Beside the fact that there’s no elegant way to charge a Magic Mouse, the Apple Watch not having a direct charging port should be considered the company’s second biggest design sin. Imagine wearing a watch that needs a proprietary charger around just in case the battery dies. You can’t place it on a wireless charging mat, you can’t even plug it into a USB-C port. An Apple Watch on low battery without that bespoke charging puck is pretty much useless… until now.
The folks at STATIK clearly saw the problem at hand (or at wrist, figuratively speaking) and designed the TurboBand, a band that actually packs its own charger and cable so your Apple Watch never dies on you mid-day. It’s a personally relatable problem because I’ve sort of stopped wearing my watch too, because I’ve been caught with 10% battery way too often. The TurboBand, however, solves that problem by simply packing a Watch charging puck into its strap.
Designer: STATIK
Unlike most bands that just feature a strap running around the wrist, the TurboBand’s strap is punctuated by a slick plastic puck, positioned at the exact opposite end of the watch itself. Look closer and you’ll realize that the puck is actually a charger, with a hidden cable concealed within the strap itself. Pop the cable out when your watch is low and plug it into a USB-C port, and you’ve got yourself a functional Watch charger built right into the watch itself. Nestle the watch’s base onto the charging puck and it charges normally, ensuring you’re never left with a dead wearable just before your work day, or a workout.
What the TurboBand isn’t just simple, it’s absolute genius… and I’m surprised none of the bigger third-party accessory makers thought of this so far. The Apple Watch, for all its good qualities, does have an abysmally low battery that lasts anywhere between 2-3 days on an average. If you could charge your Watch on a wireless charging pad, I wouldn’t be complaining either… but the fact that the Watch needs a proprietary charging puck just feels like a flawed design approach if you ask me personally. And while Apple and other accessory brands have just been sitting on their laurels, STATIK’s TurboBand does provide a genius solution that solves the problem.
The band costs a mere $14.99, which might be high by watch strap standards, but not when you realize that the strap also packs a charger. Each strap is adjustable (based on your wrist size), and comes in two formats, for the smaller and larger Apple Watch sizes. The TurboBand’s compatible with all Apple Watch makes, including the Ultra and SE series.
The post Finally, someone made an Apple Watch strap with a built-in Wireless Charger first appeared on Yanko Design.