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(2) Critical flaw: the aggressive auto dimming makes this watch unusable during and outside of activities as well

@Garmin-Sierra locked the original thread, with a reason that a completely unrelated hardware bug cannot be solved in forums.

"Due to the two different experiences being crossed in this thread, and the fact that hardware troubleshooting/replacement (if necessary) cannot be handled in the forums, we will be closing this thread."

(+) Critical flaw: the aggressive auto dimming makes this watch unusable during and outside of activities as well - Forerunner 265 Series - Running/Multisport - Garmin Forums

Needless to say, it does not make any sense.

The aggressive dimming issue must be addressed, as (also pairing with the subpar gesture detection) it renders the watch completely unusable in certain situations, and makes the AOD not being AOD anymore.

Denying an issue (or repressing the truth) won't solve the problem.

Advertising a feature that is non existent (AOD) would make worth a class action lawsuit.

Top Replies

Scott over 2 years ago +1

I think you should contact Garmin Support and request a replacement. My wife's 265 works fine as far as auto-dimming and gesture/AOD. Seems like maybe it's a defective unit.

All Replies

0 Scott over 2 years ago

I think you should contact Garmin Support and request a replacement. My wife's 265 works fine as far as auto-dimming and gesture/AOD. Seems like maybe it's a defective unit.

0 pxl over 2 years ago in reply to Scott

1) there are situations, where you cannot use gesture to lighten up the screen, i.e., when your hand is actively used (e.g., in rowing)

2) the gesture detection developed in a wrong way: you need to both raise your hand _and_ turn your wrist to activate. in other cases (only turning your wrist _or_ raising the hand), the success rate could be very low.

3) the dimmed brightness depends on the ambient light - some situations it could be readable, in some situations, it cannot (again, wrong algorithm)

4) it is a software bug, the display otherwise is very bright, it affects every watch

5) it also affects the normal watch face as well, and then it depends on the watch face whether it can be read in AOD or not. my watch face is almost completely black in AOD mode

why don't I return it? because it is the only, relatively small watch I am aware of that provides reliable, all day stress metric (HRV). why I don't switch to a MIP display (255) then? because garmin sells the budget watches with a garbage MIP display, and even the Fenix series is a display lottery. My F6X does have a perfect display - but that is a large watch with horrible stress detection.

if you know any other watch that has a reliable stress (HRV) tracking, small, and does not have a trash display, please let me know!