A new Kickstarter reckons it has the solution to any potential smartwatch battery woes, with a device that charges itself from kinetic energy – in other words, movement.
The Sequent smartwatch comes with a kinetic self-charging battery that feeds off the wearer’s movements. Of course, this technology is nothing new in the world of ‘normal’ watches, but it’s certainly a novel solution for dealing with the higher power demands of a smartwatch.
So what else does this timepiece have going for it? It looks pretty neat, and sports a Swiss-made ‘luxury design’ (complete with optional leather strap) as the Kickstarter page boasts, as well as a heart rate monitor, GPS tracking and an activity tracker.
The smartwatch also benefits from a system of fully customizable notifications, is water resistant to a depth of 50 meters, and is partnered with a biofeedback app (for iOS and Android) which gives you the usual sort of health coaching features.
Charging ahead
Obviously, if you wear the watch while doing strenuous activities such as sports, it’ll charge up even faster. The maker notes that if you move around normally during a day – so presumably that means just an average amount of walking about – the watch generates enough power to display the time and track your activity.
Using the GPS and heart sensor will consume more power, of course, but presumably if you’re utilizing heart rate monitoring, you’ll probably be exercising anyway.
There are several different flavors of the Sequent available to those willing to back the project on Kickstarter, including a steel edition of the watch, and a black one (with various different colored faces, too).
The most wallet-friendly version is the black edition which starts at 189 Swiss Francs – that’s around £150, $195 or AU$260. The estimated date of shipping is December 2017.
Sequent was funded in five hours and has already racked up over three times its goal, having accrued total pledges of just over 255,000 Swiss Francs (around £205,000, $265,000, AU$350,000) at the time of writing.
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