Garmin and iphone battery life on a ride

rouleur23

Hi
anyone know the best way to keep a Garmin or iphone going for a long ride? Is a solar charger the way? I have heard about these ''booster packs'' but how do they work and where do they sit whilst riding.

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Cheers

slowmart

This
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerCore-Port ... le+charger

It chargers either an i phone or garmin.

cgfw201

Get a Wahoo Elemnt. Used to have to charge up my Garmin 520 on anything over 6hrs if i was using navigation. Elemnt Bolt lasts 15 hours no probs with navigation on. And it's better. And I sold my 520 on eBay for more than a new Bolt.

ben@31

I asked the very same question a few weeks ago on the Tour and Audaxes forum. I thought they would know. Heres the replies I got...

viewtopic.php?f=40003&t=13078058

In a nutshell, theres Garmin 520 features you can turn off to minimise battery consumption and buy a portable USB battery pack.
On long rides Ive stuffed a short USB cable into my jersey and a cafe recharged the Garmin. Careful they dont lose your ride though.

StillGoing

rouleur23 wrote:

Hi
anyone know the best way to keep a Garmin or iphone going for a long ride? Is a solar charger the way? I have heard about these ''booster packs'' but how do they work and where do they sit whilst riding.

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Cheers

What's a long ride? When I used Garmin devices, they tended to last for 100 plus miles with plenty of life left. With the last Garmin device I had (820) that dropped drastically. Garmin's connection with phones via bluetooth seems to have so many effects on battery life and performance. Having ditched Garmin and now using the Wahoo Elemnt, things are much, much better. Around 17 hours life is stated and I don't doubt it could do it if needed.

kingstongraham

philthy3 wrote:

rouleur23 wrote:

Hi
anyone know the best way to keep a Garmin or iphone going for a long ride? Is a solar charger the way? I have heard about these ''booster packs'' but how do they work and where do they sit whilst riding.

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Cheers

What's a long ride? When I used Garmin devices, they tended to last for 100 plus miles with plenty of life left. With the last Garmin device I had (820) that dropped drastically. Garmin's connection with phones via bluetooth seems to have so many effects on battery life and performance. Having ditched Garmin and now using the Wahoo Elemnt, things are much, much better. Around 17 hours life is stated and I don't doubt it could do it if needed.

Doesn't that depend how fast you are going?

StillGoing

KingstonGraham wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

rouleur23 wrote:

Hi
anyone know the best way to keep a Garmin or iphone going for a long ride? Is a solar charger the way? I have heard about these ''booster packs'' but how do they work and where do they sit whilst riding.

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Cheers

What's a long ride? When I used Garmin devices, they tended to last for 100 plus miles with plenty of life left. With the last Garmin device I had (820) that dropped drastically. Garmin's connection with phones via bluetooth seems to have so many effects on battery life and performance. Having ditched Garmin and now using the Wahoo Elemnt, things are much, much better. Around 17 hours life is stated and I don't doubt it could do it if needed.

Doesn't that depend how fast you are going?

Sure and I'm not professing that he/she should be at a particular pace, but most people can manage a 100 miles in 8 hours and 10 at worst unless it's in the Pyrenees and they haven't ridden a bike in a long while. It could be that they are that weird sect of Audax riders though and need battery life for nigh on 24 hours.

bobmcstuff

philthy3 wrote:

rouleur23 wrote:

Hi
anyone know the best way to keep a Garmin or iphone going for a long ride? Is a solar charger the way? I have heard about these ''booster packs'' but how do they work and where do they sit whilst riding.

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Cheers

What's a long ride? When I used Garmin devices, they tended to last for 100 plus miles with plenty of life left. With the last Garmin device I had (820) that dropped drastically. Garmin's connection with phones via bluetooth seems to have so many effects on battery life and performance. Having ditched Garmin and now using the Wahoo Elemnt, things are much, much better. Around 17 hours life is stated and I don't doubt it could do it if needed.

Turning off the bluetooth connection will improve battery life significantly. I've an 810 and for longer rides I switch it off, which makes a noticeable difference.

ben@31

philthy3 wrote:

Sure and I'm not professing that he/she should be at a particular pace, but most people can manage a 100 miles in 8 hours and 10 at worst unless it's in the Pyrenees and they haven't ridden a bike in a long while. It could be that they are that weird sect of Audax riders though and need battery life for nigh on 24 hours.

That's 8 hours moving time. While the total elapsed time is likely to be a bit more. Even if you plan not to deliberately stop at a cafe. You still could spend a fair few minutes at traffic lights, junctions, looking at the map, taking a quick photo.

Christian B

This was a consideration recently when I made a new purchase of a sports watch. I wanted a watch as appose to a handlebar mounted device as I do a lot of running too. I decided on the Garmin Forerunner 230 and absolutely love it. Very light and HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEE battery life which is what you are after too. Does everything you need it to do for your cycling or running. Its fantastic on battery as it doesn't have a heart rate monitor like many others but if that was important to you then you could add a strap (or buy the Garmin 235 which has one but limits the battery life).

zedthegreat

Apologies if I have missed your Garmin type....I have an 820 and if I turn off the bluetooth connection and turn on the battery save mode (which turns off the screen until your touch it to wake for approx 5s) then you can get north of 12 hours without too much issue. I believe, although haven't tried, that if you change GPS AND GLONASS to just GPS then this saves also, but at the expense of tracking accuracy.

StillGoing

ben@31 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

Sure and I'm not professing that he/she should be at a particular pace, but most people can manage a 100 miles in 8 hours and 10 at worst unless it's in the Pyrenees and they haven't ridden a bike in a long while. It could be that they are that weird sect of Audax riders though and need battery life for nigh on 24 hours.

That's 8 hours moving time. While the total elapsed time is likely to be a bit more. Even if you plan not to deliberately stop at a cafe. You still could spend a fair few minutes at traffic lights, junctions, looking at the map, taking a quick photo.

Stopping at traffic lights isn't going to add a great deal of time and I'm presuming that the OP will have mapping on the device if they're asking about battery life for it and an iPhone. 6 hours for 100 miles would be easily doable for a competent rider and even less for a rider with a good level of fitness.

chris_bass

i have a moto e 2nd gen i sometimes use on the handlebars as a tracker and i can get 8 hours battery life with gps tracking and screen on the whole time which is better than the garmin edge 25 by some distance. thats with bluetooth hrm and speed and cadence sensors paired.

if you leave the screen off and just wake it when you want to look at it the time is more than doubled.

KevinA

Got one of these for my phone, Virb or Edge 1000 and can't fault it.

Veho Pebble Verto Portable Battery Back Up Power

pblakeney

Unpair any unused sensors and turn the screen brightness down to zero.
Instant extra battery life.