What is the battery lifetime and operational time of my Ignite 3?

Applies to: Ignite 3

The Ignite 3 has an internal, rechargeable battery.

The battery operating time is:

• IN BASIC MODE: up to 5 days of activity tracking with Continuous heart rate tracking and phone notifications turned on. If always on display is turned on, the battery operating time is up to 2 days.
• IN TRAINING MODE: up to 30 hours continuous training with single-frequency GPS (power save) and optical heart rate. Up to 21 hours continuous training with dual-frequency GPS (better accuracy) and optical heart rate.
• IN POWER SAVE MODE: the power save options bring you up to 100 hours in training mode.

Examples of battery operating time in training mode with different options

Operating time, up to (hours):	Wrist-based optical heart rate measurement	Bluetooth heart rate sensor (e.g., Polar H10)	Dual-frequency GPS	Single-frequency GPS	GPS 1 second	Power save: GPS recording rate 1 min	Power save: GPS recording rate 2 min
21 / 13*		-		-		-	-
30 / 16*		-	-			-	-
46		-		-	-		-
51		-	-		-		-
55		-		-	-	-
58		-	-		-	-
24	-	-		-		-	-
33	-	-	-			-	-
61	-	-		-	-		-
69	-	-	-		-		-
76	-	-		-	-	-
100	-	-	-		-	-
70 / 29*		-	-	-	-	-	-
23	-			-		-	-
32	-		-			-	-
58	-			-	-		-
67	-		-		-		-
72	-			-	-	-
78	-		-		-	-
100 / 34*	-		-	-	-	-	-

* Backlight always on during training.

Factors affecting battery operating time

The operating time depends on many factors, such as the temperature of the environment in which you use your watch, the features you use, how often the backlight is turned on and battery aging.

The following settings and conditions affect the battery operating time:

The Continuous heart rate tracking is on by default in Polar Ignite 3. Keeping the Continuous heart rate tracking on in your watch will drain the battery quicker. Using the night-time only mode will extend the operating time. You can turn the Continuous heart rate tracking on, off or to night-time only mode on your watch in Settings > General settings > Continuous HR tracking.

The Always on display is off by default in Polar Ignite 3, meaning that the display will turn off completely when you're not actively using it. Keeping the Always on Display on in your watch (in time view or during training) will drain your battery much faster than the default setting. If you want the display to always show the time, you can turn the Always on display on in Settings > General settings > Display always on by choosing Show time. To choose Always on during training, swipe down from the top of the display to pull down the Quick settings menu, and then tap the Backlight icon.

The backlight is not constantly on to save the battery of your watch. The backlight is automatically switched on when you turn your wrist to look at the watch. Backlight brightness is set to High by default. You can increase the operating time by turning down the backlight brightness. You can adjust the backlight brightness from General settings by choosing High, Medium, or Low. The display has an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts brightness to suit the ambient light in your surroundings.

Phone notifications and frequent syncing with Flow app will also decrease the operating time. When phone notifications are set on, the battery of your watch and phone will run out faster because Bluetooth is continuously on. In addition, vibration alerts when receiving notifications, as well as turning on the backlight when viewing notifications, can significantly reduce the operating time if you receive notifications frequently.

The operating time is significantly reduced also in temperatures well below freezing. Wearing your watch under your overcoat helps to keep it warmer and to increase the operating time.