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Travel Setup

4679242
over 3 years ago

I have a Fenix 6 that I use mostly for hiking and walking locally where I live. Every day I do a hike/ walk I connect my Fenix to my desktop computer and upload the event data with Garmin Express. The event shows up in Garmin Connect and Strava that I am linked to. Additionally the Fenix is automatically updated as necessary by Garmin. That system works fine for my needs.

Next month I am going abroad and will be backpacking in the Pyrenees for several weeks. I will want to record each day's hikes as usual but I won't have a computer to connect to, just my phone, and then an occasional wifi connection when at a hotel or such.

Questions: what is the best way to setup the Fenix for daily event recording and saving with the possibility of later uploading the events data to Express / Connect with probably only an occasional wifi connection.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Do nothing.  The watch will store all activities until uploaded via Express or Connect (phone).  And enjoy the trip.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    you can sync to connect on your phone using bluetooth, or as mentioned, the watch will store all activities untill you finally hook it up to a computer.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Why you even use Garmin Express? It's much more convenient to use Garmin Connect, it does everything GE does, and even more.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Here's another part of the equation that I forgot about - how much (external) battery do I need to keep the Fenix charged for days / weeks at a time? What settings do I use for minimal battery drain considering all I want to do is record my tracks - no pulse ox, or anything that would drain the battery quickly?

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Thanks guys for the help and suggestions - much appreciated!

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Dan.Boilermaker

    also use one of the stock watch faces, without seconds

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 4679242
    4679242 said:
    Here's another part of the equation that I forgot about - how much (external) battery do I need to keep the Fenix charged for days / weeks at a time? What settings do I use for minimal battery drain considering all I want to do is record my tracks - no pulse ox, or anything that would drain the battery quickly?

    1a. Use the Battery Saver settings - this basically applies during Sleep hours. Turn the Screen to Low Power, the phone connection to Off, backlight off. I would probably leave HR on, as this will still give you sleep and body battery tracking. Edit your sleep hours to be more generous eg. 6pm to 6am. You can turn the Battery Saver on and off manually through the Controls menu (press and hold the Light button), if you want to briefly connect to the phone at the end of the day when you know the phone has cellular signal/hotel wifi.
    1b. Create a custom power mode, then apply that mode to Hiking. I have no direct knowledge of the Pyrenees - I only know them from watching the TdF, but the valleys seem reasonably wide and open. In which case GPS will use less power the GPS + GLONASS/Gallileo. Set the phone connection to Off, and if you want really want to get the most out of the battery, turn the Display Timeout on - gesture ( ie. turning your wrist) will turn the display back on.

    2. The watch has a 360mAh battery, and should comforably give you 3 days of GPS tracking @ 8 hours per day. Even an entry level lipstick powerbank typically has 1200mAh (and the better ones are 2800-3200 mAh), so you should be able to get 1-2 weeks with even a small powerbank. From the sound of it, you will have access to mains power at hotels/lunchtime cafes more often than that. Even though you will probably carry a much larger powerbank (5400-10200 mAh) to keep your phone charged, it is a good idea to carry the smaller one, as larger powerbanks can auto cut-off at the tiny current a 360mAh watch battery draws.

    3. Save the activity at the end of each day, rather than Resume Later. This keeps the file sizes manageable, and the watch is less likely to crash. If you want to record it as just one journey, you can splice the fit files together later.

  • 0 8 months ago

    If you're preparing for a backpacking trip in the Pyrenees and wondering how to manage your Fenix 6 without daily access to a computer, using your phone with Garmin Connect is a great solution. As long as you have occasional Wi-Fi, your Fenix 6 can sync directly to Garmin Connect via your phone, even while you're abroad. This way, your daily hikes will be saved, and you can upload them to Garmin Express or Strava whenever you find a connection.

    For more user experiences and advice on travel tech setups, you can explore , where people discuss similar challenges and solutions.

  • 0 8 months ago

    If you're preparing for a backpacking trip in the Pyrenees and wondering how to manage your Fenix 6 without daily access to a computer, using your phone with Garmin Connect is a great solution. As long as you have occasional Wi-Fi, your Fenix 6 can sync directly to Garmin Connect via your phone, even while you're abroad. This way, your daily hikes will be saved, and you can upload them to Garmin Express or Strava whenever you find a connection.

    For more user experiences and advice on travel tech setups, you can explore  where people discuss similar challenges and solutions.