Screen turns off during activity

After update 12.70, my display randomly turned off several times during a running activity. Sometimes it woke up with a gesture or by tapping on the screen.

It’s really inconvenient not to see the running metrics on the display, especially during intervals, when instead of focusing on the training I have to keep tapping the screen to wake it up.

My settings are unchanged from before the update: Focus mode → Activity → Always-on display → ON

Appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

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0 Fengos 2 months ago

Hey! The behaviour you describe sounds a bit like a bug but just in case it works, did you check that you display setting is set to "on"? This setting is different to the Always on Display and I only know two ways to access to it: either using the shortcut "Display", or adding this Display setting to your Controls via Garmin Connect. Try to toggle it and check if you had the Display on/off, because if it's is set to "off" it seems that the screen won't wake up even if you have the AoD turned on.

0 Andrea S. 2 months ago in reply to Fengos

Hi, I have the Always-on Display function enabled only during activities; for regular use I keep the display set to "off" to save battery. I’ve had the FR 970 since the end of May, when it was released, and I only noticed this issue yesterday during a run. A few hours before the run I had manually triggered the update to version 12.70.

During today’s run, the same problem occurred. Sometimes the display stays on for 10, 15.. minutes, then it turns off at a random time. It also randomly turned off while I was selecting a song from the playlist on the watch during the run.

I should note that this does not happen during strength training or mobility sessions, so far, I’ve only experienced it while running.

0 Vasili Khudoleyev 1 month ago in reply to Andrea S.

The same thing happened to me, there would be times when ill be running and the screen will turn off for 1-2 seconds. Extremely random. I hope we both dont have a defective unit, i hope this can be easily fixed with a software update

0 Garmin - SP 1 month ago

Please make sure to update the software to version 12.72 and perform a test run activity. If the update to 12.72 resolves the screen turning off during an activity please verify and/or upvote this reply.

0 Andrea S. 1 month ago in reply to Garmin - SP

I’ve had version 12.72 installed on my FR 970 since September 26, but the issue still persists. Since then, I’ve completed 11 runs (road or trail), last one today, and the screen has still been turning off randomly. I haven’t changed any settings, and the gesture mode is disabled.

0 Vasili Khudoleyev 1 month ago in reply to Garmin - SP

Unfortunately, the issue still persists — and actually seems to be happening more consistently now, which is extremely frustrating. I’ve tried everything suggested, including updating to 12.72 and even performing a full watch reset.

After the reset, the problems actually got worse. The microphone randomly stops working, the touchscreen often becomes unresponsive, and sometimes commands like the water ejection don’t engage properly — the watch shows the ejection animation but doesn’t activate the speakers at all.

I have to say, I’m really disappointed that a $750 watch is performing this poorly. I’ve been a loyal Garmin fan for years and previously owned a Forerunner 255, which never gave me a single issue. I expected this new model to be a big upgrade, but right now I’m honestly considering returning it and going back to my old Garmin, since it was far more reliable.

I really hope Garmin takes this seriously and pushes out a fix soon — it’s hard to justify keeping a flagship device that struggles to perform basic functions.

0 Vasili Khudoleyev 1 month ago in reply to Andrea S.

Same here — I’m on version 12.72 and the issue still happens, even more often now. I’ve tried everything, including a full reset, but it only made things worse.

The microphone stops working, touchscreen lags or freezes, and water ejection doesn’t engage (it just shows the animation). Honestly, for a $750 watch, this is disappointing. I’ve been a loyal Garmin user for years — my old Forerunner 255 never had problems — but this one has me seriously thinking about returning it.