We really should settle on a smartwatch charging standard like we did with phones. (also force easily replaceable batteries in both, so that they don’t become landwaste in 5 years time).
Ohh, also, I remember that some manufacturers support “reverse” (outbound) Qi charging from their phones. If you have such a phone and your watch supports Qi charging, you could just plug your phone in to charge, put your watch on the phone, and it will charge both simultaneously - no weird cables needed. That seems much neater.
Totally agree, I hope something gets standardized within a few years. It’s like the wild west of 2000s cell phone charging cables rn.
Is there something wrong with USB C? My last smartwatch charged via micro USB, and I do not understand why the industry pivoted to propriety charging cradles that each only work for one particular line of watches.
Is there something wrong with USB C?
The internal connector is a tad larger than micro USB in all dimensions (and definitely so compared to just a couple pads and magnets), and it’s more difficult to waterproof compared to a cradle.
I feel like for smartwatches, Qi charging is kind of the way to go (except for those designed for trekking/hiking, where you might want to recharge them from solar or something). The coil is thin and can just hang out in the back of the case, and the battery is so tiny that the losses of wireless charging are negligible in absolute terms.
I don’t know if usb-c would work, as smart watches being fitness devices are meant to be submerged in water while swimming. Most watch chargers I see are flat metal pins flush on the surface.
USB-C can be waterproofed down to an ok depth. The problem is size, and waterproofing increases the size even more.
