New Fenix 5 Plus completely discharged out of a box

Former Member over 4 years ago

I got brand new garmin fenix 5 plus from amazon. It was fully discharged.

1. is the battery safe to use? is it stable?

2. i charged it as amazon asked me to, but the percentage went from 38% to 61% in 2 hours AFTER I UNPLUGED IT.

Top Replies

Data over 4 years ago +1 verified

It's not good for a lithium ion battery to be completely discharged (article). But there has to be a protection circuit in the watch that avoids complete discharge (and prevents damage to the cells…

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0 RunR over 4 years ago

Lithium batteries get broken when they are discharged for a longer period. The question is how long your watch was discharged. Mine was discharged too, but works for now 18 months with a good battery life. So I didn't have a reason to return it.

If your watch showed that loss because you tried things out, adjusted the settings etc., then it's probably o.k.. If you didn't use it (and you didn't install 3rd party apps), then it's not.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to RunR

Hey, thank you for your answer. i mean that the battery went up from 38% to 61% after i upnluged it. so its wierd.
i dont know how much time it was dischared. You got discharged new from the box as well?

0 Dr Phil over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

I've had the occasional watch fully discharged on receipt. Never worried about it and never had any problems with battery life. I rarely fully discharge my watch but always fully charge to 100%. I believe battery technology has moved on considerably since the days of 'battery memory' and any need to worry about charge/discharge cycles. But I'm not an expert and I know full well that some people believe otherwise.

In your case it might just be the battery indicator. See how the charging indication responds after some full recharges and then some usage. If you are unhappy arrange a replacement with Amazon.

0 RunR over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

My watch was empty, when I bought it.

Charge it with a high capacity charger and not on a computer, wait 1h longer until it shows 100%. Then switch the watch off, wait 20s and switch it on again. When I do that in the evening with everything switched off (Bluetooth, optical heart rate), it has 98% in the morning.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago

I got a 5x Plus Sapphire the other day from BestBuy because they where on sale for $399.00. The battery was completely discharged and it had a problem with the backlight not working all the time when I raised my wrist, so I exchanged it yesterday for another one. This one was completely discharged too but the backlight worked fine on this one. Once the battery got to 20% I disconnected it so I could install the new maps and firmware, and when I plugged it back in after that it said the battery was over 30%. I have been using it and did a couple walks with it so far and everything seems normal.

I would not worry about it unless you start having problems.

0 Oxygene77 over 4 years ago

Just leave it overnight plugged. Software is rather responsible than battery itself. Mine was discharged too. Took more than normal to charge it, but now everything is ok... Just never go under 10% or so from now... :)

0 Oxygene77 over 4 years ago

PS. Some batteries are dead after 2 years, and some are still going strong after 20 years :) so you never know

0 Data over 4 years ago

It's not good for a lithium ion battery to be completely discharged (article). But there has to be a protection circuit in the watch that avoids complete discharge (and prevents damage to the cells). Nevertheless, if it was discharged for a very long time a battery can eventually fail and won't charge anymore.

If the unit still takes a charge and holds it, and has gone through a number of charge/discharge cycles normally, I wouldn't worry too much.

There is no way to know if "0%" or "100%" as displayed on the watch are absolute numbers of if they include safety margins.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

Thank you for your answer

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Dr Phil

Thank you for your answer