Epix (Gen 2) Series - Recent Threads

Location of watch faces on Garmin watch file system?

6591133 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:13:32 GMT

Does anyone know the location of where watch faces are kept in the Garmin watch file system (using MTP to access the file it self).

Suspected HR measurement issue (Epix Pro Gen 2 + HRM 600) – sudden HR jump and plateau

9510062 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:00:28 GMT

I am experiencing repeated abnormal heart rate readings with my Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 paired with a HRM 600 chest strap (ANT+).

During an easy endurance run, my heart rate behaved normally for the first ~3 km (around 130–145 bpm). Then, around 2.8–3 km, the HR suddenly jumped by about 20 bpm (from ~145 to ~160) within a very short time and stayed on a high plateau (~160–170 bpm) for the rest of the run.

This was clearly inconsistent with my physiological effort:

I was running at easy endurance pace
Complete conversational breathing
My wife was riding a bike next to me and we were talking normally

Later in the run I briefly stopped at 4.19 km. During the stop the HR dropped significantly (~140 bpm), but once I resumed running it quickly returned to the abnormal plateau.

Additional observations:

HR max recorded up to ~175 bpm, which is unrealistic for the perceived effort.
The overall average HR for the run was 158 bpm, which does not match the intensity.
Garmin VO2max dropped again after this run, which suggests the faulty HR values are affecting training metrics.

Important point:
When I restart the watch before the run and apply conductive gel on the strap electrodes, the measurements seem more normal. When I do not restart the watch, abnormal HR behavior appears again.

This suggests a possible sensor acquisition / ANT+ communication issue rather than a physiological response.

Has anyone experienced similar HR jumps followed by an unrealistic plateau with the HRM 600?

Thank you.

Why does a $1000 Pro watch have 'Gaming' but not a high-output activity like 'Dance'?"

6866361 — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 03:05:14 GMT

Why is dance not included. I go to estatic dance once a week, partnered dance once a week. I also attend raves and shows on weekends. There are very high output activities.

Why are “breathwork” and “gaming” and “trolling” included, but not dance?

V25.11 - needs a fix - Epix Pro 47mm

5715485 — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 06:08:33 GMT

I do not want to start arguments but have been 5-6 weeks since Garmin released ‘stable’ v25.11 which is causing so many restarts and critical crashes.
At the moment I try to prepare for some marathons and my watch restarts every time on long activities. If I connect the headphones is crashing when I press next song.
Navigation Around me - crashes in 10-40 seconds of use.
Come on Garmin, we deserve much better software support.

I restarted the watch, I checked al my .fit files, I have deleted all topo maps, restart the device, add them again and multiple solutions suggest here but I still have self restarts.

Garmin software support it’s poor! Who ever take decisions on wearables in the last few years needs to go as things are from bad to worse.

Switch from Fenix 6 Pro to Epix Pro Gen 2 – what real improvements will I get?

st4r — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:53:30 GMT

Hello. I was thinking about getting myself something nice and getting some newer technology on my wrist. I own Fenix 6 Pro (gorilla glass, steel) since ~5-6 years and I was satisfied - good watch. I use it as a 24/7 watch for tracking activities, sleep, recovery (the most metrics I watch daily is: HRV, rest hr, stress). I do not run, I only do brisk walks daily, then I do couple of strength training per week and I do either bike riding or indoor rowing couple of days per week. For bike rides I use Garmin Edge bike computer. For rowing I use Fenix 6 - it can connect to Concept 2 rower and get some additional data like power, stroke rate. As mentioned, I do not have major concerns about the Fenix 6 Pro, I just want to have a newer one as I think it might deliver some benefits to me in form of 2 generations newer HR sensor, so maybe a more precise HR monitoring, more precise HRV monitoring, sleep stages monitoring. Plus there are those thingies like training readiness, which I do not have in my old fenix 6, which I do not know will be beneficial for me or not. And last thing - I think I would like to test the amoled display in the real life.

In the past I had rule I will only get the most recent model from Garmin to not be disappointed by not getting updates, new features, in case I will buy an older model. This has changed, as:

1. I am not willing to spend ~900+ EUR for the watch so far.
2. I do not wish or expect a new features in the watch in the future (if they would appear there in the future, then ok, it is a bonus, but I do not expect them)

And somehow I get to the point I had discovered there is Epix Pro Gen2 which would fit my needs - there is the same elevate 5 sensor as in the Fenix 8 and I do get some new functions over Fenix 6 and it has AMOLED screen so I can test it in the real life. I can buy 47mm version of Epix Pro Gen2 for ~580 EUR (Sapphire, titanium).

Can anybody with the real life experiences with the Epix Pro Gen2 help me understanding whether buying Epix Pro Gen2 as a replacement of Fenix 6 PRO now in March 2026 is worth?
I was also considering getting another brand like Amazfit T-Rex 3 PRO as it is cheap and there are quite a lot of good talks about it and it seems to be an inovative company, etc.., but I think, especially when I also have a garmin edge bike computer, I should stick with the Garmin ecosystem.

Sunset Widget Map Issue

CJBarnard — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:26:17 GMT

When looking at the map view in the Sunset/Sunrise widget the map is blank. Anyone else have this issue? I have maps loaded on the device and can see them everywhere else on the watch.

Garmin Connect now shows watch battery percentage

OffdaGrid — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 22:20:08 GMT

Garmin connect now shows the watch battery percentage when you click on your watch in the top right

Epix Pro 25.11 Battery drain

1278244 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:27:44 GMT

I just got an Epix Pro Sapphire from Amazon as an “upgrade” from my Forerunner 265. It came with software version 18.xx and while I scrolled the menu’s and set up everything I noticed the battery was draining quite fast. Then I upgraded to the current software version 25.11 to check if that improved battery life and now the watch losses about 1% per hour, which means that in just 4 days it will be dead. I did the restart and factory resets after the software upgrade and all the settings are set so the battery is supposed to last 16 days. I’ve noticed all sort of issues with this recent firmware but barely any information on the battery drain issue. Can others share how the latest software version 25.11 is impacting their watch battery life?

Epix Pro with v. 25.11 crashes

Gerd_NL — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:56:13 GMT

Sooo .. yesterday I wrote, that I never had a problem with my epix pro, but today it happened:

Firmware 25.11, I was changing the apps via GC, I had done a copy from hiking and now I want to delete this and want to make a copy from walking.

After press on 'delete app from watch' my epix 'crashes' (or something like that) started up with the initial screens and the only message then was 'Loading Maps'.

After that watch face comes up and my epix was working again. Was it ra estart or only a kind of shut down???

So now I'm back on v. 23.18 and restore from backup. Now the same operation as before with deleting the app via GC and copy from walking, no problems, all went ok!

So, from now on I stay on 23.18, it was mentioned earlier as one of the last relative stable versions ...

Epix Gen 2 v25.11 GPS Time sync

mcmonap — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:39:18 GMT

Hi,

For the past 3 weeks my watch repeatedly reverts to EST (UTC -05:00). My watch is and always has been set to auto set time via GPS. I have restarted the watch and I have checked for updates using Garmin Express. Below is a photo showing a sync - it seems particularly confusing because after sync it shows EST time and then says London UTC -05:00. I am pretty certain I am in the UK, everyone I have asked agrees I am. Time sync with my phone appears to work and set the time correctly but I'd much prefer to use GPS.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on steps to try and remediate, thanks in advance.

Epix G2 rebooted itself mid run, is this normal ?

danliddle — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:14:32 GMT

First time I have had a single glitch with my Epix Gen2, last night 3 km into a run activity, my watch just randomly shutdown and restarted. I actually only noticed as I was using the watches music storage to listen to some tunes, and it stopped playing. Assuming my headphones had dropped connection I checked the watch and it was just starting up again. It's not happened before, and I am hoping I don't have some sort of glitch, is it common or should I just assume it was a one off which shouldn't happen regularly, which I can live with, but if it starts doing this frequently during activities its going to become a real problem.

The only thing I did differently last night is to listen to music from the watch's spotify app where I usually run that from my phone. But I've done that numerous times and never had an issue, so I am assuming its not a related cause.

only 2 leds on of 8 available

Drake1969 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 08:49:13 GMT

I developed an app for Spinning. It works fine since 2023 on most every wearable garmin device. Unfortunately the Epix pro gen 2 does not work. It monitors the HR but after few minutes of activity the HR stucked around 105 bpm. Fortunately one of my friend has that device and let me try some debug. I noticed that on 8 available leds only 2 are ON. In the same time i used a forerunner 965 and fenix 5x pro and all of them works fine. So i thought is not a question of coding. But if on epix pro gen2 we start one of the pre installed garmin app for biking for example i see 8 leds on and HR work fine. So now I hAve the feelings that the app need some more code to activate leds on epix. How i can debug the HR leds on epix proi gen2 ?

Garmin Epix 2 pro how Garmin throws its users with watches and their support Is a horror.

9002577 — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 21:01:00 GMT

I can't stop wondering how much Garmin doesn't care about its users, I understand that the new interface won't come to Gen 2 pro, but basic things like an extended morning report, evening report, adding a mobility training profile, training with a weighted backpack, at least it could be added, you don't need any of the new ones. hours. In general, the deepest disappointments in this company. They became greedy and hypocritical.

No labels on map points (example: peaks, alpine huts, shops ...) (custom maps and TopoActive map)

maiwolf — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:39:55 GMT

Dear community,

In addition to the description on the thread Peak (summit) names not displayed on the maps I would like to point out, that labels are not only missing on peaks but essentially on all points (with very few exceptions) of nearly all maps. Also on the TopoActive maps itself.

Reason seems to be a change in the rendering of maps some time ago.

As a “hobby”-creator of custom maps I have developed a “workaround” which brings back certain labels to my maps. You will find all described in detail on my website:
How to create an OpenWatchMap (German)

Using my proposed Windows batch script one can create maps of any region of the world. And by using the specific "OpenWatchMap" style and typ you will get a great map for your Garmin smartwatch.

How to get labels on points in a map? What are my findings?

On a smartwatch (I use an Epix Gen 2) only very few typeids (of a typ-file) show a label (namely: 0x00100-0x00900 and 0x00A00 to 0x00D00).
These typeids are usually used for the display of city, town, village names.
Although one can define different font-sizes and font-colors, the smartwatch shows every label in black and size normal!
My style/typ combination uses an overlay of one of these label-typids with the respective symbol of a point.
In this way I was able to bring back labels for most of the important points (others could be configured in the same way, if one changes the style/typ in the described way)

And this is how my map look like on an Epix Gen 2 (with the newest firmware loaded):

Enjoy the maps (example-maps for some regions can be downloaded on my website)

Heart rate data field not updating / go back to old firmware?

thefredelement — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 13:56:52 GMT

I have an Epix Pro gen 2 on the latest firmware. I use a default watch face with one of the data fields being my heart rate.

Lately I've been noticing its very slow to update / be accurate, like I'll be at my desk and it'll be 65, then I get up and walk around and it doesn't change or goes to something like 68 but if I tap into the health menu and select heart rate it'll jump up to 78.

This pattern happens all the time, sometimes I'll go from my desk to my treadmill to get some steps in (I don't start an activity) and my heart rate will barely change while my steps keep going up.

If I look under the watch I do see the sensor is on (the green lights).

I'm not sure when this happened, after the one update that broke my old watch face I switched to this one and I don't remember it not working then.

What is the deal with downgrading firmware? How can I find what was out like a year ago? Things seemed pretty stable then.

Intermittent Mid-Activity Reboots During Music Playback

MAJOR — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 02:23:44 GMT

Issue Summary: The watch intermittently crashes and restarts during GPS activities when playing music via Bluetooth directly from the device. This issue has persisted across two separate devices (original and current exchange unit) which leads me to believe it's a software glitch, not a hardware issue.

Technical Environment:

Model: Epix Pro Gen 2
Firmware: Latest version installed, but also happened with previous SW versions
Audio Source: On-device Bluetooth (Phone is not carried with me usually)
Activity Types: Free runs and structured workouts (synced via Runna)
Earbuds: Pixel Buds Pro 2

Observed Patterns:

Reproducibility: Occurs randomly, maybe every 5-10 runs
Battery Status: Has occurred at 100% and as low as 10%.
Workaround: Issue does not occur if music is streamed from a phone instead of the watch.
Data Corruption: Upon reboot, the activity can be resumed, but the data chart shows a massive power spike (3,500W+) at the moment of the crash.

While the activity is resumable, the reboot process takes approximately 60 seconds. This is a significant concern for upcoming races where mid-run downtime is unacceptable. Since this has occurred on two different units, please advise on a permanent fix or if this is a known bug currently being addressed in a beta firmware cycle.

Epix gen 2. After start golf round a direct auto stop with on screen "Ending Round".

coul53 — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:06:16 GMT

Epix gen 2, software 25.11. After start golf round a direct auto stop with on screen "Ending Round". Also did hard stop/start. Problem keeps happening. Never had this prblem before.

Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 watch restarts when starting ANY activity

3164693 — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 05:38:19 GMT

Hi Garmin Support,

Watch has been restarting when i start any activity on my watch. I have tried manually restarting it and trying again, same issue persists.

My watch was updated yesterday to version 25.11, after which this issue came. It was working fine before the update.

VO2 max isn't calculating

8940246 — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 05:11:06 GMT

My Garmin vivoactive 3 music suddenly stopped calculating my VO2 max in December. Im a runner. I run a lot. The watch is not set to hiking or trails. It measures my heartrate, pace, elevation etc. I run outside. I've done a hard reboot. Nothing is working to get it to calculate my VO2 max.

V25.11 epix pro 51 mmm

NoOne — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:11:05 GMT

My watch crashes every time when I use around me option.

it also crashes every morning after I go throw my morning report. Looks like a memory issue.
this company is worst and worst.

WHR , is al over the place, navigation is crashes, trail activities don’t show the trail anymore.
they can’t make basic functions work!

youtube.com/.../UQFkNSCBTkM

firmware downgrades and battery drain. firmware downloads?

STEVIEMIDNIGHT — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:57:46 GMT

Is anyone aware of how and where i can download firmware? locations, URL. although enrolled on the beta program i have had significant batter drain since stable 23.18. if not before, the exact date now escapes me but the watch effectively went from lasting well over a week to significant drain in days. however i wish to downgrade systematically to find the relevant update as to where the problem first began on my device. has some good Samaritan uploaded garmin updates to a website? github etc. i have been unable to find files.

EPIX PRO (GEN 2) Sapphire Edition

4438942 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 12:22:42 GMT

I have been using EPIX PRO (GEN 2) Sapphire Edition for 2.5 years. Over half a year ago, I noticed a scratch/crack on the display, which is barely visible, only under certain conditions, for example at certain angles, and sometimes it is not visible at all. The scratch is not noticeable from the outside and the touch screen works properly. I noticed the defect while on vacation in warm countries with high humidity. The scratch was not caused by an impact. I reported it to the Polish authorized Garmin service center, but the complaint was immediately rejected (without the service center physically inspecting the watch) as mechanical damage. The service center offered to replace the display for a price not much lower than the price of a new watch, so I decided against it. Meanwhile, I have recently been using the watch to monitor my “mixed martial arts” activities. While wearing the watch, it was hit several times by a sparring partner and nothing happened. Can anyone explain to me how it is that a scratch/crack that occurred on its own is considered mechanical damage and is not covered by the warranty, while the watch can withstand blows from a sparring partner?

Critical crash on epix pro 51 mm

NoOne — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:33:48 GMT

My epix pro 51 mm reboots while I try to use Around me

https://youtube.com/shorts/UQFkNSCBTkM?si=Rg5TMkNO2YiXTyd5

I have cleared history, sync using gadmin express, uninstall topoactive maps active maps, reboot, installed the maps again. Cleaned fit files, RemoteSW folder was cleaned, temp file were deleted. Nothing worked.
it has v 25.11 is there a fix or we will die with these trash software?

My watch was stolen, does the thief have access to to my payment information and conversation history from messaging apps?

4322732 — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 17:12:08 GMT

My Epix Pro 2 was stolen while at the gym and it has no passcode. Does the thief have access to my conversation history from apps such as emails, whatsapp, fb messenger, and text messages? I had a credit card linked to my watch as well.

How to set up a garmin coach Run plan with strength on epix pro

5369598 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:44:45 GMT

Is it possible to set a garmin Run coach plan with strength workouts on epix pro?