Band 2 battery for Cycling

[Brian McMahon]

Any cyclists using their Band 2 to upload to Strava? I'm normally out for 4.5 hrs on most rides covering around 50+ miles but recently since I've started using the gps power saving mode I've noticed big drops in altitude and a difference of around 6 miles depending on my route.

I know the drops will be down to the gps sampling less but how long are you getting out of your band 2 while tracking without gps power save on? I'm thinking I may need to find another coffee stop with the club and take a power bank with me now as the drops in mileage etc are hurting my strava ego. Always take my S6 edge or 950 xl using striver with me as well for a backup just incase anything goes wrong but like seeing my suffer score.

Normally I switch off Bluetooth so I don't get any notifications mid ride but i'm lucky to get 2 hrs out of the Band using full gps.

 

[John Hitt]

Recent updates lead me to believe the GPS tracking problem you are experiencing is occurring on my band. My recordation of bike riding is fouled up. Specifically the elevation recording is way off. I know this because the trails I ride are regulary recorded for elevation by me and my fellow mountian bikers on Strava. My band records 3000 ft elevation gains when the real number is closer to 1000 feet. You may be on to something with the save GPS mode, as this issue arrived at the same time this new functionality was effectuated via the updates earlier this month.

I guess it is time to turn off the GPS saver mode and see if the elevation recordings become true again.

As far as the Strava emotions go... Enjoy your bike with out the KOM monkey. I am going to full GPS. Suggestion. Do you turn of the notification on the screed by clicking the power on/off button to the off position. This saves me a fair amount of battery. Getting my watch to record up to the 4 hour range.


Best Regards.... John

 

[Brian McMahon]

Recent updates lead me to believe the GPS tracking problem you are experiencing is occurring on my band. My recordation of bike riding is fouled up. Specifically the elevation recording is way off. I know this because the trails I ride are regulary recorded for elevation by me and my fellow mountian bikers on Strava. My band records 3000 ft elevation gains when the real number is closer to 1000 feet. You may be on to something with the save GPS mode, as this issue arrived at the same time this new functionality was effectuated via the updates earlier this month.

I guess it is time to turn off the GPS saver mode and see if the elevation recordings become true again.

As far as the Strava emotions go... Enjoy your bike with out the KOM monkey. I am going to full GPS. Suggestion. Do you turn of the notification on the screed by clicking the power on/off button to the off position. This saves me a fair amount of battery. Getting my watch to record up to the 4 hour range.


Best Regards.... John

Cheers for the reply John, I power cycled the battery a few times and I'm getting slightly more out of it and now I'm taking a powerbank with me for the coffee stops to top up the battery. I normally switch off the display and put it in airplane mode as well just to squeeze that little bit more out of it rather than utilise gps saver mode.

Been comparing the band against strava app on android and it's nearly bang on when using full gps. Saver mode is where most of the discrepancies are showing up. I love the flexibility of the band more than anything else as not having anything else attached to the bike is a big plus in my book and I can use no matter what bike I decide to take. I know what you mean about the KOM's I normally just hit some routes without the club just to enjoy it, heck I even commute and still enjoy it just for the sake of being on the bike.

 

[DeNachtwacht]

I regularly use my Band 2 for shorter biking trips, and can only agree with your conclusions about the GPS power saving mode. It's just not accurate enough to use it for serious purposes. On a 6 kilometer trip to my work (measured with the normal GPS mode), the Power Saving mode keeps measuring 5,7 kilometers over and over again. And the battery is unfortunately able to only 2,5 to 3 hours max usage ~ if I'm really lucky.

I think more serious sporters who care less about the smartwatch functionalities are better of with the soon-to-be-released Garmin VivoActive HR. Garmin has a lot of experience in making sports watches and considering the short battery life and other problems (tearing bands) microsoft is unfortunately not yet ready to be a serious competitor for that market. Let's hope this will change with a band 3 appearing in fall 2016...

 

[anon(8555314)]

Two hours for GPS tracking event seems really low. I rarely do any 4 hour events, but 2 hours gets me about half way down on a full battery.

That said, my initial Band 2 recently went haywire after I drained the battery to zero. It would randomly die and be unresponsive. I took it to my closest MS store and they gave me a replacement, and the battery performance of the new one is noticeably better than the first one.

BTW, you can pause a GPS tracking event, and put your band on a charger for a few minutes, then resume the activity. Perhaps that is what you were referring to with the extra coffee stop.

My experiments with the GPS saver also were similar to those in this thread. It under-records distance by about 10-15%, making it worthless for me.

How long does your phone give you on GPS? One option would be to break the link between the MS Health Dashboard and Strava, use your primary or secondary phone to record your bike ride in Strava, and use the Band in non-GPS mode to get your HR and calorie data. Shouldn't have to do that with your exercise band though.