Related
Options

Does anyone else think the worst thing about Garmin watches is the charger?

i00
over 2 years ago

I have had 3 Garmin watches - and generally love them...

However, I think that the charger really needs to be dropped in place of wireless charging!...

On all 3 of the watches I have had I have struggled to find a good fit for the charger... I try to always double check it after plugging it in as the connection is absolutely horrid.  On several occasions I have taken my watch "off charge" to find it dead shortly after because it wasn't actually charging!

Also my dad has had a Garmin since the start of the year, he showers with it (fresh water, does not swim with it on), and some of the pins on his are starting to corrode (quite unacceptable for a watch you can apparently swim with)!

I loved my fenix 6 and when the 7 came out I really hesitated purchasing it because of the charger.

Please Garmin make the 8 have wireless charging.

Am I the only one who thinks hates this?

Top Replies

All Replies

  • 0 over 2 years ago
    J said:
    you know the watch that's only bought by those who want to portray the cool adventurous aesthetic without actually having to go on any adventures

    Who would be stupid enough to show off with an electronic gadget which happens to show the time also whose - compared to a real watch small - price tag is known to few and looses value once bought and used?

    When I go outside just strolling I prefer defintetly one of my real watches most of which at least doubled their market value depending my garnment one or the other.

    This is just a tool, a watch has no battery. ;-)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Erik T7
    Erik T7 said:

    Or you buy just a pack of those:

    Amazon carries them, got to invest like 6,99 nowadays which is overpriced since I got mine the day I bought my first Garmin for 5,99 ;-) No corrosion, never. No need for change with me. One could ask, why Garmin hadn't an idea like this, probably easier than writing dozens of lines in the manual about washing & drying the Charger Slot. But then: most likely they would charge 9,99 each. ;-)

    I used to use those on my old Fenix 6X. I stopped because I realized that every single time I popped the rubber cap off, I found visible moisture trapped underneath it. And yes, I always made sure the watch and port were dry when I put the rubber thing in. Water gets in somehow anyways.

    So I highly recommend NOT using those.

    It's one of those ideas that seems great in theory, but in practice it's actually worse than doing nothing.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Ok ... so for those who complain that the charging speed will be slower with wireless charging...

    I have 3 watches that use wireless charging - and with them the slowest charging one charges at 2 watts... the Fenix 7 charges at only 1.44 watts!

    All of the watches I tested from basically flat to 100% charge and all seem consistent throughout the charging cycle (unlike most other devices where the charging tapers off as they get full).

    Admittingly I would miss the file transfer - I like that all data is accessible directly from the watch over USB (which I didn't think about before posting this).

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to C.sco

    I agree same happened to me on both 5 & 6 afterwards trouble with charging. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Nope, charger is not my concern. I think the worst thing about Garmin watches are number of bugs that keep popping up with every new software update, while some critical ones remain unresolved.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I've had three Garmins and fought with this issue on all three. I eventually gave up and bought an Apple Watch and won't consider another Garmin until they update their archaic charging system. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    The charging cable can cause problems but pin corrosion is likely caused by not ensuring the connection socket is dry before plugging in the charger. I swim in the sea and pool, and shower with the watch and my pins, on any Garmin I've had over the years, have not corroded. 

    Suggest to your father that he ensures the socket is dry before plugging in.

    In the absence of wireless charging, look at the charging connection for the Marq Gen2 for a solution.

  • 0 over 2 years ago
    • Wireless charging should be a most have for Garmin smart watches, all Phoenix 6 and 7 solar should be converted to Wireless charging, with so many smart watches in the market, including phones, the not charging feature is discouraging, in today's busy life Wireless charging is an standard commodity, simplifying and catching up with competitors is no a brainer, we all love Garmin so much, especiay for his navigation features, GPS, maps and all the great features, but the missing Wireless option makes us all sad, especially because we all like the beautiful designs of the Fenix solar. Please addthe Wireless charging feature available soon, Pray
  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to ROBERT

    I don't want wireless charging. It's wildly inefficient, takes 3x to charge, leads to shorted battery life and no one with an optical sensor should ever want their watch to ever lie on said sensor.

    The existing charger has been perfect for me

    Finally idk what we're talking about it for anyway. Garmin is still updating products in mid 2023 to include USB c lol

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to ROBERT
    ROBERT said:
    in today's busy life Wireless charging is

    ..the slow option, I'm to busy for wireless charging..