It’s that time of quarter where each of Garmin’s various fitness/outdoor product quarterly beta programs kicks into gear, and with it, we can see the first installment of new features for each watch. Last week they launched the first alpha for Fenix 7/Epix/Enduro 2/MARQ 2 watcheswhich brought a dozen new features, including Jetlag Advisor, more sport profiles, and expanded functionality for Race Day.
Last night, Garmin released the first Instinct Series 2 Alpha update in Garmin’s public beta program, which adds a number of features that other watches got in the previous quarterly update cycle (such as the wrist running power and grade adjusted pace (GAP). This is available for all Instinct 2 series watches.
As a reminder, Garmin has moved to the quarterly release pattern for feature updates, but that also includes bug fixes. As usual, further bug-fixing updates may occur outside of this schedule if needed – but major features are now released quarterly, and ideally all at the same time on all watches of the generation (or bike computers/etc…). As part of this, Garmin has its beta program for each device model. This beta program begins with what are known as “alpha releases” and then after what is usually 3-5 weeks, transitions to “beta releases”. Alpha builds need to be manually downloaded to your watch using a computer, while beta builds automatically appear on your watch via WiFi/Bluetooth. Both are part of the “beta program”.
If you want to join the beta program, You can do it hereor I have written instructions here.
What’s new:
Now, as with last week’s Fenix 7/etc series update, keep in mind that the first released Alpha of the Quarterly Update train ride tends to only be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of features. This means that they have historically added new features over time. For example, we don’t see Connect IQ System 6 yet in this set of updates, but we know it’s definitely coming. Damn, even the The Fenix 6 series also received an Alpha update for this yesterday. Same goes for unspecified gender support, which the Venu 2 team added to theirs. Alpha update yesterdayafter seeing it in other Alpha updates over the past week.
You can usually check out other alpha/beta versions of the product to get a pretty good idea of what’s to come. Obviously, not everything lands on every watch, but they do provide some clues. Also, again, this requires the cable to be installed, as this is an Alpha release. Whereas beta versions would go down wireless (and the image above would be more correct).
Here is the official list of changes for Alpha version 11.08:
Morning report added.
Added sleep mode.
Added Main Race and Race Schedule previews.
Added running power to the wrist.
Added suggested daily workout buffs.
Added rhythm adjusted according to the note.
Added Backcountry Snowboard activity.
Added Physio TrueUp – Workout Status Improvements.
Added RTS support for activity alerts.
Added temperature recording activity setting.
Updated phone app pairing flow to use PIN comparison.
Now, as a quick reminder, at the end of last month Garmin released firmware 10.10 (production) to the Instinct 2 series, which, although smaller than the list of changes for other watches, included a significant addition to the sports profile. It added Surfing/Windsurfing/Kiteboarding activities to *ALL* Instinct 2 series watches, whereas previously these sport profiles were only available on the Surf editions (which were functionally identical):
Added Surfing, Windsurfing, and Kiteboarding activities and the Tides app to all Instinct SKUs.
Added app-specific notification icons for the Garmin Jr. and Garmin Messenger apps.
Added an option to delete a copied activity from the device.
Added additional waypoint icons for new Garmin Connect waypoint types.
Added backlight behavior setting when a key is pressed while sleeping.
Improved power data screens by displaying heart rate in the dial.
Note that I only described the specific new features page, not the whole “enhancements/changes” area, nor all the bugfixes. All these are listed in full here (and here for the previous 10.10 production release).
Random Notes:
So, just a quick look through some of the features. Some of them are self-explanatory, and some of them are worth a quick tap. The Morning Report has been around since the Forerunner 255/955 days and is now also part of the Fenix 7/Epix/etc series. It covers the day ahead, as well as last night’s sleep. It will show things like scheduled workouts, HRV status (which the Instinct 2 series received in an update last summer), as well as the weather. You can customize this on the Instinct 2 in the settings menu (Settings > Appearance > Morning Report):
Then there is sleep mode. This is a subtle but super useful feature that was introduced with the Fenix 7 series watches a year ago, and basically has a minimal watch face:
They added wrist-based running power, which made the difference for virtually every other current-gen Forerunner/Outdoor watch in the last quarterly update, but the Instinct 2 didn’t quite make it through the finish line. Wrist-based running power means you no longer need an external Garmin sensor to get running power data. It also gives you a bit more flexibility to choose what running power data you have (external vs. wrist Garmin sensors, or just off). This is useful for Stryd users who just want to turn off Garmin running power values, as they won’t be the same as their Stryd sensor.
I have already made comparisons of the Garmin running power at the wrist when exiting. In short, it is basically the same as the existing external sensor in terms of numbers.
Beyond that, most of the other changes are pretty straightforward. You see the item listed: “Added Physio TrueUp – Workout Status Improvements” in the firmware notes. In the case of last week’s update, this was the start of syncing more metrics through Physio TrueUp, including HRV status (this and Body Battery have not synced to date). It also meant removing the toggle for Physio TrueUp, as Garmin is moving towards a model where it’s just always on, for everything (similar to what other companies have done).
In the case of the Instinct 2 and HRV Sync, it looks like the plumbing groundwork is laid. This Instinct 2 spent the night in the DCR Cave turned off in a box (without firmware update). While on my wrist was the Epix, which was tracking the HRV. After updating the Instinct 2 and letting it sync, I can see some details about the VRC status reported:
Like the Fenix 7 HRV Physio TrueUp Sync Bits last week, it’s clearly unfinished. The actual HRV status tag is missing, along with the night details. But I see at least the singular value shown (a record night for me, no less… apparently this wine was strong!). Again, looking at the model when Garmin introduced the workout readiness features to the Outdoor line last summer, they worked in pieces, adding one piece at a time with each beta update.
And finally, they’ve added the Race Calendar and Main Race widget previews, which show your upcoming races, along with details about those races, including expected finish times.
Unfortunately, my work to find a transparent image of Santa for this race was unsuccessful, as it doesn’t appear that the Instinct 2 supports the race logo/image feature like some of the other watches. Win some, lose some.
With that, thanks for reading!
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