Garmin Epix (Gen 2) connection issue – fix coming in mid-May

A number of users have noticed that their Garmin Epix (Gen 2) goes into a loop of connecting and disconnecting to their smartphone and/or headphones. Garmin has confirmed that this is an issue and that a fix will be coming in mid-May.

The problem was first reported on Garmin Forums some two months ago. Users noticed that their new watch would sometimes repeatedly connect to their smartphone and then after a few seconds reconnect for no apparent reason. This type of behaviour usually happens at least three times in a row before subsiding.

The issue is not a big one since the Epix 2 reconnects quickly. But it is an annoyance to have the device on your wrist repeatedly buzzing with disconnected/connected alerts!

For some users the bug crops up on a daily basis. It sometimes occurs even when the watch is right next to the phone – so the Epix 2 is well within the Bluetooth range.

Restarting your phone and watch might resolve it for a while – but it typically crops up again for those seeing the problem. Another temporary fix is switching the Bluetooth off and on on your mobile. A more permanent fix is going into settings and turning off phone connection alerts. But that’s not ideal as some people like to be notified if they leave their smartphone behind.

Essential reading: Garmin Epix 2 vs Fenix 7 – should you upgrade?

The frequent disconnect/connect bug doesn’t seem to be device related. Users of Samsung, iOS, Android phones have all reported the annoying behaviour. There are a few reports of this type of thing even happening with connected headphones. Which is an even bigger annoyance. And it leads to the conclusion that the issue has something to do with the Epix (Gen 2) watch itself.

Garmin confirms it is working on a solution

A few days ago, one of the Garmin employees has confirmed that there is, indeed, a bug. He posted the following on the company’s forum pages.

A change that will prevent frequent connection alerts should be in the next update coming mid-May.  

Our engineers are working on resolving the issue. I will update when there is an official update.

So, there you have it folks. This confirms that frequent connect/disconnect is a software issue rather than a defective Bluetooth chip or another hardware problem. And that you’ll have to put up with the annoyance for a few more weeks. But a fix is definitely coming.  The Fenix 6 also had a similar problem when it was initially released. But then it was fixed via a firmware update.

If you’d rather not wait for mid-May, you can download the v8.14 Beta software update that apparently address the bug. Reports, so far, are that the Beta is not perfect at fixing it, but that it is better than before. Hopefully, by the time the public release is ready the issue will be ironed out for good. For info, the Beta (and upcoming public release), comes with a massive list of other updates (v8.13 change-log, v8.14 change-log).

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