Amazfit put two solar panels in its new smartwatch. Now I want Apple to do the same

Solar-powered smartwatches aren’t new, but Amazfit has found a pretty interesting way to squeeze more energy from the sun. The new Amazfit T-Rex Dual Solar has officially launched for $650, and the clue to its biggest feature is right there in the name. 

Amazfit says it’s the world’s first AMOLED smartwatch with a dual-sided solar charging system, meaning it can collect solar energy from both the front and the back of the watch. The second solar panel is even more useful, giving you another way to charge the watch when you take it off.

Just take the watch off and flip it over

While you’re wearing the T-Rex Dual Solar, sunlight reaching the front of the watch can top up its battery. Amazfit claims the watch can last up to 25 days under typical use, but exposing it to 50,000 lux of light for three hours each day can stretch that figure to as much as 34 days. Take it off, though, and there’s another option. Amazfit has built a second solar panel into the watch’s glass-ceramic back. That panel has twice the collection area of the one on the front, so you can leave the watch face-down in the sun when you aren’t wearing it to collect more energy.

There’s also a Solar Priority Mode that dramatically reduces power consumption when the watch is off your wrist, letting that rear panel focus on putting as much energy back into the battery as possible. Perhaps more importantly, Amazfit says sunlight can even revive the watch after its battery has completely died. That’s potentially much more useful on a multi-day hike than merely adding a few extra days between regular charges. If you’re nowhere near an outlet and need your maps again, leaving your watch in the sun suddenly sounds pretty handy.

It’s very much an adventure watch underneath

The rest of the T-Rex Dual Solar is built around that same outdoors-first idea. A 1.32-inch AMOLED display reaches 3,000 nits, protected by sapphire crystal and framed by a Grade 5 titanium bezel. The watch is rated for 10 ATM water resistance, supports recreational diving down to 50 meters, and even has a built-in flashlight with a red-light mode for nighttime use. Its 660mAh battery can deliver up to 41 hours in its most accurate GPS mode, while a separate Outdoor Extreme mode cuts power consumption but keeps key features like GPS track points running. It also has a dedicated Expedition activity mode for longer trips.

Navigation is unsurprisingly a big focus, too. The watch supports full-color maps, contour and ski maps, turn-by-turn directions, waypoints, and an elevation view that shows upcoming climbs and descents. LiveShare can also send your location, heading, and activity information to friends or family. At $650, none of this comes cheap. The Amazfit T-Rex Dual Solar is available starting today through Amazfit and Amazon’s official website. Still, the solar system gives this watch something more interesting than another enormous battery estimate. Most smartwatches become useless once that battery percentage hits zero; this one wants the sun to be your emergency charger.