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Why is My Descent Mk2 Series Watch Battery Draining Quickly?
Your watch can perform a variety of functions, and any function the watch performs will require some power from the battery. Some functions, and how often you use them, will require more battery than others.
Why is My Watch Battery Draining Quickly?
If your watch has a shortened battery life, here are some troubleshooting steps we recommend.
Fully charge your watch to see if the issue has been resolved.
If your watch continues to drain battery quickly, check any recently adjusted settings that could contribute to a higher battery use. For help adjusting watch settings, see the
How Can I Get More Battery Life?
section below.
How Can I Get More Battery Life?
If your battery is being used faster than expected, or not lasting as long as it used to, read the information below to learn about settings and features that have a greater impact on battery usage.
Adjust Settings
The default settings for your watch were configured to balance performance with battery life. Changed settings may be the cause of increased battery drain. If you forgot the settings you changed, you can restore the default settings for your watch. For help see,
Reset Default Settings
.
NOTE: Settings for the options listed below are located in the watch menu. Not all watches will support all listed features. Refer to your owner's manual for feature compatibility, and exact setting location.
Pulse OX: Using All-Day Acclimation or During Sleep modes with the pulse oximeter will use the battery at a higher rate. To conserve battery life, it is recommended to set the acclimation mode to Manual. The watch will only analyze your oxygen saturation when you view the pulse oximeter widget.
Backlight: How bright the backlight is set, and how often it comes on, can use battery more quickly or less quickly. Having backlight set at 100% will use a lot of battery while the backlight is on. The manual backlight setting uses the least energy, and some settings, such as gesture, will use more battery.
GPS: When enabled you will see a higher battery use, which is why GPS tracking is only activated during activities or navigation.
Music: Controlling music being played on your phone, downloading music over Wi-Fi, and playing music stored on the watch will contribute to higher battery use. We recommend charging your watch while downloading music, if it supports this feature.
Bluetooth: Occasional text notifications and use of other connected features will drain far less battery than continually receiving texts, answering the phone, running a music player, or getting weather updates.
Connected Sensors: Additional connected sensors like HRM chest straps, power meters, or Bluetooth headphones all require additional power from the watch to stay connected.
Watch Face: Some watch faces, apps, widgets, and data fields may draw more power depending on how many things they do or whether they use GPS positioning or not.
Widgets: Some widgets update data when you select them, like weather. Widgets like Altimeter, Barometer, and Compass (ABC sensors) are always active.
Reset Default Settings
Hold UP/MENU.
Select System.
Select Reset.
Select Reset Default Settings.
Press DOWN to select Continue.
Select Yes.
If your watch is paired to your phone, you will need to pair the watch back to the phone after resetting. For help on pairing your watch to your phone, refer to your owner's manual. For additional resources on pairing your watch, see - Garmin Connect™ App Bluetooth Troubleshooting.
Clean Charging Contacts
Garmin recommends using a Garmin charging cable, and making sure the charging contacts on the watch and charging cable are free and clear of debris. For instructions on how to clean the charging contacts, see - Cleaning the Battery Contacts on a Rechargeable Garmin Watch.
This will not clear any user data or reset settings. Significant battery use can sometimes occur if an activity or another feature is left running in the background. Try the following steps to perform the restart:
Hold the LIGHT button.
NOTE: You may need to hold for up to 30 seconds.
When the watch face goes blank, release LIGHT.
Press LIGHT to turn the watch back on.
Let the watch charge to 100% and use as normal.
Track how long the battery lasts after performing the restart.
Is Your Watch Battery Still Draining Quickly?
After attempting the above troubleshooting if you still see significant battery use, we recommend contacting Product Support to help determine what is using the battery.
Some information to help Product Support determine what might be using the battery more than expected:
What brightness is the backlight set to, and is Gesture enabled?
How often are you performing GPS activities, and how long are they?
Is Pulse Ox enabled? If so, what is it set to?
What is the battery estimate in days on a full charge, and how long does it take to completely drain the battery?
What kind of watch face are you using? Does it display current heart rate?