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Battery Performance Settings

I have a race this weekend 105 on trails. Should take between 15-17 hrs.

Can someone refresh my memory on the best settings for saving battery.

Turn off WiFi....
  • I would suggest:
    turn off wifi
    remove any CIQ data fields - especially ones that need to process data and write it to the FIT file
    back-light off
    wrist HR off if you have another source of HR or don't need it
    smart GPS without Galileo
    only use navigation if you have to.

    Good luck!

  • I would suggest:
    turn off wifi
    remove any CIQ data fields - especially ones that need to process data and write it to the FIT file
    back-light off
    wrist HR off if you have another source of HR or don't need it
    smart GPS without Galileo
    only use navigation if you have to.

    Good luck!



    Thanks.
  • I would suggest:
    turn off wifi
    remove any CIQ data fields - especially ones that need to process data and write it to the FIT file
    back-light off
    wrist HR off if you have another source of HR or don't need it
    smart GPS without Galileo
    only use navigation if you have to.

    Good luck!



    You would recommend just GPS. Not Glonass or Galileo?
  • Don't use GLONASS or Galileo if battery life is your primary concern. Either will increase battery use by 1% an hour or more.

    Turning off WiFi makes no difference. It will only use WiFi to try upload after the activity. Turning off Bluetooth will make a slight difference though.

    Smart or per second recording makes no measurable difference in battery use. With smart recording the GPS part works just as hard, it just does not get written to the FIT every second.

  • https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webh...DBF4A9759.html

    Use a watch-face that doesn't feature seconds.

    Though it doesn't state it specifically, I'd disable "auto-scroll" of the data screens.

    Something else to consider: while you're in the activity, HOLD the "back" button to get back to your watch face and just leave it there. The activity is still running in the background (with alerts still functioning) but the display won't be updating every second. If you go this route, test out the functionality in advance (walk around block) and set "Auto-Lock - Always" to ensure you don't accidentally lap or stop the activity inadvertently by bumping a button.

    I don't think you need to go so far as to use UltraTrac - 935 is supposed to go up to 24-hours in regular mode. (60 in UltraTrac)

    EDIT - echoing what others have written, I'd add: while "smart" recording may not save energy over "every 1-second", you'll save a tonne of time later when syncing the activity - 1-second creates vastly more datapoints, many of them redundant. I've not noticed smart to be any less accurate but your mileage may vary. (figuratively and literally) There are a lot of discussions about that.
  • Last tip: a day or two before any big event I always perform a reset on the watch (press and hold the power button until it switches off, then switch it on again). You won't lose any data.

    It obviously won't make any difference in battery use but it clears up any loose ends in memory and keeps the watch running smooth. It's the first thing you get told to do by Garmin if you experience any problems with the watch. Doing it regularly yourself can help avoid problems developing.
  • https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webh...DBF4A9759.html

    Use a watch-face that doesn't feature seconds.

    Though it doesn't state it specifically, I'd disable "auto-scroll" of the data screens.

    Something else to consider: while you're in the activity, HOLD the "back" button to get back to your watch face and just leave it there. The activity is still running in the background (with alerts still functioning) but the display won't be updating every second. If you go this route, test out the functionality in advance (walk around block) and set "Auto-Lock - Always" to ensure you don't accidentally lap or stop the activity inadvertently by bumping a button.

    I don't think you need to go so far as to use UltraTrac - 935 is supposed to go up to 24-hours in regular mode. (60 in UltraTrac)

    EDIT - echoing what others have written, I'd add: while "smart" recording may not save energy over "every 1-second", you'll save a tonne of time later when syncing the activity - 1-second creates vastly more datapoints, many of them redundant. I've not noticed smart to be any less accurate but your mileage may vary. (figuratively and literally) There are a lot of discussions about that.


    I don't get this working.
    The 'back' button will start a new lap no matter how long I hold this button.
    Any additional hints?
  • Should say "down button" (gets you into the widget loop).
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    I have only a FR630. With that shutting off activity/fitness-tracking seems to save some battery as well.
  • Don't think things like shutting off activity tracking or not using 1sec watchfaces are helpfull in this case though right? (This case being a trail where an activity is started and run for 15-17hrs).

    As mentioned, mainly lower brightness (5% for example should be fine) and time-out settings. Disable OHR if you don't care about heartrate, perhaps no alerts (might also use relatively a lot of battery when alerts are often fired). And limit the use of maps/routing I think...

    But 15-17hrs should be fine, I average on little less then 5% an hour with above settings (OHR enabeld and a year old device btw!) so if you go fully charged it should be fine.