5x+ vs 5x Realistic Battery Life

Hello! First time Garmin user and new to the forums.

I posted this in another thread but figured I would ask here to get more opinions.

I just received a Fenix 5x over the weekend and was concerned about battery life, as the new 5x+ was released recently and boasted significantly more battery life. I was thinking of trading in my 5x for the 5x+. Does anyone own/owned a 5x and upgraded to the 5x+? If so, I am curious to hear the difference in realistic battery life between the two. I will be using the watch intermittently on the weekends for hikes and kayaking but mostly will be using it as a normal watch that counts steps, heart rate etc throughout the week with smart notifications off. I am considering paying the extra $200 if the battery life difference is actually significant. A rep for Garmin told me on the phone the extra $$ wasn't worth it if I was only considering upgrading for better battery life. He said he saw relatively the same battery drain on both his 5x and 5x+. Would be great to hear anyone's experience comparing the battery life between the 5x and 5x+!

Thanks for the help guys.

Bryan

0 nmyeti over 6 years ago

I have both. They are similar enough that battery life is not a reason I'd upgrade. The 5x+ is better when I'm not using music, but not so much that you'll really care in a normal week of workouts.

0 NemoSandman over 6 years ago

I have upgraded from a 5X and have taken a 5X+ for its battery life. (Going from 10 days to 20 days in ABC mode...)
Currently at 0.2% / hour in ABC BlueTooth HR watch. The consumption on GPS mode seems to match what Garmin sold to me.

5X+ is very fast in making fixes, faster in navigating the menus, got a convex sapphire glass... I don't regret upgrading.

Now is it worth 200 dollars ?... This is another question. Your Mileage May Vary like they say.

I'm happy with mine and I was happy with my 5X too for a year.
I was ready to upgrade from 5X to the Fenix 5 Plus but again the battery stamina (worst than the Fenix 5) made the difference in my choice.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I have tested all models of the Plus series vs the Non plus series and the Fenix 5x Plus battery is significantly better than the Fenix 5x non-plus model in terms of battery life. As mentioned by NemoSandman above the device is quicker and far more responsive on all fronts.

0 BartKChilders over 6 years ago

I've had a 5x+ for a couple months now. Battery life has been outstanding. I don't have detailed stats like others but - I workout everyday, using GPS, heart-rate, music most days. I wear it at night to track sleep etc. I've only charged it maybe 4 times in 2 months? Even then it had ~40% battery left. IME the battery life is epic - but I'm coming from WearOS and Apple Watch.

0 Bryans14 over 6 years ago

Appreciate all the feedback guys!

Definitely helps me consider what watch to go with.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi All

I'm impressed with all of your consumption. I've had the 5X+ for about 5 months now and I don't get anywhere near the 20 day mark. My best is 8 days without running GPS or music, far less with training or hiking.

My hourly consumption is 0.5 to 0.7. I am BT connected, with notifications, HR and calendar and standard apps and widgets that garmin roll out with the watch.

I would love to know what apps, widgets and watch face s you are all running?

0 Odie21 over 6 years ago

I use my 5x Plus for Smart Notifications, ABC functionality, etc. I don’t use the Pulse Ox All Day option, just manual. I haven’t charged it in a week and I’m at 76%. I’ve played with settings, Watch Faces, Mapping, etc.

This watches battery life far exceeds that of the 5x. Battery life was one of the major considerations when I switched over to Garmin awhile back (and not to Suunto or Apple) and I couldn’t be happier with the 5x Plus.

0 Jan502 over 6 years ago

I use full watch and battery 4 days., but if I not run every day and turn of ox 7 days.
Ox consume a lot of battery

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

If you have a high power consumption, take a look at what you are showing on your watch face.

I use 0.1-0.2 %/hour with a standard watch face with only hours, minutes, weekday and date. There are no seconds, heart rate or sunset/sunrise.

If I enable the sunset/sunrise time in a field on the watch face, the power consumption approximately doubles. Which is of course astounding, when considering that this is a static field which only changes its contents twice per day! I suppose the watch does a full astronomical calculation for every screen update, even though the result is the same every time.

0 Gr4z over 6 years ago

If I enable the sunset/sunrise time in a field on the watch face, the power consumption approximately doubles. Which is of course astounding, when considering that this is a static field which only changes its contents twice per day! I suppose the watch does a full astronomical calculation for every screen update, even though the result is the same every time.

An interesting theory. I use Sun data on almost every watch face I use and had not considered this before.