Acknowledged
CIQQA-3588

Instinct 3 Solar stuck in high power mode

Firmware version:

This has been reported with 10.36, but not with 9.21

Software affected:

Any Connect IQ watch face, including Garmin's ones

Expected behavior:

1. When wrist is raised (watch facing up), watch enters 'high power mode' (onExitSleep() is called, then onUpdate() is called every second)

2. After about 10 seconds, watch automatically enters 'low power mode' (onEnterSleep() is called, then onUpdate() is called every minute)

Actual behavior:

1. When wrist is raised, watch enters 'high power mode'

2. Watch remains in 'high power mode', automatic switch back to 'low power mode' does not occur

3. Watch enters 'low power mode' only after wrist has been lowered (watch facing down)

Impact and severity:

This causes significant excessive battery drain (reportedly up to 100% increase) in Connect IQ watch faces and it can't be worked around by the watch face developer.

Supporting information:

A user report posted here https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct-3/423711/infinite-gesture-on-issue-on-instinct-3-solar-firmware-problem

ReedWorks

  • Hi,

    I am currently using beta version 12.12 on my Instinct 3 Solar.

    I bought my watch in Oct and have been using it for about a month with a custom watch face and noticed that the battery life is not quite ideal. It can only last roughly two weeks with Pulse Ox off and around 3 hours of GPS activity per week. This is also with minimal solar exposure. I find it quite odd.

    After reading this thread, I decided to run a few tests out of curiosity. I used two custom watch faces (both set to show seconds only when the wrist is lifted) and two stock watch faces (set seconds in circle view so that seconds would show when the wrist is lifted).

    Test: I placed my hands on the keyboard with the watch facing upward. When the seconds appeared, I then timed it with my hand (with the watch) remain stationary (no typing etc). 

    • For the stock watch faces: in all 3 tests, the seconds indicator turned off after around 35 seconds consistently.

    • For the custom watch faces: in all 4 tests, the seconds stayed on indefinitely, even after 2 minutes — I had to stop the tests manually.

    It really seems like there is an issue with how the watch toggles between low power mode and high power mode. Unfortunately, I did not use the firmware 9.21 previously.

    Thank you. 

  • I don’t understand why Garmin ignores this issue. The bug just discards the main selling point of the instinct watches

  • And for me, the most used dials are unusable because they consume electricity like a llama. And the sensor is really very sensitive, at the slightest movement the screen lights up. I hope they fix it in the next update.

  • This occurs on the default watch face too, and any movement at all enables the second hand. It drains about 8% of battery per day, and I use GPS for only about 30 minutes per day on Auto Select with at least 50k lux hours per day. When will this be fixed? If it is not fixed soon I may be forced to return the watch.

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