Future Garmin smartwatches could come with solar OLED displays

Garmin makes great smartwatches, but one of the “problems” Garmin’s watches have is that some of their displays aren’t as vibrant compared to other smartwatches like those made by Huawei, Samsung, or Apple. This is due to Garmin’s choice to use memory-in-pixel displays for some of their models versus OLEDs that other smartwatches are using.

Typically speaking, MIP displays tend to offer better battery life so if you’re the type that prefers a longer battery over a vibrant display, this won’t be an issue, but what if you could have both? According to a recently-discovered patent, that’s something that Garmin appears to be working on.

The patent describes an invention of a display that could embed a photovoltaic layer inside of an OLED panel. This means that not only will users be able to get a bright and vibrant display typically associated with OLED, but will also have a photovoltaic layer that allows the watch to recharge itself using the sun, thus potentially increasing the overall battery life of the smartwatch.

Garmin is no stranger when it comes to smartwatches that can recharge using solar energy, but a smartwatch with an OLED display and built-in solar charging could be a first for the company. There’s no telling if such a smartwatch will ever materialize, but it’s an interesting patent that could potentially be licensed out to other smartwatch makers in the future.

Source: TechRadar