The BassWatch runs on an internal rechargeable battery and charges over USB-C. This article covers how it charges, how it manages power to stretch battery life, and the settings that control dimming, sleep, and wake behavior.
Charging
Charge the BassWatch with the included USB-C cable and any standard USB power source.
- The watch begins charging as soon as it is connected, and shows a charging symbol next to the battery indicator.
- The battery gauge fills as it charges and reads full when complete.
- You can wear and use the watch while it charges.
- A full charge from empty typically takes a couple of hours, depending on the power source.
If a fully drained watch will not wake, connect it to power and wait a few minutes. It powers back on once the battery has a small charge.
The Battery Indicator
The current charge level is shown in two places:
- On the watch face, as a battery icon (with a charging symbol when plugged in).
- On the monitoring top bar, alongside the voltage, temperature, and volume glances.
The percentage and charging state come from the watch's own battery gauge. This is separate from the system voltage shown in the Volts view, which is your vehicle's voltage as measured by the WVC base station. The battery indicator is the watch; the Volts view is your car.
How the BassWatch Saves Battery
Because the AMOLED screen is the biggest power draw, the BassWatch steps down through power states as it sits idle:
- Active: the screen is at your set brightness and fully interactive.
- Dimmed: after a short period without touch, the screen dims to save power while staying readable.
- Screen off: after a longer period, the screen turns off entirely. The watch keeps its wireless link to the base station warm so it can reconnect instantly and so telemetry stays current.
- Deep sleep (optional): if you enable it, after the screen has been off for a while the watch drops into a deeper low-power state that also turns off the wireless radio. This saves the most battery but means the link has to re-establish when you wake the watch.
You wake the watch from any of these states by raising your wrist, tapping the screen, or connecting it to a charger.
When you are on the watch face rather than actively monitoring, the BassWatch tells the base station to stop sending heavy audio analysis (FFT, oscilloscope, waterfall). This keeps both the wireless link and the battery light. Analysis resumes the moment you open one of those views.
Power and Wake Settings
The menu gives you control over the dim and sleep timers and the wake sources. Open the menu (long-press or tap the gear), then Settings.
| Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Brightness | Screen brightness, 10-100%. Lower brightness uses less battery. |
| Dim Timeout | How long the watch waits without touch before dimming the screen. |
| Sleep Timeout | How long after dimming before the screen turns off. |
| Tilt Wake | When on, raising or turning your wrist wakes the screen. When off, you wake it with a tap. |
| Deep Sleep | When on, the watch enters a deeper low-power state after the screen has been off a while, turning off the wireless radio to save the most battery. When off, the link stays warm while the screen is dark. |
| Keep Awake While Charging | When on, the watch stays awake (does not sleep) as long as it is plugged in, useful as a bench or bedside display. |
See Menus and Settings for the full settings reference.
Getting the Most Run Time
- Lower the brightness. The screen is the dominant power draw; a lower brightness meaningfully extends run time.
- Use shorter dim and sleep timeouts. Letting the screen turn off sooner saves battery between glances.
- Turn on Deep Sleep if you only check the watch occasionally and do not need instant reconnection.
- Stay on the watch face when you are not actively studying the audio views, so the base station is not streaming analysis frames.
Keep Awake While Charging
Turn on Keep Awake While Charging to use the BassWatch as an always-on display while it is plugged in, for example on a bench or a nightstand. The screen stays on and does not sleep as long as USB-C power is connected. Unplug it and normal dim/sleep behavior resumes.
Battery Care
- The watch charges to a healthy full level and stops; leaving it on the charger does not overcharge it.
- For long-term storage, charge it partway rather than storing it empty, and top it up every few months.
- Charge at normal room temperature when you can. Very hot or very cold environments slow charging and are hard on any lithium battery.