Why does my watch disconnect from my phone when I am only a few feet away?

[Android Central Question]

Hello! I just got a Galaxy watch for Christmas and I am super excited. My main concern is that whever I walk only a few feet away from my phone, my watch vibrates, notifying me that my bluetooth has disconnected. I have the wifi set as always on. This has happened in various locations as well.

 

[mustang7757]

Few feet shouldn't be a issue unless it's blocked by walls in another room ? I recommend you to register so you can communicate with other members here that might ask questions as a Guest account you can't .https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[B. Diddy]

I moved this to the Galaxy Watch forum for more specific traffic.

 

[me just saying]

do you have any other bluetooth connections at the same time on the phone?

 

[Rukbat]

If you have the watch on one side of your body, and the phone on the other, that's enough to kill the connection - it's a few feet of air plus a foot of you, which absorbs more signal than 33 feet (10 meters) of air. (A Bluetooth earbud in, say, your right ear, and the phone in your left front pocket is enough to kill the connection.) Watches are normally Class 1, which has a range of about 1 meter, which won't get through the human body at all. But even Class 2 watches will have a problem getting through most people.

 

[adegbenroagoro]

With the figures you're quoting I'd expect a much much higher incidence of complaints of poor connectivity.

 

[swebb]

If you have the watch on one side of your body, and the phone on the other, that's enough to kill the connection - it's a few feet of air plus a foot of you, which absorbs more signal than 33 feet (10 meters) of air. (A Bluetooth earbud in, say, your right ear, and the phone in your left front pocket is enough to kill the connection.) Watches are normally Class 1, which has a range of about 1 meter, which won't get through the human body at all. But even Class 2 watches will have a problem getting through most people.

I can say that this is nowhere close to my experience with Sammy Gear Sport and various Pixel phones. I have zero issues when the watch and phone are within 30 ft of each other, even when they are in different rooms with a wall or two between them. I even get connections when I'm on the other side of the house with multiple walls between me and the phone. This is much better than I expected and way better than any other bluetooth connections I use (handsfree earpiece and/or connected speaker).

I would debug this by checking any other BT devices you have at these distances, then check your watch again with all other BT disconnected. You definitely have something going on here.