Garmin Triathlon Battery Life Comparisons The Garmin Forerunner 965 Review is Now Live Many thanks to reader @KHP for this comprehensive comparison of battery life expectations for some of the key Garmin triathlon-ready watches. We compare the older Forerunner 745 to the latest Forerunner 965 and 265/265s models. More specifically we see that Garmin has managed to deliver an AMOLED screen without especially impacting the headline battery life claims. It's quite amazing stuff. [caption id="attachment_79684" align="aligncenter" width="700"] via @KHP.dk[/caption] Headline Take Outs Here are some of the more interesting points as I see it The smaller 265s has a superior battery life compared to the 265. When I first saw this in some of the leaked info I thought it was a mistake! The explanation will lie somewhere in the tradeoff between the power consumption of the smaller screen and the reduction in battery capacity of the 265s if any. All the 265 models and the 965 are theoretically Ironman-ready with even the 265 supporting 'up to 16 hours' in GPS mode. SatIQ delivers notable battery saving but perhaps you might not call them game-changing Music kills battery life by over 50% Caveats and Further Info Required The capacity of the new battery remains a big unknown. It is unclear whether the power savings come from improved efficiencies or from the use of smaller components that allowed for a bigger capacity battery. Currently, there is no available information on this matter. Furthermore, @KHP and I have not yet checked all the key default settings, such as screen brightness and timeout, which can significantly affect battery life. Once we start tinkering with these settings, we can expect a notable negative impact on the battery's performance. Another factor to consider is battery capacity degradation over time. Most batteries have an expected number of recharge cycles, and their performance can also disproportionately decline if charged beyond 80% capacity. Some smartphones, such as certain models of the iPhone, have smart charging that stops charging at 80% capacity to preserve battery life. However, Garmin watches almost certainly don't have such features (yet!). Take Out The new battery lives seem too good to be true. I'm sceptically hopeful they are true. Garmin 265 models: Price: USA $450, UK £430, EU499 Garmin 965: Price: USA REI Pre-Order $599, UK £599, EU649 https://the5krunner.com/2023/03/05/new-garmin-event-designation-probabyl-for-edge-540-840/ https://the5krunner.com/2023/03/05/garmin-wrist-temperature-coming-this-month/ https://the5krunner.com/2023/03/02/garmin-forerunner-965-opinion/
