Galaxy watch series battery drain

[Richard-Tx]

First, I have had/used every Galaxy Watch (i.e. S3 Gear thru Watch 6 Classic).  Very familiar with using the features and removing unwanted apps and disabling unused features.  My only purpose for these watches are the health apps, LTE (enabled via TMobile), step counter.  Do a lot of running in hot/cold weather.

Last year, I had to return the Watch6 LTE classic due to logistical and technical issues and went back to my Watch 5 Pro LTE (W5P).  Have had the W5P since day 1 and the battery is rock solid, even after almost 2 years.  I look at two major areas of a watch.  Battery life and how it handles very hot weather.  Watch 5 Pro was perfect in both areas - Never a complaint from me.  However, I decided to get the new Watch 7 Ultra (W7U).  Even though I was not very impressed by the specs, I figured it was time to upgrade and that I got a great trade-in value for the W5P.  In addition, it had a 590maH battery - same as the W5P.  My display is never on unless I tap screen.  (i disabled "Always On").

So, getting to the point on my W7U experience after using it so far:

-  Ordered on Day1, received on July 19.  (faster than what was originally stated - good).

- Watch is a bit thicker and seems heavier.  Marine band is a bit wider.

- These are newer style quick-release bands.  Can't use previous bands (pin style).  These are not D-Buckle bands.  I really liked the original D-Buckle bands because I could get an exact fit/adjustment on my wrist.  In addition, with the D-Buckle, very quick to put on/take off the watch.  W7U bands take extra time now to put on / take off.  😞

- Speaker/Sound more powerful than W5P. - Great improvement over W5P.

- Titanium casing, just like the W5P.  This is good for better heat dissipation.  I have not had a change yet to try the W7U in >100 degree weather, whereas we have not seen the high tempt this year (yet).  The W5P easily handled 100+ weather.  Just don't make LTE phone calls in 100+ degree or else the watch will overheat.

- Quick button has very limited usage.  Why Samsung????  Anyways, I set it for the water lock feature.

- You can't place the W7U flat on a charging pad because the band prevents the watch from sitting flat on the pad.  However, once you place the W7U flat on the pad, you can put something on top of the watch to keep it flat.  Then it will make electrical/magnetic contact with the pad and start charging.

- Touch screen very responsive.  No delay in scrolling thru each menu.

- Screen very bright.

- The home and back buttons are directly on the side, which is different from the W5P which had the button on the side as well, but at a slight angle.  The W5P made it easier to press those two buttons.  When the buttons are directly on the side, you have to torque your finger/hand slightly to make contact with those buttons.  (of course everyone will have a different opinion on this button placement.

- Samsung still has NOT fixed the infamous problem where when you swing your arm, the display screen turns off.  WHY SAMSUNG??  Why do you turn off the screen when you swing your arms?  Didn't you learn/listen at all from all the complaints us runners informed you since the W5P.   Leave the display on and rely on the screen timeout to turn off the display when not in use.

Anyways I could go on-on, however, there is one item that I take the most concern with now is the battery life on the W7U.  As previously stated, my W5P battery life has been perfect from day 1 and still is solid after more then 1.5 years.  My W5P and W7U settings are manually set by me to be identical. 

However, I have noticed that the W7U seems to drain the battery by 35-40% faster than my W5P.  Yes, you read correctly.  I have watched my battery usage like a hawk on the W5P and it has aways been consistent and sturdy.  Never had a concern even as I speak now.  But, on the W7U, the battery drain is excessive.  As an example, while sleeping,  the battery went from 66% to 44% over a 7-hour period, as compared to my W5P that would go from 88 - 82% over that same period.  It's not clear to me why the excessive drain on the W7U, but even with power management turned on, the drain is still excessive. 

The only two items that could cause this are maybe the LTE signal or the health sensors.  Will soon experiment by turning these off to see if this makes a difference.

Overall, the W7U does not really offer any more "exciting" as compared to my W5P, but I really need to see what is happening to this battery.  Not happy about this battery drainage.   Curious if other W7U (LTE) users have the same battery issue.

[ILikeTurtlz]

This is a description of my Watch7 journey. Traded in my Watch5, which could last 2 days on a charge, during the Watch7 pre-order promotion.

Received the watch on 7/19, charged it, and proceeded to get about 1.5 days of life. Every consecutive day has seen progressively worse battery life. As I type this, my watch sits at 6% after 13 hours. 

I first looked through the forums to see if my problem was exclusive to me. What I found were many posts about poor battery life. Almost all of those posts had responses that the watch needs 1-2 weeks to learn the user's usage and optimize battery performance. None of them seemed to acknowledge that the user's battery life was getting worse, not better.

I call tech support on 7/25. The gentleman had me run through diagnostics, which showed everything was normal, and had me make sure all of my apps were up to date, which they were. After 25 minutes I had to leave the call with no resolution. I decided to do a hard reset and see how it performed the next day.

The next day is today. The battery life is as poor, if not worse than previous days. I called tech support and asked for a refund or replacement. He said since I purchased from Samsung directly, the only option for me was to mail it to a technician. Once they decide if it's faulty, they will determine if it will be repaired or replaced.

All in all, this is a strange situation. Many people report expected battery life, yet I'm also seeing multiple tech sites posting about what I'm experiencing. I'm a Samsung man all the way, but this watch has been a disappointment. 

Thanks for listening to me vent!

[realaud]

The more advanced the technology, the longer it takes to normalize to a user's usage. Especially the first few days when the watch is essentially setting itself up and the user is so excited about their new toy that they are constantly fiddling with it to check things like, oh...I don't know...battery life.

[ILikeTurtlz]

That's right. It's my fault. I don't understand this usage argument. It's a watch. I need it to tell time and track health data. There's nothing to be excited about and check constantly. If the watch can't handle me checking the time at a regular interval, then there's a problem. I appreciate your constructive response.

[realaud]

Because it's not just a watch, it's a computational device. Why'd you get it straight out of the gate, if you weren't excited about the tech? You want to just tell time, get a Timex or put the watch in watch only mode.

[ILikeTurtlz]

As stated in my initial post, I took advantage of the trade in deal to get the watch for a great price. Also, as stated previously, I wanted the watch for its health data tracking. Both bits of information you deliberately ignored to make a strawman argument. If you can't provide useful guidance, please don't respond.

[Carmer]

I'm having the same battery problem. I'm going back to my old galaxy watch

[The_Mow-tivator]

I just vented on my own post. I know I'm not the only one having issues with products. Back before we had access to all this data it seemed like products were made with better quality than they are now. Case in point, Samsung Tab3, the best tablet in terms of durability, graphics, and quality were second to none. Nowadays...good luck. High hopes and high expectations from an industry giant are not being met. From hero to zero.

[Living the dream]

I am also using Watch 7 for last two days and I agree it's battery performance is worse than my previous watch 5 pro. Samsung website says both watch 6 and watch 7 have same 425 mAh battery capacity but based on my last two days experience, my watch 5pro battery lasted longer than watch 7. Not sure if I return it but I will definitely raise a complain to Samsung.

[Cherie_W]

This is my first smart watch that isn't a Fitbit. My Fitbit lasted DAYS. This watch doesn't even last 24 hours on a charge! I am trying to track my sleep, but I can't because it dies in the middle of the night. I have been charging first thing in the morning, and I'd like to keep doing that. I really want to just send this watch back. 

[ILikeTurtlz]

Don't let this experience sour you on Samsung watches. My Watch5 worked flawlessly and would regularly get 2 days of battery life. Hopefully, Samsung corrects the problem with the Watch7.