Fenix 6 Series - 20.30 Public Release

Hello Fenix 6 customers,

20.30 is our public release that will be rolled out in phases starting this afternoon. We’ve posted it here for our forum users who wish to install it immediately.

Thank you to our beta testing community for your continued persistence in reporting issues observed with altimeter performance.  We know the issues have been numerous and are grateful for your feedback and continued effort to resolve specific use case problems.  We believe we’ve improved all known bugs with the altimeter performance.  However, we do see feedback on a few issues that mainly pertain to auto-calibrating to a higher value overnight or upon first calibration under certain conditions.  We believe these issues are related to bad calibration points that have occurred across the various beta updates.  If you are experiencing excessive elevation spikes or drops, please follow the guidance below to resolve this issue:

  • If the change occurs overnight, please manually calibrate to your correct elevation directly before you go to bed. (This step is important.  Calibrating in the morning will not resolve the issue)
  • If the change occurs during an activity, please manually calibrate to the correct elevation just before pressing the start button at your given location.

Thank you again to all who’ve helped improve this feature.  We understand the process can be challenging, but certainly value your input.

Please ensure that you are downloading the correct beta software for your specific device.

Instructions for installation are available below the change log on each of the above pages.

20.30 Change Log Notes (if updating from last public release candidate, v20.20):

  • Improved altitude calibration.

20.30 Full Release Change Log (Since v19.20):

  • Added ability to turn off recording an activity during a golf round.
  • Added an alert to notify user when battery is critically low during a music sync.
  • Added HRV Support from chest strap for Yoga and breathwork.
  • Added pop-up to Pulse Ox Measuring feature if the device detects too much movement and cannot get an accurate measurement.
  • Added support for new biking activity profiles: eBike, eMTB, Cyclocross, Gravel Bike, Bike Commute, Bike Tour, and Road Bike.
  • Added support for the HIIT activity profile and workouts.
  • Added support for the Pickleball profile.
  • Added support for the Padel profile.
  • Added support for the snowshoe activity profile.
  • Added support for the tennis activity profile.
  • Added new tips to indicate which activities support Incident detection.
  • Improved Explore Sync app waypoint load times.
  • Improved Lactate Threshold and Altitude Acclimation algorithms.
  • Improved measurement loading UI when taking an SpO2 measurement.
  • Update the altimeter’s auto calibration to be either be “On” or “Nightly”. Setting to “On” will set the device to periodically calibrate altitude throughout the day. Setting to “Nightly” will set the device to calibrate altitude at night and before the start of an activity.
  • Fixed issue with alarms intermittently not going off when the device is set in Max. Battery Mode.
  • Fixed display issues on the device after navigating to a point initiated by the Garmin Explore App.
  • Fixed issue where selecting a single point on a map that contained multiple items would not display the items properly.
  • Fixed issue that would corrupt open water swim activity files.
  • Fixed issue where PacePro bands would not be recognized by the device.
  • Fixed issue with activities reporting incorrect Activity Calories and Training Effect data.

Current beta peripheral software version numbers below. New versions are indicated in red.

GPS: 5.30
Sensor Hub: 11.01
ANT/BLE/BT (Pro models): 6.11
ANT/BLE (non-Pro models): 3.00
Wi-Fi (Pro models only): 2.60

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

Please send all bug reports to [email protected], and indicate which model of the Fenix 6 Series you have in the subject line.

We know this post states it is a public release, yet the URL states it's a beta.  This is simply a method of delivery for public beta.  We use the same channel and therefore the 'beta' term follows each of these links.  We only note it is a public release so that you are aware it's the version to go live to the public.  

  • I found another glitch (I think), at home sunny since days and excellent forecast for the next few days (checked again now), I received a Thunderstorm alert as I never received with other versions (only twice, but it was for sure since weather was bad and there was a real fast drop in HPa while I was running). I raised (decreased) now the alert sensitivity from 3HPa every 3hrs to 3.5HPa every 3 hours. I checked the Barometer history though and it reports a drop from 1034HPa down to 1028HPa last 12hrs (delta 16HPa !). Perhaps still stabilizing since I loaded the 20.30 16hrs ago. Otherwise it's an unexplainable huge gap that lets me think something is wrong. I keep on monitoring it, just for you (Garmin Dev) to know, in case Baro was touched as well.  

    As an additional element, I manually set Altimeter to 58 meters after update (16hrs ago) since you recall it jumped from around 56mt with 19.20 down to -115mt. Now with 1028HPa is 52mt. I'm in the same room smart-working :-) 

  • Dear Clatecnofilo,

    why are you still advocating nightly calibration when it has proven totally inaccurate? Plus it consumes extra battery power due to its nightly connection to the phone. Please list some positive aspects of this behavior...

  • In this version, everything remains the same as in 20. **. Namely, a sharp jump in height if I am above the level of the first floor and a very strong altimeter / barometer dependence. That is, when the pressure decreases, the height rises sharply, although I sit still. This was not the case in 19.20 firmware (as I understood this firmware was the best, I will install it and turn off auto-update). I'm afraid that this is the last watch from Garmin that I bought

  • Garmin wake up! Altimeter in 20.xx is a crap! Still jumping in 20.30 after the night and during the day in the same place. Now is almost 30meters above real. Its totally useless in MTB activities due to jumps.

  • Went on one more car trip from home and back again. Started at watch altitude 33 meters (faulty altitude), the watch reported -22 meters (negative altitude) at its lowest point, then back home it now reports 22 meters. The correct altitude now should be 66 meters. Garmin, what are you doing?

  • Alfredo,

    I'm not defending anyone here as I didn't design the HW and SW of the watch, I'm just a consumer of this watch. What I'm trying to explain is that the auto-calibration functions rather than being something new, it has been restructured. I think the auto-calibration was working in the night as well. In the process of these changes, they altered the algorithm of the autocalibration and this is what is affecting most of us. It seems to be quite sensible to changes and the algorithm sometimes goes bonkers providing inaccurate reading for some watches.

  • I have a Fenix 6x Pro, loaded the 20.30 and set the altitude to 30m where i live. Went out, and when i got back home i get -95m. This is so fuc.. up!

  • First go out, then set the altitude. Then do your activity. The barometric pressure inside the house might be different and offset the altimeter

  • These problems with version 19.20 were not there, I don't understand the usefulness of this update.

  • As we all try to achieve the best attainable precision regarding altitude every little detail counts