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Battery drains fast

Since the latest update I am having to charge my watch twice a day. It is currently 13months old. I was using it connected to phone and to monitor my heart rate all day, and it would last 2 days. Including monitoring my training twice a day.

Since the update I have had to turn off Bluetooth and HR monitor and it still only lasts half the day. I have changed the display and alot of the settings to increase battery, but it hasn't helped.

Yesterday I did exercise on the morning, but my watch on charge starts at around 0900, at lunch time my watch was at 100% so put it back on and by 1530 it was down to 35% using it just as a watch.

Top Replies

Garmin-AmberD over 3 years ago in reply to LUhrlass +1 verified

Hi there! I have a case opened on this. There is a recent thread regarding this issue. I would like for you to follow that one so we can keep it all in one place and you can see when I have updated. Battery…
8765792 over 4 years ago in reply to bigHUN +6

Hope the support does something. My watch has become unusable now, I charged it before bed last night, woke up and it is on 12%, with nothing extra activated, just as a watch.

I was going to get one of…
seilogramp over 4 years ago in reply to jamesbeeby +4 verified

jamesbeeby said:
How do we force Garmin to investigate?

Anyone having this issue should contact Garmin Support, preferably by phone or chat. They will open a case or add you to the existing case.
8690265 over 3 years ago +4

this whole battery issue has really changed my impression of garmin as a premium company. 3 months of a watch which cant even hold a days use charge is messed up

All Replies

0 5196909 over 3 years ago

I have a VivoActive 3 Music bought in 2018. I noticed the battery drains in less than a day with the Battery Widget stating a >4.5%/Hr usage. I reset defaults and deleted data but that didn't work. What did work was deleting all my custom widgets, Apps and watch faces. I only have 2 Garmin Watch faces installed and deleted most of the Widgets and Apps except the Battery Widget. I did a soft reset: hold the side button down for 45 sec until the screen goes black (ignore any support notifications) Once it is black then hit the side button again to restart. After this the battery drain was at 0.1%/hr. I added back some Apps and Widgets, turned down back light to 20% gestures is off and now I get 0.37%/day (estimate is ~11 days) which is a lot better than 4%. Basically try deleting most/all the widgets (not the battery widget), apps and watch faces then perform a soft reset and check the battery widget. Then individually add back the Apps and Widgets checking the battery widget each time

+1 9206842 over 3 years ago in reply to Tobias Kellhammer

I have the same experience with my vivoactive 3. It's only 3 years old. Battery drains in 0.5 days... :(

0 CaseyNall over 3 years ago

Same here. I'm on my third V3 replacement. It was fine but last night I charged it while in the shower and took it off at 67%. My sleep tracking stopped at 1am meaning that's when it died. I have notifications mostly turned off as well and back light at low.

0 5948117 over 3 years ago

My Vivoactive 3 is unusable now. Charge drops from 100% to zero in less than 3 hours. I've deleted files as suggested in another forum, rebooted watch and currently have everything turned off/disabled. Even then it's losing it's charge at a ridiculous rate. I need another watch and am looking at the Forerunner 945 or possibly a Fenix 6. Because of the battery issue and very poor customer support I reluctantly feel I need to move away from Garmin. Can anyone here suggest or recommend a similar watch from another manufacturer?

0 3555946 over 3 years ago in reply to 5948117

My VA3 is basically a very expensive paperweight right now. A case was opened and was asked to contact local garmin. Did a quick chat to find out that a deposit of 140 Usd is needed to get the watch replaced. Have been using fitbit versa 3 ever since and am a very happy man

0 5728146 over 3 years ago in reply to 5948117

SAME!!! Totally frustrated—if I am unable to use the features of which the watch is “capable” ,what good is it?? Also—heart rate has never been quite accurate during workouts. Waaaaay under what it should be. My rhr is about 53. I can be totally breathless and it will read 80! I am having to charge twice a day.

0 5728146 over 3 years ago in reply to Petorrr

Same here.....crazy drain. I have made setting changes and nothing seems to help. I would like to be able to use the watch as it was intended to be used!

0 8690265 over 3 years ago

Replying just to keep this thread current. If any potential customers of Garmin are reading this. Just please buy anything else.

0 Sciber over 3 years ago

Same issue with my VA3, all of a sudden a week ago I start seeing a massive battery drain with a full charge and no GPS usage lasting 12-14hours.
Tried soft resets and full watch wipe, running everything stock (no CIQ) and the issue continues.

Funny thing is that when using the GPS I still get around the run time I used to get before the issue started.

0 2214132 over 3 years ago in reply to Sciber

Same issue, so frustrating battery does not even last me a day at work charged in the morning flat by the time I get home , has gone from 3-4 days to as little as 8-10hrs....Help Garmin please sort this out.