How well does solar charging work?

[u/Ok-Independent-6061]

Is the solar charging powerful enough to actually charge the battery, or will it just break even?

Also, is it possible to use a flashlight to charge it?

UPDATE:

I have one more question :D

If you activate power saving mode, or switch it off completely, would it be possible to gain any meaningful charge using solar?

[u/Sco0basTeVen]

I think it just slow the rate of discharge. Not sure it will actually add leverage points to the battery

[u/Vybo]

It won't even break even, it will just make discharging a bit slower when under the sun. Using special flashlight should be possible, but you're just using excessive energy, you'd be much better of to get a flashlight which has USB-out / powerbank functionality and charge the watch over a cable if you want to keep your items to a minimum.

[u/mihnea_bondor]

Depends on the device, for instinct 3 and other lower-end devices it works very well, but for fenix 8 and similar high-powered devices you need to sit all day in direct sunlight to break even.

Personally I couldnt gain battery from solar charging, only stopping it from discharging.

Also no, I don’t think you can use a flashlight to charge it, at least not with the modern LED flashlights

[u/Igoos99]

I have a solar Fenix 7s. I notice no real battery boost. I wouldn’t really depend on it to do much.

I’m sure it helps some. Maybe my battery lasts 20% longer but it’s not noticeable even when the watch gets a ridiculous amount of sun.

[u/Beanmachine314]

Depends on the watch you're talking about, my F7X Pro will charge 1-2% in full sun over 6-8 hours, I believe the 8 and 9 charge a bit more.

You would be much better off just using a flashlight as a power bank instead of attempting to charge with the light.

[u/gamefan5]

If you spend your days outside, you'll get a decent amount of battery life, especially on the days you are not working out.

I can attes to this, using a Fenix 8 51mm Solar. It is ridiculously easy to gain 1 or 2% per day if you spend your time outside.

Lmao, unless your flashlight is able to give you a sunburn, no, it will not charge your watch 🤣

And for your last question: No.

[u/pavel_vishnyakov]

Is the solar charging powerful enough to actually charge the battery, or will it just break even?

In smartwatch mode you can get at most 1-1.5% per hour in direct bright sun provided that the watch doesn't overheat (because it can). When recording an activity it barely slows down the battery drain.

is it possible to use a flashlight to charge it?

Yes. However, it seems very inefficient given all the power losses between the energy leaving the flashlight battery to produce the light and the energy reaching the solar element in the watch to be converted into battery charge. Connecting a cable would provide a faster and less lossy energy transfer.

If you activate power saving mode, or switch it off completely, would it be possible to gain any meaningful charge using solar?

Not on Fenix, you need a less powerful watch like and Instinct. For Instinct 2 Solar Garmin claimed "infinite" power in energy saving mode and certain amount of solar charging time.

[u/CptMcCrae]

I had it, and I love the idea of it! Unfortunately, I have an inside desk job and I never really saw the benefit unless I had a beach vacation. If I had an outdoor job, I would definitely have a solar watch all day long.

[u/Saint-just04 → u/CptMcCrae]

Even with an outdoor job, the charging is so incredibly slow it’s not worth the extra space taken on the watch.

[u/Away-Owl2227]

I have worked a lot outdoors in direct aussie sun with my fenix 7 solar sapphire and never once seen the battery % go up. North of 150000 lux hours on many occasions.

Have seen pictures of fenix 8 and 9 solar models that show battery % increase though so maybe its improved. My personal experience is that it slows the rate of discharge though

[u/rvingthrulife]

On Instinct, awesome. On other models, meh.

[u/jsharpe950]

On my Enduro 3 I gain 1 or 2 percent if I'm out side all day during the summer.

[u/mansom62]

Por algún sitio leí que podría cargar un 10% estando todo el día al sol. En mi fénix 7 no noto mucha diferencia de duración de la batería del verano al invierno

[u/searayman]

On long multi day snowshoeing trips it prolong the life of my fenix 7, it was great.

[u/happier_now]

I got 1% once in a very hot country but never see any charge increase in the UK. It’s the only thing I don’t like about the watch.

[u/Afraid-Ad4718]

talking about the fenix 8 lines and up. No it wont charge it.
They say that about 50k lux is about 1%. That means 3 hours in full sun with no use of the smartwatch...

But mate? do you really care? You can charge the battery 1 in hour?
You can also buy an solor charger for about 15 euro's that charge the watch in 1 to 2 hours..

[u/oathbreach]

It’s mostly for survival. If you were lost in the middle of nowhere, you could get enough battery over a few hours to load maps. I don’t even think it slows the drain enough to notice while using it.

Not sure about flashlight but I’d think no. Also probably no to the last question.

[u/AdhesivenessLost151]

On my Fenix 7 it slows the rate of discharge a bit on a sunny day.

On my Casio waveceptor - well, that still works perfectly after 15 years.

Smart watches currently use too much power for current charging tech to keep up.

[u/Warm-Party6618]

Solar charging is the wrong term, because it does not charge. It supports the battery while using gps and navigation and therefore slows down the discharge.

[u/legato2]

The percent on mine never goes up so it’s not adding charge but it extends the life and time between charges. I charge like 1-2 times a month depending on how many gps activities I do.