Garmin is rolling out a huge update for its Fenix 7 and Epix watches that adds several features from the Forerunner 955 and 255, plus plenty of surprises that we've never seen in a Garmin watch before.
As DC Rainmaker reports, the new update is currently available as part of Garmin's public testing program as an alpha release. The program isn't yet available to all devices, but if you're interested in joining, sign into the Garmin Connect dashboard your web browser, click the 'Devices' icon at the top right, and select your watch. If it's supported, you should see a 'Join beta program' option that you can click to sign up.
The new update adds several new features from Garmin's latest watches, including native running power, daily training readiness, a morning report detailing your sleep quality and diary events for the day ahead, and race widgets to help you prepare for upcoming events.
Other additions detailed in Garmin's full description of the update include a new Stocks widget glance (visible as you scroll through glances on your watch), support for e-bike activities, a Cycling Ability tool carried over from the Edge 1040 bike computer, and the ability to disable temperature recording for an activity. It's not clear whether this last point will extend battery life in a meaningful way, but it will at least make your workout stats less cluttered in the Garmin Connect app if it's not a metric that interests you.
Brand new tools
There are also some new features coming that have never been seen on any Garmin watch before – none of which sound game-changing, but all of which should be useful. These include the ability to sort widget glances into folders to keep your watch's menus organized, and a 'What's New' screen that will allow you to see which features and tools have been added to your watch with the latest software version.
If you sign up for the public testing program and download the new update (alpha version 9.14) bear in mind that although it's close to public release, it might not work entirely as expected and there may be bugs. If you'd rather have the finished, polished experience, we're expecting the update to roll out in its finished form in the next month or so.
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