Garmin Fenix 6s solar, slowly, weak charging.

Misiek said:

% charge increase after 6 hours of sun exposure for Fenix 6S Pro Solar (as proved here: https://youtu.be/-F7oaGfG9-4?t=99) or mine 2,1% battery charge increase after 3,5 hours in the car today is something more than illusory I would say ;-)

Then address @subra's question and demonstrate that your watch can charge from 30% to 50% (or any other 20%) increase in battery charge.  You cannot do it.  Your 2.1% increase is an artifact of conditions other than real battery charge percentage gain, e.g. temperature, etc.

It is not possible to run the fenix 6 Solar series of watches on solar power alone, but it is possible with the Instinct Solar watches.

HTH

gaijin said:

Then address @subra's question and demonstrate that your watch can charge from 30% to 50% (or any other 20%) increase in battery charge.  You cannot do it.

Honestly, I think it would be possible. I noticed today the watch charges even if it is turned off completely (which contradicts with your theory that solar power is used to power the watch first and then it gets actual battery juice) and it charges much faster (for obvious reason). I'm too lazy to make any video for you, but any user with Fenix 6 Solar or Tactix Delta Solar can do the test for himself. I think if we can get 8% charge increase in 6 hours we should be able to get 20% charge increase after 15 hours sun exposure. I'm just too lazy to check it, but maybe some brave soul will do it one day ;-)

Misiek said:

Honestly, I think it would be possible.

Then, if you have the watch why not try it? Put it out in the sun all day with say 30% charge and let us know how much the battery has actually increased. Not a perception but real numbers. The watch is not designed to be used as the sole power source, solar charging only provides supplemental energy - support.garmin.com/.../

There is little doubt that the watch will derive maximum charging effect if sat outside directly exposed to the sun. But how many of us take our watches off and do that? 

Interesting that the watch will apparently derive some charging from fluorescent light - https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/fenix66s6xpro/EN-US/GUID-E72F3619-D372-44BE-BEBC-348065CEAC07.html

I did not know that.

Anyhow, the clear direction is to remove the watch for charging to ensure it is best placed to maximize charging. But seriously, how many of us are going to do that for a watch that needs to be worn 24/7 to get the best outcome from the othermetrics?

And yes the battery can receive solar charge when turned off - support.garmin.com/.../

Dr Phil said:

Then, if you have the watch why not try it? Put it out in the sun all day with say 30% charge and let us know how much the battery has actually increased. Not a perception but real numbers.

As said I'm too lazy and do not have time to do such tests. We have other people who enjoy it. You got link to YT video where guy who lives from doing tests got 8% increase of battery charge after 6 hours. Do you really call it only a perception ? 8% battery increase ? C'mon. You claim 20% battery increase is not possible, so please explain me that 8% battery charge increase ? Math tells me we should get 20% battery increase after 15 hours if we got 8% after 6 hours, but sorry my friend, I'm not so much interested to waste 15 hours of my time to make you feel more comfortable (and I would not dare to put my watch to direct sunlight with no airflow for so long risking it will break or sth). I can also see battery increase on my Tactix Delta, very happy with the watch and I simply know you are wrong with your statements. But I'm not really interested to convince you, so I let you live with your own truth ;-)

I think we are moving away from OP. He wonders why he sees no change in battery capacity after 6 hours of solar charging. And many other users have had the same experience.

I believe the F6 was the first Garmin watch with solar charging. So it is a new technology, and the solar panel is undersized and the charging power is very low. Also, it wasn't entirely clear how continuous charging would affect battery life.

Maybe it is possible to charge the battery by 20% or more if you take it off, turn it off and leave it directly in the sun for a few days. But does that make sense? The F6 is a multisport watch, so it should be used as a multisport watch. But you won't be exercising in the blazing sun for 6 hours during an activity.

Comparing the battery life of the Fenix 6 Solar, Instinct Solar and Enduro shows that solar charging is much improved over time

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/catalog/product/compareResult.ep?compareProduct=702902&compareProduct=679335&compareProduct=702797

OK, there are some CIQ battery widgets that show the battery status. But even these widgets consume power and it is largely unknown how the state is calculated and whether it can be trusted, if it shows 0.1% increase. It is similar to quantum mechanics in that a measurement changes the state.

Misiek said:

Math tells me we should get 20% battery increase after 15 hours if we got 8% after 6 hours, but sorry my friend,

I'm not sure that battery increase is always linear. So you can't simply extrapolate the state by the rule of three.

Misiek said:

I can also see battery increase on my Tactix Delta, very happy with the watch and I simply know you are wrong with your statements.

Please have look at the comparision for battery life for Fenix6 solar and Tactic Delta. There are also much differences.

buy.garmin.com/.../compareResult.ep

You compare apples with pears.