One of the primary concerns of consumers who are considering of buying the Apple Watch is its battery life. Previous reports indicate the device could only run 2.5 hours to 4 hours of heavy app usages or 19 hours of light app usage combined with notifications and checking of messages.
Apple made improvements in the battery of the Apple Watch prior to its official unveiling on March 9 during its Spring Forward event. It was recently reported that tech giant added a “Power Reserve” mode to increase the battery life of the Apple Watch. The feature is similar to the Battery Saver mode in Android 5.0, which extends the battery life by reducing processor use.
The battery life of Apple Watch can handle 5 hours of heavy usage and it would last 24 hours, better than its previously reported battery life, according to 9to5Mac based on information from people with hands on experience on the innovative, digital timepiece. Consumers will still need to charge the Apple Watch every night.
Apple Watch Power Reserve mode
Consumers can activate the Power Reserve mode of the Apple Watch through the Battery Glance, which shows that remaining battery life of the Apple Watch. They can also activate the function through the Settings application of the timepiece, according to the sources.
They also notice that the Power Reserve mode reduces the brightness of the display to save battery, and slows the communication of the Apple Watch with the iPhone to an on-demand level. The function automatically sets the display to a sleep mode after almost two seconds of inactivity.
According to the sources, one of the Apple Watch units they tests allowed then to access all the features of the time piece while it is in the Power Reserve mode. The other unit was limited to the clock face. They also noticed that the color of the battery glance changes to orange/amber, which serves as an alert to users when the battery goes down to 20%. At the 10% remaining battery life, the color turns red.
Apple Watch Voice Control and other features
The sources described the force-sensing touchscreen interface of the Apple Watch as a “screen that feels like a giant button than you just want to press in the manner needed for Force Touch.” According to them, it “feels natural” on the small screen.
They also noted that all types of information input on the Apple Watch can be done through Voice Control. The device is integrated with many options and voice dictation. Users will not yet be able to reply to their e-mails using voice dictation. They need to access their Mail app through their iPhone to compose a reply to their e-mails.
The Apple Watch is also capable of storing and playing music even if it is unlinked from the iPhone. Users can also stream music from the watch to external speakers or headphones via Bluetooth.
The sources also noticed that the Apple Watch heart rate monitor allows users to check their beats per minute (BPM) any time. According to them, an image of a heat shows when a user access the Heart Rate Glance, and once he or she starts measuring his or her heart rate, the screen shows that the BPM. According to the sources, the BPM readings were “seemingly accurate.”
Apple CEO, Tim Cook recently emphasized that the Apple Watch is correct to 50 milliseconds. He also said that the Apple Watch is designed to replace car keys and it will also function as a credit card.
Cook promised that consumers will love the Apple Watch for all sorts of reasons not just as a fashion statement. He pointed out that the device is engineered and designed as a great time-keeper.
