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Post-warranty software updates: helpful or dangerous?

Orienteering runner

Hi

I'm wondering if updating firmware after the warranty period isn't too risky. I often read on forums about locked smartwatches, boot loops, and other problems right after a new firmware version is announced. I'm curious about the actual percentage of such problems among the entire 955 market. While you can contact Garmin for free support during the warranty period, free support is no longer available after the warranty expires. Therefore, wouldn't it be better to stop the updates after the warranty ends?

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    In my experience (12 years using Fenix/Forerunner), updates have only once caused a bootloop and that was not a software update but a faulty ephemeris file (January 2025) which is a file that is updated on every watch every day.

    Updates have broken functionality for certain use cases that did not bother anyone except me, and ruined some UI elements such that I can't use some features anymore because I can't see them (pace gauge arrow was replaced by a very thin line). 

    Not updating can have disadvantages; new CIQ apps/watchfaces may not work, new features in Connect may not work, but in the case of FR955 which does not receive new features anymore, that risk is pretty low.

    My strategy: as long as it works for all my usecases, don't update, warranty or not. And always keep an eye on this forum and the beta program forum to see what experiences people have with updates. 

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    My experience is different that Bit's.  While it is true that updates rarely cause failure-level issues, they regularly create weirdness that needs to be fixed (reorganized glances, missing races, etc.) there are bigger problems that are not user-fixable - increased battery burn, multisport races no longer show up, etc.).  I have auto updates turned off on my 955 AND in Garmin Express.  I don't think that I'm missing anything important in the updates and I'm avoiding the possibility of problems.  But for newer devices, maybe I'd leave updates on.  But the 955 isn't getting any new features, so...

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    Personally, I've adopted a no update after warranty strategy, sticking with version 24.12, which works well for me.

    I asked because I was curious about other users' strategies. So far, I see that the frequent regressions introduced with updates are leading other users to adopt a similarly cautious approach.