Where the Care App and Care Portal are mentioned, the articles in the Support Center refer to both the professional Plan (Care Lab App and Care Lab Portal) and the enterprise Plan (Care App and Care Portal), unless indicated otherwise.
Checking the EmbracePlus battery level, and correctly charging EmbracePlus, are fundamental to helping maximize data collection. This knowledge can help participants avoid the EmbracePlus running out of battery mid-data collection.
There are 3 ways to check the EmbracePlus battery charge:
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Short-press one of the side buttons of EmbracePlus to show the battery percentage on the EmbracePlus display. This is described below, along with the definition of the battery warnings on the display.
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Tap the status card from the main screen of the Care App to show the battery percentage of EmbracePlus. Note that EmbracePlus must be connected to the Care App in order for the battery percentage to be updated and shown.
- The participant may also watch out for Care App push notifications on the paired smartphone. If notifications are enabled (recommended), the Care App will notify the user when EmbracePlus is fully charged and ready to be worn, and when EmbracePlus has a low battery and charging is required.
Once EmbracePlus is turned on and paired at least once, it will remain ON until the battery runs out. Participants can easily understand the different battery levels of EmbracePlus by checking the display:
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Short-press (less than 1 second) one of the side buttons on the right side of EmbracePlus. The time will disappear and the battery percentage will be shown.
- Short-press one of the side buttons again and the display will go back to showing the current time.
- Otherwise, the time will automatically be shown again after 10 seconds.
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Low battery - Charge soon: When the battery icon below the time is visible on the display, the battery level is running low, and EmbracePlus should be placed in the cable charger soon.
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Low battery - Charge now: When a ‘low’ message is visible on the display, EmbracePlus is about to turn OFF and should be placed in the cable charger as soon as possible. The message will be dismissed once EmbracePlus is charging, or by pressing one of the side buttons.
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Out of battery: When an empty battery icon is visible on a dark display, EmbracePlus is already out of battery and should be placed in the cable charger. The dark display background emphasizes that data recording has stopped.
Note: Pressing one of the side buttons for ~ 1 second will tag an event* on EmbracePlus instead of checking the battery level. Make sure to clarify the difference between a short-press (less than 1 second) and an event tag (about 1 second) with the participant.
*Event tagging availability depends on the study configuration.
EmbracePlus comes with a unique cable charger included in the box. Follow these simple steps to charge EmbracePlus:
- Plug the cable charger into a standard 5V USB 2.0 power source.
- The cable charger and EmbracePlus will automatically attach through magnets. Make sure the display and side buttons are visible while you slide EmbracePlus into the cable charger. You will feel a slight pull and EmbracePlus will snap into place.
- Once the charging starts, the display background will turn dark (indicating that data collection has stopped) and will show the current charge level. A full charge takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- EmbracePlus is fully charged when you see ‘100’ on the display. Gently remove EmbracePlus by holding the charger body in place and sliding out the device.
- The EmbracePlus display will show a dark background while calibrating for about 10 seconds. Once the display background turns light (indicating that data collection has started) and the time is shown, EmbracePlus is up and running and ready to be used.
EmbracePlus has a Lithium-ion battery and has an estimated life of 2 years, or up to ~500 charging cycles. As all rechargeable batteries are consumable components, the battery life will gradually decrease over time as a result of use or even non-use, based on multiple factors.