WHR switch ON and OFF| Battery optimization approach

Hey,

I am trying to modify some settings in order to increase battery life. I gave up tracking daily steps, floors, sleep etc, so I switched Activity tracking OFF . I dont need Body battery, stress etc, so I switched Wrist HR sensor OFF, too.

On the other hand I dont always wear my HR strap (not in gym or when walking/hiking), so I need WHR occasionally during logged activites.

As I could figure out either I manually switch WHR ON and OFF before and after these type of activities, or I keep it ON and let it drain battery a bit.

As far as I saw unfortunately there is no "WHR switch" neither in Controls, nor as an option for a Hot Key (just broadcast HR, which is not the same).

Is my understanding correct and full, or is there any trick to enable WHR automatically during a logged activity?

Thanks.

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0 mcalista over 3 years ago

Honestly, the battery drain for Activity Tracking is tiny. And wrist HR in 24/7 mode is not a big power drain - the stated smart watch battery life run times include wrist HR on 24/7.

But if you really want to turn all this off, my suggestion would be to use the Battery Saver in the Power Manager, and turn Activity Tracking and Wrist HR off there. You can turn Battery Saver off and on through the control menu.

Leave the wrist HR options on for all your activities - if the watch detects an HR strap, it will turn off the wrist HR automatically anyway.

0 Tisztul_A_Visztula over 3 years ago in reply to mcalista

“Honestly, the battery drain for Activity Tracking is tiny. And wrist HR in 24/7 mode is not a big power drain - the stated smart watch battery life run times include wrist HR on 24/7.”

You must be right if we believe in the estimations of F6X. I switched things on and off and checked the battery days difference. Definitely Phone and high-power watch face has a huge effect on estimated battery life, activity tracking has much smaller, but can be relevant depending on the other settings, while WHR gave me literally zero day difference. So even having a battery life of a range of 40-60 days WHR did not decrease it a full one day. I mean if I use high power mode anyway. In other set-up F6X says WHR can mean 4 days loss. So I need more time to test the factual effects of this elements on their own and in some combinations.

“But if you really want to turn all this off, my suggestion would be to use the Battery Saver in the Power Manager, and turn Activity Tracking and Wrist HR off there. You can turn Battery Saver off and on through the control menu.”

It was what I missed. I just focused on the usage of battery saver during my sleep. Thanks for highlighting this approach.

I will define a daytime Battery Saver mode with selective restrictions and another mode with full one for the Sleep Period.

“Leave the wrist HR options on for all your activities”

Q1: I dont understand it completely. Is there some setting in each app where you can specify it?
Or you just meant that I should always switch off the Battery Saver mode before starting any types of sports app?

“- if the watch detects an HR strap, it will turn off the wrist HR automatically anyway.”

Sure, I had known that a strap has a higher rank in the preference order.

Q2: but using HR strap does not mean that the watch sends WHR to a full sleep/inactivity , does it?

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Q3: A totally separate question, if you let me raise it: if I switch off everything under the options of in Battery Saver, does it make sense to switch on Do not Disturb for those periods when Battery Saver is active? Is there anything else which can give me some tone alert and/or vibrations after switching them off?

F6X has so many functions, my only bet is Storm alert, but I never use it. Anything else?

0 mcalista over 3 years ago in reply to Tisztul_A_Visztula

Yes, while experimenting before replying to your post, I noticed that the battery life estimate from turning off WHR doesn't change. My somewhat hazy memory of earlier firmwares is that there was a positive benefit from turning WHR off, but it was less than you get from turning the phone connection off.

1. Yes, you can specify a power mode to each activity. The power mode for activities is different to battery saver.

2. Sorry, I jumped a couple of assumptions there. In watch mode, the WHR will be off due to Battery Saver. When you open an activity, the WHR will initially turn on on, following the settings of the power mode for that activity. If it detects a chest strap, the WHR will turn off (once you press the Start button), if it doesn't detect a strap it will remain on. So that will give you WHR for activities where you don't have a chest strap, but will turn off if you do have a strap.

3. tbh, I use Battery Saver during sleep to manage alerts - turning off the phone connection eliminates most alerts anyway. I've never really experimented with Do Not Disturb, other than having it on During Sleep. The Alarm function will sound/vibrate with DND, but I don't think other alerts do. Anyway, if you have the phone, HR and activity tracking turned off, I'm not sure what alerts remain.