Garmin has announced a substantial software update for several of its popular smartwatch lines, bringing features previously exclusive to the Fenix 8 series to a broader range of devices. The update includes enhanced gear tracking, course planning tools, sleep insights, and new accessibility options that significantly expand what older devices can do.
Gear Tracking Gets a Major Upgrade
The most significant addition for athletes and adventurers is a completely revamped gear tracking system in Garmin Connect. This addresses one of the most requested features from serious athletes who need to track equipment wear over time.
Expanded Gear Types
Users can now track an expanded list of gear types including:
- Running shoes
- Skis
- Bike components
- Wheelchairs
- And more, with the ability to include notes and photos
Collections and Database
The update introduces gear collections, allowing users to group multiple items together and assign them to the same activity type. Additionally, Garmin has built a gear database directly into Garmin Connect, making it easier to find specific shoe brands and bike models without manual entry.
Automatic Assignment
Auto-assign gear to specific Garmin Connect activities to track stats automatically—saving time and ensuring consistent tracking across all workouts.
Wrist-Based Tracking
Perhaps the most exciting addition: users can now track their gear stats and see a progress bar showing how close their gear is to the end of its life directly from their compatible Garmin smartwatch. This is particularly valuable for runners who want to replace shoes at the optimal time to prevent injury, or cyclists tracking brake pad and tire wear.
Course Planner
Previously seen only on higher-end Fenix models, course planner is now rolling out to more devices. This feature is invaluable for race preparation:
- Cut-off times: Set time goals for each segment
- Rest plans: Plan recovery breaks into your race strategy
- Checkpoints: Mark key locations along the course
- Aid stations: Know exactly where support will be available
The course syncs to the watch for on-wrist guidance during the race, making this essential for ultramarathoners and ironman participants who need detailed pacing strategies.
Sleep Alignment
Garmin is expanding its sleep tracking capabilities with sleep alignment—a feature that shows users how aligned their sleep is with their circadian rhythm. The feature also displays sleep consistency directly on the watch, helping users understand not just how long they sleep, but how consistent their sleep patterns are.
This builds on Garmin's existing sleep tracking and adds a layer of insight that can help users optimize their rest schedules for better recovery and performance.
Lifestyle Logging on Wrist
A significant convenience update: users can now log behaviors like caffeine and alcohol intake directly from their watch. The lifestyle logging feature then shows how these choices impact sleep, stress, and heart rate variability—giving users concrete data on how their daily habits affect their recovery.
This is particularly useful for athletes who want to understand the real impact of their evening coffee or post-race celebration on their recovery metrics.
New Accessibility Features
Garmin has added several meaningful accessibility improvements:
- Spoken data: Hear the time of day, health data, and more spoken directly from the watch face
- Hourly alerts: Get audible alerts for the start of each hour
- Color display options: New color modes for various forms of color blindness including gray scale, red/green, green/red, and blue/yellow combinations
These additions show Garmin's commitment to making their devices work for a broader range of users.
Mixed Session and Fitness Coach
The popular mixed session feature—first introduced on the Fenix 8—allows athletes to track multiple activities in one session rather than saving separate activities. This is ideal for brick workouts, adventure races, or any multi-discipline training session.
Garmin Fitness Coach provides personalized workout plans based on fitness level, activity history, and background information. Plans include:
- Time duration workouts
- Heart rate-based cardio workouts varying in intensity
- Optional strength workouts
- Over 25 activity types to choose from
This brings personalized coaching to devices beyond the premium Fenix line.
Other Notable Updates
Trucking Features
New features specifically for professional truck drivers help them stay connected, track health metrics, follow workouts that fit into standard break times, manage schedules, and enjoy extra convenience at travel plazas—all from their watch.
Varia Voice Alerts
Cyclists can now get audible alerts from their paired Varia radar directly on their smartwatch, letting them know about approaching vehicles. This improves safety without requiring riders to look at a screen or wear separate audio equipment.
Compatible Devices
The update is rolling out to:
- Venu X1
- Vívoactive 6
- Fenix 8 Pro
- Forerunner 570
- Forerunner 970
- And more
Users can update by enabling automatic updates in their device settings and syncing with Garmin Connect, or by using Garmin Express on desktop.
What This Means for Garmin Users
This update demonstrates Garmin's commitment to long-term software support. Many of these features first appeared on the Fenix 8 series but are now available on devices that are nearly a year old. For users who bought a Forerunner 570, Venu 3, or Vívoactive 6, this is a significant value addition that keeps their devices competitive with newer models.
The Gear Tracking Revolution
The gear tracking enhancement is particularly noteworthy—it addresses a long-standing request from serious athletes who want better lifecycle management of their equipment. Being able to see shoe wear progress directly on the wrist without pulling out a phone is a quality-of-life improvement that makes daily training easier.
For competitive runners, knowing exactly when to replace shoes can prevent injury and optimize performance. The old method of guessing or counting miles is primitive compared to having your watch tell you exactly how much life is left in your soles. Cyclists benefit similarly—tracking brake pads, tires, and chain wear from the wrist means no more manual spreadsheets.
Sleep and Recovery Insights
The sleep alignment and lifestyle logging features bring advanced health insights to the mid-range devices, blurring the line between premium and mainstream offerings. Understanding how a late-night coffee affects your next morning's recovery gives athletes data they can act on.
Accessibility Matters
The new accessibility options show Garmin is thinking beyond typical athletes. Color blindness affects approximately 8% of men, and having watch options that work for them is important. The spoken time feature helps visually impaired users get value from their devices.
Competitive Strategy
This wave of updates also signals something about Garmin's competitive strategy. With Apple and Samsung pushing annual upgrades, Garmin's approach of continuously improving existing hardware is a powerful differentiator. When someone buys a $500 Forerunner 570, knowing they'll get meaningful updates two years later makes that purchase easier to justify.
What Wasn't Included
Notably absent from this update: advanced AI-powered training insights. Garmin seems to be taking a cautious approach, rolling out features only when polished. Also missing: new mapping features beyond course planner.
How to Update
The update is rolling out now over the next few weeks. Users should enable automatic updates in device settings, sync with Garmin Connect, or use Garmin Express on desktop.
The Bottom Line
This is one of the most substantial feature updates Garmin has released for mid-range devices. The gear tracking alone justifies the update, and combined with sleep alignment, course planner, and accessibility features, it makes a compelling case for choosing Garmin over competitors who leave older devices behind.