What You Need To Know:

• Screen Brightness
  • epix (Gen 2) has a very bright AMOLED Color Touchcreen
  • fenix 7/7S/7X has a dimmer, sunlight-readable touchscreen (similar brightness as all previous fenix models)
• Battery Life
  • As a result of the dimmer screen, fenix 7/7S/7X has better battery life than the epix 2 (3 week vs 6 days)
  • This, of course, depends on how you use use your Garmin watch. In this article, we're showing you how to maximize your battery life on an epix (Gen 2) and fenix 7.
  • Your decision will depend on how you intend to use your watch and what features you want. For example, if you do a lot of GPS activities and want to play music, you may want to consider a fenix 7 with solar-charging.

Fully compare the epix (Gen 2) and the fenix 7 here

Learn all about fēnix 7/7S/7X Standard, Solar, & Sapphire Solar

Learn all about epix (Gen 2) Standard & Sapphire Solar

You can maximize your Garmin fēnix 7 and epix 2 in SMARTWATCH MODE by doing serveral things, including:

• Adjusting your backlight
  
  
• Choosing optimized watch faces
  
  
• Disabling Pulse Ox when not needed
  
  
• Adjusting connectivity
  
  
• Using Battery Saver Mode

Dave from Chase the Summit goes over these options in the Garmin fēnix 7/epix 2 battery life video above. (TIP: Click on any section image to jump to the video—Dave has time-stamped it so that you can easily find what you're looking for!)

We also go over these options for maximizing your battery in smartwatch or standby mode individually in the sections below.

One way to increase your battery life on your fēnix 7 or epix (Gen 2) is to adjust the backlight on your display.

This is especially important with the epix 2 because the brighter AMOLED display will drain battery more quickly.

You can customize your backlight settings for 3 situations:

• during activity
• general use
• during sleep

If you set your display to Always On, this will drain your battery more quickly as well. Again, because of the AMOLED disply, Alway On will use more power in the epix 2.

Your fēnix 7 and epix 2 allow you to set Always On or Off for the 3 different situations above. For example, if you want your Garmin watch display Always Off during sleep, but want it set to Always On during general use and activities, you can customize that.

You will also want to consider the backlight timeout on your fēnix 7 or epix 2. You can choose how long the backlight stays on when you raise wrist or press the backlight button—4, 8, or 15 seconds epix 2, and up to a minute on fenix 7.

Using the default watch faces on your Garmin fēnix 7 or epix 2 can help maximize your watch's battery life.

The watch faces that come on your Garmin watch out of box are optimized for the best battery life.

You are able to customize watch faces and download others from connect IQ. But beware: some third-party watch faces are not optimized for your fēnix 7 or epix 2 battery life.

Keep in mind, any watch face with an animation to it is going to be a huge battery drain,

Default watch faces out of the box are generally the most optimized for battery life.

The Pulse Ox sensor can be a big battery drain on your Garmin GPS watch.

Pulse Ox is a noninvasive method used to measure the saturation of oxygen in the bloodstream. Compatible watches use a combination of red and infrared lights with sensors on the back of the watch which can determine the percentage of oxygenated blood (SpO2%) available in your blood.

You can trigger a manual check, put it on druing sleep, or keep it on all day. These last two settings will help drain the battery considerably if enabled.

So unless you are doing an activity where you need Pulse Ox on or you are going acclimating to higher altitudes, you likely do not need this unnecessary battery drain.

Disabling Bluetooh or Wi-Fi could help save battery life on your Garmin watch.

Disabling your Bluetooth connection to phone can stave off battery drain. Although you will likely want to be connected to your phone much of the time, you can do it in a pinch to conserve your battery.

And don't worry, when you reconnect, everything will still sync right up with Garmin Connect, and you'll be able to see your data.

Also, consider turning off Wi-Fi if you're not downloading maps, using spotify or if you are connected to your phone and don’t need another way to connect to Garmin Connect.

The Battery Saver feature on your fēnix 7 or epix (Gen 2) allows you to quickly adjust system settings to extend battery life in watch mode.

You can turn on Battery Saver Mode in your menu. It's the battery icon with a + sign on it.

Turning Battery Saver on will disable your phone, wrist heart rate and other sensors, increaseing battery life significantly with one click.

You will not have your default watch face—only time, date, and battery level will show on the display.

You can also maximize your fēnix 7 or epix 2 battery life during GPS activities (runs, rides, hikes, etc.) by:

• Using the Power Manager
  
  
• Turning off Broadcast Heart Rate feature when not using it
  
  
• Using the Resume Later feature

Dave from Chase the Summit goes over these options in the Garmin fēnix 7/epix 2 battery life video above. (TIP: Click on any section image to jump to the video—Dave has time-stamped it so that you can easily find what you're looking for!)

We also go over these options for maximizing your battery during GPS activity individually in the sections below.

Power Manager is a really cool tool for managing battery life on the Garmin epix 2 and fēnix 7 series GPS watches.

You can customize battery saver within the Power Manager or use Power Modes that can be fully customized to your needs during activities.

The fēnix 7 and epix 2 come with some default power modes out of the box. Or you can add your own and fully customize how you want the power used by selecting what systems you want outside your default settings. Each selection shows you how much more or less battery hours you will get with that choice.

Keep in mind, using music on these watches is a huge battery drain, especially with the epix 2—you get 42 hours with GPS only, but if you add music, you are down to 10 hours.

If you use the Broadcast Heart Rate feature on your fēnix 7 or epix 2 GPS smartwatch, be sure to turn if off when you are not using it to save battery life.

This feature lets you broadcast your heart rate data from your Garmin watch and view it on paired devices. For example, you can broadcast your heart rate data to an Edge device while cycling, or to a VIRB action camera during an activity, or even onto a compatible treadmill screen so you do not have to keep looking at your watch.

Always make sure Broadcast Heart Rate is turned off when don’t need it (out on a trail, run, ride, etc.) to avoid unnecessary battery drain.

When pausing during a GPS activity, use the Resume Later function to save battery life.

If you take a break during a long activity, you can pause the activity. However, the rest of the watch, including GPS, is still running. To preserve battery life for the rest of your acivity later, click Save and Resume Later, turn your backlight off and let you're watch and battery life rest while you do!