Samsung adopts ATL batteries for Galaxy Watch Active 2

China’s Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) has signed on to supply batteries for Samsung Electronics’ new wearable device, the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

This is the third Samsung installment for ATL since the Gear S3 in 2016, the Gear Sports in 2017 and the Galaxy Watch in 2018. The Galaxy Watch Active launched in March is also powered by ATL .

On July 25, China began to mass produce batteries for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 to be launched in New York by Samsung’s mobile division on August 7. The capacity is 240mAh and 330mAh for the two models. The battery capacity for the Galaxy Watch Active was 230mAh.

Industry experts say that the larger capacity was designed to encompass new and upgraded features, such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) heart rate tracker.

Apple had featured ECG for the first time in a wearable for its Apple Watch 4 last year. In South Korea, ECG had been banned for medical purposes before the government reversed the decision for the newly created ICT regulatory sandbox.

Wearables are increasingly gaining market popularity. According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, Samsung Electronics’ sales of smart watches in 2018 jumped 90% compared to the previous year. Its market share rose to 9%, up from the previous 2%.

Meanwhile, the batteries for the Galaxy Note 10 scheduled to be unveiled together with the Galaxy Watch Active 2 will be supplied exclusively by Samsung SDI with a capacity of 4370mAh. This is a 10% improvement from the Galaxy Note 9, which had a battery capacity of 4000mAh.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.