Smartwatches are impressive gadgets known for their diverse features. However, they’ve consistently faced a dilemma. While boosting battery capacity adds bulkiness, the processors tend to demand more power as the operating system becomes sophisticated. Consequently, many smartwatches struggle to last beyond a couple of days. Yet, what if there was a solution that offered the advantages of both scenarios? Introducing the Wear OS Hybrid Interface.
What exactly is the Wear OS Hybrid Interface?
Watches not utilizing Wear OS, such as Garmin smartwatches, boast battery lives lasting over 100 hours. Even Samsung’s original Galaxy Watches, operating on Samsung’s Tizen OS, offer battery life measured in days rather than hours. The newly introduced Hybrid Interface represents Google’s endeavor to address the persistent battery life issue that has afflicted Wear OS for years.
The Wear OS Hybrid Interface functions as a software solution integrated into Wear OS, adeptly managing the internal processors of the smartwatch. Many contemporary Wear OS smartwatches employ a “dual-chipset architecture,” featuring a robust main processor (Application Processor or AP) alongside a low-power processor (Microcontroller Unit or MCU). Google’s solution intelligently allocates specific tasks to either the high-power chip or the low-power chip.
Wear OS devices have been gradually moving towards this solution for some time. Watches have been furnished with low-power “co-processors,” either integrated into the system-on-a-chip (SoC) or added as an auxiliary chip. The breakthrough lies in the additional operating system, which allows the hardware to place Wear OS into hibernation mode when the watch is not actively in use.
According to Google, “The Wear OS hybrid interface facilitates intelligent switching between the MCU or the AP, enabling the AP to be suspended when not required to conserve battery life. This enables more power-efficient operations, such as sensor data processing on the MCU while the AP is inactive. Simultaneously, the hybrid interface ensures a seamless transition between these states, maintaining a rich and premium user experience without abrupt shifts between power modes.”
The Wear OS Hybrid functionality in action on the OnePlus Watch 2.
To gain a deeper understanding of this mechanism, let’s take a closer look at the recently released OnePlus Watch 2, which boasts an impressive battery life of up to 100 hours. This watch operates on a combination of Wear OS, driven by the Snapdragon W5 chipset, and an RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) running on the BES 2700.
In this setup, the more powerful application processor remains in a sleep state while the lower-power co-processor manages basic tasks such as displaying notifications and watch faces. The primary chip only activates for more demanding operations. While there’s an option to compel the main processor to handle all tasks for maximum smoothness, the co-processor performs admirably on its own.
This mirrors the operation of Android on your smartphone. Android devices delegate simpler tasks to low-energy cores found in processors like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, while more demanding tasks are assigned to the higher-power cores on the same chip.
The transition occurs automatically and seamlessly, eliminating the need for users to adjust power modes or manually tweak settings.
What’s particularly impressive is that developers are not required to make any changes to optimize their apps for hybrid Wear OS. Wear OS APIs now handle all the necessary work and optimization. From a software developer’s standpoint, the process remains unchanged.
The responsibility now rests with the watch manufacturer. They must select the appropriate hardware and ensure that any software customization they implement adheres to the same principles.
This technical marvel appears to be delivering results. In our assessment of the OnePlus Watch 2, we discovered that it maintains a battery life of approximately 4 days with the always-on display activated, which closely aligns with the promised 100-hour battery life. It’s possible that disabling the always-on display feature could even surpass this duration.
Furthermore, the watch provides an option to extend battery life significantly to an impressive 12 days by activating the power saver mode, which exclusively utilizes the low-power chip for all tasks. However, in this mode, the watch forfeits its smartwatch functionalities, such as app support, and functions more akin to a basic fitness tracker.
Conclusion
In the near future, we anticipate a significant increase in the adoption of this technology among new smartwatches. Even older models could potentially embrace this trend if they possess the necessary hardware. Given the importance of battery longevity to users, companies have a strong incentive to incorporate any feature that enhances it. The implementation of Wear OS Hybrid technology is positioned to revolutionize Android smartwatches by striking a perfect balance between performance and battery life, ultimately elevating the overall user experience.