5x...seriously broken by flawed software.

I've had the 5x since Friday. Not my first dance with Garmin devices, including the F3 sapphire I've owned since it was released. My experience with the 5X has been frustrating to say the least. Most issues seem to be centered about a broken sync between setting on device, GC mobile, GC, and Garmin Express. Issues include:

1. Setting alarm on watch (6am every day, for example) will be immediately turned to "off" once watch syncs with phone.

2. Set manual resting HR on watch in never saved (even without sync to phone). One you set the value and leave the menu, going back in it returns to "=".

3. Notification sound/vibrate set to one (individually or together) - immediately turned "off" after sync with phone.

4. All notifications stop showing up on watch (despite phone still connected in both phone BT settings and GC mobile app). Didn't happen until I awoke this morning. I assume rebooting the watch with temporarily reset...

5. Watch Face light set to gesture - just stopped working this morning, then several hours later began working again. I verified watch was NOT in DND and it was also outside of the "regular" sleeping hours set on the watch.

6. After a sync with G Express...option to "eject" watch is grayed out in GE. Can only eject from Finder.

7. If synced with GE, then disconnect and sync with GCM, when reconnected to computer GE no longer sees the device, and also the device doesn't mount in "Finder". Requires rebooting of the watch.

8. Unable to get Basecamp to see the watch.

9. Unrelated issue --- Ant+ connection to Kickr : frequent drops of PM (while maintained connection to Edge 820) despite watch on stand 3 feet from trainer. Doubtful this will maintain stable connection to the Vectors on outdoor ride...just haven't tested yet, too busy trying to get watch to work:-)

10. Frequent spinning "update" notification on watch when navigating through various widgets, and after spinning update notice finishes, display reverts to watchface from whichever menu I was in.

So for $900 (metal band), is this really what I should expect? I have spent HOURS trying to get this device into some form of a reliable and stable working state, to no avail. I think my time is a bit more valuable then being a beta tester for Garmin.

I'm about to give it one more try...will "Remove" device from GC, GE, and GCM. Delete GCM app from phone. Forget device from phone BT. Factory restore device settings (Bye Bye custom watch settings), and start from scratch. Beyond that, I'm returning to the F3.

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F5X, F3 Sapphire, Vivoactive HR, Vivofit2, Forerunner 630, Vivoactive (1)
Edge 520, Edge 820, Vector 2, Varia Radar
HRM Swim, HRM Run, HRM, G Footpod,
MBP 2016, Iphone 6, all OS up to date.

0 SHINEW over 8 years ago

partial temporary solution

While I don't have all the issues you've experienced, it seems to be that the 5x does suffer from setting not being saved on my watch as well(alarm, hr, bt notification settings, etc...). The solution I found was to set it on the GC app on your smartphone and sync, then it'll stay there. I'm hoping Garmin will get this sorted soon...

0 Dr Phil over 8 years ago

They are saved on your watch. It's just that GA overwrites them on synching. Make the changes on GC and synch them to your watch. Then they should stick.

There's heaps of posts on this going back some while as it affects all devices. Unsure when Garmin changed this but it's been a while. Settings that can be changed on GC should be changed on GC then synched otherwise you will keep having issues. If the setting only exists on the watch then you'll be fine. There are settings on GC online too that will overwrite watch settings - weight height etc. Rule of thumb is to make all the settings you can off the watch and have them synched to the watch. It also makes it easier should you have to do a hard reset.

0 Angioman over 8 years ago

They are saved on your watch. It's just that GA overwrites them on synching. Make the changes on GC and synch them to your watch. Then they should stick.

There's heaps of posts on this going back some while as it affects all devices. Unsure when Garmin changed this but it's been a while. Settings that can be changed on GC should be changed on GC then synched otherwise you will keep having issues. If the setting only exists on the watch then you'll be fine. There are settings on GC online too that will overwrite watch settings - weight height etc. Rule of thumb is to make all the settings you can off the watch and have them synched to the watch. It also makes it easier should you have to do a hard reset.

Thanks, and I think you are correct. I have made edits on GC (alarm, notifications, gesture, ....) and so far they have stuck through several syncs with GCM. Definitely an issue that needs somewhat urgent attention on Garmin's behalf.

0 Dr Phil over 8 years ago

I don't think they're going to change. It's up to you to work with how they've decided it will work. Push back as much as you want, but now you know what to do. If you do it you are unlikely to have any problems.

There have been countless suggestion for having the ability to change settings on a mobile device rather than on the watch. This could well be Garmin's response. Granted it's not all encompassing, but it's a start.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Why not save the .fit files when you recharge the watch? I do that once a week with my 920XT. Drop it in for charge, mount the GARMIN drive, remove the .fit files to a safe location on my computer. Done.

The removal of the files can be automated so that it effectively becomes a process that entails you to do nothing more than connect to a computer to recharge the watch. As well as moving the activity files, I also copy the contents of the GARMIN drive at the same time.

If I'm doing a 6 month, 2650+ mile through hike, I don't want to carry a 10KG computer on my back. If I'm backing the files up via a phone, sure, I can use USB-OTG but at that point I'd rather it sync'd offline properly with the app anyway. We can all come up with workarounds to things or be against change. The human has been against most forms of advancement I can think of, whether that's printing books, the microwave or even the smartphone. Sometimes we've hidden our disdain by stating it'll send us to hell, these days we state it'll hurt our health. However, there's nothing you can post that will make me understand why people are so against advancement.

Whether it's a form of buyer's stockholm syndrome and people don't want their beloved product to be insulted, doesn't really concern me. The fact is, from a coder's point of view, the phone software sucks. There's no reason offline syncing shouldn't be implemented, and it would help solve some of these issues plus create an infrastructure for additional features.

0 radpagoat over 8 years ago

So the "working/correct process" is: From initial setup never adjust settings from the watch itself, only via Garmin Connect or Garmin Connect Mobile?

Mine arrive Saturday. From the get-go that's all I've done, yet my settings revert every time the watch syncs.

0 Brendan.Helsham over 7 years ago

FWIW, I sometimes hit the "your device seems to be busy and your sync request timed out" between my Fenix 3 and my iPhone. I found that when this happens, there is an orphaned LiveTrack session running - well it thinks it's running and a watch power cycle fixes it. Then the sync works...
Cheers

0 chunkywizard over 7 years ago

Interesting, thanks for that. I'll keep an eye on it (as I have this alot)