Question about offline storage and best practices.

Former Member over 7 years ago

I have read a lot of different forum posts about offline metric tracking/storage and activity storage. Is there an official document somewhere that details how much data my Fenix 5x will store in the back country?

Some posts I've read say that you only get a couple days of metric tracking, others say if you turn off Bluetooth on the watch then you get multiple weeks. I'm also curious how many activities can be stored on the device without syncing.

I'm backpacking off the cell grid in Wyoming for 7-9 days and am wondering if the 5X will be able to store all the metrics till I am able to get back into cell range, and if there are any settings I need to change.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

You appear to be confusing two different issues.

Your 5X will have plenty of storage space to record the details of your 9 days in the backcountry. You will not have to disable BT or anything else to have enough space to hold the data.

You will NOT have enough battery power to record your hike. Turning BT off might help slightly with this, but even still it won't last 9 days with enough GPS usage to be useful. You will need to bring some kind of power source with you. Anker battery packs have been great for me on extended backpacking trips. I wear the watch while I hike and top it off at night in camp.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

No, I understand the battery life not lasting. Which is why I'm bringing a spare battery.

I will try and find the specific post I mentioned. It specifically stated that the watch will start overriding previous data (heart rate/sleep metrics, Not stored activities) after 3/4 days with Bluetooth turned on. But with Bluetooth turned off, would be able to store a much much longer range of metrics. This did not make sense to me.

That's why I was curious about the maximum amount of data it can store. Is it a week? A month? A year? Also, I've read conflicting posts about the amount of activities that can be stored. Some say less than 100, others are saying 150.

I have searched quite a bit and can find no official document from Garmin about this. The official specs in the manual say memory/history is 16GB, but that doesn't really help.

Sorry for the confusion and thank you for responding.

0 Garmin-Heath over 7 years ago

Nosirrahdrof You will be fine on your long hike as long as you are planning to bring a battery backup charging unit. The fenix 5X is a mass storage device, so it will keep saving data until the memory is full while you are out in the field.
With that side, I would personally suggest saving your activity every night to cut down on any file corrupt. Even though it is rare to see it, no one is a fan to lose data if they can avoid it.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

That's why I was curious about the maximum amount of data it can store. Is it a week? A month? A year? Also, I've read conflicting posts about the amount of activities that can be stored. Some say less than 100, others are saying 150.

I spent a week in June in the NCNP backcountry. Brought my phone with offline maps and as a camera. Left BT on on both devices. The watch recorded everything while I was gone, my calendar shows full 24/7 HR and stress, and all of my activities, from that week. It took forever to sync when I got back to civilization though.

I'm sure the number of activities depends on your settings. I have every-second recording because I use a power meter; my files are big and require more space. But the watch has gigs. It just hasn't been an issue, having used the watch daily for more than a year.