Fenix 5/5S - 12.81 Beta Release

We have new beta software ready for your upcoming adventures!

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

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.

12.81 Change Log Notes:

Fixed an issue where one couldn't Race an activity from the activity history menu.
Fixed an issue where some devices were reporting a higher than expected battery drain.
Fixed an intermittent issue where the device could crash during an activity.
Fixed an issue where the GPS updates were failing to install.
Fixed an issue where the data screen background color would remain inverted, if ending a swim workout early.

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

Please note, the beta updates released on these forums are not suitable for APAC region devices.

0 BeneGi over 6 years ago

I still can't download it?

0 mcbadger over 6 years ago

What errors are you seeing, BeneGi? Just tried and had no problems re-downloading it.

My Fenix 5 consumption is 4%/day without GPS and < 6%/h during GPS activity. Firmware 12.00, 2 years old

which is right in line with what I'm seeing with 12.81, personally. Weird how different it is for different units on the same firmware. Wonder if it's different variants of the hardware. Mine's about 30 months old. How old's yours, TERP?

0 BeneGi over 6 years ago

There is no error message at all, Safari (and to make sure, Chrome) try to download the file and abort because it is offline (for my connection, at least).

0 rinserepeat over 6 years ago

this is trivial but the part of garmin express that says "you're up to date" says "software version 12.40"

but if I click on "tools & content" it properly shows "software version 12.81"

also if we are all reporting on battery life, this 5S is only a month old, and hot off the charger at 100%, after a 2 hour run it was down to 67%

1-second recording probably takes a lot but still, 67% after just two hours? seriously? no external sensors, only GPS enabled (not glassnos, etc.)

0 mcbadger over 6 years ago

The first bit is normal, Express only knows about the full releases, not beta, it's basically telling you that the current gold release is 12.40 and you don't need to install it.
Second bit sounds most unimpressive. I wouldn't expect to get 24 hours from my 5 with Galileo on, but I'd expect less than 6% an hour; 5s is lower capacity but no way it should be burning more than 10% an hour, never mind more than 16%.

0 danlorek over 6 years ago

It looks like there is already a 12.82, but with this particular beta I am seeing much more battery consumption than I have with any other previous release or beta on a device that has been fairly well behaved and not exhibited battery problems so far. I will try the 12.82 version out.

0 rinserepeat over 6 years ago

not sure if this is beta firmware related but I turned on my 5S today and all the watchface units were in metric when they were in imperial before

had to go back into system setting and change all the units

also my personal user metric like birth year, weight, height were lost/reset

none of the other settings were reset though

and yeah the battery drain is bonkers, two hours of activity after fresh off the charger and it's down to 67% watch is just a month old

0 TERP1234 over 6 years ago

Last year I had a normal consumption of some 6 to 7% per day when no GPS was used. Since the 12.x firmware versions it gained to 12 to 15% per day. I hoped this beta would bring it back to the old values, but yesterday evening it had about 35% of battery and this morning it was suddenly 0%! Empty 1/3 of battery in one night!
Garmin, please make a serious fix for this issue.ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1460922.jpg