Matrix's new solar-powered smartwatch never needs to be charged

One of the biggest complaints with modern smartwatches is battery life. If you’re buying anything powered by Google’s Wear OS, for instance, you can usually only expect the battery to last a day or so. A company called Matrix is well on its way to fixing that headache. Its new smartwatch, the Matrix PowerWatch 2, is powered by the user’s body heat and solar power, which means it never needs to be charged.

Yes, you read that correctly — using a combination of solar-cell technology and thermoelectric energy, the PowerWatch 2 will never run out of battery. The company’s older PowerWatch X smartwatch also used body heat for power, but that was apparently only enough to generate enough energy for limited sensors. This time around, the PowerWatch 2 has a built-in GPS, heart rate sensor, and a full-color LCD display.

Thanks to the new sensors, the new watch will be able to track your distance traveled, pace, cadence, steps taken, calories burned, sleep, and more. It can also be connected to Google Fit and Apple HealthKit this time around.

Matrix says it focused on reducing the size of the solar-cell and thermoelectric sensors, so it was not only able add in more sensors, it also managed to make the watch smaller. The PowerWatch 2 is a much more acceptable 42mm in size compared to the PowerWatch X’s 50mm.

As far as I’m concerned, these are sensors that need to be inside every smartwatch. It would especially make a huge difference for watches that rely on GPS connectivity, as those are some of the more power-intensive sensors found in wearables today.

If you want to get your hands (wrists?) on the PowerWatch 2, you’ll need to do so soon — the watch goes up for pre-order today for $200. Once all the early bird orders are taken, you’ll need to shell out $499 for the standard retail price.

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