy Watch 5 at a starting MSRP below that of the existing Galaxy Watch 4. The Galaxy Watch 5 will reportedly cost $10 less than the outgoing model, while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro (the Watch 4 Classic’s replacement) will be $30 more expensive. Unlike the battery rumors, however, Gartenberg isn’t certain about the validity of these numbers.

“Given the economy, I’d say that will be something decided right up until the end,” he said.

The economy has been nothing if not tumultuous of late, and it’s possible Samsung will change course on pricing in the days leading up to the Galaxy Watch 5’s reveal. These early figures are encouraging, and hopefully, we’ll learn more about pricing during next month’s Galaxy Unpacked.

Stacking Up to the Competition

The Apple Watch has long been the champion of smartwatches, thanks to a premium design and suite of exclusive features not found on other wearables. According to a June 2022 report from Statista, “Apple has been the industry leader in the wearables segment [since 2017], with almost nine billion euros in revenue coming from the wearable segment in early 2022.”

That same report mentions Samsung as Apple’s closest competitor, as “one of the largest owners of wearables patents.” In fact, Samsung holds more than three times as many wearables patents as Apple—meaning the company could have big plans for its Galaxy Watch lineup.

We won’t know exactly what the future holds for the latest wearable until it’s revealed, but Gartenberg believes the play for battery life will “give buyers one more reason to think of Samsung as their next purchase.”