Wearables Will Replace Smartphones… But Not Tomorrow

Based on materials Android Authority

Recently, more and more talk has been heard that wearable devices in

Smartphones will eventually replace us.In particular, these expectations are fueled by rumors about augmented reality glasses from Google, Apple and Meta*. In accessories like those seen in cyberpunk and other works of science fiction, an obvious factor of convenience comes into play. So, it is more convenient to determine the direction of your movement using the glasses that you are already wearing, rather than connecting to Android Auto and trying to place your phone on the car dashboard. As far as devices like smartwatches go, they have less potential, but theoretically there's no reason why a watch couldn't do more than what your smartphone can do today, like make video calls or surf the web.

However, at the moment there are not so many reasons for enthusiasm as it might seem. There are many roadblocks to a fully wearable future.

Processors: the problem of power and the degree of immersion

It could be assumed that it is the processorswill become the biggest limiter in the development of wearable devices, but in a sense they are just the strongest link in the chain at the moment. Devices like Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 are finally delivering a smooth and seamless user experience, and the Apple Watch Series 7 is powerful enough to allow wearers to watch YouTube or even make video calls using third-party bands. In the aspect of virtual reality, things are even better. Meta* Quest 2 may not be as impressive offline as it is when connected to a PC, but the fact that you can play non-remote games like Pavlov or Superhot is a promising sign. Mark Zuckerberg and Meta* promoted Quest 2 as a productivity tool and as the basis for the still vague concept of the metaverse.

An inevitable problem, however, islimited layout space. While VR headsets have as much room for processors as a phone, if not more, people expect watches and augmented reality glasses to be sleeker and lighter, especially if they're meant to be worn all day. This limits the chip size and therefore performance. Most modern smartwatches can't run multiple apps at the same time, not to mention the advanced 3D graphics we take for granted on smartphones.

In addition, processors limit the degreediving. Augmented reality glasses offer 3D since they are designed to project objects into reality, but the rendering is still underwhelming. For example, the yet-to-be-released Magic Leap 2 has a limited field of view of 70 degrees, while Microsoft's HoloLens 2 has an even smaller 54 degrees. Both fall short of 89 degrees on the Quest 2 or 130 degrees on Valve's Index VR headset. This not only reduces the immersion effect, but also limits the number of applications that can support augmented reality. You would not get carried away, for example, reading news on the web, if the browser was limited to a narrow field of view right in front of your eyes.

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Batteries: size matters

From the problems of the processor follows the limitation onbattery life. The faster the processor, the more power it consumes, but batteries need to be small enough to fit in a product worn on the wrist or on the head. Engineers will either have to limit performance to improve battery life, or put up with battery drain. This is one of the reasons why many Garmin watches can last for weeks, while the Galaxy Watch usually needs to be charged every day. Things are even worse with VR, with the Quest 2 limited to about two hours of use without a power cord or external battery at peak performance.

With watches and glasses of augmented reality complexthe task becomes autonomy that exceeds the working day, while smartphones can work 24 hours or longer. People also tend to forget to charge their wearable devices, and it is not uncommon for situations where recharging a device is simply inconvenient. Anyone who's taken long trips with a smartwatch knows how annoying it can be when they can't be charged anywhere.

Screen size and limited interaction

Above, we have already touched on the problem of the field of view inaugmented reality. But there is another obvious obstacle in the case of smartwatches: it is impossible to get around the restrictions that human eyes and fingers impose. And there aren't many interface elements to squeeze into a two-inch screen. Current phones are about six times bigger, so even with voice assistants and ultra-fast processors, watch apps are inherently limited.

One way to solve this problem isthe use of flexible OLED panels, but their strength is not yet strong enough to allow such panels to be wrapped around the wrist. Even the display of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is fragile, not to mention the fact that the watch can get dirty during a hike or not very well meet some piece of iron in the gym.

Plugin problemnia

Unlike phones, most watchesnot enough space for USB-C. And even if it did, you probably wouldn't want to sacrifice the watch's features to connect to a desktop setup like Dex, let alone connect directly to peripherals like keyboards or external drives. There are ways to replace missing ports, but the functionality of such solutions is inferior to that offered by smartphones, and is usually tied to a brand or a specific device.

AR and VR headsets typically have ports forwired connection, so they can be connected to a PC or a computer worn on the belt, as is the case with Magic Leap. The contradiction is that augmented reality glasses should be light and mobile, so any form of wired connection brings not convenience, but only annoyance.

Ultimately, the possibilities of wirelessconnections should be improved to the extent that wired connections are no longer needed. But fast wireless is another factor in battery drain, so it's hard to imagine when we'll see consumer wearables (non-VR) that can meet those standards.

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You can control your smartphone limitednumber of ways. If you don't like the on-screen buttons, you can connect external controllers such as mice, keyboards, and gamepads via Bluetooth or USB. You can also use voice assistants, and touchless gesture control allows you to use devices for people with disabilities.

In this regard, the watch cannot be compared withphones. When typing, even a flexible OLED watch with an on-screen keyboard assumes that you will work with one hand, which is far from ideal. And of course, there's no point in using external controllers when the screen is on your wrist. The watch may be capable of more than it is now, but for the foreseeable future we will use voice and basic touch controls.

The possibilities of AR and VR are wider, but for nowheadsets often involve the use of joystick-like motion controllers with multiple buttons, making virtual keyboard input difficult. In some cases, it is possible to track hands without a controller, but without haptic feedback. Luckily, there are real keyboard tracking options, and Meta* is working on alternative tactile feedback options, but it will probably take a few years for these to go from prototype to standard.

Will wearables replace smartphones?

Smart watches - definitely not.This form factor works well as a phone accessory or a stop-gap in some scenarios, but is otherwise too limited. The most we can hope for is a device that allows us to leave our phone at home more often - after all, most of the things we use our phones for are very simple. Things like taking notes, playing games, or ordering groceries just need a better interface.

Virtual reality helmets are more likely to replacelaptops and desktops than smartphones. Even if their battery life improves, by their very nature they are limited to indoor use. Sunlight can even damage the lenses of a VR device.

Augmented reality glasses seem morepromising, but it may take a while for some revolutionary device to emerge that overcomes the issues described, including field of view, input complexity, and battery life limitations. But even in this case, the first generation model will be expensive, which means that smartphones will remain more attractive for purely financial reasons.

It will be many years before augmented reality glasses become a part of our daily lives, even if the efforts of Apple, Google and Meta * are crowned with success.

*Meta Platforms, which includes the social networks Facebook and Instagram, has been recognized as an extremist organization and banned in the Russian Federation.