While the new Fold and Flip phones are likely to take centre stage at Samsung Unpacked next week, there’s growing intrigue about this year’s Galaxy Watch upgrades.
A new report suggests Samsung is upgrading the smartwatch to USB-C charging and equipping the watch with a 10w magnetic docking cable. That much has been rumoured in the past, but what that could mean in practice is the ability to regain almost half charge in just 30 minutes.
That’s according to Twitter leaker SnoopyTech (via 9to5Google), who also posted purported images of the 10W fast charger. That seems like it’ll be a significant boost compared to the current Galaxy Watch 4, going by our review. It suggests the Galaxy Watch 5 could get close to a full recharge in little over an hour.
“With 10% battery in the tank, it took one hour and 33 minutes to get back to 100%,” our reviewer wrote of the Galaxy Watch 4. “This isn’t too bad, and I was able to get to 75% from just an hour at the power outlet, which would be more than enough for most people to get through the day.”
The report comes amid indications the Pro version of the Galaxy Watch 5 will have a battery that will last for “at least 3 days.” That would be unprecedented for a smartwatch running on Wear OS and would help to solve a major pain point for the sector, including the Apple Watch. Recent reports have suggested the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro could have a 572mAh battery, which would be a 60% boost over the current models in the range.
It would stand to reason that the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will switch to USB-C too and also rock the 10W charging cable. We’re almost certain to find out at Unpacked on August 10.
