Image source: Garmin

Garmin Forerunners naps & sleep insights exit Beta

A new firmware update is currently rolling out for the Forerunner 955, 965 and 255 and 265 which adds naps, personalised sleep insights, red shift mode and more. This is the same update that was released to those in the Beta programme about a month ago.


What has changed?

The software is dubbed 17.24. And it brings with it a number of important changes.

The big news is improved sleep tracking. All of these Forerunners are finally getting nap tracking functionality. It is a long time overdue. As far as the sleep insights, don’t get too excited. It is not the Sleep Coaching feature that is available on the Venu 3. Which tells you exactly how much sleep you need to recover. Rather, it is just enhanced sleep insights.

Essential readingTop fitness trackers and health gadgets.

Other than that, users also get the option to use Red Shift mode. This is reserved for the 265 and 965 as they have AMOLED displays and the other timepieces do not.

Beyond changing the watch face to black and red, Red Shift alters the entire interface to red hues. The mode aims to preserve night vision and minimize sleep disruptions. All features remain accessible in this mode, but some screens may show reduced contrast. You can enable Red Shift through various options including the control menu and hot keys. The feature complements existing sensor capabilities to adapt the display based on activity and lighting conditions.

Another enhancement worth a special mention are improvements to body battery. Garmin refers to this as Enhanced Body Battery. Essentially, the change here is that you can now see how individual daily events such as stress, rest and activities impact your battery. All of this is colour coded and we suggest viewing the detailed insights in the Garmin Connect app as the large display makes the information much more compelling.

Garmin enhanced body battery

The change-logs

Here is the 255 change-log:

  • Adds the Nap glance.
  • Adds new functionality to body battery.
  • Adds inline skating.
  • Adds large font mode.
  • Adds stress alerts, rest alerts, and a daily summary to the Body Battery settings.
  • Adds new activities for team sports, racket sports, and more.
  • Shows images in phone notifications (Android only).
  • Improves course navigation for courses with a large number of course points.
  • Improves course navigation for turn notifications.
  • Various bug fixes and UI improvements.

In addition to those changes, the 955 also gets:

  • Adds up ahead voice prompts.
  • Adds a setting to add a location for weather data.

This is the 265 change-log:

  • Adds the Nap glance.
  • Adds new functionality to body battery.
  • Adds inline skating.
  • Adds large font mode.
  • Adds stress alerts, rest alerts, and a daily summary to the Body Battery settings.
  • Adds new activities for team sports, racket sports, and more.
  • Adds the Red Shift control, which changes the display color to red, green, or orange to preserve night vision in low light.
  • Shows images in phone notifications (Android only).
  • Improves course navigation for courses with a large number of course points.
  • Improves course navigation for turn notifications.
  • Various bug fixes and UI improvements.

Finally, the 965 also gets:

  • Adds up ahead voice prompts.
  • Adds a setting to add a location for weather data.

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Marko Maslakovic

Marko founded Gadgets & Wearables in 2014, having worked for more than 15 years in the City of London’s financial district. Since then, he has led the company’s charge to become a leading information source on health and fitness gadgets and wearables.

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