Fenix 6X locks up constantly since 27.00, Cannot Update to Beta

I have a Fenix 6X Pro. For most of the time I’ve owned it it worked very well, but starting around August of last year after the firmware update for 27.00, it has had a bunch of problems including locking up randomly (when plugged in, when starting an activity, just while wearing it), high battery drain and the time freezing/getting off (while locked up). I have to hold down the light button until it restarts. I can’t find any way to revert the firmware and I’ve uninstalled third party apps that I thought might be causing an issue. I figured a later update would fix it but it’s still routinely locking up ~daily after 5 months.

I am now trying to install the beta firmware to see if that fixes it, but I cannot get the watch to show up on USB as a storage device. Using Garmin Express does not detect the watch, although it does show up as a "Garmin USB GPS" in the device manager. The same behavior is observed on multiple computers. The watch is in MTP mode. As an alternative, it also will not connect to WiFi. I have tried networks I already have configured and also tried to search for new ones but it does not even see any networks. If I try to use the update from phone option, the watch locks up.

Has anyone seen this behavior and know a way to fix it? The watch is barely usable now and I've been struggling with this for months.

  • I did a full reset (data and settings) and was able to connect to my computer and upload firmware. Now it is on the beta 27.73. However, it still drained my whole battery overnight last night and will not connect to WiFi or the computer anymore after a restart. I did not yet reinstall any apps to troubleshoot if that was the issue, but it doesn't appear to be. Any ideas?