Garmin Fenix 8 Beta Adds Quick Workout Suggestions but Disables Diving and ECG — Climbing Crash Bug Reported

Garmin has released a new beta firmware for the Fenix 8 series that adds several useful features but comes with significant caveats — including disabled diving and ECG functionality and a new crash bug during indoor climbing.

New Features

• Quick workout suggestions: The watch can now suggest impromptu running workouts based on your recent training load and recovery status
• Dive computer settings sharing: Share dive configurations with other Garmin users via Garmin Share
• Map view toggle: Tap the touchscreen to switch between north-up and route-oriented map views during navigation
• Expanded volume controls: More granular audio adjustment for alerts and notifications

What's Broken

• Diving disabled: All dive computer features are non-functional in this beta — do not install if you use your Fenix 8 for diving
• ECG removed: Electrocardiogram recording and analysis are unavailable
• Indoor climbing crash: Garmin warns the watch may crash during indoor climbing activities — a known issue introduced in this build

Affected Devices

The beta is available for the Fenix 8 AMOLED, Fenix 8 Solar, Enduro 3, Tactix 8, and Quatix 8. As with all Garmin betas, you must opt in through Garmin Connect — the update will not install automatically.

What This Means for Buyers

If you rely on diving or ECG features, skip this beta and stay on the stable channel. The disabled features suggest Garmin is rebuilding core subsystems — possibly laying groundwork for the rumored Fenix 9 architecture. Current Garmin Venu 4 owners on stable firmware are unaffected. Browse all Garmin options in our smartwatch guide.