5 Wearable Gadgets With Unusually Long Battery Life

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Wearable devices are a great extension of your main device. A replacement, if you will, for your phone, letting you see notifications at a glance, track health stats and activity and much more. Smart watches and smart rings are good examples. But at their core, they are still electronic devices like anything else that runs on battery power. I don’t know about you, but I think I generally don’t want more devices that I have to charge daily, especially portable devices. An important qualifier for something like a smartwatch is battery life on a single charge. The longer it can last, the longer you can wear the device and stay away from cords, charging stands or adapters.

But the more features and hardware that are added to a device, the shorter the battery life typically becomes. This isn’t necessarily always the case, and if something is optimized to be more energy efficient, the actual usage may work better. Again, generally speaking, a wearable device with more features like GPS tracking, mobile connectivity, Wi-Fi, etc. will have lower battery life. On-board GPS is actually the smartwatch feature most likely to reduce battery life. This can make it difficult to find a device that meets the battery capacity requirements you set. With that in mind, we’ve put together a quick list of gadgets with unusually long battery life. Devices that truly allow you to spread your wings and fly away from the chicken coop – in this case, the chicken coop being the feeder.

Garmin’s activity-based smartwatches are a great option if you want to extend battery life beyond almost anything else out there. There is, however, one big reason why this is possible: it has to do with solar energy. The Enduro series is a great mention here, as is the Garmin Instinct 3 (solar), but the Enduro 3 stands out. It truly offers “best-in-class battery life” thanks to built-in solar power, reaching approximately 320 hours total (over 13 days) with GPS mode enabled and solar charging active. If you turn off GPS and have adequate solar charging conditions, battery life can be almost unlimited.

The Enduro 3, as the name suggests, is really meant for long-endurance activities like hundred-mile hikes, nature exploration, and long mountain hikes. We’re talking about the kind of extreme or remote conditions where you would absolutely need a device with reliable battery life. Feature-wise, it tracks a range of health stats, includes pre-programmed activity modes, displays alerts from connected devices, and offers outdoor, topographic, and trail maps, precise GPS tracking, and a host of sensors. Although expensive, at the full price of $900, it would work just fine, even as your standard smartwatch.

On Amazon, it has over 250 reviews with 4.7 stars out of 5. Users recommend buying the Enduro 3 over an Apple Watch, saying it is ideal for active users and is both an “absolute unit” of a watch and a “revolutionary upgrade” over less capable models. Tom’s Guide, GQ and Runner’s World all gave the Enduro 3 top scores.

If you rank all the major smart ring brands from worst to best, you’ll come across brands like Renpho, Oura, Circular, Leep, Ultrahuman, and even Samsung. But when it comes to battery life, RingConn usually takes the cake. The RingConn Gen 3 offers up to 14 days of battery life per charge for around $349 at full price. The stylish ring comes in multiple colors and styles and works with iOS and Android. Perhaps the most interesting feature is that RingConn’s previous devices are some of the best smart rings that don’t require a subscription to use their features long-term. The Gen 3 follows this trend.

With it, you get health tracking with vascular health insights – the first ring to offer such a thing – haptic vibration alerts, advanced body insights, and a companion mobile app. Although it’s relatively new, almost 30 people have left reviews on Amazon and it has a 4.8 star rating. Lifehacker gave it an excellent rating in their review, and a Tom’s Guide editor seemed satisfied after a hands-on experience. Users who own it say it’s excellent, comfortable and accurate, everything you’d want a modern smart ring to offer. Most importantly, they say it’s well worth the price and is feature-rich compared to others.

If you don’t want screens or bells and whistles on the device itself, but love health tracking and body information, allow us to introduce you to the Whoop series, specifically the Whoop 5.0. It delivers 14 days or more of battery life with fast charging for fast power in a snap. The core experience comes from personalized AI coaching, advanced health tracking, and continuous insights, all presented through the Whoop app. Coaching and insights are subscription-based, but with the Whoop 5.0 group you get a 12-month subscription. 24/7 activity and sleep tracking are also built in, so you barely take the band off unless you’re charging it.

For $239 total price, not including the various packages with the charger and accessories, it’s not a high upfront cost. It has over 3,200 reviews on Amazon with 4.3 stars out of 5. PCMag, CNET, and Men’s Health have all given it positive ratings. Users who own the device say it is one of the best fitness gadgets available and seem to like the tracking and information it provides. And if you’re curious how screenless fitness bands compare, in a Fitbit Air vs. Whoop head-to-head, the Whoop offers better battery life and more robust fitness and health insights, but is more expensive to subscribe to.

If you want a smartwatch with a vibrant AMOLED touchscreen, lots of great smart features, and reliable built-in tracking, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 fits the bill. It can last up to 27 days in certain conditions and more than a week with GPS active. There are a few models to choose from, including Pro and a rugged option designed for the outdoors. Rugged costs $280 full price, while the T-Rex 3 Pro costs $400 full price. The biggest differences are the Pro’s slightly larger built-in storage capacity, its dual-band GPS capabilities, and its changed appearance.

Either way, you get everything you could want from a flagship smartwatch. Built-in, accurate health and activity tracking, GPS and location tracking, on-device maps, rugged designs with water-resistance ratings, pre-programmed sport and activity modes, AI support, and voice controls. They also work with Android and iOS.

The rugged T-Rex 3 has more than 2,300 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. Tom’s Guide and ZDnet enjoyed their time with the rugged models, while a TechRadar editor loved the T-Rex 3 Pro. Smartwatch owners have shared that they are durable and bright, do everything they’re supposed to do well, and are both feature-rich and high-quality.

If you don’t want a bright touchscreen that can eat up battery life, but rather a hybrid smartwatch that blends traditional mechanical designs and smart features, the Withings ScanWatch 2 should be on your radar. It’s an analog watch through and through, with a small notification screen and built-in smart features, like health tracking or an ECG scanner. It monitors health and activity, sleep cycles and body statistics. All information is shared and presented either on the small screen or via the mobile application. You can also take advantage of Withings Intelligence, an AI-powered personalized insights tool to help you improve your overall health and much more. It’s about $370 full price, depending on the color and size you choose.

Because it doesn’t have a major screen, even with health tracking technology, it can last 30 to 35 days on a single charge. A month of uninterrupted use is pretty good, I’d say. On the official Withings website, it has a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5, with over 250 reviews. On Amazon, it has over 1,200 reviews and a 4.1-star rating. PCMag, Wired, and TechRadar also gave it decent reviews.

Users who own the watch say they love it, that it’s very attractive and doesn’t look like your average sports watch, and share that it’s suitable for triathletes and beyond.