Massive Issues with Week Old 5s plus

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi All

Am having massive issues with my Garmin. I've had my Fenix 5s plus sap for bang on a week now and up until 10am this morning have had to charge it 3 times already. It's currently plugged in for the 4th as at 11am when it said it was 100% until about 5 mins ago, it had dropped to 88%. Now, I'm pretty annoyed at this as you can imagine and it's rubbish compared to my HR Forerunner which I upgraded from. In a week, I've undertaken 1 run of 1 hour duration (last night) and on the first day, had a play around with settings but have kept them on factory settings so to speak and not added anything or changed its look straight out the box. It's on watch mode and to give you an indication of movement, today I've clocked a massive 400 steps so far (am stuck at a desk). I've checked my software and it seems I'm on 5.10 however besides downloading software on my laptop and physically dragging files, I cannot seem to update to 5.53. Have had Garmins for 10 years now so gutted about this one as only upgraded as wanted the music feature (haven't actually loaded any music yet). Garmin Connect tells me there's no new software to add. Completely at a loss and very very unhappy. Any ideas?

On top of this I've had to cut and paste and try to create this post 6 times as keep getting a message from Garmin saying I'm not authorised to post and I keep being logged out then having to re-subscribe (which isn't working!)

Really really really annoyed!!

:(

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Well, just thought I'd update (5th time trying to post this - come on Garmin sort this site out!!).

After much discussion, Garmin told me to send the watch back to them for an immediate replacement. They offered to pay postage for the return and next day delivery (after I contacted the MD on numerous occasions) as a goodwill gesture. I decided to get rid of the 5s as think the smaller size contributed to the battery drain which was getting to 50% per 24 hours. I replaced it with 5 plus titanium - I asked Garmin for this after their first offer of postage and they agreed but had I not asked they wouldn't have) and touch wood, the difference is incredible. It now last 5 odd days with 1-2 gps which seems forever compared to the last one so I am happy. Still have a really bitter taste in mouth from Garmin though but much happier with the device. It's interesting too this new watch has a lot more options open to me: like WIFI which was a menu choice on the 5s however was shaded out so I could never connect it. The previous was def a dud!

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

That's great news. Just unfortunate you had to deal with all those issues to get there.

I moved from the 5S+ to the 5+ because of the battery life too. Let's hope you have much better outcomes with the replacement.

0 Notne over 6 years ago

Thanks for these comments about battery life. I've also got a Fenix 5S Plus, and I've also not had great battery life (goes down to 50% from 100% after a 1 hr 40 minute run, GPS on, and Bluetooth to Stryd - I have set the watch to "Use Stryd for Distance and Speed - always"). I haven't really minded that much because on return home I charge it up while taking my shower and it's fine for the rest of the day, after I turn off GPS.

The comments in this thread made me think though … how do I know whether the battery will last for a half-marathon (my target race in 6-9 months), much less a marathon?

Here is my question: is a valid test to set the watch up as if I were running, then see how long it lasts … and if it lasts all day then I know it'll be fine for a race?

Or does battery life somehow depend on distance and/or speed during the day … to the point that the battery lasting all day while just walking around here and there doesn't predict at all whether it would last for 3-4 hrs of marathon running?

Thanks for any help!

Notne

PS - Forum use issues were also brought up in this thread, so I'll add my experience - the reCAPTCHA can be frustrating indeed, but even worse, when I quote somebody (someone else, or myself for editing purposes) and then try to post, it is frequently *impossible* to post - I get a recurrent "Error Type 9 Syntax …" kind of message, and posting is blocked. It's so weird, I can even then copy my entire response, close down Garmin, reopen Garmin, start a new thread, then paste my response … when I hit "Post" I get the same error message, as if there is an invisible corruption of my original message!. Most difficult forum to post on I've ever been associated with … and that's not even counting the multiple re-CAPTCHA clicks (it's not like these are the nuclear codes we're discussing here!).

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

There are so many things impacting battery life as you probably are well aware. Garmin has 'up to' because of that. The more sensors you connect to, the quicker battery life will of course diminish. I can only suggest that you walk/jog for the anticipated time you'd take for your half-marathon in the set up you intend to use and see what you get. To be fair, I'd expect no problem with a half marathon even if it took 2.5 to 3 hrs. However, for a marathon that's a lot longer potentially. Again, jog/walk an activity with all sensors you intend to use for the anticipated duration of the marathon and see what you get. You'd think up to 11 hours with GPS and WHR should still leave you enough to finish a marathon using Stryd, but...

To answer your question distance and speed should not matter. It's more to do with the time in use and data being recorded.

0 Notne over 6 years ago

There are so many things impacting battery life as you probably are well aware. Garmin has 'up to' because of that. The more sensors you connect to, the quicker battery life will of course diminish. I can only suggest that you walk/jog for the anticipated time you'd take for your half-marathon in the set up you intend to use and see what you get. To be fair, I'd expect no problem with a half marathon even if it took 2.5 to 3 hrs. However, for a marathon that's a lot longer potentially. Again, jog/walk an activity with all sensors you intend to use for the anticipated duration of the marathon and see what you get. You'd think up to 11 hours with GPS and WHR should still leave you enough to finish a marathon using Stryd, but...

To answer your question distance and speed should not matter. It's more to do with the time in use and data being recorded.

Thank you philipshambrook for your helpful reply!

I've gone from early AM to bedtime without running out of battery, starting at 100%, with all my "running connections" activated, on days I don't run, when I just go to work, etc. So that should be very reassuring, right?

But there's something different when I run, the battery life seems to plummet after a run in a way that it doesn't do when I just go about my usual walking around activities. That's why I asked if speed or distance would make a difference in battery life. Understanding that it doesn't (thanks for confirming that) unfortunately doesn't shine a light on why battery life seems worse after a run ...

Mysteries of life, etc ...

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

There have been some discussions about plummeting battery life after using GPS with the 5+. It's not something I've seen. Reach out to Garmin Support and see what they have to say.

0 Notne over 6 years ago

I think I have an explanation for why my battery runs out so much during runs, but not during the day when I didn't run!

It's not rocket science, a little embarrassed I didn't figure this out -

When I run, the watch is constantly beeping, buzzing, vibrating: laps achieved, "time remaining", low HR alerts, high HR alerts, "Performance Status", "Turn Right Here" buzzings and beeps, etc., etc., etc. These things have got to be battery killers.

Understanding why the battery declines more quickly during my runs doesn't of course answer whether it'll last for the entirety of a half-marathon or marathon, and in light of the above I guess there's no way to test it except to do a dry run at race distance/pace. I guess during a race I can turn off a lot of the beeps, buzzes, and vibrations. We'll have to see.

Any thoughts … does that sound about right?

PS: And I don't think it's GPS itself running the battery down quickly - as I meant to mention higher up, I can have my GPS on all day and not have any significant battery run down, as long as I'm not doing a run that day.

0 seilogramp over 6 years ago

I guess there's no way to test it except to do a dry run at race distance/pace

You don't need to go at race pace. If you're new to this, you probably want to save that for the race. Do a run at your planned 1/2 or full marathon time, but at a reduced or relaxed pace and shorter distance.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

Right. Some very important information that wasn't shared. Look at what Garmin says when it tables the battery life as "GPS mode with wrist-based heart rate. Adding anything else, even external HR, will decrease the battery life. Turn off everything but the bare minimum you really need. As noted above, do a training session for the same time period you'd expect to take.