Garmin smartwatches: New feature reportedly slashes battery life in half

Many smartwatches, including several Garmin offerings, feature an integrated microphone and speaker. These components enable Bluetooth hands-free calling without needing a dedicated cellular connection, alongside text dictation and voice assistant integration. Garmin recently introduced a new feature allowing users to trigger this voice assistant using a spoken wake word instead of pressing a physical button.

While some added power draw is expected when a device actively listens for voice triggers, the resulting increase in standby power consumption is surprisingly substantial. Consistent user reports on Garmin's support forums indicate that enabling the feature can cut battery life nearly in half.

That said, context is key: Garmin smartwatches are known for exceptional battery endurance, especially compared to competitors like the Apple Watch. For instance, one user reported that their Garmin Forerunner 970 (on Amazon) saw its estimated battery life drop from 15 to 9 days—a drastic decline, but one that still leaves plenty of runtime for daily use. Users can easily disable the "OK Garmin" activation word in the watch settings, and Garmin may address the efficiency issue in upcoming software updates.

Editor of the original article: Silvio Werner - Senior Tech Writer - 18178 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2017

I have been active as a journalist for over 10 years, most of it in the field of technology. I worked for Tom’s Hardware and ComputerBase, among others, and have been working for Notebookcheck since 2017. My current focus is particularly on mini PCs and single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi – so in other words, compact systems with a lot of potential. In addition, I have a soft spot for all kinds of wearables, especially smartwatches. My main profession is as a laboratory engineer, which is why neither scientific contexts nor the interpretation of complex measurements are foreign to me.