Q3 Bluetooth always on?

[Miltz]

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I just turned my laptop and went to connect my wireless earbuds. When I went to connect them my Leica Q3 showed up as a device waiting to connect… My camera is turned off and sitting in my bag. Bluetooth and wifi are off per the menu settings as I can tell. I’ve never used this laptop since I got the Q3….wtf? Does the Leica Q3 Bluetooth always stay on or something? This is extremely odd.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Miltz

[idusidusi]

19 minutes ago, Miltz said:

I just turned my laptop and went to connect my wireless earbuds. When I went to connect them my Leica Q3 showed up as a device waiting to connect… My camera is turned off and sitting in my bag. Bluetooth and wifi are off per the menu settings as I can tell. I’ve never used this laptop since I got the Q3….wtf? Does the Leica Q3 Bluetooth always stay on or something? This is extremely odd.

 

Are you sure camera is off or 'asleep' and that both wifi and bluetooth are off on the camera? That being the case if they are then I would on your laptop delete the bluetooth Leica Q3 entry.

Switch camera on and see what happens. I certainly don't want both of those on permanently when I receive my copy!

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[Miltz]

1 hour ago, idusidusi said:

Are you sure camera is off or 'asleep' and that both wifi and bluetooth are off on the camera? That being the case if they are then I would on your laptop delete the bluetooth Leica Q3 entry.

Switch camera on and see what happens. I certainly don't want both of those on permanently when I receive my copy!

I can 100% confirm after some more testing that Bluetooth stays on even after the camera is powered off and even after the wifi and Bluetooth are off in camera. The camera is discoverable on my laptop. It only goes away after I pull out the battery. It is not discoverable on my iPhone. Very odd behavior. I suspect an obvious firmware issue since I can’t think of any reason why Bluetooth would stay on if the camera is powered off and if it’s turned off in the settings as well. 

[idusidusi]

4 minutes ago, Miltz said:

I can 100% confirm after some more testing that Bluetooth stays on even after the camera is powered off and even after the wifi and Bluetooth are off in camera. The camera is discoverable on my laptop. It only goes away after I pull out the battery. It is not discoverable on my iPhone. Very odd behavior. I suspect an obvious firmware issue since I can’t think of any reason why Bluetooth would stay on if the camera is powered off and if it’s turned off in the settings as well. 

Don't like that! I am trying now to confirm with my friendly Leica store whether this is really so. What happens when one gets on a plane, wifi/bluetooth have to be off, I cannot believe apart from removing the damn battery before getting on a flight that one could comply!

[Miltz]

25 minutes ago, idusidusi said:

Don't like that! I am trying now to confirm with my friendly Leica store whether this is really so. What happens when one gets on a plane, wifi/bluetooth have to be off, I cannot believe apart from removing the damn battery before getting on a flight that one could comply!

I don’t think you’ll have an issue on the plane, let’s not get crazy. 

[Broadoaker]

My Q3 battery drain was considerable when the camera was off (100 to 0% charge within a few days of no use) after my initial set up, which included turning on Bluetooth and pairing with my iPhone. I've done a factory reset and battery drain with no use is now minimal. I had assumed that the culprit was Bluetooth being constantly on and the posts above seem to confirm this. I imagine that this can be easily fixed with a software update.

[idusidusi]

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15 minutes ago, Broadoaker said:

My Q3 battery drain was considerable when the camera was off (100 to 0% charge within a few days of no use) after my initial set up, which included turning on Bluetooth and pairing with my iPhone. I've done a factory reset and battery drain with no use is now minimal. I had assumed that the culprit was Bluetooth being constantly on and the posts above seem to confirm this. I imagine that this can be easily fixed with a software update.

Interesting then I will not pair with my phone.

[clasami]

Bluetooth is on as soon as you register a dive for Leica Fotos. Delete all devices and the Leica will no longer show as a Bluetooth device ready to connect. There was an option in the menue of the Q2 to shut BT off. It is gone in the Q3 menue (only a WLAN option).

Edited September 8, 2023 by clasami

[Voxen]

BT should shut down when camera is powered off anyway. It is a bug that needed to be fixed, otherwise the battery will drain to 0 even when the Q3 is off. 

[ianforber]

I know I can switch on my Q2 using the FOTOs app even when it is switched off (and I do mean switched off at the on/off button, not just gone to sleep). That’s not a fault, it’s an intentional feature. That suggests BT is always on

[David EI7KN]

I confirm that my Leica Q3 with the latest version 1.3 firmware does leave Bluetooth permanently on, even with the camera switched off at its Power Switch. I can therefore go into the Fotos App on my iPhone and can then 'Connect' to the camera and even remote control it. When I use the App's 'Disconnect' feature, it disconnects and shortly after the Leica Logo appears on the LCD of the Q3 and then the camera powers down - but Bluetooth remains active. 

[Ad Dieleman]

I can see the Q3's Bluetooth connection on my Mac, indeed even when the camera is switched off.

But as soon as I switch the connectivity to "Off" under the "Leica FOTOS" menu, the camera disappears from the Bluetooth list of devices on the Mac. It returns again when the connectivity is switched to "Eco mode" or "Performance mode".

So if you want to save battery power, just switch the Leica FOTOS connectivity to off.

This setting is part of a profile, so I made a profile "Radio off" to prevent unnecessary battery drain, easy peasy.

[SnapshotGR]

1 hour ago, David EI7KN said:

I confirm that my Leica Q3 with the latest version 1.3 firmware does leave Bluetooth permanently on, even with the camera switched off at its Power Switch. I can therefore go into the Fotos App on my iPhone and can then 'Connect' to the camera and even remote control it. When I use the App's 'Disconnect' feature, it disconnects and shortly after the Leica Logo appears on the LCD of the Q3 and then the camera powers down - but Bluetooth remains active. 

Mine does this too. The manual mentions MIMO which I don’t know a lot about. I find it all convenient and works in a useful way to me. But I can see how it bothers people that want it the other way. 
 

it could do with an airplane mode though. I’m not sure how this works. 

[Ad Dieleman]

3 hours ago, SnapshotGR said:

it could do with an airplane mode though. I’m not sure how this works. 

Manual says:

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[SnapshotGR]

2 hours ago, Ad Dieleman said:

Manual says:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Totally missed that. Many thanks. 

[AussieQ]

I have my fotos set to OFF on the camera. No more comms in the background. When you leave fotos ON in either economy or performance mode and turn the camera off, the bluetooth radio stays on but in a very low power state. I leave my comms settings to OFF unless I am travelling and want to geo lock some photos.