Hi, with Garmin yes it is typical.

Public quickfix is not the rules, even if it can occur, but new System release is ... you need to wait with all your problem (sorry)

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For the moment no announcement in the beta program for FRx70 Series - https://forums.garmin.com/beta-program/

Because it's product launch, maybe some quickfix could be available

Exactly, this might be my last new model device from Garmin. We seem to be part of the product development process, paying the final product price. Once this watch is out of warranty, I'll reconsider if my next choice will be Garmin. If I do choose Garmin again, it will definitely be a model that's been out for over a year.

As for upgrading from the Epix Pro, yes, the FR970 is better. I like the calling feature, lighter weight, and brighter display. However, the lack of support is disappointing. It seems the Epix Pro's software might have been developed by a third-party team, as new updates often break something that worked perfectly before—despite the software being stable a year ago with no new functions added. For instance, sleep tracking is now an issue.

So yes, switching from Epix Pro was beneficial, but it came with trade-offs. In terms of build quality, the Epix wins as it's a nice watch. The FR970 may feel more like a plastic toy, but it suits my needs well enough.

This is my first Garmin watch and never again. I regret buying it.

Mine is going back Saturday and I am reverting back to my Epix Pro. Another issue today ran with both watches and the new GPS chip on the 970 and the Fenix 8.are clearly not as good as the Epix one. Cutting though low level building not linking under bridges properly etc led to 70 metres difference on a 15km run. Some may say this is negligible but it matters especially when racing. The GPS track is simply not as good as the Epix and pace changes are delayed. 

Too many issues and the main reasons I bought the watch was for the new features the Epix Pro doesn't have. Most of which don't work! 

I love the display, mic and speaker, lighter form factor etc but if the firmware doesn't work then it's pointless keeping it. 

It's really frustrating as I really want to love this watch. 

I totally agree... From my experience I had probably some other chip in my previous Epix pro and compare to Fenix 7 it was worse for GPS accuracy, I detected long distances between GPS points, like without aliasing. With 970 came precision of GPS back. It probably does not depend on watch model like situation on market - which chip of which supplier is available for serial production. I can imagine that Epix pro bought at release, mid and now will have all little different GPS accuracy and also other metrics - same will apply for our 970. Would by nice if someone like DCRainmaker will do this kind of test of same models.

I really to wanna to love these watch, if all features which does not have the Epix would work, it will be absolutely awesome...  But for now, I totally share your feelings... Its frustrating.

Just spoke to Liam on Garmin Support. They are aware of the issues reported but he couldn’t give a timeframe when the firmware update  or even beta version would be be released. Well it’s keep checking for updates at the minute. Hope it’s this week , if not it’s going back and yes, I’ll get the Amazfit Balance 2.

It's a bit understandable since if I get this correct there are 2 teams at Garmin (as long as wearables are considered): Outdoor and Fitness. Fenix belongs to the Outdoor and Forerunners to the Fitness. I guess Garmin released too many new products under the Fitness umbrella (FR970/570, Venu X1, HRM 600, Sleep Index). This makes support for all these a bit cumbersome, add to this the Summer and pottential summer breaks... Dunno but based on my experience with Garmin the FWs usually stablizes after 3,4 releases (still some minor nitpicks but overall good). This was very pronunced with the Fenix 8 for example. The Fenix 7x pro was great out of the box (based on older UI and stuff).

If you want to ditch FR970 for Amazfit cool but why dont you give the 965 a try - its a wonderful device. Or is the sapphire glass a must. Cheers.

It's Liam I am dealing with too. 

I think the Fenix 8 and new Forerunner share a lot of the same code. I thought the idea was that this would make it easy to fix issues. The challenge is the Fenix 8 still has issues! It seems there are too many options and features now which are just creating bugs everywhere.