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Battery life vs Nr of pixels refreshed

RuudB
over 2 years ago

Hi all!

I just purchased the F7SS, and so far very happy with it! I got a question however on the screen refresh 'rate' to save battery life.

I know the manual suggests to use a watch face that doesn't update every second (e.g. with an analogue second hand) to conserve battery. I was wondering whether it makes a difference how many pixels are refreshed. I don't have the analogue second hand, but I do have my heart rate on the watch face (small). This requires much less pixel changes than the e.g. the second hand, but I wondered whether that also requires less energy.

That seems logical to me, but I'm not fully up to speed on the MIP-technology. If e.g. even a single pixel change triggers an 'update' of the whole screen, then it might not make a difference for battery life.

I hope my question is understandable (not sure if explained properly), anyhow looking forward to learning if someone has an answer:)

Kind regards

Ruud

The Netherlands

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  • +1 over 2 years ago

    Hi Ruud. The battery life difference will most likely not be noticed if you prefer to have the seconds displayed vs. only hands or the time without seconds. You will experience the most drain if you add a Connect IQ watch face. If it's data heavy and needs to frequently pull data to keep refreshed, you will notice the battery difference.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

    Hi Chris, many thanks for your swift reply!

    If I understand correctly, you're saying that the 'pixel refreshing' is not a big battery drainer, but the 'data gathering' (required for some watch faces that update every second) is the key factor.

    After reading the manual, I understood that display refresh rate also impacts battery life (page 119):
    "To extend the life of the battery, you can try these tips.Use a watch face that is not updated every second. For example, use a watch face without a second hand"

    I'm already only using a stock watch face to save battery, so my question was more aimed to further optimize. Maybe my question is better phrased like this:

    Is there a difference in battery drain between A) updating 10 pixels every second and B) updating all pixels every second?

    I would expect a difference, but I'm not sure since I don't fully understand the MIP technology.

    Thanks!

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

    I hate to hijack this thread, but I've got an additional question. 

    Chris, if I installed multiple watchfaces from the garmin iq store, but not actually using them, are they still consuming battery? 

    So if I installed 3 watchface but obviously only use 1, will the other 2 still consume power in the background or are they completely dormant? 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to p50kombi
    p50kombi said:
    So if I installed 3 watchface but obviously only use 1, will the other 2 still consume power in the background or are they completely dormant? 

    Only your active watch face will come into play. Your other Connect IQ watch faces will be dormant.

  • +1 over 2 years ago in reply to RuudB
    RuudB said:
    Is there a difference in battery drain between A) updating 10 pixels every second and B) updating all pixels every second?

    Absolutely. Whether a seconds hand moving around the dial or your OHR field or multiple data fields pulling information such as weather and other metrics, it will all add up.

    You will experience much more drain with (B). Fortunately, there is no watch face that has to update all pixels constantly but that is why the seconds hand will cause more drain since those pixels get updated each second. I have personally not seen enough of a drain if we are only talking about the seconds hand, to be overly concerned about using a physical seconds hand rotating around your dial.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

    Thanks Chris! Exactly answering my question.