My watch ($450 retail) is about a year and a half old. It had functioned without problem until last week, when the battery abruptly began to drain excessively. Prior to this it would go 5-7 days between charges, afterward it died in less than three days without using GPS or other power draining functions. I did a factory reset after looking looking at Garmin support and other info online. This accomplished nothing.

There is some thought that this is a result of recent software updates, not the battery itself, but Garmin has not acknowledged it. I contacted customer support discussed the problem. I was informed that my only option was to exchange my watch for a refurbished unit for $130 as the warranty had expired. Afterward I did try a hard vs factory reset which may have helped slightly.

Up to this point we have been very pleased with Garmin Customer Support over the last 10 years. We have had battery issues with other units and Garmin has replaced the unit for free if under warranty, or exchanged for a refurbished watch for a nominal ($25-$35) fee if out of warranty.

I understand that the 265 is nowhere near the "top of the line" but having to pay another $130 for a reconditioned unit after 18 months seems ridiculous.

(Sorry if this has kind of turned into a rant, but pretty pissed at Garmin right now)

Anyone else experiencing similar issues?

I had intermittent battery issues with my Garmin Instinct Solar. These seemed to occur and disappear after software updates. Then the issues quit and the battery held a reliable charge until I changed to a Venu 3. I've had no issues with he Venu 3 and consistently get 8 days per charge.

No issues with Fenix 3X, 5X, 6X, or 7X Solar. Never an issue with a Venu either.

Having never had a solar variant, until recently, I suggest (a) keeping the fast draining watch and using it -- three days is awesome life, compared to an Apple Watch Ultra or Series 10. Sure, it is half the original but still, it works! (b) buying a new Solar watch whenever you want to spend money.

The fast draining watch can be the work watch, the saturday woods watch, etc. No reason to replace a known with the refurbished unknown. Especially if you put a $15 screen protector on it already, and would have to repeat that expense.

I'll probably go with option A. It can still be used for GPS tracking with runs, hikes, biking, kayaking, etc., which is the primary reason it was purchased. The other bells & whistles are nice but not necessary.

And I do have an older Forerunner 235 that still functions and can be used if needed.

Possibly a future update will resolve the problem. It does annoy me that Garmin will not acknowledge that it may be a result of an update glitch rather than a hardware issue.

The problem has resolved, for now anyway. Part of it may be my lack of understanding of the mechanism of updates. The watch has been synched with the phone frequently but the GPS hasn't been used recently. After using GPS the battery has gone 9 days and is still reading 30%.

So I'm guessing that the updates come via satellite vs phone (?).

I also have to take back my criticism of Garmin Support. The rep I spoke with yesterday understood that this was a software issue and even offered to replace the unit free of charge if there are any further problems within the next few months.

quote:

Originally posted by NOCkid:
The problem has resolved, for now anyway. Part of it may be my lack of understanding of the mechanism of updates. The watch has been synched with the phone frequently but the GPS hasn't been used recently. After using GPS the battery has gone 9 days and is still reading 30%.

So I'm guessing that the updates come via satellite vs phone (?).

I also have to take back my criticism of Garmin Support. The rep I spoke with yesterday understood that this was a software issue and even offered to replace the unit free of charge if there are any further problems within the next few months.

I assure you, Garmin is not calling in favors from the US government to put software updates for their devices in GPS data. Perhaps there was some bug in the software that was resolved by getting updated GPS data (almanac) or maybe there was an update pushed via phone (or WiFi direct to the watch) that you weren't aware of.

I'm on my 4th Garmin watch, going back to the original Forerunner 201 I got in 2005. The 201 eventually died from corrosion after about 6 years. Since then I've had a Forerunner 410, the original Instinct, and now an Epix gen 2 51mm. None of those have died, I just wanted new features. Battery life does degrade over years (as you'd expect) but in my experience these devices are exceptionally well made.

My current Epix gen 2 and my prior Instinct were both purchased as refurbished by Garmin. I got the Epix this past Christmas for $320; it was $1100 when new in 2022. Not the newest tech, but plenty for my needs and a nice upgrade.

Glad your situation is sorted, and so are Gary and Min (look it up).