Cheaper Garmin smartwatches receive new major update release

Garmin is now offering a new major software update to the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 (curr. $274 on Amazon). Cheaper than the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970, the pair debuted in May for less than $300 apiece.

Since then, Garmin has been gradually refining v9.xx software for both smartwatches on its stable distribution channel. Simultaneously, it has been offering v18.xx builds to beta testers, culminating in Beta Version 18.19 at the end of August. Now, Garmin has brought both smartwatches onto Software Version 18.19, skipping all interim revision numbers in the process.

Nonetheless, the new stable update only introduces two overarching changes to the Forerunner 70. Of those, one merely refers to fixing multiple ‘minor’ but unspecified issues. Additionally, Software Version 18.39 should ensure that quiet alarm starts work as expected again.

The same changes are available on the Forerunner 170 too, except for Music variants with Wi-Fi connectivity. By contrast, the latter have also received a fix to stop voice alerts from sounding in silent mode. In a series of forum posts, Garmin claims to have already issued Software Version 18.29 to around 20% of Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 smartwatches running stable software.

Typically, the company takes a few days to complete a major software rollout. In the meantime, one can skip Garmin’s phased rollout by navigating through the main menu to System and then Software Update on a Forerunner 70 or Forerunner 170, before tapping ‘Check for Updates’. Please see Garmin's forum for more details.