Disappointing battery life

Maybe that's it, but the battery life is so bad right now that I would prefer it if the watch actually gave me a full charge. This last charge only lasted about 4 days with a mere 4.5 hours of GPS+Galileo activities, and about 1 hour of strength training activities. From what I read the charge should be lasting longer than that.

For me that's exactly the same. I got a Fenix 5+ Sapphire model and the battery life is very bad. I also have the Fenix 5 where the battery life is amazing.

My last charge now lasts only for 4 days with 3 hours of GPS & Glonass and about 1 hour of strength training on Fenix 5+. The fenix 5 would still have around 75%-80% left with the same activities.


What I also see is that usually I have times where the battery drops very fast even no GPS or anything is turned on (it is very common after an activity was finished) ... with this battery life I will return the watch and keep the Fenix 5 as I don't want to charge so often :-(

For me that's exactly the same. I got a Fenix 5+ Sapphire model and the battery life is very bad. I also have the Fenix 5 where the battery life is amazing.

My last charge now lasts only for 4 days with 3 hours of GPS & Glonass and about 1 hour of strength training on Fenix 5+. The fenix 5 would still have around 75%-80% left with the same activities.


What I also see is that usually I have times where the battery drops very fast even no GPS or anything is turned on (it is very common after an activity was finished) ... with this battery life I will return the watch and keep the Fenix 5 as I don't want to charge so often :-(

Pretty much the same story for me, the post activity battery drain is most definitely one of the most puzzling, I lose about 3-5% due to this).

Battery life is exacerbated by very slow charge rate. 140mA-170mA is considerably slower than previous Garmin watch I owned (Epic was 450mA) and way below USB min. spec of 500mA.

What I also see is that usually I have times where the battery drops very fast even no GPS or anything is turned on (it is very common after an activity was finished) ...

This. I see huge battery drain in watch made after GPS activity is finished (I didn't see it with strength training, but my strength training sessions are short). Finally someone who's seeing the same issue.

It feels as if GPS stays on for a while longer in the background or something. It annoys me since it means estimates are not reliable. It will, let's say, have 50% after afternoon activity and I think it's fine to last another day. But then the next day in the morning it's only 35% and with another activity planned for that day, I may just run out of juice.

It also supports weird usage patterns. If I leave the watch in the watch mode only, with no activities, it will probably be just fine and may last as long as the specs says (10-12 days). The same thing if I only have one long activity - I would not be surprised if it lasted for the 20 hours specified with GPS only and limited interaction.

But mixing multiple activities and watch mode, like, ehm, having one GPS activity every day or two, that's apparently not something this watch handles very well. Due to excessive post-activity drain, you'll end up with pretty miserable battery life. But you didn't buy Fenix 5 plus to actually use it for daily activities, did you? :mad:

I am on the verge of swapping mine to see if it helps. But I also reported it to Garmin, so I'll wait a bit longer.

I will be reaching out to a few of you via the email address that is attached to your forums display names to see if we can get more information on this subject.

I will respond once I have finished the current full week as I have noted exactly when charged and all activities

Hello, i am seing it as well... high battery drainage, as if GPS stays on.


I have estimated i will get 8 to 10 days, not the 12 days promised, but as i use the GPS every day or every 2 days, difficult to calculate. .
I have calculated (from more than 4 hours activies) GPS activities to last a bit more than 18 hours with GPS only (no galileo), and a bit more than 8 hours with music on.

Cheers

Similar to my experience, if I don't do any activities it uses about 8% per day. However as soon as you do any activity the battery discharges well after the activity has stopped. I suspect if you did a solid GPS session you may possibly get the full quoted GPS life but doing 30-60 minute GPS sessions with the associated post activity drain I would be surprised if you could even get much more than 5-8 hours in my case.

I wonder if rather than GPS possibly staying on after an activity, it's actually that the f5 is trying to hold on to the connection with ANT/BT devices that were connected during the activity (or re-establish them). I came back from a ride about 20 mins ago, my bike is probably about 6m away in the garage which is detached from the house. With my old f5, as soon as I got off the bike it practically lost connection with the various sensors, but with the much improved connectivity of my f5+ it still seems to be able to just about hold the connection to my Vector 3s and my Di2 even over that distance and through 2 walls (which I guess also stops them going to sleep so will be sucking their batteries too).

I'm no expert, but I understand that many 2-way communication protocols adjust their power based on signal strength, so as the signal gets weaker (e.g. devices get further apart), the signal is boosted to compensate, thus using more energy. This could account for the fact that some people's post-activity battery drain is actually worse than what they see during an activity.

So maybe this is a side effect of the improved BT/ANT range of the f5+? It's all just a theory of course.

I wonder if rather than GPS possibly staying on after an activity, it's actually that the f5 is trying to hold on to the connection with ANT/BT devices that were connected during the activity (or re-establish them). I came back from a ride about 20 mins ago, my bike is probably about 6m away in the garage which is detached from the house. With my old f5, as soon as I got off the bike it practically lost connection with the various sensors, but with the much improved connectivity of my f5+ it still seems to be able to just about hold the connection to my Vector 3s and my Di2 even over that distance and through 2 walls (which I guess also stops them going to sleep so will be sucking their batteries too).

So maybe this is a side effect of the improved BT/ANT range of the f5+?

I have also noticed that, after a run, my F5+ reconnects to my HR-TRI chest strap from across the house now even though I am not wearing it. I rinse off the sensor after my run and I think the water keeps the strap active for a little while and my watch is constantly reconnecting with it.

I was also wondering if maybe the Auto Calibrate options for the Barometer and Altimeter might be playing a role in the decrease in battery life.

I have also noticed that, after a run, my F5+ reconnects to my HR-TRI chest strap from across the house now even though I am not wearing it. I rinse off the sensor after my run and I think the water keeps the strap active for a little while and my watch is constantly reconnecting with it.

I'm seeing the same issues... My F5+ connecting to my HR-TRI chests strap that is located more than 30 yards away; taking around 4 hours to charge from 20% to 100%; and getting less than expected battery life as I am having to charge the watch 2+ times per week.