New Garmin watch face arrives in beta smartwatch update

The Garmin Instinct 3, Instinct E, and Instinct Crossover smartwatches are receiving new beta software. The last update in the 13.xx testing cycle, version 13.15, arrived in mid-January 2026. On the same day, the company released stable system software 12.26 to all users of these wearables, bringing support for the new Xero C2 Chronograph (curr. $699.99 at Amazon).

Now, Garmin is rolling out beta version 13.18 to users of the Garmin Instinct 3 and related smartwatches. For all users, there are said to be various bug fixes and minor improvements; no specific details are provided.

However, the Garmin Instinct Crossover smartwatch also gets a new watch face design with the beta version 13.18 release. Unfortunately, the company has not named or described this watch face in the change log or provided an image showing what it looks like. Alongside this, Instinct Crossover smartwatch users are also receiving a bug fix. This resolves a problem that some users experienced when setting the weight in a Strength activity.

In a recent post in the Garmin Forum, the company stated that it had pushed beta version 13.18 to around 50% of users of the Instinct 3, Instinct E and Instinct Crossover smartwatches. It did not confirm when this over-the-air (OTA) rollout would be complete.