This Is How Battery-Charging Apple Watch Bands Will Look

Available for “pre-order,” the $250 Reserve Strap seems like a fairly well-considered concept for how this sort of Apple Watch accessory will look and function. The idea is pretty much identical to what you’re already used to from all the various booster cases for iPhone, although it will necessarily have to use thinner, flexible batteries stored inside the strap itself. Those batteries, then, charge Apple Watch through magnetic induction. (How said batteries are charged in the first place is anyone’s guess — Is the induction interface two-way?)

Unfortunately, the Reserve Strap render demonstrates a few glaring shortcomings that may themselves render the entire product class a functional nonstarter. While it will add battery life, the thing looks like it also adds another 50 percent of thickness to the overall Apple Watch package, which won’t go over — or, rather, under — well with fancy business types and their long-sleeved dress shirts. Cuff clearance is a thing in the watch world, and it’s already a documented shortcoming with Apple Watch. Of course, with added thickness (and built-in batteries) comes added weight, and these types of straps will almost certainly add a significant amount of uncomfortable bulk to the wearable, making it decidedly less so. Also, the Reserve Strap will likely preclude proper functioning of the heart rate sensor, as I get the distinct impression that those are meant to sit right up against the skin. As is the Taptic Engine.

It is that last point that’s maybe the most damning. Haptic feedback is going to be a huge part of Apple Watch, and anything that disrupts that major paradigm shift should probably be avoided. Spend the extra money on some official Apple Watch Bands instead. Ironically, they’ll preserve the function of the device a whole lot better.