Autonomy while logging.
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I use a Suunto 9 for some weeks now. Coming from a Spartan Ultra I had high hopes. However.
The battery life of 120 h (ultra mode) seems like a “funny specification” to me. The watch lasts for 14 days in normal life (just ticking away). Once you use the watch for 8 hours a day ( 1/15th of 120 hours in ultra mode) to log an activity it uses approx. the same amount of energy as for a whole day just ticking away (1/14th of 14 days of ticking autonomy).
So if I log an 8 hour activity in one day I will use 1/15 and for 24 hours of ticking I need another 1/14 of the juice. It will give me maybe 6 days of battery live. No more than that.To push it a bit further. I don’t think it can last 120 hours at all given the specifications because 120 hours is 5 days in which it already uses ~30% battery power. If I do the math, power for “ticking” and power for "activity logging " gives me 90 hours max. At the end of the logging the watch is dead: no more power.
Am I wrong? -
@venleo said in Autonomy while logging.:
Am I wrong?
I don’t know, my watch lasts much much longer in performance mode than my body does
And I always use performance for best track recording.welcome and enjoy the forum
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Thanks, I will enjoy the forum.
I agree, compared to my watch I’m a whimp.
But I still think the specification is “funny”, if not plain wrong.
I would like to read from a Suunto guy how they tested this.I have a VW. The book says it needs 1 ltr of gas for 16km. Until I actually drive it.
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@venleo You are incorrect, in ultra mode the GPS is on but only activating every 2 min. HR is turned off, the screen is turned off until a button press. The compass and gyroscope are engaged to provide a GPS track that is hard to believe, I have used it. The watch is not connected to the phone and is not using daily clock features so there is no comparison based on what the watch uses battery-wise when you are using it as a watch. This is all in the manual.
I typically use Endurance mode for most of my races but there are some events where I would engage ultra mode, I have not entered or attempted those…yet. -
@Brad_Olwin thxs for your reply.
I noticed stuff being switched off in ultra mode. Manual says so, so no surprises there.
Spec says: after 120 hours of logging an activity battery is empty. 120 hours is 5 days. No more juice for ticking then.
I planned two week logging of a (bicyle) tour in Norway above the Polar Circle without charging but that won’t happen. Suunto 9 won’t last that long, so I need a powerbank.
BTW logging my 10km runs (1 hour) in ultramode over the last few weeks supports my findings. -
@venleo said in Autonomy while logging.:
BTW logging my 10km runs (1 hour) in ultramode over the last few weeks supports my findings.
Out of curiosity: how long that run took and what the battery use was (before and after)?
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Just two comments here:
a) the 14 says ticking and the 120h logging don’t add up. One penalizes the other. After 60h logging it should last another 7 days in watch mode for example.
b) the endurance and ultra modes yield incredible tracks only when running. On a bike the track won’t look nice at all because you only get a GPS reading every two minutes and the acceleration sensor can’t do its magic inbetween… -
And to add some info here:
On endurance modes the first 8minutes are on best mode to do the altitude corrections and calibrate the sensors.
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@venleo That makes sense based on what Dimitrios stated, the ultra mode will provide the expected battery life but needs to be run continuously. The watch does not take much to charge so you could run in ultra mode for your bike tour and probably have to charge only once or twice. My experience in endurance mode is the estimates for the battery life are reasonably accurate but I turn the watch on and it runs for the duration.
