My Favorite “looks” From the Latest Garmin Software Update.
A new software update for Garmin’s latest watches adds a “quick view” feature to data previously unavailable on the watch face. This includes battery usage stats, lifestyle tracking, sleep syncing, and even some advanced features like sports performance. The update also includes features beyond the quick view, including, crucially, fitness training. The features I’m writing about are now available on the Forerunner 570, Forerunner 970, and Vivoactive 6, as well as the Fenix 8 series, Venu 4, and X1. (The Forerunner 570 is shown in the photos.)
A new look for Garmin watches
“Glances” are small strips of data that appear when you scroll up (or down) from the main watch face—things like the weather and your workout status. Garmin’s latest stable update for the Forerunner 570 and 970 is version 16.28 , and it’s been rolling out gradually over the past week. (I just received it on my 570.) Here are my favorite new “Glances”:
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Battery usage : The new battery widget shows your charge level, of course, but tapping it will show you a graph of your battery life, including a long-term history of your battery usage, and a list of the apps or features that have been using the most power.
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Lifestyle Tracking : If you’ve already used the new lifestyle tracking feature in the Garmin Connect app, you can now do so right from your wrist. Here, you select a few health-related habits to track daily. The screen displays the number of items you’ve tracked, and you can quickly answer yes or no questions without opening your phone.
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Sleep Assessment : The sleep assessment tool has been around for a while, but it now includes more data, including your optimal sleep period and whether you’re meeting it.
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Sports Scores : You can select several of your favorite teams to get up-to-date results on your wrist. It’s surprisingly easy to set this up without even unlocking your phone: simply select a league (MLB, NFL, NCAA men’s or women’s, for example) and then scroll until you find the name of the city where your favorite team is based. Sorting by city rather than team name is convenient, especially if you select all teams from your hometown. This widget also appears to show the next game if your chosen team hasn’t played recently.
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Weight Tracking : This feature allows you to see your current weight, as well as view trends and history.
Other new features added by Garmin in the latest update.
Beyond the quick view feature, Garmin has added a ton of other features to its watch. According to the release notes, Garmin claims that pace readings (presumably while running) have been improved and made more responsive. I’m looking forward to testing this out. There are also color filters—instead of just turning on a red tint for nighttime, you can choose other colors.
Training plans have also received expanded capabilities. In addition to the standard running and cycling plans, there’s now a fitness coach, similar to the one introduced with the Venu 4. This allows you to create a plan that combines cardio and strength training, although I found that in the endurance training plans, the coach doesn’t actually specify the specific activity. Usually, when selecting my “basic endurance workout” planned for today, the watch offers a selection from my usual list of endurance activities: running, trail running, treadmill running, indoor cycling, and so on. The coach, however, simply instructs you to do an “endurance workout” or “cardio” for 20 minutes. You can choose to run, but you could also, for example, go hiking or use the elliptical.
As for strength training, I told my trainer that I have access to a full-size gym, so my next strength workout will include deadlifts and squats. This seems like a pretty good plan for someone looking to achieve overall fitness without planning to compete.