Vivoactive 5 repeatedly disconnecting from Android 16 device/phone

TomNZ 14 days ago

Has your phone recently upgraded to Android 16?
Since this upgrade, do you find that your Vivoactive 5 is disconnecting itself very frequently/daily from your Android 16 device?
Are these disconnections incredibly annoying and you're finding yourself missing phone calls and messages?

If the answer is yes to the questions above, please leave a comment on this thread, noting the model of your phone/device and roughly when you starting noticing this issue.

Here's my entry:

Device: Pixel 8a

Upgraded to Android 16 on 1st June, daily disconnects, requiring manual reconnects, ever since.

If you can find the time, I'd encourage you to also give Garmin support a call and register yourself as an affected user. The more people that are letting Garmin know they're affected, the higher visibility this issue will receive meaning that it'll hopefully be resolved sooner.

Top Replies

6825295 13 days ago +2

I am experiencing the same! I also have a pixel 8a and Garmin va5, did the upgrade to android 16 on 1st July and since then it has disconnected multiple times and each time it needs to be reconnected manually…

All Replies

0 6825295 13 days ago

I am experiencing the same! I also have a pixel 8a and Garmin va5, did the upgrade to android 16 on 1st July and since then it has disconnected multiple times and each time it needs to be reconnected manually.

0 4469687 10 days ago

Same here android 16 on pixel 8a

My vivoactive 5 keep on disconnecting randomly during the day, some sometimes the connection last, sometimes it cuts just after manually reconecting...

0 4469687 10 days ago

Same here

Android 16 on pixel 8a

Vivoactive keeps on randomly disconnecting even after manually reconnecting

0 jtorp 6 days ago

Same here - keeps disconnecting from Pixel 9a. My wife noticed it about a week ago. needs to pair everyday

0 jtorp 6 days ago

Same - wife has Pixel 9a and Vivoactive 5. All good until a week or so ago. Now it disconnects daily.

0 TomNZ 6 days ago

On 5th September, my Pixel 8a received and installed the OTA (over-the-air) update to build BP3A.250905.014
https://www.droid-life.com/2025/09/04/heres-everything-fixed-in-pixel-september-security-patch/

Since then, the connection between my device and my VA5 watch has been stable, without a single disconnection over the past 3-4 days.

I think the root cause to our issue has now been addressed in this update and we can imply that it was a Bluetooth issues caused by Android 16 and/or Google, rather than a Garmin bug.

To check what build your device is currently running, go to:

Settings --> About phone --> then either scroll right to the very bottom, or press "Android version"

If you're experiencing this connection issue and your build number is not BP3A.250905.014 or later, then check for updates and install any outstanding:

Settings --> System --> Software updates --> System update

Hope this helps at least someone