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Enough battery life (970 vs fenix 8) for me?

8407144
4 days ago

Hi there,

I decided to get a garmin watch after a lot of researching. But I want to also get a bike computer and it seems best to have  everything in one ecosystem.

I nailed it down to the new Forerunner 970 or the Fenix 8 Amoled 47mm. I tend towards the Forerunner, because it is less bulky, I dont do diving and it is lighter. But I am still a bit undecided...

Big question: I do a lot of mountain sports. While I usually sleep in huts or can charge at night, that might not allways be possible and I also dont allways want to care about it. 

Can I go on a weekend trip to the mountains with  a 970 with two long GPS days w/o recharging? 

Right now I would pay 755EUR fpr the fenix 8 and aber 700 for the forerunner 970. 

  • 0 4 days ago

    I think there is no getting around the fact that the Fenix 8 battery is simply bigger than the Forerunner 970 battery. It's hard to tell if either will meet your desire to last through two days of mountain sports, though.

    I would pick the watch that you like better and bring a power bank. There are even power banks that are specifically made for Garmin's and fit on a keychain.

  • 0 3 days ago in reply to 6340692

    What this person said, plus the Fenix 8 has a solar option (MIP screen), which would extend your battery though I can't say by how much. MIP screen though should be slightly less draw on power, but amoled you can turn off AOD. But yeah, small power bank should suffice, watch batteries aren't all that big so you don't need a chunky 20,000mAh like you would with a modern smartphone

    Or have a big powerbank and keep your phone AND watch charged

    Here's the comparison between FR970 and Fenix 8 Solar and Fenix 8 AMOLED: https://www.garmin.com/en-IE/compare/?compareProduct=1462801&compareProduct=1389491&compareProduct=1228429

    I've picked the 47mm Fenix so that it's closest physically to the FR970, but the advertised battery on the F8S is 21 days vs 16 on the AMOLED and 15 on the FR970, so the non-solar watches are near identical there. This is smart-watch battery

    GPS (all + multiband):
    FR970: 21 hours
    Fenix 8 Solar: 37 hours, or 43** with solar
    Fenix 8 Amoled: 35 hours, 28 with AOD

  • 0 3 days ago

    I mean, I would personally start looking at the watch I'd want to wear everyday, and then see if I can make it work for my needs. Like, the Forerunner 970 is pushing it for whether it would last a more intense and slow 100 miler, but I know I don't want the bulk of a Fenix. I wouldn't enjoy wearing it.

    As to whether a 970 would last you two days, you can see that GPS should give you 26 hours, and SatIQ Auto Select will give 23, so that sounds like enough for two days out, but it depends on your usage. Also bear in mind that these are quoted with stock settings, and you can do things such a lowering the default brightness (lowest is still super bright enough), altering screen timeout - there are YouTube videos out there testing the differences, seems like you can push 50 hours of activity out of it in GPS mode if you're careful.

    If you're swaying towards the Forerunner, then I'd consider that. But that's only something you can answer.

  • 0 3 days ago in reply to gerstlauer

    jeah, that is basically where I am at right now

  • 0 3 days ago in reply to 6340692

    do you happen to have a link to the small keychain size powerbank that are made for Garmins?