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VA3 battery drain after in GPS mode

I bought my VA3 2 years ago, it worked fine until the software 6.60, afterwards battery started to drain while using GPS. The specifications states that battery can last up to 13 h in GPS but I did never reached more than 7 h.

After updating to 6.90 battery level started to display the % incorrectly and finally after update 7.30 I returned the watch, at this point battery could only last 4 h.

A few months ago I received a new unit and it actually worked fine until the software update came. Again... Battery drain in GPS mode after 7.70 update, and my VA3 cannot record more than 5 h in GPS mode.

I am tired of this poor battery life, I have no doubts that this is a software problem but why it is not still fixed? This Vivoactive 3 is a faulty product or Garmin has broken something?

Anyway, I ask for help because I bought this product because I need more than 6 h of GPS recoding and in the box it clearly states up to 13 h! It cannot last even half the time!

I ask for help or I will have to move to another platform

Solved: After an AGPS update + leaving charging for an extra hour, battery life is . Good job Garmin!

0 joen2021 over 4 years ago

Hi, do you also experience rapid battery drain without using GPS. If yes, may be this is connected with experience of other users / other recent thread, see

https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivoactive-3-3-music/258133/significant-battery-drain-for-vivoactive-3-after-7-70-firmware-update/1240363#1240363

0 Dani B over 4 years ago in reply to joen2021

Dear joen2021, thank you for the quick reply.

However, I do not suffer battery drain under none GPS activities, even in standby.

I always pair a Bluetooth HR and an ant+ Tempe sensors, using 2 pages 1 field data fields with Dozen Cycle and Anya Bike datafields. I keep Bluetooth on for smart notifications and intelligent GPS recording.

If you need some information do not hesitate to contact me or any test you could find interesting.

Thank you!

0 joen2021 over 4 years ago in reply to Dani B

Hi, sorry, I do not have any solution. But you have many "things on" on your watch, would be course of action to switch e.g. Bluetooth off, in order to see if there is a change. In Updates Garmin mentions that they have increased stability of phone connection ... typical Garmin recommendation would be to deinstall third party app or in your case data fields, maybe you can try this out and use standard. Good luck!

0 Dani B over 4 years ago in reply to joen2021

If I use no CIQ data fields battery drain is normal, but before the update CIQ data fields didn't drain the battery...

May be I need to return the device again and look for something else