Cheaper Garmin smartwatch gets new stable update

The Garmin Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 smartwatches are receiving software version 9.19. Both of these cheaper running wearables were released earlier in 2026 (Forerunner 170 curr. $349.99 at Amazon). Features include an AMOLED display, GPS and Morning Report.

The release notes for Garmin Forerunner software version 9.19 indicate that this is a relatively minor update. It tackles an issue for treadmill related workouts, where the calibration feature was not working as expected. The company has not detailed precisely what was causing this issue, or how the bug has been resolved. 

This stable update arrives a month after the 9.17 release, which brought a new silent mode and a shortcut to access the keyboard layout menu. It also tackled a wide range of bugs with these wearables, fixing issues such as unexpected resets during activities or when viewing the evening report, and problems with syncing to Garmin Connect.

All users of the Garmin Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 smartwatches can now manually download the stable software version 9.19. To do this, users should go to the Main Menu > System > Software Update > Check For Updates. It remains to be seen when these watches could receive more new features.