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Battery issues after update 19.20

After updating my Fenix 6X to version 19.20, my battery is draining extremely fast. I took my watch off the charger at 0600 this morning with 100% and by 1400 it was already down to 70% charge. Before the update I would maybe be at 97%. I haven’t even used the device to track any activity, listen to music, and my pulse ox is turned off.

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0 9247889 over 3 years ago in reply to Run23ie

Important: This is for 6X Pro/Sapphire/Solar ONLY
Below is the link to the 16.70 beta, which contains System_Backdate_v1520 which contains the 15.20 fw.
www[dot]mediafire.com/file/zfg5v0cu47q1esc/Fenix6XPro_6XProSolar_1670Beta.zip/file
same instructions as for any beta.

0 pamarunkov over 3 years ago

can anyone give a link to firmware 15.20-16.70 for fenix 6 pro?

0 9247889 over 3 years ago in reply to pamarunkov

Please be careful not to download the wrong ones as these can brick the watch if wrong one is applied - doublecheck filenames when in doubt. All these contain firmware 15.20 as backup.

Fenix 6 Pro / 6 Pro Solar:
www[dot]mediafire.com/file/xwzl9tb00ajensd/Fenix6Pro_6ProSolar_1670Beta.zip/file

Fenix 6 / 6 Solar:
www[dot]mediafire.com/file/7c7lryhp1bt9nvv/Fenix6_6Solar_1670Beta.zip/file

Fenix 6S / 6S Solar:
www[dot]mediafire.com/file/nq316ml0lg19qep/Fenix6S_6SSolar_1670Beta.zip/file

Fenix 6S Pro / 6S Pro Solar
www[dot]mediafire.com/file/hzocwstbu6iytcl/Fenix6SPro_6SProSolar_1670Beta.zip/file

0 5135968 over 3 years ago in reply to 5135968

So as I posted on page 28 I have been getting very severe battery drain since moving to 19.20, often over 20% a day, so typically I am needing to charge around the end of day 5.

So I think one thing is worth pointing out - there seem to be 2 types of battery drain

Type 1 drain - This drain seems to occur for some people whenever there is a firmware update. This can often / usually be resolved with a soft reset (long press on light button)

Type 2 drain - This is drain that cannot be solved with soft resets, deleting garmin_device.xml or other incantations that are often mentioned. Drain remains no matter how many times the device is restarted or files deleted.

This post is about type 2 drain in my definition.

So as this problem was unsolvable for me as I have documented, I downgraded to 15.20 firmware from a 15.xx beta file.

As before I took photographs of the watchface to record data - I like this approach as this avoids installing unreliable CIQ battery trackers, and also provides a timestamp with the battery % visible, so it makes a handy visual and easily understood record of power consumption.

So the results of the downgrade from 19.20 to 15.20 are looking very good - I will not call this proof of drain in 19.20, but this is certainly evidence that there might be. Subtle difference, but I can only speak to how my own watch performs before and after downgrade. I do think however this refutes the 'your device is faulty' point that people make..again not proof, but evidence this is not a battery fault, but rather a firmware bug, that some users may see, but most do not. We know there have been power drain bugs before that Garmin have fixed, so I suspect why most people do not see these issues is simply a matter of how we use the device as individuals. Just like some Tesla cars will crash, but most do not. Some people just do not see the bugs, but not seeing does not equal not there....

15.20 downgrade findings

The above was just a bit of context for the results below, which I think speak for themselves but to summarise and (spoilers!) - I have gone from sometimes over 20% a day battery consumption on 19.20, to 10% battery consumption over a 36 hour period with 15.20. You can see 'before' results on page 28 with photos from 19.20 firmware, and below are the photos are from 15.20

100% after downgrade to 15.20, after allowing syncing and then full recharge (note the downgraded did not go into sleep mode overnight)

97% in the morning - 3% overnight

96% - This is taken after a GPS activity (bike ride) while waiting for my Covid vaccine! Only sensor paired and connected is the Garmin HRM Pro at this stage - by the way if you wear two watches when rolling up your sleeves for the vaccine, you can guarantee strange looks!

93% - This is taken mid afternoon after about 1 hour of GPS earlier in the day

93% - Stayed at 93% for over 3 hours

92% - 24 hours after the downgrade to 15.20 - for this first 24 hour period, there was no overnight power saving. After taking this photo I enabled sleep power save mode

91% - After 8 hours overnight with device in power save mode (oHR on only)

90% - 36 hours after downgrading to 15.20

Added:

Note yesterday due to a bad reaction to the covid vaccine I did no activities and barely touched the watch so the results yesterday may not be typical

90% still -

89%

88% (device in sleep power save mode from 1030 - 730)

88% still after wake up? (hmm... that is a bit strange, I'd expect 1 or 2%..)

(the figures from yesterday and overnight seem to show such low drain this does not seem possible...)

I will spend more time with 15.20 as I can see no downsides to it. I am going to follow the old 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!' mantra and turn off automatically updates.

0 Beires over 3 years ago

I really like how this community is sensing there is actually something wrong with the software update (as I do). And that you guy's don't just shout but help to pinpoint and solve the problem. So eezytiger and @9247889 and others well done!

I hope Garmin will do two things:
1) Just give us answer, tell us you see that there is a lot of rumor's people (at least) thinking there is something off.
2) Tell us they working on a fix // Tell us it's something else // Come with a fix (one of these three)

However, I want to try to downgrade my watch. Can someone confirm that this will do the trick (after downloading the files thanks to 9247889?

-- Drop the file into /GARMIN folder and disconnect from your computer. Update/downgrade should happen automatically --

0 5135968 over 3 years ago in reply to Beires

Beires said:
Can someone confirm that this will do the trick (after downloading the files thanks to 9247889?

It seems to be working for me as I have documented drain since the 15.20 - however the battery usage yesterday was usually low - I was ill so did no activities and I do not think my phone even connected to my device that day.

But for me 15.20 fixes it - which is the firmware it was shipped with to begin with actually when battery life was better.!

I cannot really see any downsides because I think 15.20 is only actually 2 versions back and recent firmware updates have no provided anything useful, just support for mechanical dopers aka e-bikes ;)

0 Mallinky over 3 years ago

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with 19.20. It's either (as other posters have said) a flaw in the firmware upgrade process and/or a hardware problem (more likely the former, you'd like to think). Certainly, anyone with a watch in warranty should be demanding a replacement and shouldn't have to be restoring previous firmware.

My replacement 6X Pro has been working as good as new since I upgraded it, pretty much immediately, from out-of-the-box 16.7 to 19.20 - easily lasting 3+ weeks as a smart watch. The old one barely lasted 3 days following supposedly the same update to19.20.

I plan to install further updates manually - doing a soft (or possibly even a hard) reset before allowing the update.

0 skordilis over 3 years ago in reply to Mallinky

i wonder all of you here (the most) with no battery issues with lines like those "easily lasting 3+ weeks as smart watch" do you even do workouts? cause in my daily routine 3+ hours workouts my watch lasts almost a week (with battery save on)

0 5135968 over 3 years ago in reply to Mallinky

Mallinky said:
It's either (as other posters have said) a flaw in the firmware upgrade process

I think that is possible as nearly every firmware update seems to get those problems - but usually they seem to be resolved with resets or powering down.

In my case if you look at my results with 19.20 on page 26 and 27 and my results with 15.20 which are posted just above you, the difference is huge. Which at least rules out a hardware issue in my case, because that is not going to change from 16.70->19.20->15.20 - the only thing that changed was the firmware.

In the 20.00 thread at least 2 posters have said Garmin have confirmed to wait for a new firmware update which is likely to resolve the issue. Now either Garmin Support are mistaken, or simply fobbing people off, or it's possible they have identified an issue.

As an aside, back in my Fenix 5 Plus days there was a clear issue where if you did an activity with music headphones connected, there was large post-activity battery drain. Lots of people didn't see the problem, exactly as in this thread. I sent Garmin a huge spreadsheet with before and after results with ANT 5.xx and ANT 6.xx rolling back and forward again titled '1.5% per hour power drain after activities with music / heart belt with ANT 6.04, downgrade to ANT_BLE_BT_v5.04 solves problem' (so just to ID me Garmin if your are reading, so you know I tend to be thorough!) and it was fixed and acknowledged in a new ANT update sometime later.

It is a mystery why some people do not see the drain, and all I can assume is that we all use our devices differently - ie some people use music, Garmin Pay, Strava Segments, with InReach (another known drain issue) - there are so many different ways we all use our devices and I suspect the triggers need quite a specific set of circumstances to manifest.

0 Mallinky over 3 years ago in reply to skordilis

I use the 'smartwatch' metric merely as a handy, relatively simple comparator - especially Vs my old watch. Otherwise there's even more of a myriad of variables. I've even avoided using it for activities during these battery trial periods. But yes, if we're being competitive, I use it most days for running and open-water swimming (currently 5°C). Mostly though I'm using the Edge on my bike that, touch wood, has been behaving itself.