v10.43 software faster battery drain issue

Hello GARMIN,

Unfortunately 10.43 managed to drain the battery even faster than 9.37.

20% in 22 hours, Garmin, what's going on?

With the same settings, I had just under eight days runtime under the 8 versions.

Since version 9.37 only four to five days maximum.

I bought the fēnix 7S Sapphire Solar for ~ 900€. Since I just expect more, and am considering returning the watch, since it still has warranty.

I use durable OX, and have the notification for three apps active.

Yesterday on today no sports activities, just normal use. And still such high consumption.

Resetting the watch is not an alternative, there must be another solution. Other manufacturers prove that it works!

Regards Bennifr

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  • and i'd like to say, as i did with the last 9.xx update, that the 10.43 update has made zero change to my battery life. fantastic new features

  • I am really very disappointed.

    Because you were told to contact the Support? Nobody else can help you. If your device shows unusual battery drain, and the published tips did not help to resolve it, most likely the device will have to be sent to Garmin, or at least diagnosed remotely. Nobody here on the forum can do either of it, including Garmin's staff.

  • I have Tactix 7 10.43 stock, no additional apps, one of default watch faces, pulse ox disabled, full day HR monitor enabled and my drain is 4.4% per day according to battery monitor.

  • Well, the problem with suggested tips, like factory reset, is that watch is not syncing and restoring all data and statuses after. For example HRV takes weeks to show status and after factory reset user has to wait couple of weeks again.

    Also, it's Garmin own firmware, not Windows. Good OS/firmware does not need factory reset, "format c:", etc. every few months. It should just works.

  • It should just works.

    For most people it indeed does. The master reset to factory defaults is the last resort, when you are unable to find which of the settings changes you did, caused the increased battery drain.

    If the watch shows higher than usual battery consumption after a firmware update, soft-resetting (which does not delete any settings), or eventually fully charging and fully discharging the device, is sufficient to re-calibrate the battery gauge.

  • It should just works.

    I am 100% in agreement. The reality is the software does not cause an issue for 99.9% of watches in use. Which is why each individual report is handled on their own merit and thorough troubleshooting is critical for each interaction Product Support has with anyone having a faster than average battery drain.

  • What about implementing a full sync/restore? Then factory reset can be done without waiting for weeks to get, for example, HRV? Such feature is requested several times around the forum. It should be implemented from the very beginning.

    I don't have iPhone but according people who have, Apple has backup/restore for ever. Garmin should have that too Slight smile

  • What about implementing a full sync/restore?

    That would be completely counterproductive at issues like this one. The purpose of the master reset is to start from the scratch to exclude that some of the settings, options, extensions, or calibrations is causing that issue. So if you do a complete restore of all the settings and metrics, then you do not need to do the reset at all.

  • Doing factory reset and then restore helps iPhone users. The reason for factory reset is not to reset settings. That can be done without factory reset. Factory reset is like formatting system, starting from scratch and setting up OS all over. Because something has happened to the system itself. Garmin can go one step further and restore metric but ask to restore or not settings.

  • High battery drain can be caused by a number of options, CIQ extensions, and other settings. Many users are unable to identify themselves which of the settings may be the culprit, so the resetting to factory defaults without any restore, is the easiest way to start anew. If you turn on the PulseOx, install CIQ extensions, etc. and not knowing they can cause high battery drain, then the restoring of those features back again after the master reset would result in the same battery drain as before.