This bulky band wants to boost your Apple Watch's battery

If there’s one problem plaguing today’s tech, it’s the battery. Most people carry their chargers around everywhere, and sometimes a powerbank too (if you don’t, you should). It’s impossible to rely on a device, whether it’s a smartwatch or a smartphone, to last more than a day or two.

The Apple Watch is no exception as it almost always requires a daily charge. Battery bands are becoming a staple accessory, and here’s another one to add to the list — the Prime strap. What’s unique about Prime is that it uses the 6-pin port under the metal shield on the bottom of the watch to charge the wearable.

The watch band itself houses two changeable 150mAh batteries on both sides of the band that charge the watch via the 6-pin port. It’s more like you’re placing your Apple Watch into a permanent power bank. Which brings us to the band itself. It looks bulky and is visually unappealing. There’s a stainless steel version and one that’s made of aluminum alloy, which come in two sizes of 38mm or 42mm. They both look like bulkier straps you’d find on old calculator watches.

One Prime battery adds nine hours to the lifespan of the watch, so as the kit includes two, the beefy watch band should extend the battery life by 18 hours. Swapping batteries is pretty simple as all you have to do is tap on the side compartments of the band to open them. Then take the batteries out and pop the new ones in. There’s a color LED light on the strap that displays the status of the battery.

BrilleTark, the makers of this device, launched the Kickstarter recently and has currently made $6,950 of its $30,000 goal.

The company is also offering a Prime Bank, where you can store and recharge your batteries on the go. The batteries take about 2.5 hours to fully charge, and the Bank itself is an all-in-one charger that has a Lighting port so you can charge your phone at the same time. If you don’t want the Bank, the standard kit comes with desktop recharger with a USB charging port and an AC plug.

You’ll also be getting a Prime Toolkit with screws, a screwdriver, and a 6-pin port opener. That’s right, buying the band means you’ll have to put the whole thing together yourself, though it doesn’t look complicated.

And to top it all off is a hefty price tag. The Super Early Bird option lists aluminum alloy variant for $200, and that comes with everything including the Prime Bank. The stainless steel Super Early Bird costs $300. There’s a lot of pricing options to choose from, but it goes all the way up to $380.

It’s a pricey accessory for a bulky watch band, but sometimes the option for a little more juice is worth it.