Is your Garmin watch detecting too many naps? You're not alone, but a fix is coming

By Cat Ellis
published

The company says improvements to nap detection are coming next month

Man checking sports watch outdoors
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Last year, Garmin introduced nap detection to several of its GPS watches – a long-awaited feature that many athletes had been requesting for years. Generally it works well, but some users (me included) have found that it's a little too sensitive, recording naps when you're chilling out, but definitely awake.

It's not something I've experienced with my Garmin Fenix 7, but while testing the recently released Forerunner 165, I've been accused of having the sleeping habits of a domestic cat, spending three hours a day in aimless snoozing. One nap was even logged while I was having a dental checkup. I'm fortunate not to suffer from dental anxiety, and the chair is comfy enough, but I don't think I could actually nod off in it. I do have a fairly low resting heart rate, but it's not crazy for someone who enjoys running.

These false positives aren't a big deal with the Forerunner 165, but for watches with Garmin's useful Sleep Coaching, false naps would affect your estimated 'sleep need' (how many hours of rest you should aim for overnight). Not the end of the world, but it makes the feature a little less useful.

Several hours of napping logged on Garmin Forerunner 165 watch

I'll admit that I didn't have the most active evening, but I wasn't quite that lazy (Image credit: Future)

I'm not the only one who's experienced this. On Garmin's support forums, one Epix (Gen 2) owner reported that time spent relaxing on the couch was being counted as napping, while an owner of a Forerunner 255 found that their watch recorded a nap while they were sitting quietly reading a book.

It's not currently possible to disable nap tracking, or adjust its sensitivity. Not can you edit or delete naps once they have been logged. However, the good news is that a fix is coming, and we won't have to wait too long. 

"Improvements to the nap detection features are anticipated to become available sometime during March next month," wrote Garmin team member Cody on one forum post.

"Your patience while improvements are being made to the feature is much appreciated, for those experiencing concerns with naps either not getting detected, or those experience with naps being tracked while not sleeping. In the meantime, more info can be reference on the Frequently Asked Questions About Tracking Naps support page on the site."

Cat Ellis
Cat Ellis
Editor

Cat is the editor of Advnture, She’s been a journalist for 15 years, and was fitness and wellbeing editor on TechRadar before joining the Advnture team in 2022. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better), usually wearing at least two sports watches.