11.28 even worse battery drain!

I've done the reloading of the firmware. The Bluetooth occasionally drops off but not as bad as before. However, I do notice the battery life drops very quickly compared to previous versions. 

Note: Only have HRM on 24/7, default watch face. 

I noticed after the 11.28 update my battery life show as 18d at a full charge when it used to show 23 days running the 10.x firmware. 

Battery drain is also faster. Was easily getting 2+ weeks using gps for 3x a week for 30 minutes average.  Now I'm seeing a week and a half max. 

GPS lock is also much, much slower. 

thx for the update, Svenh77. I assume you have also removed the watch from GC and also from the list of bluetooth devices before you did it, correct? How did you pair your watch with the mobile after the reset?

Btw and important: Make sure to turn off automatic updates. If Garmin cannot fix the issue, you might have the very same issue again after the next update. 

I was a beta tester and had the very same problems as described here (and a lot more) in this thread. Nothing helped, and in the end I had to quit the beta and backdate to 10.xx using the Alpha backup version. But that's the risk if you use beta software. I was stupid to be part of beta during my marathon training.

Everything was ok again with live software: Stryd worked, battery usage was back to normal, IQ fields worked, sync with phone was super fast, wifi could be activated again etc. All good. Great watch!

Without hesitation I updated a few weeks later to 11.25 and then to 11.28 and guess what: welcome back battery drain and bluetooth issues. So, the same procedure again and again, lol.

--> if 11.28 runs stable on your watch, be happy and learn from my mistakes. Turn off automatic updates and check the forum before you update your watch manually next time :-)

Yes, first I removed the watch from the Garmin Connect app, then removed it from bluetooth devices, then removed Garmin connect and ConnectIQ app from my phone (iPhone 12). Then performed the "unprompted Reset" as described in the article. Once the watch turned on, it asked to install Garmin Connect on my phone and connect it to my phone, so I did that.

I’m not sure if they are necessary steps, you could first try without. Maybe just remove the watch from GC and bluetooth should be enough.

History is restored after reconnecting to GC app. HRV, training readiness etc, it’s all there. You only need to reinstall watch faces, data fields, glances and re-add devices, such as Stryd or HR straps.

Thanks, I'll try that first!

The linked article refers to a watch face with a displayed HR. Does the HR display really significantly affect the battery drain? At least the estimated time doesn't change when I set or remove that data from the watch face.

I don't see any difference in battery drain for 11.28. The estimate is still 23 days, the real battery life is about 14 days. Similar to 10.xx. Most of the time WLAN and bluetooth are off, backlight at 10%, activation only by touchscreen or button, ABC sensors widget is enabled, no PulseOX, no GPS, no map, no music, standard watch face without seconds but with HR, external HR sensor (Garmin HR Dual sensor) during workouts. Only very short workouts due to business travel for the last battery cycle but nearly exactly the same battery life like other days.

That battery life is quite short compared to other reports here. And, my very personal impression, the drain is even higher at days with a lot of sunlight. I expected an extended battery life due to the solar cell but whenever I had a look on that my impression was an even higher battery drain than without sunlight exposition.