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Ridiculous battery life

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I’m seeing this everywhere  not just FR55, but multiple Garmin models. Reddit, X, TechRadar… battery life collapses after just 1.5–3 years. Some even suggest it might be deliberate. If true, Garmin could be in real trouble with EU regulators.

This is my second FR55. Again, battery drops from 14 days to 4. Completely unacceptable. A 10–20% drop over 5 years? Fine. This? Outrageous.

To put it in perspective:

Model Official Garmin spec What users report in practice
FR55 ~7–14 days Some report 1–3 days after ~1.5–2 years (forums.garmin.com)
265S ~15 days Reports of 5–7 days or faster drain, even without heavy use (reddit.com)
965 ~23 days Some users see much faster depletion, reboot sometimes helps but not consistently (reddit.com)

Feels like planned obsolescence buy a new watch every few years because the battery dies. Even the 265S has the same complaints.

I love Garmin products, but this is frustrating. Huawei, Polar… they don’t have these issues. It’s easy to check online. The pattern is clear: battery degradation is widespread, systematic, and way too fast.

  • 0

    I replaced the battery in my FR55 a year and a half ago. There are no signs of degradation. The FR55 is a normal device, without any particular power consumption. Battery issues are more likely caused by its operating conditions. Charge it regularly, and everything will be fine. Replacing the watch instead of replacing the battery is, in my opinion, too radical an approach to the problem.

  • 0

    Have you installed any new apps or watchface recently?

  • 0

    I am very disappointed and frankly annoyed with Garmin! I have a Vivoactive 4s it's about 18months old (so just out of it's 1 year warranty-very clever of Garmin!) and the battery doesn't last 2-3 hours. I sent it off - which I had to pay for and now they are telling me the battery cannot be replaced as it's faulty - daha!!! And now I need to pay R3500 for a new  - same watch. Well no thanks, as if it's only for a year - I don't want to replace a watch every year! Surely a big company like Garmin could do better than 1.5 year lifespan for their smart watches - even if they are the more budget friendly watches?? I love the look of the watch and it was super comfortable but frankly i am not paying for a watch to last me a year - it's disgusting! And i was told this at the shop too so i am definitely not the only one. Also i don't swim with it, literally use it for my steps (running) and to have a good looking watch...

    On that note is there a watch that will last 4-5 years?

  • 0 in reply to 4684381

    I have also replaced the battery with a cheapy off ebay. If anything it seems better than the original, but that may be because I've optimised it to use less power (GPS only, gestures off etc). You should try to avoid using higher powered chargers as it only chargers very slowly. Also its Lithium ion like car batteries to maintain a long service life if it suits your use:

    a) aim to mostly discharge to around 20%

    b) recharge to around 80%

    c) Every 3 months discharge lower - preferably not 0% - and recharge to 100%

    Personally I would rather they had a bigger watch to allow a much larger battery to be fitted. That way like the more recent mobiles it would still have reasonable battery life after many more years.