I'm on the fence re: fenix 5S plus and FR935. Main use is to track data as I train for a full IM. I'm in love w/ the look of the 5S Plus, with music and pay (I know, I know, I don't really need it) also love the form factor. Regardless the most important thing for me is, battery life, so will it realistically last an entire full IM or should I stick w/ FR935?
The user manual indicates 11 hours in GPS mode with wrist HR. I'd suspect the reality is that you'd get less than that even under ideal conditions, but might get close if you turned some stuff off. There's a post somewhere in the 5 series threads discussing how to maximise the battery life for an ultramarathon.
I used the 935 in an 85k ultra earlier this year - GPS, bluetooth, chest HR, WHR still on - and had close to 30% left after 13hrs. I think I'd stick with the 935 for now for the Ironman.
What about the F5+, what's the realistic battery time?
I’m no IM expert, but the best indication of battery life I have on the F5+ variant, is when I tracked this 7:24 mountaineering activity https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2794303423 a while back. I had fully charged my F5+ to 100% overnight (still showing 100% when I started the activity). The F5+ was connected to my iPhone via BLE throughout (receiving notifications etc), WHR was On (but I took the watch off my wrist whilst doing the rock climbing route), Every Second data recording On, GPS+Galileo On and wrist backlight gesture On. When I stopped the activity After 7 hours 24 minutes the F5+ was showing 50% battery remaining. Given that I had some power hungry settings (GPS+Galileo rather than just GPS, BLE connection to iPhone on and WHR on) I think you’d be able to get close to the claimed 18 hours* in GPS tracking mode with some more power frugal settings (GPS only, turn Phone connection off, turn WHR off to use ANT+ chest HR strap instead, turn backlight to manual only, smart record data, no CIQ data fields, widgets, watch faces or apps in use.... etc)
*Probably more like 15-16 hours for planning purposes (also rechecked the product page and it states 18 hours in GPS mode)
The user manual indicates 11 hours in GPS mode with wrist HR. I'd suspect the reality is that you'd get less than that even under ideal conditions, but might get close if you turned some stuff off. There's a post somewhere in the 5 series threads discussing how to maximise the battery life for an ultramarathon.
I used the 935 in an 85k ultra earlier this year - GPS, bluetooth, chest HR, WHR still on - and had close to 30% left after 13hrs. I think I'd stick with the 935 for now for the Ironman.
Thanks, I decided to go w/ the 935. Not sure if you turn off the GPS during the IM it would still last the entire race.
I think you'd be alright with the 935 for the full Ironman. It's not quite the same, but it might be worthwhile recording a dummy activity during a day. Turn it on first thing in the morning, wear it all day, then turn off at the end of the day and see how much battery you have left. Discard the activity when finished.
I think you'd be alright with the 935 for the full Ironman. It's not quite the same, but it might be worthwhile recording a dummy activity during a day. Turn it on first thing in the morning, wear it all day, then turn off at the end of the day and see how much battery you have left. Discard the activity when finished.
Since the OHR sensor on my 735XT seems to be wonky, I am debating whether I should aim for the 935 or the 5s plus and I too am worried about the battery run time for an IM race. I guess with the 5s plus I would be using Stryd and Ultratrac and maybe switch off the optical HR sensor since I'll be wearing a HRM-TRI anyway.
So three questions:
1 - Do any 5s plus owners happen to have an Ultratrac activity they might be able to share so I can get an idea about the recorded track? 2 - There probably is no way to turn on the OHR when I am mid-activity, right? This would be a fallback just in case the HRM-TRI dies. 3- Anecdotally I've heard that the f5plus watches are significantly faster / have more memory than the 935. This would justify the higher initial investment for me (I am currently annoyed, that my 735XT doesn't get CIQ3 and constantly run against memory limits with the CIQ datafields I am using). Does anybody have some real world experience regarding the difference between 5splus and 935 with regards to speed?
