Active Calories Recorded on an Instinct Solar or Instinct Solar 2 Not Adding Up Correctly in Garmin Connect Mobile App

That makes sense, but here’s my bigger question. Unless I misread your comment, you said the reason my calories burned is lower on my Garmin vs my Apple Watch is because I don’t wear my Garmin to bed. That’s true, however, I didn’t wear my Apple Watch to bed either. My daily schedule and workouts have been consistent with both devices. So, in theory, shouldn’t they both be the same or at least extremely similar? I know they use different algorithms and the activities on a Garmin are different from those on the Apple Watch, and each of those use proprietary algorithms (at least that’s what I’ve read). Btw I’m not complaining. I work in the tech field, I know how this stuff works. I may not be privy to the inner workings of these specific devices but I do understand programming and how the algorithms would naturally vary between the two platforms, my training hasn’t changed since changing platforms. We’re not talking major variations in the grand scheme of it all, but there IS a notable difference. I guess I’m saying how the two do indeed record total calories differently, based on my experience, regardless of whether the watch is worn at night or not. Now, had I worn one of them at night and not the other, then there’d be a point (apples to oranges - no pun intended) but my Apple Watch vs Garmin comparison/experiment has been controlled and identical yet the calories burned are indeed lower on the Garmin, despite being used in the same manner and same activities as my Apple Watch. I personally think Apple overestimates and maybe it was just MY Apple Watch because it was an old series 1 and they use better HR sensors now. Idk. It’s not a big deal, just an observation. Have a great weekend. 

I’ll wear it tonight and see. Then tomorrow I’m planning a long run. Like you said in your other response, I never wore my Apple Watch to bed but yet the calories gradually accrued throughout the day. It probably is different algorithms as you surmise. I won’t be happy if the active calories don’t add up at the end of today though as they are still not adding up now. I know fairly well my calories intake (I’m far too old for all of this!). Main reason I wanted to change was the battery life. My watch barely lasts 6 hours especially when I’m walking the dog/walking from the station to work and then going for a run. So far I’ve got 20 days left on this one! Will let you know how I get on - thanks for your responses! 

3016112 said:

So, in theory, shouldn’t they both be the same or at least extremely similar?

Sorry, I know nothing about Apple Watch, have no idea how it works, and how accurate it is. If you want to know your energy expenditure accurately, the only way is doing a lab test, and comparing it to the results from the watch(es).

I also do not tell Garmin is more accurate than Apple Watch. I do not know it. However, I do know what influences the results at Garmin, and use it accordingly, so that I can correctly interpret the data. Anyway, I do not expect from a tiny wearable device a lab-grade accuracy. The tendencies are much more important indicators to me than the absolute numbers.

5015208 said:

I’ll wear it tonight and see.

It may take up to a week before the 7 days avg RHR gets to the right value.

5015208 said:

Main reason I wanted to change was the battery life. My watch barely lasts 6 hours

My Instinct consumes ~2% per night even with the PulseOx enabled (and that's a big power consumer), so it won't impact the battery much.

I would never expect lab grade accuracy from a wearable, that’s insane. I was merely comparing Garmin vs Apple (which I have many years of experience with) and noting the differences I’ve observed so far.

I switched to Garmin primarily for the battery life as well. I needed a new watch since my Apple Watch was so old, and when it ran out during a lengthy hike I decided it was time. I decided to sacrifice all the bells and whistles of the Apple Watch in favor of the insane battery life of the Garmin knowing that I could always throw my Apple Watch back on if/when I wanted. I went for substance over style. I hope everything works out for you. Unfortunately, I can only speak from my own experience as I’m not a Garmin pro. Perhaps you can share your workout data with Trux as I did and he can take a look to make sure everything looks good. If it helps, when I had my issue earlier this week the data for active calories never caught up. That was essentially a lost day, but the days since have been fine, so you may not notice improvement until tomorrow when everything resets. Just my .02. 

Yes I wouldn’t expect that level of accuracy either. First night with it on and it missed the first 4 hours of my sleep (thought I went to bed at 0227 which would be impressive!). I had the bedtimes set up. Will see if it does better tonight. Run went fine but hadn’t set laps to be 1km so annoyingly it was pinging on 1.6km (I assume it’s automatically set to be a mile!). Hopefully I’ve sorted that now. 

battery life still amazing - 18 days and I’ve done loads of walk/runs so that’s a big plus. It also automatically tried to pick up a dog walk (hadn’t set it for a walk as too stop/go) that I can see on the Garmin connect app though didn’t record it (I didn’t want it to do that’s fine). Will see how it does with sleep later. If apple could sort their watches out so their battery life even lasted a day I wouldn’t have swapped… will see how the active calories are looking tonight! 

Well just for anyone who comes to read this - the instinct 2 is still performing well. Got all my sleep properly last night. Have done a fair few runs and walks and the battery power still says 17 days (77%). I’m wearing the smaller Instinct 2 solar. Got it on Friday and it had one charge when I got it and that’s it. The battery life on this thing is amazing. I noticed when I started my run it said 30 hours GPS which I guess is all the GPS battery life I have left now but it’s good to know as what drove me mad about the Apple Watch was it dying half way through an activity. I read a few of the reviews on here about it not recording distance right but so far all my runs have been the correct distance. 

I’m not convinced it’s getting my active calories right yet but will give it a week as my sleep recording definitely got better last night than the night before. 

will be interesting to see how it does this week as I’m back in the office from tomorrow  - last 3 days I’ve been outside almost the whole day and it’s been sunny so I’m not sure how much the solar is propping up the battery. 

Thanks - yes it is moving. Started at 48 and has moved around (been 50 and 51) and is now averaging 49. 

Went for a run and thought it may have underestimated the distance as I did a PB but I went onto the Ordinance Survey maps and mapped it (was a simple out and back) and the distance was correct. Has dropped a few more days today in battery life (14 days, 65%) but that’s with 2 GPS activities and no solar boost. 

incidentally, active calories now looking ‘more’ right so you were right that it needed time to adjust 

Hi would you mind me asking a simple question? I know at some point I clicked on something that told me long I had left on battery using GPS but I can’t recreate it and I can’t find it in the manual. I know what my battery life left is but would be good to know the gps battery life. Thanks. Btw v happy with the watch now. Does everything I need and despite using it every day for activities, I’ve only charged it today for the first time in a week (and it had 38% left!).

I’m sure Trux has a better answer but I see it when I plug my watch in to charge (which is rare). So yeah, I’m sure there’s a widget or something. I just focus on days remaining. I’ve been wearing it to bed, tracking sleep and oxygen sat during sleep. I’m sure it’s not entirely accurate but it seems damn close and it’s interesting to review the data to confirm some suspicions I have regarding my sleep patterns. I love the watch too despite the odd occasion where the active calories aren’t adding up right. I spoke with Garmin who confirmed my issues and that it shouldn’t be happening. Supposedly she escalated the ticket and sent my screenshots to the developers. I’d like to think she did but who knows. Lol.