I’m spending today and tomorrow wrapping up a few posts for later this week, including an in-depth review, the Annual Trainer Recommendations Guide (which frankly, might just be boiled down to ‘Buy anything you can actually find in stock’), and a few other new pieces of hardware to talk about. So, as outdoor light and time are limited, here’s a few things worthy of your attention for today.
Quarq Warning on Bitter Batteries:
Apparently, Quarq power meters don’t like bad tasting batteries any more than young children. Quarq sent out a service announcement last night indicating that Duracell’s new so-called “bitter batteries”, which have a bitter tasting coating to deter young children from putting them in their mouths, can cause issues with the company’s power meters.
Specifically, the CR2032 batteries can cause the LED to not function, cadence and power dropouts (including for extended periods of time), as well as the unit failing to wake up or pair. In other words, basically any type of failure you could conceive of, these batteries probably caused it. About the only symptom not on the list would be ‘power meter explodes’.
Duracell started shipping the new bitter coated batteries on their CR2032, CR2025, and CR2016 batteries this past September. So, if you happen to pick one of those up, beware it will probably dork with your power meter. And realistically, if Quarq is figuring this out – I’m going to take a guess other sensor companies won’t be far behind. It’s simply more likely that power meter users, being the typical Type-A personalities we are, are more likely to notice quirky things than those coming off heart rate straps or other sensor types.
Of course, there’s still gazillions of batteries out there, so it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid this for your power meter.
COROS New Sports & TrainingPeaks Firmware Update
COROS units are receiving a sweeping firmware update this week that will introduce a whole “boatload” of new sports (that’s how COROS phrased it, and it’s pretty accurate). All of these new sports focus on boating activities in some way, either through a vessel you’ll keep dry in, or one you’ll float atop the water but still probably get wet.
Here’s all the new sports:
- Rowing
- Indoor Rowing
- Flatwater
- Whitewater
- Windsurfing
- Speedsurfing
In this case, I lack all of these vessel types. Thus, my ability to cover them will be highly limited. Though, I suppose I do have a Stand Up Paddle Board for the new ‘Flatwater’ profile, which is designed for that. Given the bizarre semi-heat-wave we’ve got going on this week in the Netherlands, maybe I’ll take it out for a spin later in the week. Some of these profiles are pretty advanced – for example the Speedsurfing one has legit integration with Speedsurfing.com. Whereas the rest range in the data provided. For example, you’ll get stroke rate for rowing, but windsurfing has more basic data (it doesn’t appear to be tracking jumps or such).
In any case, here’s the data types, as stated by COROS, for each of the new sport profiles:
- “Speedsurfing
- Co-developed with the leading GPS website for windsurfers and authority for the specialized sport of Speedsurfing GPS-Speedsurfing.com. Speedsurfers are focused on achieving the fastest speed possible on the water. COROS is the only multisport watch brand to offer native integration available to this community of over 25,000 members. Direct sync to the GPS-Speedsurfing.com platform will be available before the end of the year, allowing speedsurfers from all over the world to compete for speed records.
- Data includes auto run detection, fastest speed, alpha speed, and more
- Windsurfing
- Wind Surfers will see data including Distance, Speed, Heart Rate, and other traditional metrics
- Whitewater
- Ideal for activities that involve a rapid downhill current such as Kayaking, Canoe Slalom, and rafting
- Data includes Stroke Count, Stroke Rate, Elevation, Speed, Distance, and more
- Flatwater
- Used for more calm water, like on lakes, ponds, or bays, good for measuring activities such as Stand Up Paddle Boarding.
- Indoor Rowing
- Compatible directly with the Concept2 indoor rowing machine (ergometer) via a Bluetooth connection
- Live data includes Distance, Stroke Count, Power, and more
- Rowing
-
- Rowers on the open water will receive data including Pace (per 500m), Distance, Stroke Length, Stroke Rate, and more”
However, that’s not all – the bigger news here for non-aquatic people is the integration of TrainingPeaks structured workouts from the TrainingPeaks platform. Previously, you could push a completed workout to TrainingPeaks, but not download a planned structured workout. Now you’ll be able to execute structured workouts a coach might put together on TrainingPeaks. That comes as part of a larger set of updates being made, including:
– Added TrainingPeaks training plan workout support
– Added TrainingPeaks individual structured workout support (for swim/bike/run/strength workouts)
– Added ability to group interval steps on structured workout for quicker duplication
– Added metronome function within the toolbox
– Added ‘Heading Up’ navigation option
– Increased activity detail on the ‘Summary’ card in app
Now, not quite all of these (aquatic + TrainingPeaks updates) will come to all units, and the dates vary a bit depending on which unit you have. The below table outlines everything pretty clearly.
Ultimately this is another solid update from COROS. We continue to see them increase functionality, and most importantly, take the Wahoo approach of largely rolling out those updates to all past units. I can see the logic here in keeping the Speedsurfing/Windsurfing for the higher end units, same goes for Whitewater. As for the original Pace, they previously noted they were simply up against hardware limitations there – specifically around space and processor power. The only update here for the original Pace is more on the app side than the firmware side.
In any case, I’ll try and take a crack at it later this week when a few of the smoldering things in the “comin’ in hot” pile simmers down a bit. But it’s clear that the already incredibly well priced $199 COROS Pace 2 becomes an even stronger competitor with this update.
Garmin FR245 & FR945 Feature Updates
Finally, we’ve got less of a surprise and more of a formalization. Back when the FR745 was announced in September, it brought with it three major new features to the Garmin lineup:
A) Running Track Mode
B) Daily Suggested Workouts for Running (Cycling was added with the Edge 1030 Plus in June)
C) Improved Recovery Time
At the time the FR745 was announced, Garmin noted these features would be rolled out to other watches including the Fenix 6, FR945, and FR245. With each unit receiving different levels. Well, the FR245 and FR945 both had their beta rollouts over the past few weeks, and now the final production firmware is making its way towards you.
Here’s the core new features each watch get:
- LiveTrack course sharing
- Improved recovery time
- Track running activity
- LiveTrack course sharing
- Improved recovery time
- Track running activity
- Daily suggested workouts
- Tacx smart trainer control
Now, all of the FR945 ones have already arrived on the Fenix 6 series, over the last month or two. So that’s already there today if you’ve got that. As usual, don’t expect these updates to come to the Fenix 5 or Fenix 5 Plus series. And by ‘don’t expect’, I mean, they’re definitely not coming. Equally, the FR645 isn’t getting them either.
For a bit more detail on each, I’ll just give a quick paragraph. I’ve got a longer piece I’m gonna circle back in on the Improved Recovery Time, as there’s a ton of nuance there that’s actually way more in-depth than anyone has really talked about yet (or anyone else in the industry is doing). It easily surpasses what both Whoop and Polar are doing, albeit, it just doesn’t make it as obvious as theirs since you can’t clearly see cause and effect.
LiveTrack Course Sharing: This was rolled out with the Edge 1030 Plus back in June, and is also slated to hit the Edge 530/830/1030 too shortly in production (it just launched in beta there last week). Essentially, it allows your friends and family to see your planned course as loaded into your device, in addition to where you actually are. The idea being your friends can see how you’re doing in relation to what you planned. Versus previously it just showed where you’ve gone to date. The planned route in blue below, actual in purple:
Track Running: I covered this in-depth in my FR745 review. But this will snap your track workout to the track, so you get perfectly round ovals every time. It’s brilliantly awesome. There’s a few more tweaks likely coming here that I’ll do a final update on shortly, but track mode in general (both from COROS and Garmin) is frankly one of my favorite features over the last year. There’s just something so satisfying about a perfect oval GPS track. I don’t know why.
Daily Suggested Workout: This was initially introduced on the Edge 1030 Plus back in June for cycling workouts, but has since been expanded to running workouts. When you open up the running or cycling sport page, it’ll suggest a workout for the day, based on your current load as well as recovery time aspects. Those are indeed tied together here. If you have crappy sleep the night more, combined with high load, it’ll even go as far as canning your workout for the day. Overall, I’ve found these workouts surprisingly similar to what I’d pick for myself. Not always perfect, but pretty darn close. However, keep in mind it doesn’t have/know about an end-goal in mind. So it’s mostly just training you for the sake of training and slowly incrementing load. But it doesn’t know if you’re training for a short distance event (like a 5K), or a marathon.
Improved Recovery Time: This is probably one of the more holistic sweeping changes being made, yet it’s something that’s super hard to visualize because almost everything is under the covers. Historically speaking, recovery time on a Garmin watch was purely a function of your workout data. Thus, you had basically two piles of data: Workout data (runs/rides/etc..), and 24×7 data (sleep/steps/stress). But those two never really met – just like they don’t really on Whoop either (load vs sleep, with no overlap), though they do to a limited degree on Polar. In any case, with this update, the recovery time recommendation that you can access from the widget roll is now dynamic based on sleep, stress, and daily physical activity.
The watch will actually increase or decrease the recommended recovery time based on your sleep quality, upon waking up. The same goes for stress, a high-stress day will increase recovery times, while a Netflix & Chill day will decrease times. Notably, daily physical activity (like steps) cannot decrease the recovery time, it can only add to it (as it should). However, Garmin notes that normal daily movement is good for recovery. They specifically stated they wanted to avoid a scenario though where after a 10 hour day standing at a trade-show that you’re then told to go do a sprint workout.
Overall, Garmin says that sleep is by far the biggest factor in the recovery time changes. Which of course is something that most athletes already know, but having a watch remind you of that, as I type this as 12:36AM, might be useful.
Finally, note that Garmin says if there’s a significant ‘life event’ during the day, specifically an exceedingly stressful day, the watch will actually proactively note that an adjustment to recovery is being made due to that event. I haven’t seen that yet, but perhaps my days aren’t stressful enough yet.
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With that – thanks for reading!
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Are other Edge devices (530; …) expected to get suggested workouts eventually?
Yes, that would be really very interesting?
would be fine!
I have a Fenix 6s Pro with lastest firmware update and I am getting in the last days a new chart in my Garmin Connect: cardiac drift. Do you know the meaning of this?
thank you
do you have a screenshot?
Attached. thank you
Interesting. It is a chart connected with activity? Or inside ‘My day’?
Thanks.
Interesting. Since is only a “feedback” wich is calculated from HR and pace, I wonder why it is not enrolled to all users. There are ConnectIQ data fields wich do show it during activity and save it to the fit file, but Garmin Connect could calculate it for every running activity you have in the system.
I wonder when it will be rolled out to all users.
isn’t that a ConnectIQ field ? I certainly don’t have it on my F6xpro with latest firmware.
I run with Stryd and Running dynamics power pod (yes, I am a cyber-runner).
It is a connect IQ field. I do not know why it is appearing now since the last 3 or 4 workouts (I made the firmaware update as soon as it was available, and I have made at least 20 workounts since then). At the same time, I can see also running power from Garming (besides power from Stryd) although I have not installed the Garmin IQ for power
It is a chart connected with an activity
I have a question which watch (garmin, coros, suunto) is for tennis. I have a garmin fr 935 who has no tennis activity. Although on the garmin connect website I can change the discipline and choose tennis, but garmin watches do not have this activity. I guess garmin doesn’t like tennis, sqaush, padel … (I don’t want app from garmin store apps)
Coros and Polar have Tennis activities. Not sure if they advanced enough to track strokes. Might be difficult to track as you sometimes change hands, and you wear your watch on your non dominant hand. Maybe Ray or Coros and Polar users can give the activity a try and let us know.
Following…
I use Sporttracks, which does have squash and tennis categories (and nice icons to go with them). No special tracking, only heart rate and GPS distance for tennis. Squash distance via foot pod is so depressingly low I stopped tracking that and give myself 6 miles each match. You can at least create Tennis & Squash apps on a Garmin watch.
why no firmware love for the FR645 ?
I’m also wondering about this, but I am afraid (meaning I don’t know for sure) Garmin has given up on this not so old (around 2.5 years) and pretty expensive (€400-450 around the introduction) piece of hardware. It has, at least in my experience, had bad GPS accuracy since the start, which has never really been fixed. It’s a pity, really.
So my theory (which I’m pretty confident in) is that the 645 was actually the last watch built on the Fenix 5/935 hardware+software platform — they all share the same OHR sensor, for example. So upon purchasing a 645, we weren’t buying the first of a x45 platform, we were buying the last of the previous generation. I’m quite sanguine about that — it’s still a great watch.
(The 235, 630, 735XT, and Fenix 3 are the gen before; evidently, some lines skipped platform generations, e.g. 920->935, 235->245)
Even though I don’t feel it is a great watch, it is an interesting clarification, Dan G. I didn’t know that, so thanks.
Yeah I agree, the GPS accuracy on the 645 (music) is atrocious.
There’s a firmware update today for the 645 giving it IQ 3.2.
No ideal what that means though regarding features.
Are structured workouts synced from TrainingPeaks using the Garmin Training API? This has not been working for Garmin for swim and strength workouts because TrainingPeaks did not support it. Has there been some development in that area?. Or are they using some other method for syncing?
“Compatible directly with the Concept2 indoor rowing machine (ergometer) via a Bluetooth connection.”
Love Coros for coming up with Track Mode, and Garmin for copying it. Hopefully they copy Concept2 compatibility as well. After the treadmill, it is the most widely used aerobic machine at gyms that I attend.
“Overall, Garmin says that sleep is by far the biggest factor in the recovery time changes.”
Guess this feature will only be fully baked once they release the Firstbeat Sleep update.
“But it’s clear that the already incredibly well priced $199 Pace 2 becomes an even stronger competitor with this update.”
Watch of the year. Might even be pushing to Garmin to update their Forerunner line. Shocked at the number of new features the 245 and 945 has received this year. The 245 offers incredible value with all updates.
Im with you:
When there where C2 PM4 Monitors on the rowers, one could use some really old Garmins like FR60? I never understood why Garmin axed the ANT+ profile for the older Gym equipments in its newer watches.
On PM5, ErgIQ is almost perfect but doesnt have access to all standard .fit datas
I think, Coros is putting some real pressure on Garmin, even if its not in the same volumes in sales. At work and in the gym, some people are eyeing there watches for replacing the next broken Garmin.
That might explain why my Stages has seemingly died, a brand new set of Duracell batteries, 1st one lasted one ride, second didn’t work at all.
thanks for the warning.
And again, yet another feature not coming to a obsolete and end-of-life fenix 5 Plus series… Garmin sales really are way too good to care about existing customers obviously.
Yeah, really sad. And it make me reconsider my future garmin product investment, this is my third product being abondoned way to fast
– Touring Edge (which acutally never had any quality into it – the FW really s*cks )
– Fenix 3
– Fenix 5+
It’s a product decision that I don’t really mind.
Every model has different hardware, and keeping firmware up to date across 40 models without serious regressions would be a hurculean task.
When buying a Garmin (or anything else), buy it for its current capabilities, not some feature you hope they’ll release.
Any new features are just a bonus 🙂
Why is it obsolete? Obsolete means it stops working.
Your 5+ will work further up the road like it did when you bought it, most likely even with better functionality and less bugs.
“Obsolete” and “EOL” were meant with sarcastic tone. As a digital product development expert with strong IT and electronics background, I’m more than sure, the hardware in 935/f5(+) is already there to support all the latest Garmin software and that “tough luck, no new feature for you – buy the latest device” attitude is purely business, not technological “issue”. As somebody already pointed out in the comments of one the previous posts, take Apple as an example – you can run the latest iOS on 5 y’o iPhone 6S.
I feel FR935 is abandoned… 🙁
The improvement of recovery time calculation is a nice improvement!
However, it would be great if Garrmin would finally include „external sessions“ (Zwift & co.) in calculating training status and recovery time. This is for me the last missing piece.
If you “dual record” your Zwift ride on your Garmin device and on Zwift (and then delete the duplicate Garmin synced activity from Strava if you use it) then it should be included
+1 for this, except a million times over, though with it you may not actually need a watch
Hi, one thing that Garmin could do is giving the options to not export some type of activity (indoor ride and threadmill run) when uploading. So you could dual record your indoor session why your preferred app to strava,… and the garmin device activity would stay only on Garmin site.
All others activity are uploaded to the third-party site.
How do you get suggested workouts based on power on the garmin like the picture above?
Is this just for cycling or running as well?
unfortunately power cannot be used for “native” Garmin run workouts, therefore it’s also not available for daily suggested workouts.
Well, it’s probably because Ray usually trains using power meters or in an indoor trainer
Daily Suggested Workout – ” just training you for the sake of training”. Perfect for 2020.
is there ever a day with a suggestion to rest? Or should i train 365 days? The “minimum” for me was a 45min easy run so far.
If you overtrain and are too stressed, it will tell you to recover that day. I have seen it a few days.
Correct, it will suggest rest days. In fact, I show a picture of that in this very post. 🙂
Would be interesting to know if sleep data from one Garmin (like a vivomove) can be used by the 245/945 to reassess recovery time…or do you have to wear the same device 24×7 to benefit from this feature?
It should if both devices have TrueUp on?
Because it is. Then again, the 645 is current and it is already abandoned.
How does one turn OFF the daily suggested work-out. Personally, not something I want. Just annoying.
Sorry for stupid question but this latest garmin 945 update has erased my maps. No maps show up on map pages. How to turn it back on?
Many thanks.
Ray, do feel that software updates not being released for yester-years models is hardware related (be it capability of the older hardware or complexity of making the software work on more and more variations) or s it a business decision (get consumers to buy the new model)?
If it’s the latter, do you know if Garmin has ever considered releasing new firmware against a premium? Be it a yearly fee, be it a premium membership for Garmin Connect.
I keep thinking that all the reasons I want a Garmin Fenix 6 for, are software related and not hardware related and that I would not mind paying say €20 per year to include all the latest features on all my devices.
Maybe I’m alone in this?
No sir, you are not. I’m on the same train with you on that.
It is all business. Garmin could even enable triathlon activities on running watches but don’t even allow user apps to do this (or make it hard to do so).
Once a model is released, Garmin typically just fixes bugs and doesn’t add new features. Compare that to Coros which just added new sports. Can’t blame them much as they need to generate revenue and that comes from sales of newer units.
They are among the best (and they know it) and provide a free website to track activities so they can get away with this.
I never understand the “Garmin never adds new features” line. This post is literally about Garmin adding new features, and to devices over a year old.
To answer the OP’s question, yes, it’s a conscious choice by Garmin to only add new features to the current hardware platform. I don’t have a particular problem with that; no-one is forced to buy Garmin. It is, of course, much cheaper to have sufficient software developers to develop and support a current platform, rather than multiple times more staff in order to develop and support previous platforms too.
A previous commenter mentioned Apple. Garmin has 1/100th the revenue of Apple; comparisons between the two aren’t really fair.
The way to become an Apple is to keep customers for longer (something… something about customer retention costs vs acquiring new customer costs). If Garmin had the same attitude towards their Aviation customer base they would have been out of business already. As others suggested – have an upgrade path (not necessarily free).
I am another disgruntled Fenix 5X Plus customer. My watch is less than two years old and I don’t feel the love. Coros will be on my shortlist when I replace this watch. It didn’t need to be that way.
Oh and for the record:
Garmin reports record third-quarter operating results; issues fiscal 2020 guidance:
Highlights for the third quarter of 2020 include:
• Total revenue of over $1.1 billion, a 19% year-over-year increase, led by robust growth in marine,
fitness and outdoor
• Gross margin and operating margins were 60.2% and 28.6%, respectively
• Operating income of $317 million, increasing 21% over the prior-year quarter
I think the challenge here is that while there are cases where I think Garmin is culling the herd a bit too soon, the reality is other comparisons just don’t hold water.
Apple: Oft cited, but easily forgotten that Apple basically locks you in on the phone (and now also, on services). They know – correctly so – that once you go iPhone, it’s very unlikely you’re going to switch to Android. And more importantly, once you have an Apple Watch, you’re *required* to have an iPhone. So now you’ve substantially increased your plot of land in the walled garden. Each friend or family member in your realm increases that further, as does things like computers.
Wahoo: This is the closest we have here on the bike computer side, and it’s a very valid comparison. Wahoo has done a great job at ensuring features trickle back to older units. But it’s also limited because frankly it’s just two units: BOLT and original ELEMNT. Compare that to the *on average* 12-20 different fitness/outdoor devices Garmin releases each year (ignoring things like sensors). Maintaining that long term is impossible. Whereas Wahoo has basically released one new bike computer every two years, with minimal feature tweaks between them to port back (more focused on form factor).
COROS: This is by far the best example on the wearables side, and COROS is doing great stuff here in ensuring continuity. That said, it’s probably just too soon to count those chickens. As we saw with this update, the original COROS Pace didn’t receive a firmware update here. As a reminder, that’s only two years old this past winter (Feb) – and in fact was announced at the same time as the FR645 in January 2018 at CES. The Fenix 5 Plus series was announced June 2018 – so 2.5 years old.
Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to see Garmin port features back. But more than that, I just want to see them have a known plan. I don’t even care what it is, but it’s just so arbitrary half the time, and as everyone has noted – like it or not (or even, correct/valid or not), consumers expect updates. So having a clear-cut set of guidance that ‘Hey, we’ll add all new features we can port for 2 years from announcement date’ would be ideal. Or something like that.
Oh – and as for including aviation gear, let’s remember that basically starts at $10K for most ‘consumer’ (GA, non-commercial) aviation gear that’s permanently fixed to the plane. And, since the certification process is far slower there, the market moves slower. No portion of the aviation segment is competing with competitors on a 1-year cycle.
Any idea why Garmin still insists that you do a workout/run/ride outdoors with GPS in order to see any of these features being tracked/shown? I run indoors on a treadmill with a Garmin Footpod, HRM Run strap but because the GPS is off I don’t get Training load, workout recommendations?
You do something wrong. Workout recommendations work for indoor as for outdoors. It doesnt matter if you select treadmill run or virtual run. As long as it is a running activity you opened, you can do a recommended workout.
The same for riding.
I cycle with indoor trainer and still get workout recommendations
Just looked at the pack of Duracell 2032 batteries I picked up at Costco this week. Sure enough, on the back of the package they mention “Bitter Coating”. Think these are going back to Costco. Not worth the risk.
I imagine it’s a coating that could be wiped off with alcohol or something. You could always give them a good rinse in isopropanol (better yet, ethanol, “Shaken, not stirred.”) and then give them a taste test.
Reading about another new feature my Fenix 5 won’t get just minutes after my iPad Pro told me it had updated to a new iOS version. I bought the iPad roughly a year before I bought the Fenix.
I’ve been thinking about getting a new watch but there’s no way I’ll get a Fenix 6 now because that means no new functions once the Fenix 7 hits at some point next year.
In respect to Garmin’s 245 recovery tool it appears the 245 will also get the new Sleep Widget from Firstbeat. Within Garmin’s 245 forum the rep for Garmin confirms this. Which would be massive and make the recovery tool so much more functional because right now Garmin’s sleep tracking is horrid and if that makes up the biggest part of recovery the tools fairly useless. Just like with Whoop and the heart rate sensor being garbage when active. It makes the daily workout strain number of no value.
That’s great you got a possible confirmation for that, because the website notes that the 945 and 745 will have advanced sleep tracking, a.k.a. firstbeat analytics, but the 245 just has “sleep tracking”. Did you confirm this recently? Thanks!
And yes – that would be a HUGE add to the 245
Yes, I just confirmed with Garmin that the FR245 is indeed going to get that sleep metrics update. Though, they warned that at present that’s delayed until they sort out the technical issues there for all the units.
This is from the forum on Garmin’s Site. Also by the way Fit Gear Hunter I love your YouTube channel. Keep up the great work!!
Garmin-Brooks
Garmin-Brooks 8 days ago in reply to Chris.E.Gati
Hi Chris, I hope to see the move, I work specifically with the Forerunner line so I can not confirm nor deny what is going on with the Outdoor devices or the Vivo line. As far as the Forerunner devices go it would be the Forerunner 245(M) the 745 and the 945. As far as the watches I work on to get Garmin Pay and the advanced sleep metrics based on what you mentioned it seems like the 745 would be the way to go.
That’s awesome! Lord the 245 is becoming an incredible value for the cost. Thanks so much for answering – and ignore the additional question I posted about the same.
And Brandon thanks so much! Just saw that.
I have firmware 5.0 on my 945 and after receiving an email from Garmin stating that the new features are available, I attempted to update the 945 using Garmin Connect (on my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra). When that did not seem to do anything I tried syncing with Garmin Express on my Mac, which also did nothing (no updates found). Next I tried downloading and installing the Forerunner 945 5.15 Beta. I transferred the files but that too did nothing (still on 5.0). Do I need to wait for Garmin to turn something on? They say it’s currently available to 100% of users.
Here I am, waiting for the 955, debating whether to get the 945. I wonder if I’ll be waiting till 2021
I’ve seen changes to recovery time a couple of times when I had a terrible sleep night, so I’m fired up that they are developing this approach because it is so simple of a concept that no one is properly implementing.
Quick question – any update on when Advanced Sleep is coming to the 945 or back to the 745?
Thanks!
Garmin has delayed it for the FR745 and FR945 while they sort out some issues they found in the larger test group when they rolled it out to the Fenix 6.
Thanks so much. And have you heard anything about the 245 getting the same updated Sleep analytics? Not listed on website like for 745/945. Thanks!
Garmin moderator stated it’s coming to the 245 as well in the forum thread for the 245M 5.20 update.
“Garmin-Brooks 12 days ago
Just wanted to get this update out there as there have been understandably a lot of questions about the sleep widget and when it is coming back. While preparing to release our new on-device sleep algorithm on Forerunner devices we found that some beta testers had more accurate results on the previous versions. As a result, we have removed the feature to further review results so our customers can ultimately have the best sleep algorithm experience. We are actively testing and verifying the algorithm on a wider audience and hope to release a public beta in the coming months. Thank you all for your patience as we continue to make improvements and listen to your feedback.”
Are there going to be tasting notes for batteries now?
On the nose: manganese dioxide, whiffs of tart cherry, bandaids
Palate: astringent/bitter, oily, black pepper, chinese pear
Finish: None, I spat it out…it’s a battery.
I thought the cover photo was a comment on some election that seems to be happening at the moment
Suggested Workouts do not take into account the quality of sleep, they are generated at exactly 00:00
My understanding is they can be cancelled though based on sleep. 🙂
Of course, but I would like them to be created or updated after the end of the sleep phase.
That’s fair and logical.
Though, maybe they are cross-checked/updated/tweaked again in the morning – let me check on that.
yep, my understanding is the same as Ray’s
one input to suggested workouts is recovery time/new recovery time
the new recovery time algorithm is updated when you wake.
the inference is that the workouts should be tweaked at the same time.
Mine today includes the comment “Active recovery or rest is suggested due to poor sleep last night”. This is accurate about the sleep, and implies pavlinux is getting what he wants. Try lying awake for hours worrying to test it ?
Anyway, here is something official by Garmin for Workout Suggestions:
link to garmin.com
Getting out for cycling with Fenix6x pro and Edge 830 and in the end i have two different trainings in Garmin Connect. Is there a way to merge them inside Connect or even better to do that automatically Garmin for me? Because if not anything in recovery time is wrong….
The battery issue may explain why I started getting dropouts on my Stages. I have it on a bike that sits permanently on my trainer, so absolutely nothing changed on my setup that has provided thousands of error-free miles. I immediately thought it could be bad USB cord, bad ANT+ stick, etc. but it turns out the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries have the same coating. The package does not promote it but the batteries themselves have the adult-child symbol on them.
In that case there are three presumed-dead items I need to pull out of the recycle box & re-test.
Kids swallow batteries, not for their taste, but because they look like candy.
Instead of changing their taste or making them coated, make the packaging or storage method safe and emphasize the parent’s responsibility…
Just a few days ago we got a case where 19pcs were swallowed…
Garmin Coach and Mothership Garmin need to coordinate more. I have written a letter to coach Amy 🙂 link to lab.janus.dk
Awesome letter. Please let this make the Week in Review article.
Very cool letter. Maybe Ray can add this to his Week in Review post.
I wrote to COROS few months back about Concept2. How great their equipment is and that them having a native support for it could differentiate them from the lack of support on the Garmin side.
First, I got some vague response that Concept2 doesn’t support integration of data into watches…. So pushed them and told them that this is not true that Garmin sort of supports BikeErg and that for sure Concept2 has power, speed, cadence output through ANT and BT. And after that COROS said that they will look into it.
Not sure if they were already working on this at the time and did not want to say it but if they indeed implemented this after my poke .. it would be impressive bacause that was Sept 1!
Anyway it is great to see this! This watch looks very good! I’ll consider it when updating my Garmin in this future.
Very impressed with Coros. Can you please write to them asking them to create a web platform.
What software version is the Garmin FR945 update?
link to gpsinformation.net
Thanks! Gotta check those new Coros modes when kayaking!
Trainings suggestions seem to be interesting. I would like to see that on Polar devices. FitSpark is ok, but the Garmin way with concrete power suggestions looks great to me.
I’m on a Fenix 6 and got the Training Suggestions. They’re horrible. I don’t like them and want to turn it off, but that seems impossible.
I guess I should add that I followed the suggestion by Garmin Technical Support (link to t.co). The issue is that I don’t get an Enable/Disable button at all, so now I’m forced to click through a workout that I’m not interested in before doing anything else.
I wasn’t keeping count, but after ~ten new Run Activities where a workout suggestion was declined my FR945 did prompt me if I wanted to continue getting suggestions. Perhaps you will be eventually be able to opt out on your device that way.
Maybe YOUR netflix and chill day will decrease recovery time…:)
I just popped a bitter tasting 2032 on my Stages 3g, worked fine.
My Garmin Hrm , then my Garmin speed sensor stopped working in 2020. I replaced batteries with the premium safety coated brand . They remained not working , I sent my fit file to Garmin , no reply yet . In 2021 I bought a kickr . Soon after I bought a new HRM. The cadence sensor stopped working . I replaced the battery , still not working . Wahoo customer service tips advised to use a non butter coated cell like a Panasonic battery . To resert the sensor , flip the battery for 3 seconds . This worked . The same 3 second flip and swapping Duracell for another brand revived my Garmin HRM, that had been out of action for over 6 months . I also have a Quarq power crank that was dropping out on zwift, ( removed battery a premium branded one like the others ) one time when I had a kickr drop out before I checked small print about having the ant+ Dongle on a long cable under your device . I understand the new kickrs are hardwired in to your computer . Have fun !
Thanks for sharing the valuable content with us. now check those new coros modes when kayaking!
Yes, that would be really very interesting!