Garmin targets Fenix 8 Pro battery drain with update 22.39

Garmin is rolling out system software 22.39 to the Fenix 8 Pro and Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED. It is a short release with two owner-facing fixes, one for possible battery drain and another for problems during voice calls.

Battery complaints have been around for weeks

The battery issue is the more notable of the two. Complaints first appeared while owners were running version 22.35, with some reporting that the problem continued after they moved to 22.38.

That update arrived in late June with fixes for crashes during golf activities, incorrect dive-depth behaviour and an LTE LiveTrack problem. It did not include anything related to power consumption.

Reports on Garmin’s forums described watches running down considerably faster than expected. Some owners found themselves charging every day or even more frequently, while Garmin support staff contacted affected users to gather information.

Version 22.39 is the first stable release to name a fix for the problem. Garmin describes it as a fix for “possible battery drain”, although it has not explained what was causing the watches to lose power so quickly.

The second change addresses possible problems during voice calls. Garmin has not provided any further detail, so it is unclear whether this relates to failed calls, dropped connections or another part of the calling experience.

Garmin says the staged rollout has reached 20% and will increase as it progresses. Owners who do not see version 22.39 immediately may therefore need to wait for it to reach their watch.

Only the Pro models are named

The announcement covers the Fenix 8 Pro and Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED. Garmin has not included the standard Fenix 8, Fenix E, Enduro 3, Tactix 8 or Quatix 8 in this particular rollout notice.

That is worth noting because some standard Fenix 8 owners have reported similar battery behaviour. It does not necessarily mean the watches share the same fault, but Garmin has yet to announce a corresponding fix for them.

Separate rollout notices are common across Garmin’s closely related watch families. Another release may follow, although there is currently nothing official to confirm that.

This is not a feature update, but it may prove more valuable than one for affected owners. A Fenix watch that suddenly needs daily charging loses one of its main advantages, so the early response to version 22.39 should quickly show whether Garmin has dealt with the problem.