7-day Wear OS Smartwatch Battery Life is Coming, Says Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit 2025 provided insights into the future of wearables, particularly smartwatches. Dino Bekis, VP & GM of Wearables & Mixed Signal Solutions at Qualcomm, shared valuable information on the challenges facing smartwatches today, specifically in terms of battery life and charging.

Currently, the majority of Wear OS watches struggle to last a full day on a single charge, with a complex array of proprietary chargers adding to the inconvenience. Bekis highlighted Qualcomm’s goal of achieving a week-long battery life for smartwatches, a significant improvement from the current three-to-four-day range offered by Snapdragon processors.

To achieve this ambitious target, Qualcomm is focusing on reducing power consumption through process node advancements and integrating hardware accelerators that require less main CPU complex overhead. Collaboration with Google on Wear OS and Android is also crucial to optimizing the operating system for efficient power usage.

While the road to a seven-day battery life may take some time, Bekis mentioned that a five-day battery life could be a more immediate goal. This progress would be a significant step forward for high-function smartwatches, with potential improvements in hardware design and software iterations contributing to enhanced performance.

In addition to battery life, charging methods for smartwatches have been a pain point for users. Bekis envisions a future where wireless charging becomes the norm, replacing the need for multiple proprietary chargers with a single wireless charging pad. This transition is expected to simplify the charging process and improve overall user experience.

While these advancements may take a few years to fully materialize, the prospect of longer battery life and convenient charging solutions for smartwatches is on the horizon. In the meantime, users seeking extended battery life may explore smartwatch models that operate on platforms other than Wear OS or watchOS.

As we anticipate these developments, the future of wearables is promising, with Qualcomm at the forefront of innovation in smartwatch technology.