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Too low brightness in low ambient light.

Istvan
over 1 year ago

Hi,

Just received my Fenix 8 AMOLED 51mm and sadly noticed its new feature, which significantly decrease the brightness in low ambient light. Not to be confused, I do not mean the configurable timeout (4, 8 or 16 sec) or focus or red shift either.

Imagine I am in a dark room. Brightness is set to maximum, battery saver is off, gesture is on. When I raise my arm, the screen comes up, but it is too dark. If I illuminate the watch display by a flashlight, the brightness goes up automatically. When I switch off the flashlight and keep the display busy, the brightness goes down again after a few seconds.

In this dark mode I hardly see the display, and can not see the small letters/numbers at all. I had no this issue with EPIX, of which brightness was independent form the ambient light.

Unfortunately I did not find any settings to get rid of this kind of dimming.

Any thoughts?

Best regards,

Istvan

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  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to ShukiMann
    ShukiMann said:
    You have to turn your wrist to see anything, which makes the watch unusable for running!

    That's the way it works for all AMOLED watches though and it's what people have been requesting for years now. More colours, more resolution, more animations, more brightness, more "wow Bob, that's a cool watch!" when making a coffee in the lunch room at work. I'm sure you'll perfect the exaggerated wrist flick with a bit of practise.

    It is also one of the reasons as to why I'm sticking with MIP. It simply works with no wrist flicking nonsense. It works in bright daylight. It works in total darkness when I look down at it with my headlamp. I have minimal tolerance for automated screen dimming and having to make silly movements back and forth just to glance at my stats when exhausted and slightly irritable during a long race.

    AMOLED seems great for those who dabble in a bit of indoor training and want a bit of colourful bling, but perhaps it's not so ideal for those doing big miles outdoors in bright sun or those slapping it onto the bikes handlebars. All subjective of course.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Looks like people are beginning to understand that Fenix 8 Amoled (and Epix 2) are here to bite on Apple watch's market and get Garmin up on the smartwatch segment. I've been there (tried the Epix when it came out) and I can tell you : if it bothers you to turn your wrist while running to check your pace or HR, return your watch... Because that won't change even with a software update ;) 
     As was said before, many many times, and perfectly sums it up :
    If you're looking for a smartwatch with outdoor features, Amoled screen is for you. If you're looking for a sports watch with smartwatch features, stick with MIP screen.
    Not sure I'll update from my Fenix 7 but if I do it will definitely be for a F8 Solar with MIP screen.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to drkglb

    Your topic is not what this thread is about.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    In spite of the earlier communication the local Garmin distributor sent me a written statement about the following.

    This is not a bug, it is a feature by design and will not be changed. And Garmin does not accept any feature request or development advice. If I do not like the watch as it is, I should return it.

    All right Mr. Garmin, as you wish. After 11 years continuous use of Fenix series it is time to change to a brand that is willing to listen to the loyal customers.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Istvan
    Istvan said:
    This is not a bug, it is a feature by design and will not be changed. And Garmin does not accept any feature request or development advice. If I do not like the watch as it is, I should return it.

    Garmin distributors are not Garmin support and they are certainly not Garmin product managers. Garmin fix plenty of issues that get raised via support channels. Just head over to the Beta forums and see for yourself.

    Have you contacted support about it rather than the random Joe you bought it from?.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455
    Istvan said:
    it is a feature by design and will not be changed.

    Garmin often claims it is by design, even for obvious errors in "design" i.e. implementation of a feature. In such cases, it takes too many users reports, initiatives and time to change it. Not worth it.

    2529455 said:
    Have you contacted support about it rather than the random Joe you bought it from?.

    I agree that user should contact Garmin support. However, those random Joes that you mentioned also work at Garmin support From what I experienced last several times I contacted Garmin support for other Garmin watches, their support is always very polite and rarely able to answer a question or resolve an issue.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455

    That "random Joe" is the exclusive Garmin distributor (representative so to say) in my country, they deliver to all local Garmin resellers and they are the only Garmin service point. I thought they have louder voice at Garmin than myself. I am more like a random Joe for the vendor.

    But otherwise you are right, so in parallel I tried to contact also the Garmin support directly. Logged in to my account, but did not find any option for placing a support ticket. This forum was the only logical option, that is why I am here.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Istvan

    Good morning,

    Try here 

    https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?contactOverride=true&productID=1228171&tab=topics

    I opened chat and Garmin representative Mr Philip wrote me that they are aware of the issue and will be fixed with the next software update.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Same. In a dark (not black) room it is way too dim

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Same issue here! (Fenix 8 AMOLED 51)
    Please, give us an "Auto brightness ON/OFF" switch to the display settings, like in the Venu3 series!