LG's chemical engineering division, LG Chem, has unveiled a new hexagonal battery designed for circular smartwatches that hopes to bring better battery life to the compact devices, at least compared to currently-used rectangular cells.
The hexagonal smartwatch battery developed by LG Chem isn't shaped like a traditional hexagon: instead it features a flat top and sides, with a bottom edge that is sculpted to fit circular smartwatches. This allows the battery to occupy more area inside a smartwatch's body while still giving enough room to fit the necessary circuitry.
LG Chem states that these hexagonal batteries can increase battery capacity by up to 25% compared to standard rectangular smartwatch batteries, which LG predicts will give smartwatches an extra four hours of battery life. The battery LG is showing off is barely larger than a United States quarter.
To produce a battery in a hexagonal shape, LG Chem used their "Stack & Folding" technology that produces a battery layer-by-layer, which gives the company the ability to manufacture a wide range of battery shapes.
These hexagonal batteries will begin mass production by the end of the year. LG Chem hopes that this new battery, along with their battery strengths in other fields, will allow them to become the number one company in the small battery market.