Google reveals how it calculated 24-hour battery life for Pixel Watch

Google has updated its support post (via 9to5Google) that focuses on the Pixel Watch battery. When the device launched, Google said that users could expect to get up to 24-hour battery life from the 294mAh battery powering the timepiece. At the same time, the company pointed out that “Charging times are approximate. Use of certain features will decrease battery life. Battery life depends on features enabled, usage, environment and many other factors. Actual battery life may be lower.”

Sure, that makes sense. This way, those getting less than 24 hours from the battery on their Pixel Watch can chalk it up to how they use the device. In all seriousness, that’s the way most mobile devices work. But wouldn’t it be great to know the features that Google used to come up with the 24-hour battery life for the Pixel Watch? Well, that is exactly what Google did in updating the aforementioned support page.

Google now writes that the Pixel Watch’s 24-hour battery life is based on the following usage:

• 240 notifications.
• 280 time checks.
• A 5 min LTE phone call.
• 45 min LTE and GPS workout with downloaded YouTube music playback.
• 50 minutes of navigation (Google Maps) while connected to a phone via Bluetooth.
• The watch configured with the default settings, including the Always-on display (AOD) set to off.

You can see that according to Google, you might need to disable the Always-on display (which is disabled by default) in order to get all-day battery life from your Pixel Watch. This doesn’t mean that you automatically won’t be able to make your watch last 24 hours with the AOD on, but it does make it harder to do.

Apple also has a website that explains how it came up with the All-day battery life for the Apple Watch. According to Apple, “All-day battery life is based on the following use:

90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 60-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS) usage includes connection to iPhone via Bluetooth during the entire 18-hour test; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours.”