Fenix 5/5S - 5.40 Beta Release

Hello Fenix 5S/5 users,

We have new beta software ready for your upcoming adventures!

Please read the 'notes' and 'installation instructions' in the 'Updates and Downloads' page found in the link below. We look forward to your feedback.

Fenix 5S: http://www8.garmin.com/support/downl...s.jsp?id=11661
Fenix 5: http://www8.garmin.com/support/downl...s.jsp?id=11663

Please send all bug reports to [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL], and indicate which model of the fēnix 5 series you have in the subject line.

Note: Please allow for the updates to propagate across all servers. There is no need to post that the link does not work. It will after a bit of patience.

5.40 Change Log Notes:

Fixed an issue in which optical heart rate became much less precise during an activity if Connect IQ apps were installed on the watch.
Fixed an issue in which the prompt to enter scores between holes during Golf activities was not shown.

0 peteholloway over 7 years ago

OHR gave me good readings for the first time ever while paddling yesterday: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1948293181

EDIT: Not perfect, but good... it did seem to lose accuracy after 45min, but its better than it's ever been... for me

0 mcbadger over 7 years ago

I've done two runs with the beta firmware, one using an HRM strap recorded via the Auxiliary HR ConnectIQ field. On that one, the match between OHR and chest strap was very good, it was identical much of the time and never more than a few BPM out. The next run I did was OHR only and it was not so good; couple of plateaus (one clearly a cadence lock), and one bit where it sloped up linearly.

0 karlw2000 over 7 years ago

Pretty bad OHRM using beta 5.40

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1949947386

0 scottj2 over 7 years ago

I did a run with 400m repeats yesterday. I was VERY happy with the GPS, pace, and heart rate performance. This was probably one of my best activities to date with my F5. (See "repeats" photo.) Then today, I ran an easy recovery run on the same roads and in the same conditions. The GPS and pace struggled. It completely bombed out around the 8 minute mark. I have no idea why. There's no consistency with this thing.

Edit: The file upload sucks. See here: http://imgur.com/a/UMVNM ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1246607.png

0 Fenix5Runner over 7 years ago

How about fix gps accuracy and pace accuracy? You everything but working on gps accuracy. Dog walking application, golf and so on? Seriously?

And honestly, how many people buy this watch for *GOLF*?
This is a triathlon premium watch.

GPS Accuracy is the most important feature, not stupid gold related minor issues!

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

And honestly, how many people buy this watch for *GOLF*?
This is a triathlon premium watch.

GPS Accuracy is the most important feature, not stupid gold related minor issues!

I was about to get a Suunto Ambit 3 but when I saw that the Fenix also included golfing features, the choice was easy. So the extra features is probably important differentiators towards competing brands. Then again, the basic features must of course function properly, but for me the GPS works accurately in most circumstances for both running and cykling, the exception is the Ultratrac mode, which I use for hiking. It really doesn't work very well, seems to lose GPS locking quite frequently and always overestimates distance by something like 10 to 15%, luckily that is not so important for hiking activities.

0 NeilJonesOnline over 7 years ago

And honestly, how many people buy this watch for *GOLF*?
This is a triathlon premium watch.

GPS Accuracy is the most important feature, not stupid gold related minor issues!

At the end of the day, if the hardware's not up to the job, there's only so much that firmware updates are going to do to improve GPS accuracy. Given we had very similar discussions about GPS accuracy when the f3 came out and are still seeing the same issues with the f5, then I wouldn't hold your breath for anything much better unless Garmin does a silent mid-life update on the hardware, which isn't going to help those of us who've already got our f5s (Have to say though, GPS accuracy hasn't been an issue for me).

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

5S here. Upgraded from 5.33 to 5.40 two days ago. Still no luck with the heart rate issue; same issue as I reported with the 5.33 update after 5.30 broke my wrist OHR during activities

previous 5.33 post: https://forums.garmin.com/forum/on-the-trail/wrist-worn/fenix-5-5s/1244919-fenix-5-5s-5-33-beta-release?p=1245608#post1245608

Today's workout was rowing and barbell thrusters. I warmed up with some easy rowing and empty barbell thrusters for about 10 minutes and got my heart up to a steady 100 BPM. The wrist OHR was working and displaying correctly. I selected the Cardio activity and started my main workout. My displayed heart rate quickly dropped to the low 90s, then lowered to about 83 BPM over the next 20 minutes as I did some intense intervals of 500m rows and sets of 95# barbell thrusters. My actual heart rate was in the 130-150 BPM range the entire time; the activity history for this workout reports a max of 101 and an average of 84.

My displayed heart rate stayed in the low 80s until I rebooted my watch after about 5 minutes, after which it correctly displayed my cool-down rate as it continued to drop from 110 to the mid 80s.

Again, I know it's not a fit issue, or an issue with the movement being one that's hard to get good results on, because it works perfectly with those same movements until I start an activity.

All that aside, the average BPM is broken too. Even if my heart rate did decline steadily from 100 to 84 during the activity, the average would be around 92, not 84.

will cc this post to the beta team.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

still having issues here too

today's long run showed HR of 170+ at times when 150 would have been more like it :(

0 tosonny over 7 years ago

..which means that the Garmin-team has implemented a new bug (as if there haven?t been already enough) and rolls out several (!!) firmwares that haven?t been tested enough. How unprofessional and ridiculous is that. What a shame.