Garmin releases new update to Fenix 7 and Fenix 7 Pro flagship smartwatches with heart rate monitor improvement

Various updates have arrived for the Fenix 7 (curr. $519.99 on Amazon - renewed) in the last few weeks, all with 17.1x build numbers. Initially, the company delivered Beta Version 17.10, which replaced Beta Version 16.22. Following that, it issued Beta Versions 17.12, 17.14 and 17.15 in quick succession. Unusually, some newer beta updates appeared to lack many of the changes that their predecessors contained.

Unfortunately, Beta Version 17.16 continues in that vein, with only four changes listed from Beta Version 16.22. However, earlier builds were said to feature dozens of bug fixes, new features and refinements. Thus, it is unclear if these remain or have been silently rolled back.

At any rate, the improvements that Garmin lists in its Beta Version 17.16 changelog are new and have not been featured in any previous 17.1x beta update. Hence, Garmin may have meant Beta Version 17.15 when mentioning Beta Version 16.22 in its forum post. For reference, Beta Version 17.16 is said to make the following improvements for Fenix 7 smartwatches and their peers:

• Added ability to disable dynamic source switching in wrist heart rate menu when paired with HRM.
• Fixed issue with DSW only showing the current day's DSW.
• Fixed potential issue that would occur when uninstalling a Connect IQ watch face.
• Fixed potential issue with downloading large music playlists.