Venu 2 Plus : Battery Drain Issue!

Garmin-Kevin: You're welcome. I've worked customer support in the past and I know the big annoyance there is how vague people can be when they describe the problem. So I wanted to ensure you had enough detail about what settings I'm using, how I"m using the watch, and a running log of the issue so it can be tracked over time and the impact of various inputs.

I really want this resolved. :-)

Update from the battery drain I experienced this week.

Settings:

• No GPS during activities
• Gesture Mode
• Auto Brightness medium
• Gesture mode – timeout short
• Bluetooth on
• MoveIQ on
• Standard watchface
• No SpO2 meassuring
• Occasional use of the voice assistant (maybe 2 times a day)
• Notifications for WhatsApp, Agenda and a few other apps. Around 30-40 a day?

Sunday 6 Feb. 18:18 100%

Monday 7 Feb. 14:07 98%

Tuesday 8 Feb. 7:26 79%

Wednesday 9 Feb. 8:08 30%

Wednesday 9 Feb. 20:25 0%

Just over 3 days.

Wednesday 9 Feb. 0:08 100 %

Thursday 10 Feb. 12:30 82%

Thursday 10 Feb. 20:44 68%

Friday 11 Feb. 14:27 31%

Saturday 12 Feb. 9.15 0%

2.5 days.

Saturday 12 Feb. 12:00 100%

Sunday 13 Feb. 16:00 52%

Because of the major drop in only 1 day, now charging to 100% for a full reset.

So unfortunately, it’s getting worse. I’m now going to do a full reset as described by Garmin-Kevin. If this doesn’t help, I’ll return it. I have to say that I’m really disappointed so far with the watch, that I do like besides the brightness and battery issues.

Fingers crossed, but since I did the double reset on 5 Feb mine has been ok. Maybe try doing that as well? Check my post above.

And make sure you disconnect it from everything before doing the reset. The first time I did the reset I didn't realize that my watch was connected to Connect twice: once on the phone, once on the computer. I don't know if that's what did it, but so far so good. But I hear ya, this battery drain thing is frustrating. Good luck.

Thx for your help and glad to read it's working ok now for you. I'm going to try the double reset, as the single one (with a restart) doesn't seem to help. Yesterday at 17:29 it was 100%, now at 10:27 down to 70%. Way too fast again. :( The watch was only connected to my phone, but a good thing to check indeed. Last reset attempt now, fingers crossed. 

Definitely try the new Beta Software (8.05).

I don't have the Venu 2 Plus, but rather the Venu 2, and the last beta firmware fixed exactly what you describe here, and I had with my watch. I went from 3-4 days back to 8 days which I had with the original software when I bought the watch.

I decided to combine both your suggestion and the one from af-toronto. I reset it completely, charged it to 100%, installed the beta software, rebooted it afterwards and now am praying this will solve it. ;-) Adjusting the brighness does work in the beta (didn't in the 7.40), so that's a good start. Will give an update within a few days. 

Installing the beta software didn't fix my battery issues. This run the Venu 2 Plus lasted 2.5 days with light use, no GPS (see previous posts for detailed settings). I just saw there is a new update, 8.12, but this must be pretty much equal to the beta 8.05 I used. After all my attempts I'm sad to say that I'll be returning the watch while I still can. It might be a hardware issue, but I don't think I'll try my luck by ordering a new one. Now off to bed and maybe I'll think differently tomorrow. ;-)

Hi Garmin-Kevin

As before, the watch has reverted to high battery drain unexpectedly and without any changes made on my part. Frankly, this is now unacceptable. I haven’t been able to use the watch normally as I feel I’m in test mode, always logging activity manually in order to track the inevitable decline of watch functions. I haven’t been able to personalize the watch for the same reason (no apps, no shifting around of features on the different screens, limited use of features out of fear of triggering the battery drain).

Other than issues with the battery, I still get irregular problems with SpO2 (set to On Demand), somedays it refuses to work for multiple attempts before finally working (same session, no change to position).

———

I have thus far experienced five periods of battery drain: (3 of high, 2 of normal drain)

Period 1: High Drain
— Date: From time of purchase on 22 Jan to 27 Jan
— Number of charge cycles: 2.5

Period 2: Normal Drain
— Date: 27 Jan to 1 Feb
— Number of charge cycles: 0.75

Period 3: High Drain
— Date: 1 Feb to 5 Feb
— Number of charge cycles: 2

Period 4: Normal Drain
— Date: 5  to 17 Feb
— Number of charge cycles: 1.5

Period 5: High Drain
— Date: 17 Feb to present

———

Simplified Log from 7 Feb to present (previous logs noted in earlier messages):

*for the sake of brevity I will keep this version of the log simple, basically I’ve kept the settings the same this entire time since the reset on 5 Feb and haven’t added any apps, nor have I used GPS as I wanted to keep usage fairly stable for the purposes of the test. Other than normal smartwatch functions I used Health Snapshot and tracked gym workouts.

—7 Feb
727a:    85%
748p:     79%, DND on

—8 Feb
709a:    77%, DND off
1122p:    72% DND ON

—9 Feb
757a:    71%, DND off
836p:    67%, DND on

—10 Feb
710a:    64%; DND off
644p    :    58%; DND on

—11 Feb
738a:    55%, DND off
808p:    50%, DND on

—12 Feb
856a:    46%; DND off
823p:    40%, DND on

—13 Feb
839a:    36%; DND off    ***it was at 37% that the battery reverted to fast drain the last time around (1 Feb)***
817p:    28%; DND on

—14 Feb
659a:    25%, DND off
753a:    25%; plugged in to charge
934p:    94%; DND on

—15 Feb
809a:    92%; DND off
937p:    87%; DND on

—16 Feb
727a:    85%; DND off
1113a: Update automatically installed. Message on screen said it was a GPS update, checked watch and confirmed firmware still at 7.40
632p:    79%; DND on

—17 Feb
759a:    76%; DND off
815p:    67%; highest 12 hour drop since reset; DND on
1049p:    62%
1108p:    61%

—18 Feb
217a:    55%
737a:    45%
815a:    44%; DND off
1006a:    40%

———

Settings:
    •    Gesture mode: timeout "Low"
    •    Display Brightness: Low (with auto adjustment)
    •    SpO2 tracking, turned off evening of 25 Jan
    •    since turning it to "On Demand" the O2 isn't being recorded when I do a Health Snapshot nor when I do a specific SpO2 reading
    •    MoveIQ: On
    •    Watchface: one of the stock watch faces (with 3 data points on left and a rotating second line around the edge but otherwise no animation)
    •    didn't use music
    •    Bluetooth: always connect to my phone
    •    Data Recording: Smart
    •    Firmware: updated automatically to v7.40 on 28 Jan
    •    Auto update occurred on 16 Feb (1113a), but not for the software (which is still 7.40), but the screen said for GPS

UPDATE

—18 Feb

1006a:    40%
1040a:    Chat opened with Eric at Garmin.com
1107a:     38%; Software updated to 8.12; power cycled
1136:    37%

Eric tells me to give the new software a chance so I will. I asked if I should reset again and he tells me no, and that it's not recommended that that is done often.