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Forerunner 45 Plus Battery Life

Former Member over 4 years ago

Does anyone have any experience whether the claimed 13 hour GPS battery life is even remotely possible with the Forerunner 45 Plus?

I've had this watch for just over 3 weeks now and have been impressed with its features - particularly the accuracy of the GPS (I had been stuck with a Forerunner 10 for some time having twice had to return attempted upgrades to the Forerunner 35 due really patchy GPS performance on every run at my local park, which has some tree cover).

I've been pleased to find what I thought was the answer with this watch, however have noticed that the battery is going down to 1 bar after around a week's running, which for me is ~ 35 miles / 4.5 hours.

I am not using this watch as a fitness tracker. I put it on just before heading out for my run, come home, sync and then switch the device off again until my next run. Yet, even allowing for a few minutes either side of activity time, I am not getting even remotely close to 50% of the advertised battery life time.

I've set all the adjustments suggested on other threads on this site re helping battery life in general, e.g. turning off Bluetooth broadcasting, turning off face light-up on gesture.

I'm really reluctant to return this watch, having finally found a replacement for my very old device with good GPS, but is this even remotely acceptable in a brand new device?

I've made all the adjustments suggested on other threads on this site re (One other thing I forgot to say was that this watch was completely dead when I initially opened it. I've never had that with any Garmin previously)

0 Former Member over 4 years ago

Just a little update - I have now let the watch run through a couple of complete battery drain cycles right down to running on one bar and using my old watch as back up in case it died on run.

I have obtained ~ 5 hours 40 / ~ 47.5 miles

Followed by ~ 5 hours 35 / ~ 48.5 miles.

I called and spoke with Garmin support after that first battery cycle and they advised that I should definitely be getting much closer to that advertised full 13 hours. Especially given I was turning this off after activity use and not using as a smart watch.

They did ask that I try updating to the 3.90 software update and checking the performance before returning the watch. Unfortunately despite the update the second battery cycle was more or less exactly the same. Therefore unfortunately I shall have to return the device.

Just thought I'd post this update Incase it proved useful to anyone else experiencing battery life trouble.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago

We had the same concerns as the battery does not last a week in standby mode with 4 runs in the week, 4-5 hours worth of running.

I then left the watch in the window sill for a day with an gps activity started and it did last more than 13 hours.

So hopefully when we come to the ultras again it will last the 13 hours, but the constant charging during the weeks is also a pain in the butt. We charge the watches at the same time and when this one of my wife is drained, my 4 year old 230 is still more than 50% constantly.

I did have a look at the specs of the 245 for example as well and I see they also only have a 7 day smartwatch rating as the 45s does, so perhaps it is a thing with these new models?

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

That's an interesting test leaving it on GPS and getting the 13 hours. I was thinking about that but wasn't sure how the software operated, i.e. does it decrease GPS reading frequency if the position doesn't change? I've no idea.

Anyway, yes a shame if it is an across the board issue with newer batteries, as otherwise I found it to be a great watch.

I didn't mention in the OP that I had previously had to return two Forerunner 35 devices as the GPS readings themselves were constantly poor in comparison to my old Forerunner 10.

And now I have returned the 45 due to this battery issue. Perhaps an older model like the 230/235 is the way to go...