The Ref Stop

Apple Watch Battery Life

zarathustra

zarathustra

RefChat Addict
I got an Apple Watch series 6 a few months ago, and as I’m not currently doing long distance/endurance events or training it has taken the place of my Polar Vantage as my regular GPS/Activity tracker, and I’ve been really happy with it.

For those of you who use an Apple Watch when refereeing how have you found the battery life?

Do you record 2 separate sessions (1 for each half) or 1 90 minute session that you pause in the middle for half time?

i would just be using the standard Apple Fitness to track activities so no apps like Ref-six etc.
 
The Ref Stop
zarathustra said:
I got an Apple Watch series 6 a few months ago, and as I’m not currently doing long distance/endurance events or training it has taken the place of my Polar Vantage as my regular GPS/Activity tracker, and I’ve been really happy with it.

For those of you who use an Apple Watch when refereeing how have you found the battery life?

Do you record 2 separate sessions (1 for each half) or 1 90 minute session that you pause in the middle for half time?

i would just be using the standard Apple Fitness to track activities so no apps like Ref-six etc.
Click to expand...
I have the Series 4 I think, so my battery will be worse, but I can get two 90 minute matches from it using Strava from KO til FT, no pause for HT.. Not much more after that though!

I'd definitely consider Strava over Apple Workouts though, my Apple watch tends to stop recording sometimes when using Workouts.

Very occasionally I will start my Strava 'run' just before KO and walk the perimeter of the pitch so I can see the 'heat map' of where I have ran.
 
Peach said:
I have the Series 4 I think, so my battery will be worse, but I can get two 90 minute matches from it using Strava from KO til FT, no pause for HT.. Not much more after that though!

I'd definitely consider Strava over Apple Workouts though, my Apple watch tends to stop recording sometimes when using Workouts.

Very occasionally I will start my Strava 'run' just before KO and walk the perimeter of the pitch so I can see the 'heat map' of where I have ran.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
 
Peach said:
I have the Series 4 I think, so my battery will be worse, but I can get two 90 minute matches from it using Strava from KO til FT, no pause for HT.. Not much more after that though!

I'd definitely consider Strava over Apple Workouts though, my Apple watch tends to stop recording sometimes when using Workouts.

Very occasionally I will start my Strava 'run' just before KO and walk the perimeter of the pitch so I can see the 'heat map' of where I have ran.
Click to expand...
Does strava provide a heat map for a game then?

I currently use strava for my marathon training and never seem to get a heat map.
 
Reece said:
Does strava provide a heat map for a game then?

I currently use strava for my marathon training and never seem to get a heat map.
Click to expand...
I don't think it does... I get a squiggle on Strava from my polar upload. I think the walking of the pitch creates a square in which the squiggles sit.
 
Reece said:
Does strava provide a heat map for a game then?

I currently use strava for my marathon training and never seem to get a heat map.
Click to expand...
Not a heat map as such sorry, poor phrasing! Just the usual squiggles as mentioned by JamesL. I use it as a poor man's heat map ;)
 
I had a series 3 previously and now have a series 6. I find that the series 6 if I charge it right up until I leave the house has about 75% left after a 90 minute game, so I would say you need at least 30% left to make sure it will get through the game.

I also find the built in wrist HRM can't cope with refereeing. It is expecting a steady rise or fall in heart rate and if it sees a sudden spike it thinks something is wrong and blanks out the heart rate. I live close to the steepest slope in London and it does the same when I walk or run up that, it thinks the sudden vast increase is an error so it stops registering. So for refereeing I pair a Polar heart rate strap and that overcomes the problem.

In terms of recording I record each half as a separate exercise.
 
RustyRef said:
I had a series 3 previously and now have a series 6. I find that the series 6 if I charge it right up until I leave the house has about 75% left after a 90 minute game, so I would say you need at least 30% left to make sure it will get through the game.

I also find the built in wrist HRM can't cope with refereeing. It is expecting a steady rise or fall in heart rate and if it sees a sudden spike it thinks something is wrong and blanks out the heart rate. I live close to the steepest slope in London and it does the same when I walk or run up that, it thinks the sudden vast increase is an error so it stops registering. So for refereeing I pair a Polar heart rate strap and that overcomes the problem.

In terms of recording I record each half as a separate exercise.
Click to expand...
Probably want a smidge more. A real bug bear of mine is these devices start restricting features in the lower ends of battery life to drag out the battery life expectancy.
 
I use a series 6 now, but previously used a series 3 (both cellular/GPS models) using RefSix as it does my match card stuff, as well as heat maps/distance, and records it all into Apple workouts.

the series 3 was horrible for battery life. I’d have to try and charge the watch between games to make sure I would have just enough battery at the end of 2 games. My second weekend, the watch actually ran out of juice with 10 minutes to go if the second half, but at least I was prepared with the second watch/notebook already running.

Series 6 runs much more smoother, and the battery life after two games is spot on with what Rusty said. Usually have 50-60% left after 2 full games with no charge in between.
 
Battery consumption changes markedly depending on whether you are using GPS on the watch. In Refsix it's turned off by default if you select 'observer' role.

As it happens GPS has not been working for me since their last version update.
 
Thanks all, sounds like it should do the job just fine.

The polar will get relegated to the desk draw. It’s a good watch, but I just don’t need the bells and whistles, and I don’t do anything that needs the superior battery life.
 
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