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Bluetooth

Former Member over 5 years ago

Sorry for what I believe to be a simple question, but this is my first Garmin watch. Do you have to have your watch Bluetooth connected to your phone at all times? What is the impact of having them disconnected vs connected periodically?

Thanks in advance

0 trux over 5 years ago

No, you do not need to have them connected all the time. You can sync the data when you want or need. The missing phone connection may just impact some functions requiring the web access - weather forecasts, Live Track, Spotify music, ... but if you do not use them, there is no problem. I often run without my phone at all, though I do not cut the BT on the watch anyway, since it has no significant impact on the battery life anyway (there are BTLE devices running several years on a single button battery without charging).

Some people fear being unnecessarily irradiated by BT, but that's a false idea - BTLE used on the watch, radiates 5 to 6 orders of magnitude less energy than the phone GSM (units of milliwatts instead of watts, and only milliseconds long pulses, instead of continuos radiation). You get many orders of magnitude more radiation from the Sun, and from the natural ambient sources, than from the BTLE.