I could use some suggestions on what I could do to improve battery life on the Instinct. It would be the perfect compromise of cost/features for my uses if I could just get half of what is advertised. I'd be content with a week, but I'm not getting close to that. I consistently lose 1 bar (>20%??) in less than 24 hours.
I am not doing any GPS or Activities yet, and wouldn't dare until I figure out how to get decent battery life first. I am currently on 2.76 and have done a complete reset and have tuned down and disabled much of what I would think would help, but am still not getting near 1 week while others including the reviews state with the default stuff enabled they are getting at least a week.
I also have disabled all widgets except the face, HR, steps, and my day, and have even tested this with the phone set to disconnected/off. The below is a summary of how I currently have it configured, and have had this issue on both 2.60 and 2.76.
Please, any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!!
2.76 - Software version 20% - Backlight 8s - Timeout 1st (top) - Watch face OFF - Move alert ON - Move IQ OFF - Gesture OFF - All sounds and vibration options SMART - Data recording
Phone: CONNECTED - Status ON - Status ON - Smart Notifications OFF - Alerts
Have you competed at least one full use-recharge cycle? It seems like my Instinct keeps 5 bars for a longer period if I let it keep charging for 20-30 minutes after it appears to be be full. I suspect you've done this, but set your backlight to 10% and a short timeout.
Several posts back in this thread, you'll see my typical battery usage and watch settings, and I'm getting pretty reasonable battery life. In the first week, I burned through battery much faster because I was frequently working on settings and checking screens.
1st: I purchased a used returned item at REI. Started out with only 5 days of battery life. Returned to REI.
2nd: Brand new from REI. Started with 16 days of battery life for only the first 2 full charges. After that it degraded, now I'm only down to about 1 week of battery life. Returned to REI.
3rd: Picked up at REI on 6/09. We'll see how this one turn out. I love this watch so much that I'm willing to put up with all this crap, but only to a point.
OP here again. I have to start with just being sad to see continual life on this thread.
My 2nd unit after the initial problematic one is still running strong. I almost completely agree with GeoffR's comments above: Got mine about the same time, I get about the same life and usage, I also tend to "over charge" by 20-30 mins, and almost all of my settings are the same, I'm slightly more battery aggressive though; current settings listed below. Also Flame Red, wear 24/7, except in shower, but do while swimming/in water.
I've got several full day recordings using GPS + GLONASS recording at 1s intervals. Typically, I don't go more than 2 days of these without recharging in between, if not every day in between. USB battery packs are great for this when backpacking, even taking it off-wrist to add a bit of charge during breaks. Generally, I would say I get at least what the Garmin site advertises and am still very happy with this watch.
This thread as proof, I'd strongly argue against anyone buying any of these returned as everyone on this thread could offer up a first guess as to why it was returned.
4.00 - Software version 30% - Backlight 15s - Timeout 1st (top) - Watch face (w/ seconds) ON - Move alert ON - Move IQ OFF - Gesture OFF - Key Tones ON - Vibration Every second - Data recording
Phone: CONNECTED - Status ON - Status ON - Smart Notifications ON - Alerts
Widgets (in order): Barometer Elevation Moon Phase Sunset Clock (Default) HR Steps My Day
