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Fenix 7x music quality really awful

I have being testing my new Fenix 7x for a week, and I have found that the sound quality (for both Spotify synced music and local MP3 files) is terrible. Sound is distorted, with a lot of noise and hissing (sounds like a low quality MP3) , and it is a total deal breaker for me.

I have a Fenix 6x, and I have compared both (with two different pairs of bluetooth headphones: Sony and Sennheiser, and with the same music over Spotify and MP3 files) and the quality in the Fenix 6x is much better. It is not an audiophile device, but no distortion or noise, and you get clear sound.

Have anyone experience the same problem? Hope they can fix it with a firmware update, because it is really annoying, I cannot rely in my Garmin to listen to music (for a 1000€ watch...).

  • A lot of f7X users say the sound is OK, so I decided to check again if what I heard yesterday is still there. Unfortunately yes. Compared to the f6X there is a lot of high frequency noise and crackling in the f7X. Sure, when there is strong beat in music, it does not disturb that much, but in the quiet parts, it is impossible to bear.
    The noise disappears when the sound is set to mono.
    I tested it on Jabra Elite (65t, 75t, 85t), Samsung Galaxy Buds and Sony MDR-1R.

  • Same problem here - seems like this might be a hardware issue since only some people are having it happen.  I've opened a support request....Hopefully Garmin can address this.

  • Absolutely correct. I have tested this extensively on Epix and F7X SS. They are both terrible with spotify and my own music uploads in a variety of bitrates. My Fenix 5 plus is still perfect with any headphones I pair with it but the newer Garmin watches are very, very poor. Static in the high frequencies and distortion so often I can't listen to music with the watch, it's torture. Tested with Sony WH-1000XM3, Apple Airpods Pro x 2 pairs, Shure SE-846, several Jabra's and several SONY BT earphones. I'm shocked that a $1500 top of the line Sports Smart Watch can't play BT music correctly in 2022 when my Fenix 5 plus has done it for years and years.

  • Just tried this. You are 100% correct. In mono, the audio quality is spot on. Gives me hope that Garmin may be able to fix this with software in the near future. As I said below - My Fenix 5 Plus has nailed music since the day I bought it.

  • could you please share some evidence to prove quality is worse example  20% than f6? 

  • I don't get this at all. With my Airpods Pro and Aftershokz Aeropex, the experience is identical.

    Even in the former having somewhat frequent dropouts and the latter being rock solid. Sound quality is identical.

  • My brandnew 7x has also a much worse sound quality than my 6x. Especially when I put the sound at medium or higher.  I hope a firmware can fix this

  • Can you record that low quality to prove? How do you know is worse than f6x? 

  • He hears it  and so can I. :-)

    As fas as i know, it is impossible to connect fenix with the recording device.

  • I am not able to record it properly as I would need a good microphoneto take the sound from the headphones.

    WhatI can say is that I just have my old 6x and my new 7x playing the same tracks with the same headphones and I can hear the difference very clearly whenchanging between the two warches. With the 6x i can put the volume at nearly maximum level and there is no problem with the high frequencies.  With the 7x I can only hear music at very low kevel befor it starts getting annoying.