Rapid battery drain when off wrist

Former Member
Former Member
Hi-

ive been having an odd issue with my F5 for some time now. I can easily get over a week worth of mixed usage with wearing the watch daily and using gps for runs, etc. however, when I take the watch off, the battery life seems to plummet immediately. Taking the watch off for 2-3 hours will burn 30% or more of the battery. All I can think is that the HR sensor is searching for a heart rate but can't find it, and uses more power to do so. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Thoughts on how to correct it?

Thanks

Dan
  • The LED's on mine shut down within a few seconds if immobile and the sensor can't get a fix on anything (ie. the sensor is facing straight up into the air).

    In terms of isolating the problem, you may want to test whether the battery still drains that fast off the wrist with the OHR turned off

    In terms of a solution, perhaps try a hard reset, and seeing if the problem persists.

    If this doesn't resolve the issue, then you may want to return the watch under warranty.
  • I have noticed a similar thing with my F5s. In my case, it was caused by leaving the watch bluetooth connected to my phone and physically separating the watch and phone. My most common scenario is leaving the F5s on the counter to dry after washing it post-workout. I'd be around the house with my phone on my person and the watch left on the counter and it would drain the F5s like crazy and, to a lesser extent, my iPhone. I believe that the F5s and iPhone adjust WiFi and/or Bluetooth radio power as needed to maintain a connection. Under "normal" circumstances, my F5s and phone are within 3ft of each other so little power is required. But when my F5s is on the counter and I'm walking around the house with my phone, it could be 50-100' plus walls, floors and doors. In that scenario I believe both the watch and phone are using max bluetooth power to try to stay connected and that results in the drain. If I turn off the F5s' connection to my phone prior to leaving it separated, there is only normal drain on both the phone and watch.

    I suggest you try turning off connection to your phone when you leave the watch separated.
  • I have noticed a similar thing with my F5s. In my case, it was caused by leaving the watch bluetooth connected to my phone and physically separating the watch and phone. My most common scenario is leaving the F5s on the counter to dry after washing it post-workout. I'd be around the house with my phone on my person and the watch left on the counter and it would drain the F5s like crazy and, to a lesser extent, my iPhone. I believe that the F5s and iPhone adjust WiFi and/or Bluetooth radio power as needed to maintain a connection. Under "normal" circumstances, my F5s and phone are within 3ft of each other so little power is required. But when my F5s is on the counter and I'm walking around the house with my phone, it could be 50-100' plus walls, floors and doors. In that scenario I believe both the watch and phone are using max bluetooth power to try to stay connected and that results in the drain. If I turn off the F5s' connection to my phone prior to leaving it separated, there is only normal drain on both the phone and watch.

    I suggest you try turning off connection to your phone when you leave the watch separated.


    In this case (wandering around the house), the watch would likely be regularly detecting the phone, but struggling to maintain a decent connection, and that is when it would go to max BT power to try to maintain the connection. You would probably find a lower power drain if you left the house and they weren't detecting each other at all.
  • In this case (wandering around the house), the watch would likely be regularly detecting the phone, but struggling to maintain a decent connection, and that is when it would go to max BT power to try to maintain the connection. You would probably find a lower power drain if you left the house and they weren't detecting each other at all.


    Yep -- exactly -- and that is what I noticed. Leaving the watch or the phone at home and taking the other out of the house resulted in no unusual drain. I had an F3 prior to the F5s and noticed the same thing, albeit seemingly to a lesser extent on the F3. Maybe the F3 has a different or better BT antenna or different controls of the BT power. Either way, I strongly suspect that the OP's problem will be solved by either keeping the watch and phone close together or completely disconnected by either distance or turning off BT on the watch.