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Features that Affect Battery Life on a Marine Handheld
If a marine handheld device is needing more frequent charging or battery change, it could be due to amount of usage or system settings that have been changed. Settings that can effect overall battery life and cause increased and seemingly excessive battery drain are:
- Backlight brightness: Screen brightness can be the biggest contributor to battery drain. How bright the backlight is set and how often it comes on can drain battery more quickly or less quickly. Having backlight set at 100% will drain a lot of battery while the backlight is on.
- Backlight timeout: Sets the length of time before the backlight turns off. A shorter Backlight Timeout can conserve battery.
- Battery save mode: Saves the battery power and prolongs the battery life by turning off the screen when the backlight times out.
- Map drawing speed: Adjusts the speed at which the map is drawn. A faster map drawing speed decreases the battery life.
- GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems): If the handheld supports the use of multiple satellite systems, such as GPS+GLONASS or GPS+Galileo, this can reduce the overall battery life when compared to using just GPS. GPS+GLONASS or GPS+Galileo does offer increased performance in challenging environments and faster position acquisition.
- WiFi: (only on select handhelds) A handheld that support WiFi will download updates and/or upload activity data through WiFi. When it is always active, it is continually searching for, and maintaining connections.
- Bluetooth/Connected Features: (only on select handhelds) The drain created by Bluetooth is dependent on enabled Connected Features how often it syncs with the phone.
- NOTE: If the Garmin handheld supports Bluetooth, a list of compatible Connected Features can be found in the Owner's Manual.
These settings can be adjusted in the Setup or Settings options of your device. For guidance on how to adjust theses settings, see the owner's manual.