Battery Life Halved by Garmin’s New Voice Controls

Garmin Wearable Devices: Voice Activation Feature Impact on Battery Life

In line with the hands-free Siri and Google Gemini access on the latest Apple and Wear OS watches, Garmin has introduced voice-activated functions on its watches. Users can now initiate actions like starting a timer or a workout by simply saying ‘OK Garmin’.

While this feature is a significant advancement for Garmin wearables, users have started reporting a notable decrease in battery life when hands-free activation is enabled. Reports suggest that the battery life of the watch can be reduced by around 35% to 50%.

As highlighted by Gadgets & Wearables, many Garmin owners have expressed their concerns on the company’s forums regarding this issue. The high-end Fenix 8 model seems to be one of the most affected devices, with some users experiencing only seven days of battery life post-update, compared to the previous duration of use.

Addressing the Issue

Fortunately, the battery life issue is not insurmountable. Disabling the hands-free activation feature can help restore the watch’s battery life to its normal levels.

However, this solution is less than ideal, considering that the hands-free activation feature was intended to be one of Garmin’s major software advancements this year.

In contrast to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and the Apple Watch Series 12, which have focused on enhancing fitness tracking capabilities with health-oriented metrics, such as heart health insights and daily cardio load tracking, Garmin’s focus on voice activation has had unintended consequences for its users.