Decawave UWB is really good for positioning accuracy--like sub-centimeter level accuracy. I've seen them scatter a handful of stuff on a desk and everything figures out where it is.
Yes, it's power consumption is quite good--compared with GPS and WiFi which have abysmal power numbers for small battery powered devices.
Compared with BLE--UWB doesn't look so great in terms of power consumption. So, most things only turn UWB on when they are trying to get accurate position measurements.
That sounds overly optimistic. From what I know, 15-20cm is the best accuracy you can achieve — which is still fantastic, mind you.
There is a lot of confusion around UWB positioning. Some articles describe TDoA (time difference of arrival) systems, which can indeed be very precise and the device being positioned can be low-power, but these require a nwetwork of beacons with precisely synchronized clocks, which is very difficult to achieve in practice.
Also, the DW1000 chip is a power hog. Yes, if you compare it to a GPS receiver it is still fantastic, but in low-power devices it is not easy to manage. As an example problem, you can't power a DW1000 from a coin battery: the internal resistance of the battery is too large, and it can't deliver the peak current that the chip needs.
What of the OEM specs of 10cm accuracy, only 31mA during transmission, 64mA in receive --which is usually not battery powered-- and its claims of months-to-years battery life using a coin cell? Did you overlook this or are you testifying anecdotally oR about your direct experience?
31mA is significantly more than most coin cells are designed to supply - while a new one may be able to reach peak currents of 50-100mA this significantly reduces battery capacity, and is only possible with a new battery (once it's partially discharged it cannot sustain these current levels any more).
I designed and built devices based on the DW1000, so I'm not "testifying anecdotally". If you have specific questions, please ask, but I won't be baited with generalities.
Yes, it's power consumption is quite good--compared with GPS and WiFi which have abysmal power numbers for small battery powered devices.
Compared with BLE--UWB doesn't look so great in terms of power consumption. So, most things only turn UWB on when they are trying to get accurate position measurements.