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Very buggy 13.21 on my FR255M => what the *** are you doing???

gc_bike_run
over 2 years ago

Since the forced update to version 13.21 last week, my FR255M no longer works reliably.
For one thing, nearly all values (sleep time, heart rates, steps, etc.) are no longer measured correctly.
In addition, the watch reboots itself frequently (and it feels like more and more often). Sometimes several in a row.
Even a factory reset has not brought any improvement so far!

So please: what the *** did you do to the software with the last update? With the "old" version before that, my watch ran extremely reliably and stably. But now it feels more or less like electronic waste!

If you're going to force firmware updates, then please make sure that they also work stably and reliably. Alpha tests can also be raised in a different way...

The most important question: what's next? Will there be a working update in the foreseeable future, or will the watch become a warranty case?

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  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I'm with you, already sent the logs and info required to garmin assistence, waiting for some news, battery drain, bluetooth disconnection and other bugs... Could be useful the possibility to downgrade the software to the previous version.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Welcome to the Garmin world! Remember:

    1. You can't downgrade. If you install buggy software (which will happen quite often) you will have to wait.

    2. The updates usually come in a month cycle. So if you updated you'll probably live with the buggy software for a month. 

    3. Turn off auto updates and update only when you see it's good to go (based on people reporting buggy software like you ;) )

    4. From time to time even when you have bugles software things get screwed up on Garmin servers - this could also mess up few things - unfortunetly you can't do anything here.

    This applies to all Garmin watches :)

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to yaatzek

    About your point number 3:

    1) Not all Garmin watches can turn off auto updates. The Vivoactive 4 is one example.
    2) There are always some users who report that the newest version if full of bugs, draining the battery and so on. So how will you know when the new version is a good one? The 99 percent of users who have no problems will not complain on the forums.

    My theory is that it is not the software itself that is buggy, but the upgrade process. Sometimes it goes wrong, and some watches are left in an unfortunate state of battery drain, sensors that do not work properly and communication issues. In this group of watches, some will eventually recover after doing some restarts, some will come alive with the next software update, while others are permanently broken.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to ovekvam
    ovekvam said:
    2) There are always some users who report that the newest version if full of bugs, draining the battery and so on. So how will you know when the new version is a good one?

    Very good point. And very hard to answer!

    For example, I have my FR255 since one week and it got the update to 13.21 right away when I activated and connected it with my account. Guess what, everything seems fine to me, battery is at 48% now, tracks from runs are excellent and sensors look good to me.

    Also, in the two years with my FR245 I had just one crash and only maybe half a dozen bugs (that I noticed).

    According to the Forums, EVERY SINGLE Update was horribly buggy Wink

    ovekvam said:
    My theory is that it is not the software itself that is buggy, but the upgrade process. Sometimes it goes wrong, and some watches are left in an unfortunate state of battery drain, sensors that do not work properly and communication issues.

    Good theory.

    @garmin mods: Has this been discussed internally with your devs?

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I agree, overall, the release management is really disappointing. 
    The worst thing is that the 13.15 Beta raised pretty much all those concerns:

    • HR inaccuracy during activities
    • Unstable BT starting activities
    • Unable to configure data screens via Android app
    • etc

    The team can't say they weren't aware of this, I don't think it's normal to release a version known to be buggy.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I must say, I'm really disappointed at the moment. There are a lot of points in your answers I would totally agree with (upgrade process, known bugs from beta, etc.). Unfortunately there is no official statetment to my thread...

    Besides I'm really surprised. This is my fifth device and I never had such big issues with the other devices since 2016. :(

    Hopefully Garmin will find a fast and stable solution in short term...

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to gc_bike_run
    gc_bike_run said:
    Unfortunately there is no official statetment to my thread...

    There rarely is any comment from the mods anyway. Probably they read, but have no permission to give „official“ statements.

    If you hope for something more than an update sometime in the future, best would be to contact support.garmin.com

    When I had a problem with a HR strap, they helped quickly and without questions asked.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to Grumpy from dawn till dusk

    Probably I have to do so...

    Was nearly three days on the road and not able to contact Garmin in an "official way"...

    But needles to say, that there are no news/updates regarding the different problems/threads...