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AMOLED Battery Life - Real Life Experience

NeilJonesOnline
3 months ago

TL;DR - better than advertised!

I received my 45mm AMOLED Instinct 3 on 12th Jan, and fully charged it by mid afternoon.

Since then I've worn it 24/7, with display set to Always On and all other display settings at default, Pulse Ox at night and GPS set to Auto Select. The initial battery estimate it gave me at 100% charge was 6 days, which was a day short of Garmin's advertised "Up to 7 days in always-on" maximum.

However, including 5.5 hours of GPS activities, I got a low battery warning last night (20th Jan), so well over 8 days since the full charge. I suspect it would have made it through the night, based on my previous experience of when the alert comes up, but didn't try. Plus, as the battery hasn't yet been run down to empty so won't have had chance to fully calibrate, it's quite possible that the alert was triggered prematurely and it may have had even longer left in it.

Obviously battery life is dependent on individual customisation and usage, but for context my MARQ2 advertises 6 days of life, and with the same usage as my Instinct 3, that's invariably what I get out of it so it was good to see the I3 exceeding Garmin's numbers. It's also nice to pass the 7-day mark for my usage, as that makes charging it easier to fit into a weekly routine.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to Saurax

    This might be implied given some of the settings you mention, but this is an amoled version, correct?

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member 2 months ago
    NeilJonesOnline said:
    Since then I've worn it 24/7, with display set to Always On and all other display settings at default, Pulse Ox at night and GPS set to Auto Select. The initial battery estimate it gave me at 100% charge was 6 days, which was a day short of Garmin's advertised "Up to 7 days in always-on" maximum.

    You turned Pulse O2 on at night. That is why you got a day short of advertised.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to trux
    trux said:
    I am afraid it is you who does not understand or did not read the specifications.

    Don't be afraid then, I didn't say you don't understand the specifications but since you're strawmanning show us where does their spec sheet say "Smartwatch mode" - "Manual screen operation".

    What you don't get (clearly) is that simple logic suggests that if their numbers are half yours then either
    1. they - people who made this watch - are wrong by a margin suggesting they don't know what they are doing (I know it's easy to assume that, based on the bugs they keep introducing with each software/hardware release), or
    2. you - guy who thinks he knows best - make big claims based on edge case assumptions.   

    If you're so confident that Garmin is wrong, use the feedback link (you know which one) and let them know they are leaving money on the table. Since they are a publicly trading company it's their obligation to eliminate errors impacting their going concern.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to 5016816

    I've got no dog in this fight other than the fact that I'm curious of what the outcome will be from trux's testing, and hope he doesn't quit with the updates just to appease. No claims were made about Garmin being wrong, he's simply stating the data from his use case. Clearly, anyone paying attention can understand nobody is likely to use the watch in this manner, it's just a data point for those interested.  Why not put it to bed?  Unless I'm wrong this is just a guy (not a financial officer from Garmin) sharing his findings about his watch.  What sort of fiduciary obligation would he be under to share this with the company lol.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to adamMnelson
    adamMnelson said:
    I've got no dog in this fight other than the fact that I'm curious of what the outcome will be from trux's testing, and hope he doesn't quit with the updates just to appease. No claims were made about Garmin being wrong, he's simply stating the data from his use case. Clearly, anyone paying attention can understand nobody is likely to use the watch in this manner, it's just a data point for those interested.  Why not put it to bed?  Unless I'm wrong this is just a guy (not a financial officer from Garmin) sharing his findings about his watch.  What sort of fiduciary obligation would he be under to share this with the company lol.

    Hear, hear!

    HTH

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to adamMnelson
    adamMnelson said:
    No claims were made about Garmin being wrong, he's simply stating the data from his use case.

    Not sure how to do a multiquote here, but his last post to me states this:

    "The specs are simply wrong, and every I3 AMOLED owner can confirm it."

    So not only does he clearly state that Garmin is wrong (and you say that he doesn't). He also states that EVERY I3 AMOLED owner can confirm it.

    Now, I need to go out for a 2 hour ride, I'm performing a test of my v8 car and need to do a test run on a motorway, I'll be drafting behind trucks for better control of the frequency, and to assure the consistency over the whole testing period.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to Former Member

    But I didn't get a day short of advertised. I got longer than advertised.

  • 0 2 months ago in reply to adamMnelson

    Adam, after purchasing the 50mm solar version 7 days ago, a youtube review convinced me to try the 50mm amoled which I received 2 days ago and I'm not looking back. Wow. The colors are amazing and crisp, waaaay more crisp than the instinct 3 solar version (more real estate wo the solar panel and many more pixels too). It also has a widget for the tides (in color of course) so no longer need my beloved 4yr old instinct monochrome solar surf (going on the ebay block soon to offset this one). Also, now returning the solar instinct 3. This instinct 3 amoled version is just gorgeous. Each to their own color of course, but personally, I liked the orange band (actually solstice orange) that does not come with the 50mm amoled version so much that I went to the garmin web site and bought the band as well ~40$ plus tx. Loving the 50mm amoled instinct 3 so far. Yowza!

  • 0 2 months ago

    Is actually the battery of the 45 mm and 50 mm solar version the same size? I mean the thickness of the 45 mm of 14,9 mm is really huge. Even the 50mm one is "just" 14,4 mm.