Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Initial thoughts on Solar utility/usefulness?

derek87
over 2 years ago

full disclosure: i bought the 955 Solar thinking that if i got just a smidge more battery endurance, it would be great. but i was also inclined to think that the solar band may draw less attention than a broad black bezel although it notably was no wider than on my 945LTE.

i'm curious if anyone has gotten any significant charging done by solar thus far. i'm not looking for any big reports of battery life gain, but more, how much sun are you getting in real life?

i work an indoor office job for the most part. during my early (7am) run, i seem to get some solar insolation that goes on and off in the 0-70 range (the widget isn't all that useful and i hope Garmin will give us one on par with the Fenix at some point to tell us integrated solar insolation over a day). i suspect it has to do the angle of the sun in the sky relative to my arm position and swing.

the other day i did some work outside of my office reading and sur enough with my left wrist oriented with the watch facing the sky, it stayed pegged at 100% for the half hour i was outside.

i went for a short walk this afternoon, and it didn't seem that the California sun could reliably give me 100% (50k lux?) while walking since my arms are at my side and the screen isn't facing the sun directly.

what have your experiences been?

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    On my 7X SS solar charging is totally useless. I love everything else on the watch. By the way, 955 is an awesome watch as well.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to .

    thanks for sharing. i am suspecting if one is out cycling, due to hand position, one will be able to get significant solar input. while running, i seem to get a fair bit due to hand placement relative to when walking (much less direct view of the sun).

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    So far, I haven’t had the chance to get significant solar input. My personal record is 150 k lux per day and it happened only once. Maybe on the Instinct series solar produces visible results but on Fenix series I see no battery benefit. It’s really marginal or non-existing for me. The only “bonus” is the ugly solar ring. Anyway, both 7X and 955 are fantastic watches. Enjoy your watch, it’s one of the best watches on the market.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to .

    thanks for the encouragement. i like the watch overall. too bad the current Glance/widget doesn't provide information like the Fenix/Epix one showing total insolation for the day. (it only shows a graph of the last 3 hours)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to .

    i like the solar ring actually, looks cool on the 955 imo.

    i find i get to 100% just walking outdoors in CA. it's hard to say exactly how much it helps or not

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Early days yet, but I'm happy with solar.

    I think the copper color ring just inside the bezel looks pretty cool.

    This a.m. I went for a 10k run in full sun. Started at 92%. Finished at 90%. With my 945 I typically noticed 1% per km drain, so i was suitably impressed.

    OTOH, right afterwards about noon I went for a long drive in my car with the sunroof open and full sun directly on the watch for 30 mins. Started at 89%...ended at 89%.

    So who knows. I'm not really counting on solar, but I'm the kind of guy who likes to drain the battery right down to zero before a recharge, and occasionally have the watch die before finishing a run.  

    Generally I am extremely pleased with the 955 so far, and looking forward to having a few weeks of personal metrics in its database.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to kangsterizer

    i am finding that i get decent amount of solar charging while driving and running thus far since the watch face is horizontal so that panel is facing vertical.  walking, however,  less so since the watch face tends to to be pointed horizontal (ie, not directly towards the sun).

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    well, i have to be a bit lame and respond to my own thread. i just got back from a 4 day trip where i spent a few hours driving so my wrist was in the sun for parts of the drive, and also some boating and other short hikes and i can definitively say in such circumstances, the solar feature is a noticeable boost in battery endurance. 

    i'm just about exactly four days from when i charged to 100% and it is sitting at 72% (just flipped to it less than an hour ago). in these four days, i also did over 2 hours of running with All Satellites (~6%+)  [all early in the morning so minimal Solar) and 2 hours of hiking with GPS only (~4%? -- some sun on and off through tree cover and then exposure, etc.). conservatively, that would mean smart watch usage (Glance Pro showing tons of fields, but seconds and HR only activated to 1hz by gesture), it used on average 4.5%/day smart watch mode which to me is truly impressive. i also still continue to do a fair bit of playing around with things and even installed a few other watch faces and configured them (but stuck with Glance Pro for 98% of the time). 

    most striking anecdote was today was during a drive, the watch actually went up 1% in battery charge.

    i'm very pleased with the Solar feature and the battery endurance relative to my 945LTE (which has been a huge disappointment in not coming close to specs).

    of course, i should note, normally, i won't get this kind of sunlight, but it shows what the Solar is capable of so i am looking forward to the extra range i should get while backpacking.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    thanks for updating. i dont think mine has been as good but that makes me want to test a bit more.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to derek87

    Thanks Derek, this is the information I was looking for before making the leap from 945 to 955 solar, hoping for a quick SW stability Wink