Latest Garmin watch update brings good news for Fenix 6 and MARQ owners

Garmin has released a new beta firmware for the Fenix 6, and Marq watches. It fixes a bunch of bugs and adds a handful of features. This is the v23.80 software, which arrives roughly a month after the previous v23.10 beta version. 

The easiest to appreciate new Garmin Fenix 6 and Garmin MARQ feature the software brings is a “backcountry snowboard” tracking mode, and it also adds an Exercise Load graph. This is a visual representation of how much strain a workout will have put on your body. It’s a bit like a single-session version of the Training Load stat.

Other features seen in the v23.80 update are more like behind-the-scenes tweaks and bug fixes. For example, the activity profile limit has been increased to 75 from the previous limit of 60. This limit won’t have impacted all that many Fenix 6 owners, but will have been a major pain for those it has.

The Garmin Fenix 6 and MARQ now have an improved altimeter calibration process, one that takes into account weather forecast data to compensate for natural changes in air pressure. Garmin appears to have increased the ways to get to the watch’s settings menu, too, “via the Activity List, Hot Key, and Power Controls.”

The software’s release notes also detail the process of Incident Detection, suggesting it has been tweaked slightly, most likely to bring it in line with that of newer watches like the Garmin Fenix 7X and the recently released second-generation Garmin MARQ watches. This is a beta software release, meaning you need to be signed up for Garmin’s Beta program to get involved. You do this from the Garmin Connect website rather than the phone app. 

Head to Garmin Connect, log in using your Garmin account and then click/tap the wearable icon in the top-right of the screen. Select your Garmin watch in the pop-up, and you should then see a “join beta software program” shortcut. Read more about the v23.80 update at Garmin.