Garmin Vivoactive 5 owners hit by unexplained battery drain

If your Vivoactive 5 has suddenly decided it needs charging every day, you are not the only one. Several owners say their watches began burning through the battery after an unexplained update attempt around October 31 and November 2.

What’s strange about this is that the watches still show software version 17.05. Garmin released that version back in January, so there is no obvious new Vivoactive 5 firmware that should have installed at the start of November.

Some watches are barely making it through the day

The first reports describe a fairly dramatic change. One Vivoactive 5 owner says the watch restarted as though it were installing an update on November 1, then dropped below 10% battery in around 12 hours.

Other owners have since reported similar behaviour. One watch fell to 4% in less than 24 hours, while another now lasts no more than 36 hours. A separate owner saw the battery drop by 14% within an hour of charging and then fall to 53% overnight. Before this started, the same watches were generally lasting several days between charges.

That is nowhere near the battery life normally associated with the device. Garmin rates the Vivoactive 5 for up to 11 days in smartwatch mode, or up to five days when using the always-on display.

The reports do not look like a simple case of someone switching on Pulse Ox or installing a battery-hungry watch face. Most affected owners say their settings had not changed.

The update itself is still a mystery

Garmin’s current Vivoactive 5 software page lists version 17.05 as the latest release. The company also confirmed in its support forum that 17.05 arrived on January 27, 2026, and nothing since then.

But several owners report that some sort of installation was done on their watch around a week ago. The watches may instead have received a supplemental component, attempted to reinstall an existing package or become stuck processing something in the background.

There is at least one clue pointing in that direction. An affected owner connected the watch to a computer and found an old file named D944502.zip sitting inside the Garmin/RemoteSW folder. After removing it, resetting the watch and charging it again, battery use reportedly returned to around 6% over 24 hours.

Garmin has replied to the latest reports, although it has not yet acknowledged a wider software problem. Its current recommendation is to connect the watch to Garmin Express and check for any supplemental updates that may not appear through the watch or Garmin Connect.

That is the sensible place to start. It may allow Garmin Express to finish or remove an incomplete package without the owner having to dig through the watch’s folders manually. A forced restart and a full uninterrupted charge are also worth trying. But for now, there is no single confirmed fix.