[HN Gopher] Low-cost Smartwatch powered by ESP32 module
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Low-cost Smartwatch powered by ESP32 module
        
       Author : ofrzeta
       Score  : 91 points
       Date   : 2023-08-08 19:35 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (linuxgizmos.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (linuxgizmos.com)
        
       | MaxikCZ wrote:
       | I can see it uses 3.7V/400mAh battery, but whats the actual
       | battery life?
        
         | 542458 wrote:
         | AliExpress reviews seem to say 12h or so with all the power
         | saving features turned on.
         | 
         | Without the power-saving... An ESP32 draws 90-240ma when
         | active, and I'm sure the battery capacity is significantly
         | overstated, so if you just flash a simple Arduino sketch it'll
         | probably drain the battery in under an hour.
        
       | afavour wrote:
       | This mostly just reminds me that I really miss my Pebble Time
       | Round watch. Perfect form factor, great battery life.
        
         | ilyt wrote:
         | I had original Pebble and even 7 day battery life was a bit
         | annoying, couldn't imagine having to charge my watch every 2-3
         | days as some modern smartwatches have. Ended up getting just a
         | solar powered casio with no smart features whatsoever...
         | 
         | Garmin makes ones with over 2 weeks of battery life but for the
         | money I can't excuse spending on a watch just to get some
         | gadgets.
        
       | tasty_freeze wrote:
       | Although I've been a working EE for 40 years and understand how
       | exponential growth works, I'm still shocked at how powerful it is
       | and how little it costs.
        
       | wlkr wrote:
       | Funny to see this here as I stumbled upon this company earlier
       | today. They seem to have a wide range of interesting products and
       | an active GitHub account.
       | 
       | https://www.lilygo.cc/collections/all
       | 
       | https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/
        
       | dvh wrote:
       | I managed to make esp32 stream video for 6h using two 18650
       | batteries. It is hungry.
        
         | hinkley wrote:
         | What's the low power alternative?
        
       | Corsome wrote:
       | I wonder if the display could be changed to
       | https://www.waveshare.com/product/rp2040-lcd-1.28.htm
        
         | joshmarinacci wrote:
         | I have played with this device and got CircuitPython working on
         | it. It's fairly undocumented but with the demo apps source I
         | could get the touch, accel, and screen working. However I've
         | not been able to get the battery to last more than an hour even
         | with screen blanking.
        
         | PMunch wrote:
         | I saw that waveshare link and was really hoping for some eInk
         | stuff. I would buy a package like that in a heartbeat if it had
         | eInk. Heck, might even get a couple if the price was right.
        
           | traverseda wrote:
           | Exactly what you're looking for https://watchy.sqfmi.com/
        
             | award_ wrote:
             | Wow very neat, thanks! Happen to have any other similar
             | suggestions? That one is backordered for months.
        
       | SparkyMcUnicorn wrote:
       | I have this watch, and got it to tinker with since it had some
       | fun sensors, mic, and speaker.
       | 
       | Haven't turned it on in a while, but the battery life was
       | definitely measured in minutes. It will not last anywhere close
       | to a full day, even with a bunch of optimizations and certain
       | things turned off. Even with the display off, ESP32s drain tiny
       | batteries.
       | 
       | It's only practical for tinkering, and an M5Stack is definitely a
       | better choice for that.
       | 
       | EDIT: Checked my notes. I was able to get it past the 24 hour
       | mark with some work.
       | 
       | This repo has some helpful info: https://github.com/Xinyuan-
       | LilyGO/TTGO_TWatch_Library/blob/m...
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-08-08 23:00 UTC)