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[Forerunner 265] Distorted and "Cracking" Voice Prompts for Lap Alerts

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Hi everyone,

I am using a Forerunner 265, and recently I’ve started experiencing a very frustrating issue. During my runs, the voice prompts for lap alerts have become heavily distorted and "crackling." The sound quality is so poor that it's almost impossible to listen to.

I checked my voice settings, and everything is set to default. To troubleshoot, I tried changing the voice to different genders (Male/Female) and even tested various languages/countries, but the problem persists—the sound remains distorted regardless of the language or voice selected.

I wanted to try reinstalling the voice files, so I connected my watch to Garmin Express and looked under the "Tools & Content" menu. However, I couldn't find any voice packs available for download there. I really want to perform a clean reinstall of the audio files, but I'm stuck.

For context, I am using a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with One UI 8.0 (the latest version). I'm starting to wonder if this is a compatibility issue with the newest software or if it's a known bug with the 265.

Has anyone else experienced this? If there is a solution or a way to force-reinstall the voice files, please let me know. I rely on these audio prompts to know my lap pace without having to look at the watch, and this is becoming very stressful.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

  • 0

    Hi! I would recommend to try restarting the phone/watch, uninstall/reinstall the Connect app, and unpair/repair the watch in Bluetooth Settings as well as the Connect app. Here is a link on how to unpair/repair if you need it: Remove and Add a Device From the Garmin Connect App

    If you are using any headphones as well go ahead and try unpairing the sensor then repair and monitor.

  • 0 in reply to Garmin - CF

    Thank you for the suggestions, but I have already tried all of those steps.

    I have tried:

    1)Unpairing and re-pairing the Bluetooth connection.

    2)Deleting and reinstalling the Garmin Connect app.

    3)Restarting both my watch (Forerunner 265) and my phone (S24 Ultra).

    Despite all these efforts, the voice prompts are still heavily distorted and crackling. Since basic troubleshooting doesn't work, I suspect this might be a hardware issue with the speaker or a specific software bug related to the latest Android/One UI update.

    Is there any other way to force-update the firmware or manually replace the voice files since they don't appear in Garmin Express? I really need a more advanced solution. Thanks.

  • 0 in reply to Garmin - CF

    I think I might have found a potential solution.

    I’ve read that resetting the "Speech rate" and "Pitch" settings in the system TTS (Text-to-Speech) or Bixby Vision settings on Galaxy devices might fix this kind of audio distortion.

    I'm going to try resetting those values to their default now and will report back to see if it resolves the crackling voice on my Forerunner 265. Wish me luck!