This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

fēnix 5x Plus very slow

My watch stopped working well since about 2 weeks and i hat to switch back to my good old fēnix 3.

The main problem is that everything is super slow/laggy. This is everywhere on the watch settings, activity menu and so on.

For example my watch needs four days in real for 24 hours on the screen.

On my watch is no 3rd party watch face and no connection to a smartphone.

Could that be a software problem?

Things that i have tried are:

  • backup all my files
  • update to newest beta 18.42
  • delete all files and do a factory reset in soft and hard style
  • backdate to 12.71 and then update to 13.00

This is how it looks like in realtime and not slowmotioned.

My actual system versions are:     Firmware: 18.00

GPS 2.70 (!)

Wi-Fi 4.01

CIQ 2.4.5

BMX 0.2.4

WHR 20.03.32

ANT/BLE/BT: 6.15

Sensor Hub: 2.41

Hopefully i thank everyone who helps to make my watch work fluent and well.

  • You could try one more thing - Attach the watch to a Computer and open the folder This computer\Fenix 5 Plus\Primary\GARMIN

    Move everything from the GARMIN folder to a folder on your desktop. 

    Then Restart the watch

    - When doing this you remove all maps, activites, courses, settings, totals etc etc. 

    If the watch then is up to full speed start copying all folder back to the watch - Dont copy your IMG files (The maps) and restart the watch again

    If it is still ok then one of your maps are defective.

  • You could try one more thing - Attach the watch to a Computer and open the folder This computer\Fenix 5 Plus\Primary\GARMIN

    Move everything from the GARMIN folder to a folder on your desktop. 

    Then Restart the watch

    - When doing this you remove all maps, activites, courses, settings, totals etc etc. 

    If the watch then is up to full speed start copying all folder back to the watch - Dont copy your IMG files (The maps) and restart the watch again

    If it is still ok then one of your maps are defective.

    That was not my solution. The problem is still here after doing this. 

  • I suppose you already did a reset to factory defaults with full erase of data? Still it is worth checking if the folders that contain files that are synced to Connect are empty, just to make sure no corrupted files are in there: Activities, Monitor, Sleep, Metrics. It is interesting to know if the watch crashes all the time (then you will have a recent RAM.TXT in the Debug folder). 

    Yes i have done a factory reset a few times in the progress with this issue.

    In the debug folder is a big ram.txt with 22,6 MB.

    After a reset the folder is empty.

    Is it also slow when you do a full reset to factory defaults +  delete (again...) and run it without setting it up on your phone (leaving Bluetooth disabled)? 

    Since i have the problem i left bluetooth disabled.

    After deleting everthing at the garmin folder and doing a factory reset is no significant change.

  • That's a pity! Maybe try test mode and development menu (extra logging). I'll get back to that to see what use that could be in your case. My own Fenix 5 Plus just completely broke (it probably overheated while charging), so I can't check in real life and have to look that up from my notes.

  • I can unfortunately confirm that I have the same problem with my 5X (4 years old).

    The OS is very slow and the watch is too slow to keep time. 

    Also, it will not pair with the phone anymore, even after countless tries.

    I've done all kinds of resets and upgraded to v18 for no improvement. 

    Weirdly even when the watch vibrates it feels slow and struggling. 

    I wonder if it could be an issue with the battery of the 5X that doesn't deliver the right voltage anymore. Causing everything to feel sluggish, from CPU to vibrations.

  • I can unfortunately confirm that I have the same problem with my 5X (4 years old).

    The OS is very slow and the watch is too slow to keep time. 

    Also, it will not pair with the phone anymore, even after countless tries.

    I've done all kinds of resets and upgraded to v18 for no improvement. 

    Weirdly even when the watch vibrates it feels slow and struggling. 

    I wonder if it could be an issue with the battery of the 5X that doesn't deliver the right voltage anymore. Causing everything to feel sluggish, from CPU to vibrations.

  • I have the exact same problem start 2 weeks ago - I've tried all the suggested methods.

    However, when I place my 5x plus in the freezer for 5 min, it comes out and works "perfectly" for a minute or two.

    I invite you and blackkaktus to try and put the watch in the freezer (-18, within allowed specs according to Garmin) and see if that helps.

    Please do report back if that works.

    I take this phenomena as a sign of it being an electrical (voltage/resistor) related issue.

  • I am absolutely going to stick my dead F5 Plus in the freezer. Who knows!

  • I'm still trying with software to fix it, but have also just bought a used F5X Plus.

    I will have a microsoldering technician do some comparative tests between working/non-working device to figure this out.


    I think it is very interesting that we are 4 people having this problem from what I can see.

  • Hey that's mighty creative of you xD

    Unfortunately I was not able to reproduce your results. After about 7 min in the freezer the watch was still extremely slow and sluggish. No noticeable improvement.

    Pairing with phone failed (again).

    Would be interesting to hear if others see the same effect as you.