Samsung Faces Battery Drain Issue with Galaxy Watch

Samsung, which ambitiously announced its expansion into the healthcare sector, is now facing a significant problem with the rapid battery drain of its smartwatches. This issue follows recent criticism over the build quality of its Bluetooth earbuds, raising concerns about the overall reliability of Samsung's products.

Consumers who purchased the recently launched Galaxy Watch 7 have reported abnormal battery consumption. A review posted on Samsung Members, the company’s official consumer community, on the 23rd detailed the problem: “After purchasing the Watch 7, the battery drains by 10% every hour. Even after resetting, backing up, and learning usage patterns, the issue persists.”

Similar complaints followed, including: “After charging the battery to 100% and turning off the Bluetooth function, the battery dropped to 25% after 7 hours of sleep monitoring,” and “Even with all functions except heart rate monitoring turned off, the battery does not last 8 hours.”

In response, Samsung released a software update to fix the issue on the 30th. However, some users who updated reported, “The device temperature has significantly increased,” or “The previously problem-free product now has reduced usage time after the update.” It appears that the problem has not been fully resolved, and a period of observation is necessary.

A Smartwatch That Can’t Improve Its Battery Isn’t “Smart”

Battery life is a primary concern whenever new wearable devices are introduced because longer continuous wear time increases user satisfaction. Most consumers purchase wearable devices to track activities such as exercise and sleep, and to monitor real-time health data like steps and heart rate. Previous devices required charging once or twice a day, which was inconvenient.

Samsung emphasized the battery capabilities of the Galaxy Watch 7 series when it was unveiled earlier this month, stating that with the Always On Display (AOD) feature turned on, the battery could last up to 30 hours, and up to 40 hours with AOD off. This duration was considered a competitive advantage, as it allowed for continuous wear throughout the day without the need for charging, even after sleep monitoring.

Samsung also enhanced sleep-related functions, including sleep pattern analysis with satisfaction scores, coaching for better sleep, and detecting signs of sleep apnea. Existing features like heart rate, ECG, and body fat analysis, as well as new functions for monitoring advanced glycation end products (AGEs), highlighted the device's capability for continuous health monitoring.

However, with actual battery life proving to be only a quarter of Samsung's claims, all these efforts have lost credibility. One consumer stated, “When I visited the service center about the battery issue, the engineer advised me to ‘turn off health-related functions and Bluetooth.’ What’s the point of a smartwatch if you have to turn off its key functions?”

Another consumer shared, “When I went to the service center because of the battery issue, they said the device was normal and advised me to charge it 2-3 times a day if needed.”

Healthcare Expansion Strategy at Risk

Even if the rapid battery drain issue is partially resolved with the latest software update, Samsung still faces the fundamental problem of “declining brand trust.” This is the second quality control issue in less than a month since the new product launch event on the 10th.

Previously, Samsung's Bluetooth wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, faced criticism for inconsistent finishing on the charging case and main units, and malfunctioning noise-canceling features. Eventually, Samsung decided to offer exchanges and refunds for the product. The criticism was severe, as the defects were not in innovative new features but in basic product quality control.

Considering the prices of the problematic Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and the Galaxy Watch 7 early consumers, who trusted Samsung's brand value and product completeness, essentially paid a high price to participate in beta testing.

An industry insider commented, “Samsung has declared active collaboration with many partners to expand the ecosystem of its health management platform, Samsung Health. However, with consecutive defects in its self-manufactured products, this strategy seems to be losing credibility.”

In late May, Samsung held the ‘Samsung Health Partner Day’ and unveiled the Samsung Health Software Development Kit. The company planned to promote open collaboration by distributing the platform, where partners from various fields could develop features based on their expertise. Park Heon-soo, the Digital Health Team Leader of Samsung’s MX Division, stated, “Combining Samsung’s innovative technology with partners’ expertise will grow and enhance the digital health ecosystem.”

For Samsung's strategy to bear fruit, the company needs to focus on “product enhancement” alongside external collaboration.