Fenix 5s users: Feedback on Battery consumption please

Hi all, i have a brand new Fenix 5s. While i am happy with the power consumption in watch mode (about 6 - 7 % per day) my 5s eats up battery during any activiy. I lose about 13 - 15 % per hour during running or cycling (use built in HR only, no other sensors). Even a pool swim of 35 minutes consumed 12% (scary!). Garmin specifies up to 14 hours for the 5s during GPS activities, mine would only do less than 8 hours which is not even close to that. I don't use navigation or any other features that might use a lot of juice. I returned the first unit to the vendor and got it swapped with a new one, but the problem remains. I opened a ticket with support but would be interested in the experience of other Fenix 5s users?

0 mcalista over 8 years ago

First thing to try with issues like this is to do a hard reset.

0 triwolf3 over 8 years ago

Done on both watches with no results. I had a Fenix 3 previously, so am not totally new to the Garmin world

0 bchccc over 8 years ago

I have a 5S for 2 months, and my battery consumption (averages are):
- normal usage -> around 7% consumption per day
- activity only running with GPS (with GLONASS on) for about 30-40 min -> around 10%
So the numbers seem to be in line with yours... are you sure in your activities you are not using GPS?

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I've noticed a real change in battery consumption since I first got the watch around 2 months ago

- normal use I am now seeing around 20% a day on the most up-to-date beta firmware. On firmware v3 and earlier I saw around 6% per day.
- activities - similar to yours c. 15% per hour GPS GLONASS and ANT HR sensor.

The only set up change has been firmware upgrades both full and beta (notifications, bluetooth, etc. have remained constant).

One thing I have noticed (and again perhaps linked to firmware changes) is that the HR LEDs now seem to flicker constantly when the watch is on my wrist. I can see the green lights out the side. I am sure when I first got the watch it would only do this once per minute for 5 seconds or so and then turn off. Has anyone else got the same behaviour? If I take the watch off it seems to know not to check and will shut the LEDs off. Likewise if I go to the HR widget I get a solid LED.

I'm loath to do a hard reset if that means losing training status, Vo2 etc. but something does not seem right.

0 Ablator2 over 8 years ago

Turn Glonass off

0 triwolf3 over 8 years ago

With Glonass off you have marginal saving, something like 1 % per hour. If the 5s consumes 14% per hour instead of 15% you don't get anywhere near the 14 hours runtime. I have Glonass off and don't see any improvement.

0 Ablator2 over 8 years ago

If you don't need the backlight on during activity, you can change the setting. Might help a little. I have the 5 not the 5S so can't compare. I have backlight set to 4 sec, use a watch face with no sec and battery drain is 4-5%/d in watch mode and about 4-5%/hr when I use GPS (no Glonass).