I recently upgraded from a Galaxy Watch 4 to a Galaxy Watch 6. When I used my Watch 4 during a round in standalone mode with gps on, a full charge would drop to about 50% after a full 18 hole round. With my new Watch 6, I can't get thru a full round from a full charge. The battery dies around hole 16.
The only difference between the watches, is the Watch 6 has an LTE radio, but I have disconnected the mobile plan and turned off the mobile network radio, so it should be functioning exactly like the GW4. Has anyone else noticed severe battery drain on the GW6? I haven't noticed an update to the app since the launch of the watch, and I know Samsung is pushing out a lot of software updates, so I'm wondering what could be causing this additional 50% battery drain during a round.
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Bill Kahnposted
5 months ago
@Mike - I've been using Golf Pad Premium with a Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch since Spring 2021. After a couple of years, I upgraded my smartwatch to the 'Smartwatch 4 Classic'. Over the course of the next 11 months, like you, I noticed the increased battery drain occuring while using the Smartwatch 4. I'm posting this to tell you that the problem has nothing to do with the Golf Pad software. The same problem arose when I used the watch running Under Armour's "Map My Run/Ride" GPS tracking program. After an hour or so of trail riding through the woods on my mountain bike, I found that the battery was being depleted to lower and lower levels, each week as the watch approached the end of its' 1-year warranty period. In fact, it got so bad that even with normal use (no GPS tracking activity), the battery would go from fully 100% charged in the morning to 0% by the late evening - not even 24 hours! I did some research and found that this problem was very common among "watch4" users - bad battery life to begin with, plus the battery detriorates relatively quickly over time, to the point where it can no longer retain a charge for any reasonable amount of time. Samsung released the Smartwatch 5 with - no surprise - a battery with nearly twice the capacity as previous model. With my watch4 still under warranty, they offered to replace it with a lesser model (they had no "watch4 classic" models available. I insisted that this was not acceptable, and so they agreed to refund my original purchase price. As soon as I received the refund, I immediately purchased a Smartwatch 5 Pro. I've used it all summer, and just played 18 holes yesterday, including use of the shot-tracking feature, and with the display brightness turned up to 100% (for best visability on a sunny day), and the watch still had 80% charge remaining on the battery at the end or the round. NOW - regarding your smartwatch 6, one of the critics' complaints about the smartwatch 5 was that the body of the watch was too "chunky" - the larger, higher capacity battery makes it a millimeter or two thicker than the smartwatch 4. So, along with the addition of a few software bells and whistles, they designed the smartwatch 6 with a smaller battery and thinner body on the 40mm version, and something in between on the larger 44mm version (both referring to watchface diameter). Neither has the battery size/capacity of the Smartwatch 5 Pro - 590 mAh, vs 300 and 425 for the two smartwatch 6 models. They continue to produce and offer the "5 Pro" as their most robust and powerful model. TO SUMMARIZE... (1) Be grateful that you don't have a Smartwatch 4, which clearly had battery issues from the start, and (2) I hope, for your sake, that you have the larger of the two smartwatch 6 models, but regardless, be sure to keep careful watch on your battery performance, and if - like I did - you see clear evidence that the battery's ability to hold a charge is decreasing substantially over time - contact Samsung's warranty department and request a replacement or, better still, a refund so that you can get the Smartwatch 5 Pro.
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S
Susan Smithposted
6 months ago
I faced the same problems with my Watch 6 when I got it. Now when I start out I close out any apps running in the background. I turn on airplane mode after my drive on the first hole and back on when I approach the 18th green. I usually have around 20% battery left. If I turn on battery saver I can get a better percentage but the GPS is slower to load so it's a trade off. I have used other apps with only a 30-40% drain so I don't know why this one is so much worse.
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M
Mike Mayoposted
7 months ago
Just wanted to provide an update, although not a positive one. I noticed the app was updated the first week of Oct. I made sure the app was updated and I played a full 18 hole round yesterday. Battery was full when the round started and I turned on airplane mode by the 3rd hole. Battery died on hole 17.
Honestly I use the watch more than the phone during play and if this isn't rectified before the start of next season (March) I will be looking for alternatives.
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Cindy Wrenposted
8 months ago
Admin
@Mike - thanks for your post. I've created a support ticket so our technical team can take a closer look at this for you. I'm sure they will have questions, so keep an eye on your inbox. In the meantime, I'll leave this public forum post up in case other users have experience to share. We appreciate your question and support. - Cindy
I recently upgraded from a Galaxy Watch 4 to a Galaxy Watch 6. When I used my Watch 4 during a round in standalone mode with gps on, a full charge would drop to about 50% after a full 18 hole round. With my new Watch 6, I can't get thru a full round from a full charge. The battery dies around hole 16.
The only difference between the watches, is the Watch 6 has an LTE radio, but I have disconnected the mobile plan and turned off the mobile network radio, so it should be functioning exactly like the GW4. Has anyone else noticed severe battery drain on the GW6? I haven't noticed an update to the app since the launch of the watch, and I know Samsung is pushing out a lot of software updates, so I'm wondering what could be causing this additional 50% battery drain during a round.
0 Votes
4 Comments
Bill Kahn posted 5 months ago
@Mike - I've been using Golf Pad Premium with a Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch since Spring 2021. After a couple of years, I upgraded my smartwatch to the 'Smartwatch 4 Classic'. Over the course of the next 11 months, like you, I noticed the increased battery drain occuring while using the Smartwatch 4. I'm posting this to tell you that the problem has nothing to do with the Golf Pad software. The same problem arose when I used the watch running Under Armour's "Map My Run/Ride" GPS tracking program. After an hour or so of trail riding through the woods on my mountain bike, I found that the battery was being depleted to lower and lower levels, each week as the watch approached the end of its' 1-year warranty period. In fact, it got so bad that even with normal use (no GPS tracking activity), the battery would go from fully 100% charged in the morning to 0% by the late evening - not even 24 hours! I did some research and found that this problem was very common among "watch4" users - bad battery life to begin with, plus the battery detriorates relatively quickly over time, to the point where it can no longer retain a charge for any reasonable amount of time. Samsung released the Smartwatch 5 with - no surprise - a battery with nearly twice the capacity as previous model. With my watch4 still under warranty, they offered to replace it with a lesser model (they had no "watch4 classic" models available. I insisted that this was not acceptable, and so they agreed to refund my original purchase price. As soon as I received the refund, I immediately purchased a Smartwatch 5 Pro. I've used it all summer, and just played 18 holes yesterday, including use of the shot-tracking feature, and with the display brightness turned up to 100% (for best visability on a sunny day), and the watch still had 80% charge remaining on the battery at the end or the round. NOW - regarding your smartwatch 6, one of the critics' complaints about the smartwatch 5 was that the body of the watch was too "chunky" - the larger, higher capacity battery makes it a millimeter or two thicker than the smartwatch 4. So, along with the addition of a few software bells and whistles, they designed the smartwatch 6 with a smaller battery and thinner body on the 40mm version, and something in between on the larger 44mm version (both referring to watchface diameter). Neither has the battery size/capacity of the Smartwatch 5 Pro - 590 mAh, vs 300 and 425 for the two smartwatch 6 models. They continue to produce and offer the "5 Pro" as their most robust and powerful model. TO SUMMARIZE... (1) Be grateful that you don't have a Smartwatch 4, which clearly had battery issues from the start, and (2) I hope, for your sake, that you have the larger of the two smartwatch 6 models, but regardless, be sure to keep careful watch on your battery performance, and if - like I did - you see clear evidence that the battery's ability to hold a charge is decreasing substantially over time - contact Samsung's warranty department and request a replacement or, better still, a refund so that you can get the Smartwatch 5 Pro.
0 Votes
Susan Smith posted 6 months ago
I faced the same problems with my Watch 6 when I got it. Now when I start out I close out any apps running in the background. I turn on airplane mode after my drive on the first hole and back on when I approach the 18th green. I usually have around 20% battery left. If I turn on battery saver I can get a better percentage but the GPS is slower to load so it's a trade off. I have used other apps with only a 30-40% drain so I don't know why this one is so much worse.
0 Votes
Mike Mayo posted 7 months ago
Just wanted to provide an update, although not a positive one. I noticed the app was updated the first week of Oct. I made sure the app was updated and I played a full 18 hole round yesterday. Battery was full when the round started and I turned on airplane mode by the 3rd hole. Battery died on hole 17.
Honestly I use the watch more than the phone during play and if this isn't rectified before the start of next season (March) I will be looking for alternatives.
0 Votes
Cindy Wren posted 8 months ago Admin
@Mike - thanks for your post. I've created a support ticket so our technical team can take a closer look at this for you. I'm sure they will have questions, so keep an eye on your inbox. In the meantime, I'll leave this public forum post up in case other users have experience to share. We appreciate your question and support. - Cindy
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