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Expedition firmware downgrade

After FW 4.10 was released I updated my Expedition (wait, is it called Adventurer now?) and so did I to 5.10 and eventually also tried 5.11 beta.

Despite of the fancy new features came from the Fenix 6 series I was not happy with these firmwares/sensor hub updates as the OHR and PulseOX sensors became very unstable and inaccurate in my case. There are plenty of threads about these issues in this forum and the Fenix 6 one as well, I also sent bug reports so hopefully Garmin will address the issues at some point.

Until that I finally managed to roll back to FW 3.50/SNS 2.10 and this is my personal pros/cons list after the downgrade:

Pros:
- OHR way more stable and accurate
- I have deep sleep phases again on GC web
- Stress levels are also way more accurate, the new FW displayed very high levels throughout the day and even at night
- Sleep PulseOX is working again even when the battery is under 20%
- PulseOX readings are more accurate (usually between 96-100%, while with the new FW/SNS it's between 88-96%)

Cons:
- Sleep PulseOX only measures between 23:50 and 03:50 in my timezone (it's been fixed in FW 5.10/SNS 2.50)
- I miss the 6 field data screens (very much)
- I miss Power Management (moderately)
- No stress data during Yoga activity
- No Graphical data fields (not that important for me)
- No respiration tracking
- And any new stuff coming from the Fenix 6 series

So if you have an Expedition and you are also struggling with the new firmware and want to downgrade but have not find a way to do it just send me a message and can probably help with that.

0 TheOtherPhil over 4 years ago

How do you know that your pulse/ pulseOx data is more accurate on the old firmware? It could be that it's more accurate on the new firmware and you just don't like the numbers. Unless you're using another calibrated device, it's highly unlikely you'll know for sure which firmware is the more accurate.

0 philipshambrook over 4 years ago

Normal oxygen saturation levels are typically between 95%-100%. So, if I understand you right the readings you have with the downgraded software are correct, assuming you are healthy of course and do not have any signs of COPD.

0 TheOtherPhil over 4 years ago in reply to philipshambrook

Assuming there’s no sleep apnoea, snoring, use of sleep medications/ pain medications/ alcohol/ sleeping on the arm that has the watch on etc, etc. which can all cause lower than normal readings.

As I said, it’s pretty hard to tell without comparing directly to a calibrated device, reading at the same exact point at exactly the same time.

0 crt_hun over 4 years ago in reply to TheOtherPhil

Yes, there is a possibility that the new firmware gives more accurate results, however based on my research 94-100% is considered a normal range as @philipshambrook wrote and below 88-90% it's considered low and at that point you probably have symptoms which confirm the readings.

I don't smoke, drink alcohol, take any medicine and the readings I referred above were during the day not when I was sleeping. So, I don't know, it's just my feeling that is not accurate but I cannot be sure.

What is not a feeling though is the HR readings that I compared to a calibrated medical device, which my Suunto was calibrated to as well. It is definitely better with the old firmware, during the comparison I find +-5 bpm difference as oppose to the new firmware which gave me even 30-40 bpm difference.
Also there are no strange spikes such as the one when it reached 215bpm at a time when I was sitting at my desk and working (usually I don't type that hard, but who knows :) ) but there were 150-170bpm spikes as well in the same situation a couple of times.

Obviously, these are just my observations and experiences just wanted to share them if anybody has the same issue.