Am I the only one that hates the design of the charging port on the F5 vs previous models like the F2? When I had an F2, I was able to charge it whie wearing it at the same time. The F5 must be removed from my wrist to charge. This is highly inconvenient when doing long ultra distance events(10+ hours). I hope they take this into consideration on future versions. I don't necessarily want to stop for 30 minutes to charge my watch back up. Discuss....
There are ways to do it, I did a 23 hours ultra and charge while running with the battery pack in the backpack and watch set on one of the backpack straps.
It's a way to have a universal cable for all watches, rather than designing a new charging dock for every watch they make. Which also is good for users having more than one device .
I agree that the charge port is in an inconvenient location.
But with a rated GPS life of approx. 24 hours, the F5 will easily cope with a 10 hour event without recharging. I regularly use mine for 10 hours plus.
The F5 recharges at slightly slower than 1% per minute. A strategy of recharging for a few minutes at every aid station (rather than 30 minutes continuously) should get you to about 30 hours of tracking, without losing any HR data while on the move.
There are ways to do it, I did a 23 hours ultra and charge while running with the battery pack in the backpack and watch set on one of the backpack straps.
Was the connection to the battery solid with all the movement?
I agree that the charge port is in an inconvenient location.
But with a rated GPS life of approx. 24 hours, the F5 will easily cope with a 10 hour event without recharging. I regularly use mine for 10 hours plus.
The F5 recharges at slightly slower than 1% per minute. A strategy of recharging for a few minutes at every aid station (rather than 30 minutes continuously) should get you to about 30 hours of tracking, without losing any HR data while on the move.
My battery seems to be inconsistent though. It might be due to having an external HR strap, and speed sensor on my mtb that puts an extra load on the battery.
Connected sensors normally use mininal watch battery. Unless there is a marginal connection, which can cause more power usage as it struggles to maintain connection. Of the two, I would suspect the speed sensor, as it is further away, and there is more in the way to block the signal.
You could try using it without the speed sensor as an experiment as to battery usage (you will still get "noisy" speed data from the GPS). Mounting the sensor on the front wheel will reduce distance and interference.
