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Disappointing battery life

I have just upgraded from a Fenix 5 to a Fenix 5 plus and so far I am finding the battery life to be a lot less than I would expect.

I used to get nearly 2 weeks battery life out of the Fenix 5 but so far the Fenix 5 plus has used 25% in 2 days, both watches are set up and used exactly the same.

I know the Fenix 5 plus is supposed to have slightly less battery life but at this rate it is not even going to last a week.

Does anyone know if this will improve if I cycle the battery a couple of times or if this is normal for this model

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0 SAHO over 6 years ago

Forerunner (and a few others!) First: I'm not defending Garmin regarding bugs and errors not being fixed, there is a lot of things they could improve, especially their responsiveness when certain bugs that affects a lot of users are identified.

That said; based on my observations in here lately I think that you are taking this personal vendetta of yours towards Garmin a bit too far, and frankly I think it pollutes the forums for everyone that wants to discuss and exchange user experiences and contribute with constructive feedback to Garmin in a civilized way. Even official Garmin representatives have reached out to you with seemingly genuine interest of trying to understand what you are experiencing and how they can possibly help you. But no, you just keep on ranting.

Please do yourself, and everyone else, a favour and go buy yourself a Polar or Suunto or Finow or any other apparently perfect watch that is available out there.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

+1 on Jim's findings.

I am not sure we can say 'Garmin don't care', I think they do, but failing to find these bugs that have been ongoing for a while is frustrating. It would be nice for Garmin to acknowledge there is a problem but I think from previous posts they are struggling to replicate them.

Once again... poor little Garmin got enough watches with battery issues returned!
If they claim that they can't replicate it, it's simply an egregious lie!! (as so often)
The more time passes i get the impression, the developers are working on more important new projects (not watches) and thus are not interested much in solving problems on units already sold...

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

poor little Garmin got enough watches with battery issues returned!

Sorry, I guess you have explained this earlier in this and other threads, but are you talking about multiple defective watches that you have returned?
How many are we talking about?

Given that a lot of people are not experiencing the same issues as you are, I simply can't believe that you are so unfortunate that you by chance have received defective watches again and again What are the odds?
Maybe it's time to review your expectations and/or how you are using the watch?

0 Ouuzi over 6 years ago

Garmin is aware of the issues and they are working on it. Just be patient and it will get resolved.

0 Gr4z over 6 years ago

If true, that's great news.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

It seems like there is still a battery drain issue with firmware 5.10. The strange thing is it does not happen every time. The battery percentage is still displaying incorrectly after charging (charge, turn off and on). I only have a few more weeks for returns and this issue is bothering the heck out of me! For 900 beans, battery indicator and discharges should be stable and reliable.

Install new firmware 5.10

Settings: Crystal face watch (no seconds, no heartbeat, Bluetooth (BT) icon); GPS only; 1 sec heart/GPS rate tracking; no notifications or smart watch features; BT off and only turn on once a day to upload data; enable/disable BT shortcut

Charge 1

10/5 - 100% @ 2:33am; 98% @ 10:20am; 98% @ 12:40pm; run for 58min and BL went from 98% to 93%; upload data @ 3:01pm and turn off BT @ 91%; 90% @ 4:16pm; 89% @ 6:48pm; 89% @ 9:08pm;
10/6 - 88% @ 1:07am; 87% @ 7:48pm; 86% @ 9:25am; 86% @ 11:27am; 85% @ 1:57pm; 85% @ 2:57pm; 84% @ 5:09pm; 84% @ 7:32pm; 83 % upload data and turn off BT @ 10:10pm;
10/7 - 81% @ 5:27 am; 81% upload data and turn off BT @ 6:04am; 80% @ 7:00pm; run for 2:05 and BL went from 80% to 68% @ 9:17am; 67% upload data and turn off BT @ 9:21am; 64% @ 11:34am; 63% @ 3:31pm; 62% @ 8:11pm; 62% @ 10:27pm;
10/8 - 60% @ 6:40am; 60% @ 10:08am; 59% @ 12:09pm; 59% @ 3:42pm; 58% @ 7:06pm; 58% @ 9:58pm;
10/9 - 57% @ 5:49am; run for 53min and BL went from 57% to 53% @ 6:50am; upload data and turn off BT; 52% @ 9:22am; 51% @ 11:56am; 50% @ 3:11pm; 50% @ 5:11pm; 48% @ 8:05pm;
10/10 - 46% @ 7:25am (slept through 2 alarms); 44% @ 10:38am; 44% @ 12:35pm; 43% @ 3:43pm; 42% @ 6:50pm; 42% @ 9:21pm;
10/11 - 39% @ 7:24am (slept through 2 alarms); 37% upload data and turn off BT @ 10:55am; 35% @ 2:27pm; 34% @ 4:22pm; 32% @ 7:56pm;
10/12 - 24% @ 7:17am (slept through 2 alarms); 23% @ 10:50am; 23% @ 12:22pm; 22% @ 4:38pm; 21% @ 6:01pm;

Charge 2

10/12 - begin charging @ 6:54pm; took off charger @ 9:58pm @ 100% BL; restart and BL shows 98%; change to GPS/Galileo;
10/13 - 98% @ 4:29am; run for 2:25 and upload data and turn off BT @ 80% @ 12:12pm; 78% @ 6:13pm; 77% @ 9:54pm;
10/14 - 75% @ 7:14am; 71% @ 4:04pm; 70% @ 6:53pm; 68% @ 10:28pm;
10/15 - 65% @ 7:36am; 64% @ 9:33am; 63% @ 11:58am; 62% @ 4:23pm; 62% @ 7:23pm;
10/16 - 60% @ 5:02am; run for 45min and BL went from 60% to 57% ; upload data and turn off BT @ 6:10am @ 57%; 55% @ 7:58am; 54% @ 12:32pm; 54% @ 2:57pm; 53% @ 6:45pm; 53% @ 8:48pm;
10/17 - 51% @ 5:57am; 50% @ 9:19am; 49% @ 1:50pm; 48% @ 4:54pm; 47% @ 10:05pm;
10/18 - 45% @ 5:45am; run for 45min and BL went from 45% to 42% @ 6:38am; upload and turn off BT; 37% @ 9:42am; 36% @ 11:04am; 34% @ 2:02pm; 33% @ 4:25pm; 32% @ 7:19pm; 31% @ 8:06pm;

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Try 5.52 beta and let us know how goes.

0 bpl1972 over 6 years ago

Battery drain is fixed in 5.53 beta.

I charged my watch to 100% yesterday morning at 05:20. A 25 min run with GPS and Galileo yesterday afternoon. Today at 18:10 I have 91% battery left.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Battery drain is fixed in 5.53 beta.

I charged my watch to 100% yesterday morning at 05:20. A 25 min run with GPS and Galileo yesterday afternoon. Today at 18:10 I have 91% battery left.

If you look at my battery logs, the battery drain does not happen every time in firmware 5.10. Continue to monitor it and keep us updated! i will install the new firmware 5.53 tonight and do my own testing too.

0 Artivis over 6 years ago

Forerunner (and a few others!) First: I'm not defending Garmin regarding bugs and errors not being fixed, there is a lot of things they could improve, especially their responsiveness when certain bugs that affects a lot of users are identified.

That said; based on my observations in here lately I think that you are taking this personal vendetta of yours towards Garmin a bit too far, and frankly I think it pollutes the forums for everyone that wants to discuss and exchange user experiences and contribute with constructive feedback to Garmin in a civilized way. Even official Garmin representatives have reached out to you with seemingly genuine interest of trying to understand what you are experiencing and how they can possibly help you. But no, you just keep on ranting.

Please do yourself, and everyone else, a favour and go buy yourself a Polar or Suunto or Finow or any other apparently perfect watch that is available out there.

+1 on that