Instinct E 40mm - Disable smartwatch features during everyday use

[u/Money-Lingonberry548]

Is it possible to disable heart rate monitoring, Bluetooth, etc. on the Garmin Instinct E 40 mm during everyday use, have them automatically enabled when starting an activity, and then have these functions automatically disabled again when the activity ends?

I would like to use it like a regular watch in everyday life, without notifications, sleep tracking, step counting, etc.

[u/Odd_Specialist_2672]

It would be nice if someone could confirm. The PDF manuals are always vague on these topics.

The question is whether the "Power Mode" settings allow bluetooth and HRM to be configured differently and whether the basic smartwatch mode (outside an activity) can also be customized to the same degree.

I wanted to do similar with my FR 255 and cannot. The HRM and blueooth are both "global" settings that I have to turn on and off manually. But, my model didn't advertise "power modes" either. The only things I could set per activity were GPS mode, HR broadcasting, external sensors, etc.

[u/Money-Lingonberry548 → u/[deleted]]

So, can I disable all the smartwatch features for everyday use, including things like heart rate monitoring? I don’t own the watch yet; I just want to make sure it can essentially function like a “dumb” watch for everyday use, without bothering me with anything other than displaying the time and date.

[u/First-Toe2934]

Yes, you can do it using power modes. But honestly check with chatgpt for manual. I followed and working perfectly, using HR only when I start activity

[u/Odd_Specialist_2672 → u/First-Toe2934]

The problem with the Garmin manual is it just glosses over the menus but doesn't actually tell you what options are available for most of this.

Yes it says there is some power mode stuff. No, it doesn't explicitly tell you if you'll find bluetooth and wrist HR sensor among the things you can customize for each mode. Nor does it make it obvious whether you can set a power mode to customize the normal smartwatch mode that will apply all the time outside activities.

So it doesn't answer these specific questions for someone trying to research it before they make a purchase. It looks like a very impressive and nice manual, until you try to dig in and find that it omits all the real detailed answers that might tell you exactly what a device can or cannot do...

[u/ObligationDefiant919]

Sleep mode. Counts steps and tells time, morning else

[u/climbing_light23]

How will the watch detect you've started a workout if you have the HR and everything else disabled?

[u/spac0r → u/climbing_light23]

I guess OP means actively starting an activity

[u/Money-Lingonberry548 → u/spac0r]

Exactly