Instinct Battery Life Issue

JAYMZ1972 over 5 years ago

It appears I have the dreaded battery life issue on my Instinct. Strange that a watch that prides itself on a 14 day life should be riddled with this battery problem.

The watch is only few days old. It has been charge to 'full' three times already. I have had several Garmin watches before including four Forerunners, two XT triathlon watches, Garmin swim and a Garmin Edge 500. Also a Garmin inReach + .... so I kind of know my way around Garmin but just wanted to know if there was anything obvious I may have overlooked.

The watch is pretty much default other than me changing the watch face and moving some widgets. My watch seems to be connected all the time to my iPhone. This seems to be the default preferred option and probably necessary to use it as a smart watch. That said, I turned off all Smart Notifications just to see what would happen.

Here is my timeline:

2019 05 06 MONDAY

Checked to ensure all battery guidelines adhered too. No true track.
Updated firmware to 4.0.0
Turned off Smart notifications
20:27 Battery shows as Charged Complete (5 Battery bars not flashing)
20:28 Wearing battery. Using wrist HR. Clock face just hh:mm no seconds.

2019 05 07 TUESDAY

05:35 Battery shows only 4 bars, down 1
07:00 Started a run using GPS (Battery 4 bars)
07:45 After a 45 minutes GPS run session another bar down (Battery 3 Bars)

As you can see, within 12 hours I have lost 2 bars. 1 overnight, 1 after a 40 minute run.

I have gone through some YouTube 'Extend Battery Life Of Instinct' videos but the watch seems to have those things done by default.

Do I need to send it back for a replacement? Someone else on here said they had purchased their through REI, which I had too. Maybe they have a bad batch.

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0 Odie21 over 5 years ago

Did you have battery issues before you upgraded to 4.00?

0 1214976 over 5 years ago

I am having the same issue, also purchased at REI on Dec 22, 2018. I charge mine to 5 bars, within 24 hours I loose 2 bars just on smartwatch function. I have reset and erased all data too, didn't help. I took it into REI yesterday but they wouldn't help because it is past their 90 policy. I emailed Garmin, not answer... Not good support from REI or Garmin.

0 2293677 over 5 years ago in reply to 1214976

I’m having the same issue. Purchased April 2019. Sent off all my diagnostics files to Garmin and on 20 May had an email stating their engineering department was looking at it. Nothing since. Very frustrating.

0 onlybirdman over 5 years ago

I'm now on my THIRD Instinct.

1st: I purchased a used returned item at REI (only one they have in stock at that store). Started out with only 5 days of battery life. Returned to REI.

2nd: Brand new from REI. Started with 16 days of battery life for only the first 2 full charges. After that it degraded, now I'm only down to about 1 week of battery life. Roughly 6 weeks of ownership. Returned to REI.

3rd: Picked up at REI on 6/09. We'll see how this one turn out. I love this watch so much that I'm willing to put up with all this crap, but only to a point.

0 onlybirdman over 5 years ago in reply to onlybirdman

I should also add. Due to all the battery issue, I don't use any of the GPS functions (unless accidentally pressed). I purposely want to use it this way to see its true battery life on regular day to day use without GPS. 16 days is pretty amazing!

0 gaijin over 5 years ago in reply to onlybirdman

How are you charging your Instincts?

-Computer?

-Garmin brand wall charger?

-Aftermarket wall charger (specifics?)?

-Other?

How long are you charging your Instincts?

-Until charging animation stops?

-As soon as 5 battery status bars are displayed?

-Some time after charging animation stops or 5 bar battery status is displayed?

-Overnight?

-Other?

It is highly unusual to have experienced such rapid battery degradation with 3 separate watches.

HTH

0 onlybirdman over 5 years ago in reply to gaijin

- I charge it through mainly my few other USB wall chargers, non Garmin branded.

- I charge it till animation fully stops, nothing blinks.

- Because of this battery issue, I've been writing down the date and time each bar ticks down, and the duration is reducing consistently.

0 5655939 over 5 years ago in reply to onlybirdman

Anyone had received replied from Garmin ? I m havin the same battery issue. The battery does not last longer then 5 days...

0 6999375 over 5 years ago

Same issue. Turned off all the features to use as everyday watch, even left in on the table after charging. Lost 2 bars after 24hrs. Dead after about 48-72 hours.

0 Joe over 5 years ago

I bought my Instinct in April. It worked fine for six months with battery life of 10-14 days. Now I have 3 days of use with only 30 minutes of GPS. No word from Garmin and really disappointed first time Garmin user.