Ask HN: Do wrist movements provide enough energy to run a smartwatch?

[speedgoose]

I currently use two watches, one automatic mechanical watch that always has enough energy in its spring, as long as I use it during the week, and one cheap smartwatch that cannot last much more than a day.

I like both and wondered whether arm movements provide enough energy after conversion to run a smartwatch with basic features, such as Bluetooth music, GPS tracking, heart rate sensor, and vectorial maps...

That would be a smartwatch that doesn't have to be charged ever and have cool mechanical engineering too.

[the_real_sparky]

https://www.grand-seiko.com/us-en/collections/movement/sprin...

The Spring Drive is the pinnacle of electromechanical watches so far, and it’s more mechanical than electronic.

“if all seven billion inhabitants on Earth wore a Spring Drive watch, their total power consumption would be just 175 watts”

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/history-seiko-spring-drive-move...

[giaour]

I think the answer is no, that's not enough power, but even if it were, you would need some way to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy within the watch itself. That would presumably be a pretty lossy conversion, so it seems even less likely that the captured energy would be sufficient.

[logicalmonster]

> Do wrist movements provide enough energy to run a smartwatch?

It depends on what website you're currently browsing.