Qualcomm finally has a new chip for the next generation of Android smartwatches

It's been two and a half years since Qualcomm released a new smartwatch chip, and since then Android smartwatches have stagnated. But in the coming months, they could finally see significant improvements: Qualcomm launches a new processor for watches, called Snapdragon Wear 3100, designed to extend the life of batteries, improve permanent displays and offer more versatility. sports equipment and fitness sensors.

The main feature of the new chip is the addition of a low-power secondary processor, which is supposed to handle most of the work when a smartwatch is not used. This coprocessor will power the sensors and the ambient display of a watch, while using up to 20 times less energy than the main processor, according to Qualcomm.

"95% of the time you do not really interact with [your watch], you are in ambient mode or in permanent detection mode, "says Pankaj Kedia, the leader in portable solutions from Qualcomm. "So the coprocessor is where you are 95% of the time … we do fewer and fewer things [processor]. "

For this generation of chips, all that changes. Both the Wear 3100 and the Wear 2100, its predecessor, share the same main processor – so there is no reason to expect significant speed gains. The coprocessor is the main improvement, which means that almost all the improvements made by Qualcomm's new chip come from what the coprocessor can do.

Many of these improvements are battery related. Qualcomm estimates the battery life of more than a day for a typical Wear OS smartwatch, or about five hours longer than current fashion style models. Companies could also choose to use a smaller battery and reduce their watch. Sport watches are supposed to have a boost too. The new chip is designed to do a better job with GPS, helping them to run continuously with about 15 hours of use – although Qualcomm assumes that these watches will have bigger batteries in the first place, which means thicker devices.

The coprocessor is also supposed to allow a much richer ambient display. Qualcomm says that a watch can now display a second hand in fluid motion, as well as complications when updating live, such as a step counter, and all this in 16 colors. Most of these things do not seem particularly impressive, but one of the few benefits of Wear OS over Apple Watch is their ability to display a watch at any time; Adding complications to this will make the feature even more valuable.

Smartwatches with a Wear 3100 processor will gain another practical tip: if their battery is low, the main functions of the smartwatch can go out, allowing the battery to last several days while feeding a simple watch. Qualcomm claims that starting at 20% battery, you'll get one extra week of use in this mode. The disadvantage is that Wear OS stops, so you do not get features like notifications. But at least he will continue to read the hour.

The last interesting update is about how the chip handles the sensors. In the past, companies had to rely on algorithms designed by Qualcomm to read the heart rate or other data collected. But now, Qualcomm says that hardware companies will be able to write their own code, which could allow some companies to have an edge over others. This is something that Qualcomm thinks is particularly useful for companies that manufacture sports watches.

Qualcomm indicates that the first watches with a Wear 3100 chip will be delivered before the end of the year. Among the first to come out, there will be the models of Fossil, Louis Vuitton and Montblanc – Google, however, will not be present this year, having said last week that he did not plan to launch the rumor Pixel Watch. That fashion brands are first time adopters should not be a surprise. Over the last two years, fashion brands have embarked on smartwatches and produced models after watch models with different designs and few other improvements.

But the biggest question is whether this will be enough to revive the Wear OS ecosystem. Although it has been promising, the platform has collapsed and updates have been slow, both on Google's software side and the hardware side of Qualcomm and other companies. fleas.

Obviously, at the end of this year, the platform is experiencing a new surge. Alongside the new Qualcomm chip, Wear OS watches also benefit from Google's enhanced software, which is supposed to make navigating the platform easier and, in general, more useful.

None of these major revisions, however. And the platform is facing a difficult future: in two days, Apple will announce a remodeled version of the Apple Watch that seems to be, at least in terms of hardware, ahead of Wear OS watches. And even though Apple's software is not necessarily a marvel, it has evolved enough to simply and consistently manage the basic functions that users are looking for.

Wear OS will need more than just support to catch up. Qualcomm says it's not accurate to say that the company did not do anything with the watches for two years – the Wear 2100, which preceded that, has been improved over time through software updates. And Wear 3100 will be the same. "The features we announce on the first day are just the beginning of the road," he says. Scheduled updates are supposed to add new features and further reduce power consumption.

Yet, all this seems to be a step forward. And unlike Apple, which can improve both hardware and software at a steady pace, improvements for Android smartwatches depend on three different parts: Google, Qualcomm, and the hardware manufacturers that make the watches. Until now, we have seen what two of them have planned for this year. Then the real watches.