Garmin watches have astronomical battery life, often lasting weeks, depending on the series. The life expectancy of these watches usually keeps up to 80% charging capacity after a few years of use. Depending on the conditions and charging treatment, this can be accelerated (or de-accelerated). The battery life is impressive, and it puts Wear OS watches to shame. But this is primarily because of how Garmin builds their watches and focuses on intended use. We’ve broken down precisely why Garmin batteries last so much longer than a premium smartwatch using Wear OS.
Why are Garmin watches known for having exceptional battery life?
It’s a combination of factors that gives Garmin the rep it has for why these watches last as long as they do. Garmin watches has optimized software and specialized hardware. These watches don’t have a heavy operating system and are tailor-made to manage power consumption.
The software also provides fail-safes that optimize these watches’ batteries based on customizable settings. For example, toggling off Always on Display and lowering the display brightness and sensor usage will extend the battery life. You can also use Battery Saver mode to keep it going for longer. That also means most of the general practices and settings that help maintain battery life in Wear OS are also available for Garmin watches.
Targeted display technology
Another consideration is the specialized hardware with Garmin displays. Some Garmin watches use a transflective display found in MIP displays (Memory in Pixel). These displays utilize a combination of transmissive and reflective properties within their screens. It makes it easier for the display to work under brighter and low-light conditions. It does this by changing between ambient light reflection but also using a backlight when situations call for it. The dual functionality is how these watches save on power, thus saving on battery.
Source:Â newhavendisplay.com
Another factor for the MIP displays is how well it uses solar-charging technology. The first Garmin watch to prove this was the Fenix 6X Pro Solar in 2019. It did this by applying a semi-transparent solar panel over the screen. The outer rings would trap sunlight to convert it into solar energy. This led to the Fenix 6X seeing a 10-20% increase in battery life, depending on use. This technology is implemented in Garmin’s MIP watches as “Solar” editions.
Other screens are made with AMOLED technology, like the Garmin Venu 3. AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens focus on lighting each pixel individually. This provides better coloring, higher contrast, and deeper blacks. Since the display remains sharp and easy to see, it doesn’t need a backlight when operating at lower light conditions, which lessens the need to turn up the brightness and, thus, avoids the battery drain altogether.
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Garmin’s signature lineups, the Instinct, and the Enduro, pushed MIP displays for a while, whereas the Venu, Forerunner, and Fenix used AMOLED displays. Seemingly, newer Garmin watches have adapted to using more AMOLED displays (Fenix 8 and the Instinct 3 have AMOLED versions, the Venu 3 is only AMOLED).
Garmin watches have limited apps
Wear OS is home to many third-party and first-party apps. Even if some of these apps are excellent and handy, keeping them working optimally isn’t always easy. Garmin watches has a curated selection of apps. The apps you’ll often use are created for Garmin watches only. For example, the Garmin Connect app is your all-in-one tracker for fitness data, and the Garmin Messenger is what you’d use for communication.
Garmin isn’t completely void of non-fitness apps. You can install music-focused apps like YouTube Music and Spotify.
On the contrary, Wear OS, depending on your smartwatch’s brand, might see a mix of Google or Samsung-related apps, along with a slew of third-party supported ones found on the Play Store. It’s also not guaranteed to be optimized depending on the Wear OS update your watch’s is on. Plus, the more apps you have, the more updates you must manage. These apps all have the potential to add more background activity — another culprit for what causes battery drain.
Low-powered chips for GPS usage and settings
GPS mode and geofencing apps are major players for battery drain. This is partly due to how much location services drain your battery. Disabling the GPS is often recommended to save your Garmin watch’s battery. But that’s not always ideal when trying to maximize the accuracy of your activity tracking. You’d also want to keep GPS on to track your route while on a run or walk.
Garmin accounted for this while designing their best watches. They utilized low-powered GPS chips (instead of the Sony GNSS chips they were using) while focusing on flexibility with their tracking. For example, Garmin watches has a mode called UltraTrac. UltraTrac is a GPS setting that periodically turns off GPS tracking. While the GPS is off, it uses the watch’s accelerometer to calculate speed and distance. It loses some accuracy but significantly helps with battery life while in a pinch.
A balancing act between cost and demand for SoCs
Another consideration is the cost of maintaining the operating system and updating the SoC. For example, pairing the main chip with a better co-processor microcontroller unit costs more for watches that rely on the hybrid OS interface. Even if, in theory, a hybrid OS interface helps battery life (it houses two OSes and two CPUs). Then the other problem is the demand. According to an interview with Android Central, Qualcomm:
“the demand for a new chip from smartwatch makers is “every two to three years.” According to him, they don’t want a new chip every year.”
Part of this strategy is that OEMS want chips that scale well with multiple years of updates. The other aspect is that the OEMS expects the software to hold up, gaining more performance where needed. Garmin doesn’t face this problem since the software is much more limited than Wear OS (Wear OS-based smartwatches rely on Snapdragon Wear chips) and does not require a powerful chip (they have custom underclocked low-consumption arm chips) to handle it.
You can’t go wrong with a Garmin watch
The good news is that Garmin watches have superb battery life. If you’re a new runner or one that’s preparing for a marathon, Garmin watches are fantastic to have. But if you’re not a runner, you can also find Garmin watches designed for multi-sport and general fitness tracking, like the Fenix and Vivosmart series. There’s a vast selection of watches to choose from, and it’s mostly about knowing which complements your lifestyle.
