Garmin releases major new update for older mid-range smartwatches with swimming activity improvements

Garmin has begun rolling out a new Public Beta update for its Forerunner 255, Forerunner 955, Forerunner 165, Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 965 smartwatches (curr. $449.99 on Amazon). Specifically, the company has issued Public Beta Version 27.05, which follows Public Beta Version 27.03 that was exclusive to the Forerunner 165.

According to Garmin, it is distributing its new firmware in a phased rollout. Thus, it may be a few days before Public Beta Version 27.05 becomes available to download. With that being said, the company claims to have already reached a 50% rollout percentage. As with previous beta cycles, users enrolled in Garmin's Beta Program can request the update manually by tapping 'Check for Updates' and bypassing the company's phased rollout process.

Across a series of forum posts, Garmin indicates that the update should resolve several crashes that could occur during swim activities. Moreover, Public Beta Version 27.05 is also said to resolve various other bugs while making multiple other undefined improvements too. Unfortunately, Garmin has not clarified when v27.xx development will reach stable status. Nonetheless, we would be surprised if a new stable update landed before the end of the year.