Does the GPS really last 10 hours?

[pedris]

Has anyone tested the reliability of Fitbit's 10-hour GPS claim? I'm doing the Comrades Marathon next June and need to know if I can use it. 87k race, 12-hour cutoff.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @pedris, I believe the claim is "up to" 10 hours, and how close it gets to 10 obviously deoends on other factors, like how often yu activate the display, etc.  For maximum life you should obviously turn off alarms, notifications and all day sync (assuming you are running with your phone) and not use music.

Mine has lasted so far about 7 hours with GPS on, no notifications, but activating display to check stats and time quite frequently.  I would be surprised if you got the full 12 hours of your race.

Good luck on the race!  

[edit001]

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@pedris wrote:

Has anyone tested the reliability of Fitbit's 10-hour GPS claim? I'm doing the Comrades Marathon next June and need to know if I can use it. 87k race, 12-hour cutoff.

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My experience :

My watch is not constantly connected to the phone via BT because I don't want or need notifications from the phone or constant syncing... also my display is NOT always on while cycling.

I've cycled a lot and the battery drain was around 9% per hour each time. During this time I peaked at the watch 2-3 times at the most and for no more then 10 seconds each time.

It's true that I found the battery meter ... hmm... not exactly accurate... for instance I took the watch from the charger at 85%.... had a look at the battery in a couple of hours later... it was indicating an 88% charge.

[pedris]

I'm expecting to finish in 9 to 10 hours. Obviously one does check the display fairly often in a race to ensure one is on pace, etc.

[Martinefski]

I usually can't get more than 8 hours.