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| A new feature can halve the battery life of Garmin smartwatches |
Garmin smartwatch owners are reporting a significant battery drain issue linked to the company's new "OK Garmin" voice activation feature, with some users seeing their estimated battery life cut nearly in half.
The feature, which rolled out with Garmin's September software updates, allows users to activate voice commands hands-free by simply saying "OK Garmin" instead of pressing a physical button. While the convenience sounds appealing, the always-listening microphone appears to be taking a serious toll on battery endurance.
Users Report Dramatic Battery Life Reductions
According to multiple reports on Garmin's official support forums, the impact is substantial. One Forerunner 970 owner reported that their battery estimate dropped from 15 days to just 9 days after enabling the feature—a loss of nearly 40% of total runtime.
Fenix 8 users have experienced similar issues. In a lengthy forum thread, one owner described their estimated battery life plummeting from 12 days to 6 days following the 23.31 firmware update. After disabling "OK Garmin," the estimate immediately jumped back to 16 days.
"I think this is purely OK Garmin voice feature issue, it worked for me when I turned it off," the user wrote.
The Technical Explanation
The battery drain makes sense from a technical standpoint. When the wake-word feature is enabled, the watch must continuously monitor its microphone for the activation phrase throughout the day. This constant listening requires additional power compared to manually triggering voice commands.
Garmin does acknowledge this trade-off in its official documentation, though the company doesn't specify exactly how much battery life users should expect to lose. What many users don't realize is that the feature is automatically enabled after installing the latest updates, meaning many may be experiencing reduced battery life without knowing why.
How to Fix the Battery Drain
The good news is that the fix is straightforward. Users can disable "OK Garmin" in their watch's voice settings menu. Additionally, some users have found they also need to turn off the separate "Phone Assistant" wake-word setting to fully restore their previous battery estimates.
Disabling hands-free activation doesn't remove voice command functionality entirely—users can still access voice features manually through the watch's physical controls. For those who only occasionally use voice commands, this is likely the better arrangement anyway.
The Bigger Picture
While the battery drain is significant, context matters. Garmin watches are renowned for their exceptional battery endurance compared to competitors like the Apple Watch. Even with the "OK Garmin" feature enabled, a Forerunner 970 still delivers 9 days of battery life—far more than most smartwatches on the market.
For those concerned about maximizing battery life, the Garmin Forerunner 970 remains an excellent choice once the voice activation feature is properly configured. Garmin may also address the efficiency issue in future software updates, though the company hasn't made any official announcements yet.
What Should You Do?
If you've noticed your Garmin watch draining faster than usual following recent updates, check your voice settings first. Disabling "OK Garmin" and the Phone Assistant wake-word feature should restore your battery estimates to normal levels. As Gadgets & Wearables notes, giving up several days of battery life simply to avoid pressing a button is a rather expensive trade-off for most users.
The feature affects several models including the Fenix 8 series, Forerunner 570 and 970, Venu 4, and other recent Garmin smartwatches equipped with microphones and speakers.