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Realistic battery life, fenix 5?

Former Member over 7 years ago

Hello all,

So last week I bought a fenix 5. Store had it in open box and on the shelf but it was off, I was worried about it having been on for months on the shelf but they told me it had never been powered on, they only had the 5X on display powered up. Bought it, no discount got home and charged it. The battery was completely discharged.

One of my main reasons for buying the fenix 5 vs a 3 or another less expensive option was battery life - as I am starting to run ultra marathons.

Last Saturday ran my first. I started with 95% charge. GPS only mode (no Glonnass). I played occasionally with the watch during the race, and often moved it into view to see my HR (with backlight at 50%). Halfway into the race, 7 hours in, I notice it is at 40% battery. I changed it to Ultratrac in the activity settings menu, and start avoiding using the backlight or play with it(still glancing at it often to see HR).

My race time was 14 hours 30 minutes. When I made it across the finish line, literally 1 minute after, I glance at the watch to stop the activity and it powered down.

I know actual, realistic device times are often lower than what the manufacturer advertises. Still, advertised GPS mode at 20 hours and Ultratrac 60 hours, seems I should have gotten to the end of this race with a good battery reserve. I am planning longer races later in the season so... this watch might not cut it, apparently. My iphone 7 plus in airplane mode, but doing GPS tracking, went through all of this with 30% power left and me taking some pictures and listening to podcasts on the way.

So question to the group - is this the normal battery life I can expect from this device while tracking activities? Or did I get a dud or a battery affected by it being a showroom device?

Unsure if I am just being paranoid and need to enjoy the device and go Ultratrac from the start, turn off the backlight (not needed to be honest).

Thanks all,

Juan

Top Replies

Garmin-Heath over 5 years ago +1 verified

If you are experiencing rapid battery drain, where your watch is only lasting a few days, first verify on latest software version. If you are using any third-party Connect IQ watch faces, try changing…

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0 AnatoliAngelov over 6 years ago

Maybe I noticed the same thing:
I have tested the GPS and GPS + Galileo hike for 1.30 hour with the watch placed on the window:

1. Hike activity on GPS only: 6.3% per 1.30 hours which is 4.2% per hour, ~23.8 hours;
2. Hike activity on GPS + Galileo: 8.5% per 1.30 hours which is 5.67% per hour, ~17.6 hours;

I didn't check right after the test what was the consumption, but in watch mode, it continues to drain 0.6-0.7% per hour...

I haven't tried testing for more time but can do it this weekend.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Is that not just weird? I wonder if someone with technical skills would have a clue? I have been home now about 12 hours and the watch seems to have stabilised at 1.1% per hour. The worst ever.

I think it does show however the battery appears fine??

0 Nando over 6 years ago

It seems that all of those have the same problem have purchased the watch in the last week. I would like to know if the problem solves itself after three or four fully charges. I remember when I purchased the Fenix 3 HR it came with 0% of batt too, but in a few weeks, battery lasted around 1 week with 4-5 GPS hours per week. As I said, I have asked to Amazon to replace my unit so, with the new one, I want to wait for 4 o 5 fully charges...I don´t think Garmin wouldn´t be so bad...Don´t you think?

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

To be fair Nando Garmin reputation for faulty items is pretty high in my experiance. I also had a Fenix 3, after returning 3x Fenix 3HR as the altitude was shockingly inaccurate, like it would go from 30 meters (my house) to 8000 meters to -5000 meters without me leaving the house.... The Fenix 3 was excellent. I belong to a cycling club and I'd say at least a 3rd of the members I know have ditched Garmin Edge units and gone to Wahoo as the Garmin units were so problematic. I have also personally had issues with a 705 and a 800 edge computer. Corrupted tracks, freezing ect. I do think Garmin make excellent units - when they work!

I have travelled 10s of thousands of km using a Garmin Etrex - over several incarnations of the unit. And that has been rock solid.

And the Fenix 5 is a really lovely bit of kit, nice size on the wrist, feels like it will last, excellent features, long battery life and quick charging and Garmin connect is pretty sorted now so I'd love for the Fenix 5 to work as intended. I have ordered a Suunto 9 to compare but without wearing the Suunto I think the Fenix 5 is a better size on the wrist so just want it to work....... Surly expecting an expensive bit of kit just to work isn't asking too much :(

0 AnatoliAngelov over 6 years ago

I did two more 3 hours tests with Hiking on GPS only - perfect battery behaviour in activity mode - average 4.2-4.3% per hour.
In watch mode still 0.6-0.8% per hour...

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

That is just weird. I have no idea, have you?

0 Dimas_sc over 6 years ago

Things I've tried:
- Hard reset: same 0.6-0.7% battery drain per hour.
- Disable heart monitor and bluetooth: 0.5% battery drain per hour.
- Downgrade to firmware 10.0: same.

I think I will return it.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Things I've tried:
- Hard reset: same 0.6-0.7% battery drain per hour.
- Disable heart monitor and bluetooth: 0.5% battery drain per hour.
- Downgrade to firmware 10.0: same.

I think I will return it.

I am in exactly the same position on watch number 2. I noticed on the Fenix 5+ forum they are having an identical issue. Normal battery usage in activities then really high.

Your watch by the way - the 0.6% an hour is the same as my first watch. The replacement is 1-1.2% per hour!! That after trying re-sets, charging cycles, removing all 3rd party apps and faces ect. I haven't tried turning off BT and heartrate as those are two of the functions I purchased the watch for.

???????I think I'll also return. Amazon must be building up a stockpile of returned Fenix watches!!

0 Nando over 6 years ago

Well, Yesterday I received my new device. It came with 0% batt too. I charged it up to 100% and then I used it normally. Nearly 24 hours later, with a 1 GPS-hour this morning and batt level keeps in 87%. It is near my old Fenix 3 HR.

0 AnatoliAngelov over 6 years ago

11 hours after the last full charge the watch was on 94%. Wow, I thought maybe I have luck this time.
But..., I did 45 minutes treadmill run and when I finished running the battery, was on 74%. The battery started to drain 3-4% per hour and now is on 39%... I have turned it off for half an hour and now turned it on - 34%. It has a huge draining even when it is turned off...

Edit: The battery progressively increases the drain - now is 4.5% per hour...
Edit2: Battery is dead in 4 hours after it was on 94%...