Instinct Solar - 10.00 Public Release Candidate

Hi, you are right that could be true. 

• Driving while watch is under a car windshield (they are known to negatively affect spectrum of sunlight)

I will conduct a few more tests, because for now it turns out that it is better to stick to the first generation garmin instinct, because not much has changed.

I hope this is not a way how you verify our problems with the solar charging : no changes have been made for this functionality. 

The only prof is results of tests and the customer reports. 

I've checked the solar intensity chart in GC. The sole intensity during my ride was from 50 to 100%. I'm collating it to similar but shorter ride. The solar charging looks broken.

Please check it, test it. Do not answer that I'm just don't know what I see. The functionality should be not just marketing trick but reliable solution.

5051155 said:

I've checked the solar intensity chart in GC. The sole intensity during my ride was from 50 to 100%. I'm collating it to similar but shorter ride. The solar charging looks broken.

Comparing to similar, but shorter rides is not a valid test. You should do the same ride, at the same time of the day and there should be the same amount of clouds in the sky. Also, you should wear the watch exactly the same way as you did before, as even the smallest change in angle will cause the bezel to cast a different shadow over the display witch affects charging a lot.

As an example, I rode a bike on Saturday under bright sun. During the first 1/3 I was under blue sky with no clouds and no trees or buildings around at all. I was expecting to get 100% during that period, however this was not the case, as you can see on the screenshot below. Why? Well, I realized as I was going along the road, my body and arms (and the watch itself) were sometimes casting shadows over the display. Also, the display was usually not orientated towards the sun, because I was shifting gears, turning the handlebars and moving my hands in general, which affected the angle between the sun and the display.

To my surprise, I got most sun power at the end, when I was back in the city and I was certainly trying to ride in the shades as much as possible.

I would say, getting between 50% and 100% during your ride was a coincidence. You can't expect such high results all the time.

To be clear, I am still running v9.30.

So far, only LeslieSnipes has done a valid, repeatable test.

It also depends on the orientation of the device in relation to the position of the sun. During a hike / a bike ride, the watch is not always exposed to the same sun intensity (forest / shade etc.).

Is it then possible to use firmware 10.00 to choose whether the battery widget will display either the remaining runtime in days or percent? So far you can only display the days.

No, to see percentages you have to press longly to menu button and wait a second

I am running 10.0 fw on my solar instinct, even after reboot I can't see any percentage when I press long on the menu button, it only show remaining days, I do not understand why. Any hint ?