Next-gen Smart Watch
According to sources in the industry on March 16, Samsung Electronics is expected to use Samsung’s own 14 nm Exynos 7420 application processor in its next-generation wrist watch tentatively named “Orbis.”
By using the APs manufactured with the 14 nm semiconductor process, which conserves energy, the company will dramatically improve the efficiency of the batteries, which is the core competitiveness of wearable devices.
The Orbis is a smartwatch that Samsung Electronics is expected to release within the second quarter of this year. It features a round display rather than the existing square-shaped smart watches. The Orbis seems to be ready to compete with the Apple Watch, which will be released around the same time.
The industry believes that Samsung Electronics will conserve battery life when it uses the 14 nm AP in the Orbis. Until now, the short battery life of smart watches on the market were common concerns. Samsung Electronics’ Gear S can last up to 24 hours with a single charge, as can LG Electronics’ Urbaine. Sony’s Smartwatch 3 can run up to 48 hours, whlie Apple’s Apple Watch only lasts 18 hours.
The 14 nm manufacturing process means shaping the line width of semiconductor circuits in the submicron size of one billionth of 14 meters. If the width of the circuit decreases, electrons move faster and energy consumption rates decrease as well.
Samsung Electronics will also use the a 14 nm Exynos 7420 processor in the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, which will be released next month. The processing speed of the Exynos 7420 is 20 percent faster than the existing Exynos 5433, while the power consumption is 35 percent lower. Previously, Samsung Electronics used Samsung’s own AP Exynos 3250 on the Gear S smart watch. This is in contrast to most Android wearable devices mounting Qualcomm APs.
Samsung will also use wireless charging technology, which was mounted in the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, in the Orbis.
However, some say that it will be difficult to dramatically improve energy efficiency, considering the recent test results of the Galaxy S6 conducted by GSMArena. The U.S.-based IT news site announced that the battery efficiency of the Galaxy S6 is lower than the previous Galaxy S5 model. According to the tests, the Galaxy S6 only lasted 17 hours and 29 minutes when talking on the phone in 3G, 8 hours and 44 minutes when browsing the web, and 10 hours and 24 minutes when playing video. On the other hand, the Galaxy S5 lasted 27 hours and 37 minutes when talking on the phone in 3G, 9 hours and 39 minutes when browsing the web, and 11 hours and 15 minutes when playing videos.