The rumored Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 may be the most compelling competitor yet to the also rumored Apple Watch 7. That's because there are unofficial new reports that Samsung's next-generation smartwatch will boast a battery life of a grand total of seven days.

WinFuture reports that Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 battery life is rated for up to seven days of use on a single charge; whether the Apple Watch 7 will finally surpass the 18 hours it has been settling for the past few years remains to be seen. In any case, if this recent rumor is true, it seems unlikely that the battery life of Apple's upcoming smartwatch will approach that of the Galaxy Watch 4.

In the past, the Galaxy Watch's battery life could surpass that of the Apple Watch by several days, but Samsung has since lowered expectations. The original Samsung Galaxy Watch lasted an impressive four days, but the slimmer Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 had a battery life of up to 60 hours, or about 2.5 days.

We then tested the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, one of the best smartwatches available today and a competitor to the Apple Watch 6, and found that it could not be used for 24 hours without a charge. Samsung rated its newest smartwatch for up to two days, but with consistent activity tracking and always-on display settings enabled, we saw a drain on battery life.

Thankfully, the downward trend in battery life may be nearing an end. While many of the best Fitbit devices and the best Garmin watches have battery lives of up to a week, we have never seen a compelling Wear OS smartwatch last this long. Nevertheless, the new Wear OS promises improved battery life for the next generation of Android smartwatches, starting with the Galaxy Watch 4.

We also speculate that the rumored Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 chipset may have something to do with the rumored one-week battery life. The expected Exynos W920 chip is reported to offer 1.25 times faster processing and 8.8 times smoother graphics performance than the Exynos 9110 in the Galaxy Watch 3.

The Apple Watch 7 will likely feature a new chipset, as has been the case with every new model. The question is whether the latest System in a Package (SiP) will benefit battery life. According to one report, Apple will introduce technology from Taiwanese supplier ASE Technology to produce the double-sided S7 processor.

In theory, this would free up space inside Apple's sleek smartwatch. According to some reports, Apple may even make the next Apple Watch slightly thicker to accommodate the larger battery.

Still, it is unlikely that the next Apple Watch will last a week on a single charge. The series has never come close to that in the past. If anything, 18 hours could be extended to 24 hours of battery life per day. At least the Galaxy Watch has given figures of several days in the past.

Samsung is expected to release an official battery life estimate when it unveils the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup at its Unpacked event on August 11.