The European Union is forcing Apple to transfer absolutely all manufactured smartphones to a single connection standard – USB-C. Despite the genuine love for the brand, it is simply impossible not to support such coercion. It would also be nice if the relevant regulatory authorities would pay attention to the wearable electronics market. Here, the devil knows what exactly happens on it: manufacturers use different and often inconvenient chargers that are not compatible with each other. However, to be honest, it is hard to believe that the problem will somehow be sorted out in the foreseeable future.
Manufacturers of wearable electronics resemble Krylov’s fable
→ “Swan, Pike and Cancer” – the most accurate description
“When there is no agreement among the comrades, their business will not go smoothly, and nothing will come out of it, only flour,” these lines from a brilliant fable describe the situation with chargers in the wearable electronics market in the best possible way. Each manufacturer has a purely individual opinion on the question of how to energize the device he produces.
There are plus or minus positive examples. Apple has come up with one particular charger and uses it in all of its smartwatches. Approximately in the same way the company Garmin works. With Amazfit, the situation is also sane – one universal adapter is used for the company’s smartwatches, and the second for smaller fitness bracelets and other similar gadgets of this size. Although all these examples seem to be quite positive, they do not look like this if the user prefers not to be within the same ecosystem and regularly tries devices from other brands. In this case, each time he needs to acquire a set of new cables with the necessary connectors.
▶︎ Fact: Apparently, Apple understands the problem of a variety of chargers for wearable electronics. That’s why AirPods Pro 2nd Generation now supports the magnetic connector for Apple Watch.
However, there are more negative examples. They concern the incredibly popular Xiaomi fitness bracelets, the chargers for which change almost every generation. If you have a brand new Pixel Watch in your hands, you will probably think that everything described above is flowers. Google smartwatches don’t officially support Qi wireless charging, but some (not all) stations will be able to power them up. What’s more, you can use the bundled cable from the Galaxy Watch 5 to charge your Pixel Watch, but you can’t charge Samsung watches with Google’s branded wearable accessory. Horror!
Why brands can’t agree on a common charging standard
→ they seem to be doing it on purpose, but it gets harder
Of course, it would be great if every wearable device had a classic USB-C input and support for fast charging, but it is unlikely that any company will come to this in the foreseeable future. No, the key brands of smartwatches and bracelets from the world of Android, as well as Apple, are already using cables with USB-C on one side, but on the other there can be absolutely everything that only fantasy tells. The fact is that wearable electronics today cannot be standardized in the same way as smartphones – it uses too many different shapes and sizes, tricky sensors and other useful and not very nuances. What’s more, wearable electronics are designed to be as compact as possible, yet self-contained – each brand is moving its own path in this regard.
It is quite possible that order in the wearable device market could be restored with the help of some new charging standard. But it is very difficult to say what exactly could be used. Perhaps something magnetic without open contacts, like the Apple Watch, or the most simple contact group, like many Huawei smart watches. However, it is important to understand that any such initiatives can very well slow down progress in the development of wearable electronics. Just imagine that the notional Google wanted to start charging smartwatches from human heat for a couple of years, but the regulators intervened in this process and buried the excellent technology. Moreover, brands will not do anything like this voluntarily – they need strict regulation, which, as practice shows, will take years.
The only way out can be wireless charging of gadgets
→ it is desirable that it works at a distance
There is a feeling that something like Qi will eventually turn out to be the most sane option for a single charge of wearable electronics. Nevertheless, for this, the technology will still have to be rethought – it should become more convenient for small gadgets. It would be ideal to transmit energy at a distance, about which there was an active discussion a couple of years ago. However, it seems that in the near future such technologies will still remain on paper and they decided not to bring them to mind. Traditional wireless charging is bad because of the need for tight contact, which can be hampered by the inability to put the same watch on the station exactly due to the strap or other design features. However, apart from wireless charging everything and everything, there is nothing adequate for wearable electronics even on the horizon. Or do you have other thoughts?
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
