Smartwatches are nifty devices that pack a punch when it comes to features. However, they've always had a catch-22 situation. Increasing battery capacity makes them bulkier, but their processors become more power-hungry as the OS becomes more complex. Most smartwatches barely last a couple of days. But what if we could have the best of both worlds? Enter the Wear OS Hybrid Interface. What is Wear OS Hybrid Interface? Non-Wear OS watches like Garmin smartwatches can last over 100 hours. Even Samsung's original Galaxy Watches, running on Samsung's Tizen OS, had battery life measured in days, not hours. The new Hybrid Interface is Google’s attempt at fixing the battery life problem that’s plagued Wear OS for years now. The Wear OS Hybrid Interface is essentially a software solution within Wear OS that smartly manages the smartwatch's internal processors. Many modern Wear OS smartwatches use a "dual-chipset architecture” with a powerful main processor (Application Processor or AP) and a low-power processor (Microcontroller Unit or MCU). Google’s solution helps assign certain tasks to either the high-power chip or the low-power chip. Wear OS devices have been inching towards this solution for some time. Watches have been equipped with low-power "co-processors" either integrated into the system-on-a-chip (SoC) or added as an auxiliary chip. The game-changer here is the additional OS, which enables the hardware to put Wear OS into hibernation when the watch isn't in active use. Google puts it this way: "The Wear OS hybrid interface enables intelligent switching between the MCU or the AP, allowing the AP to be suspended when not needed to preserve battery life. It helps, for instance, achieve more power-efficient experiences, like sensor data processing on the MCU while the AP is asleep. At the same time, the hybrid interface provides a seamless transition between these states, keeping a rich and premium user experience without jarring transitions between power modes." Wear OS Hybrid in action on OnePlus Watch 2 To get a better idea of how this works, let's examine the recently launched OnePlus Watch 2, which promises a battery life of up to a whopping 100 hours. The watch runs a combination of Wear OS, powered by the Snapdragon W5 chipset, and an RTOS running on the BES 2700. The more powerful app processor sleeps while the lower-power co-processor handles basic tasks like displaying notifications and watch faces. The main chip only wakes up for more intensive tasks. There's a setting to force the main processor to run everything for maximum smoothness, but the co-processor performs excellently on its own. This is similar to how Android works on your phone. Android phones assign simple tasks to low-energy cores on processors like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Meanwhile, demanding tasks get assigned to the power cores on the same chip. The switching happens automatically and seamlessly. You don't have to mess with power modes or manually change settings. What's even cooler is that developers don't have to do anything to optimise their apps for hybrid Wear OS. Wear OS APIs now handle all the work and optimisation. From a software developer's perspective, it works exactly as it did before. The responsibility now lies with the watch manufacturer. The right hardware needs to be used, and any software customisation by the manufacturer must adhere to the same principles. Impressive results This wizardry seems to be working. In our review of the OnePlus Watch 2, we found that it lasts 4 days with the always-on display on, pretty close to the 100 hours of promised battery life. We reckon the watch may even exceed that figure with the always-on display turned off. The watch also offers an option to extend the battery life to a whopping 12 days if you switch to the power saver mode that only uses the low-powered chip for all tasks. However, the watch then loses its smartwatch functionalities like app support and functions more like a basic fitness tracker. Bottom line In the foreseeable future, we can expect a surge in the adoption of this technology by new smartwatches. Even older models might join the trend if they have the required hardware. Battery longevity is a critical factor for users, and it's worthwhile for companies to include any feature that boosts it. This Wear OS Hybrid wizardry is poised to redefine Android smartwatches as we know them by hitting that sweet spot between performance and battery life, thereby enhancing user experience.
