Bounce Lte battery drain

My son got the bounce for Xmas however with LTE on the battery only lasts 8-12 hours. That is with minimal use of the actual watch. 

If airplane mode is on then the battery only drains less than 10% in that same 8-12 hour period. But the watch features are useless in airplane mode.

Is the battery drain a known issue and is there any fix? 

Currently have to charge the watch twice a day.

  • I’m in Perth also and I’m experiencing the same issues. 8 hours. I bought both my children one and they don’t wear them because the battery life is so bad. 

  • I'm also in Perth and experiencing the same issues - I received a replacement thinking it was my particular watch but clearly there is something wrong with connectivity across the board…!! Should add we are in metro area - so well placed amongst technology…!

    Incredibly frustrated is an understatement!

  • I'm seeing the same issue on a new bounce in Canada.  Software is up to date (6.60), and the watch only lasts about 8 hours of light use.  

  • We just recently started having this problem.  When I started troubleshooting I noticed that the Bounce would no longer connect to WiFi.  No networks would show when I tried re-adding our home network after a reset.  So something had certainly failed HW wise.  I was able to get a replacement under warranty.  The new one does not exhibit excessive battery drain or the WiFi issue.  Might be worth checking if yours has the same symptoms.

  • Hi all. Bounce owner for a 10yo. Lately have found that LTE drain is real and can be avoided at school if the watch is kept off the wrist -eg teachers ask students to hand over watches phones. Also have noticed that if the watch is kept powered on overnight to charge its max charge never goes above 94-96%. Then after unplugging and using at school the battery is sure to drain badly within 10hrs. To avoid this I’ve found POWERING off the watch to let it charge in Off state helps it reach 100% full charge in the morning and lasts a good 12hrs even with it all day on the wrist at school with no wifi. Would be nice if Garmin fixed this charging bug. Pls private msg me if you want.

  • IGNORE THIS POST - see update below Disappointed

    Update to my issue.  I factory reset the watch, and re-added the Wifi APs, but only 2.4ghz SSIDs (instead of 2.4/5ghz combined SSIDs).  I don't know if the watch was having issues with band steering or what... in any case the problem seems to be fixed.  The battery drains only 30-40% per day, which is much better than being dead by night.  Thanks to alindley for pointing towards the wifi connection as the root cause!

  • We recently went away for a few days to a bigger city and my son's Bounce suddenly had amazingly good battery life (48 hours compared to 8-12 at home). I suspect that the inconsistency might have to do with LTE coverage with whichever provider Garmin partners with (this is just a hunch, mind you).

    Anyone try using Bounce without LTE subscription? We got about 24 hours, maybe a bit more, but the reported battery level wasn't right at all: it stayed at like 90-100% the whole time, then suddenly died. Support said they couldn't help us unless we bought a subscription. 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 1 year ago in reply to Jessica

    Hello,
    I'm also having a problem with the battery draining quickly. The watch is new, and used in France. The battery lasts 8 to 9 hours at best.

    The Bounce is connected to Wi-Fi at home, LTE outside and paired with an iPhone. The watch is up to date, according to the update system. It is configured with the settings recommended in the Bounce user's manual. Neither my child nor I send any messages. His school is in an area close to antennas and, according to my phone, has good coverage. I tried to reset the Bounce, but to no avail. However, the battery charge loses around 10% per hour. This makes the watch useless. It switches itself off on the way home, when the after-school activities haven't even started yet. In a few days' time, the watch will switch itself off when the child is still at school. That's a long way from the 2 days announced. One day would be enough, but even that's a long way off.

    Is it worth contacting support? To make an exchange? Or is the sub-9 battery life a corollary of the LTE connection and there's nothing we can do about it?

  • I've the same issue of battery drain. Fully charged in the morning 8am and almost completely empty by 4pm.

  • New update.  My technique of resetting the watch is not the solution.  It worked temporarily, but the kid let the watch die overnight after nearly 2 days of use.  The watch is back to draining 10% battery per hour and dies before the end of the day.

    I did not change any settings and the watch is still using the same wifi SSID as before.  The only thing that happened was the watch drained to 0%, shut off, then was plugged in, and charged to 100%.  This must be some kind of software bug.