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Bad news, Glass fans: Google Glass will probably launch with terrible battery life

Published May 24th, 2013 11:05AM EDT
Google Glass Battery Life

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Whether or not Google’s connected eyewear will appeal to the mass market, early reviews painted Google Glass as a very intriguing product. It’s not without some faults, of course, and one of the biggest problems with early units was battery life. Glass reportedly goes for about five hours on a charge with average usage, which isn’t very impressive at all. Use the device for something like capturing long videos, however, and battery life can drop to as low as just “a couple of hours.” The version tested by earlier reviewers was just a prototype though, and Glass fans are hoping that Google will improve the device’s efficiency before launching it. But according to recent comments from Google cofounder Sergey Brin, that may not be the case.

In its deep dive into Google’s X Lab, Bloomberg Businessweek spoke with Brin about a number of things “Google X” is working on. Glass is clearly the division’s most widely publicized project, and Brin made an interesting, possibly troubling comment while discussing it.

From the report: “Asked about Google Glass, a project he championed and which he has been photographed testing on the New York City subway, he points to the device perched on his nose and says, ‘You know, this is basically done.’ “

There are a few ways to interpret that comment. One interpretation suggests that while the “Explorer” models currently in use are prototypes, an updated version that is “basically done” exists within Google. Another interpretation, however, is that the version of Google Glass currently being used by early adopters is the version that is “basically done,” and we can expect Glass to launch with terrible battery life.

In either case, Google previously announced that Glass will launch to the public sometime in 2014.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.