All these new smartwatches crush the Apple Watch in one regard

There’s hardly any doubt that the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch out there. But in one way, many non-Apple smartwatches that came out in the past couple of months are vastly better. 

I’m talking about battery life. 

Take Huami’s new Amazfit T-Rex, for example. It’s a smartwatch launched yesterday, at CES 2020, and it has a 1.3-inch AMOLED screen, GPS, Bluetooth, and a bunch of sensors to make it well-suited to its intended audience: the outdoorsy types. It can display phone notifications, it supports many watch faces, it has heart rate monitoring, and is generally a fully featured smartwatch. 

But what really makes it interesting (besides the low price of $139.90) is the advertised battery life of 20 days. This essentially makes charging a non-issue, and it’s a big deal in a smartwatch. 

I haven’t tried the Amazfit T-Rex out and I don’t know if Huami’s battery life claims are true, but I know it can be done. Recently, I’ve tested Huawei’s Watch GT 2, which has an advertised two-week battery life, and while it’s not quite true, its battery does last more than a week. Withings’ ScanWatch, launched just days ago, has an advertised 30 days of battery life (though it does lack many features that modern smartwatches have). 

Compare this to the Apple Watch Series 5, whose battery lasts “up to 18 hours” according to Apple. Depending on how you use it, you might occasionally need to charge it twice a day. Personally, I think the Apple Watch is far nicer than any other smartwatch on the market, but that dismal battery life is such a buzz killer that I probably wouldn’t use it even if someone gave it to me as a present. 

For some, daily charging isn’t a big deal. You plug your phone and your watch to a charger before you go to sleep every night, and you never have to worry about battery life. But I disagree. Charging one gadget daily — my phone — is mildly annoying. Charging two or more is unacceptable. Smartwatches typically have chargers that aren’t compatible with anything else, so you either need to invest in one of these (AirPower be damned) or carry a bunch of chargers every time you go on a trip. I’ve tried, many times, to get used to a smartwatch, and every time I’d quit after a few weeks as it died on my wrist after I’d forgotten to charge it. 

All that has changed with the Huawei Watch GT 2. It has many flaws, but it does one thing right: the battery lasts a long time. I’ve recently taken it on a four-day trip, and I didn’t need to bring a charger. I came back home with 40 percent battery left. 

I’m not sure how these new crop of smartwatches do it: It’s probably a combo of using a proprietary OS, low-power chips, and cutting down on certain features. But judging by the new smartwatches I’m seeing at CES, this is a pretty strong trend. Huami also has an Apple Watch clone called the Amazfit Bip S with an advertised 40-day battery life. I’m sure it’s nowhere near as good as the actual Apple watch, but hey, 40 friggin’ days! 

I sure hope Apple takes notes. Personally, I’d rather use a so-so smartwatch with tons of battery life than a great one that drains in less than a day. And these non-Apple, non-Wear OS smartwatches keep getting better.