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Cannot pair with phone

9579605
over 4 years ago

Hello,

Last night my watch restarted and it seems like all the data was erased because it prompt me to enter my information as it did when I first started it. Ever since then, I CANNOT PAIR the watch with my iPhone. I follow all the instructions and in Garmin Connect it even shows that my watch is discovered but when I click "Connect it" it times out. Should I return the watch?

Garmin OS: 13.10
iOS: 14.3

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    HI, I’m a French user too, and I seem to have almost the same problem ( https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/252462/impossible-pairing-with-iphone ) with the same iOS and Watch versions. It took 3 months to get a replacement, so I’m not keen on sending it back right now. What is frustrating, is that with an android, it seems to work as usual...

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 3214619

    I’m sorry to hear you are going through the same frustration. I really hope Garmin cares enough to fix the problem. Garmin France just does not care one bit about the customer and they know there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. 
    I feel I’m going to get very little use out of this Fenix before it becomes obsolete. I wish there was a reasonable alternative to the Fenix! 

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I actually received a new watch today from Garmin due to this issue. My watch was continually stuck at "Initializing" when I tried to pair it, which apparently means there's a malfunction with the watch. I only chatted with the Garmin rep for perhaps 15 minutes before he said he'd send a new watch. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I've been told there is a software issue that's causing problems with connections. I had a replacement Fenix 6 sent to me last August and have been unable to connect to my iphone since (after no problems with the previous watch). Garmin are looking to fix the issue, but I've been waiting 8 months now, and the only time I hear from them is when I email to ask for a replacement or an update on the status of the problem.  I don't think it's a high priority.  Seems some watches are just defective. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Rodmacphee

    Hello same issue for me but 100% solved switching off Wi-Fi on my Phone while making synchro. For me it's more à problem on garmin connect mobile side that is not able to manage it. 

  • 0 11 months ago

    im having the same issue it was ok plastic night and it was frozen this morning I tried to rest the watch was slow and wouldn't respond once I did a factory reset I now can't get it to connect and the watch is really slow 

  • 0 4 months ago

    Ohh it looks like I found a solution for this and thought will share.

    I guess Garmin engineers should pay attention as it looks like something is fundamentally wrong with software / hardware here.

    It felt like i have done everything possible short of reballing bletooth SOC.

    So after extensive (literally days) resarch i found out:

    - Restarting / formatting both watch and phone doesn't help

    - Reverting to previous FW doesn't help

    - No water / humidity inside the watch

    - All antennas (hardware) working.

    What helps (don't laugh as it's ridiculous):

    - Switch off the watch

    - put in freezer for 10 minutes to cool down significantly

    - switch on the watch

    - Confirm Watch pairs with the phone (it will be working only till watch warms up at this point)

    - Connect to the PC

    - Kill garmin express process

    - Revert to Beta FW and ANT/BLE version 5.04 using PC upload procedure:

       - Download Beta FW and ANT/BLE version 5.04

       - Copy the file to watch in Garmin/RemoteSW

       - Disconnnect the watch (it is fundamental the watch is still cold at this point, otherwise bluetooth FW will not install as the chip will already be disabled)

       - install update

    - At this point BT should be working and not switching off any more when watch warms up.

    I have tested it for 2 days now and completely dead BT watch keeps connecting to all the devices.

    Maybe bluetooth SOC firmwares disable the chip at certain temperatures as a false damage protection or there is actual hardware fault not prominent in old FW - that's for Garmin to confirm i guess.

    Hope that's going to be useful and help some angry Garmin customers.