Garmin Investigates Reports Of GPS Bug Bricking Its Smartwatches

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A growing number of Garmin activity watch users are reporting watches being rendered unusable when powering up or when starting a GPS track. Many owners also report their watches displaying a blue triangle before their watches seized to function. The source of the issue is unknown, but Garmin's troop of support and development teams are definitely buzzing around working on a permanent solution today. Until then, the company believes power-cycling the affected watch could restore functionality.

There's a widespread problem causing Garmin watches (from users in UK, US, India, and France, so far) to freeze or brick. The cause is still not known, although we could be looking at a backend network problem or a firmware/software bug that decided to rear its ugly head. Early indicators suggest that the bug isn't universal to the entire Garmin lineup, but that doesn't mean the affected device list won't grow from those reported so far:
  • Epix Pro Gen 2
  • Fenix 7 and Fenix 8
  • Forerunner 165, 255, 265, 955, and 965
  • Lily 2 and Lily 2 Active
  • Venu 2 and 3
  • Vivoactive 5

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Garmin blue triangle of death. (Credit: AdiVegas via Reddit)

Garmin has acknowledged the complaint and is currently working on tracking down the cause and creating a permanent fix. There's now a red banner at the top of the company support page stating, "We are researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. Holding the power button until the unit powers off, then turning it back on may restore functionality temporarily. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available." 

Based on customer feedback, this temporary fix is quite literally temporary, because most, if not all, report the return of the blue triangle and/or freezing. Some owners have had some success factory resetting their watches, which turned out to be short-lived when the devices were required to pair with the app.

Considering how much (and quickly) this is affecting the Garmin community, we suggest that even if your watch isn't one of the affected, it's probably best to hold off on any GPS activity tracks or device reboots, which seem to initiate the bricking in the first place.