Garmin has pushed Public Beta Version 29.52 to its six-model mid-range Forerunner family today, delivering a universal widget-loading speed improvement and a targeted battery-estimate correction for Forerunner 965 owners who run the always-on display. If you are enrolled in the Garmin Beta Program on any of these watches, you can pull the update manually right now.

The affected models are the Forerunner 965, 265, 165, 955, 255, and 255 Music.

Garmin’s official FR965 changelog post for this release includes two items:

Improved quick-view widget performance — applies to all six models. Owners who scroll through their watch’s glance stack — the rapid sequence of data screens accessible from the watch face — have reported a brief lag between pages on these watches. Version 29.52 addresses that loading delay across the entire Forerunner family.

Always-on display battery time estimate fix — applies to the Forerunner 965 only. The power-saving menu on that model was projecting inaccurate remaining battery time when the always-on display mode was active. The estimate now reflects actual consumption.

Why the Forerunner 965 Has an AOD-Specific Bug the Others Do Not

The Forerunner 965 is the only model in this six-watch family to feature a 1.4-inch AMOLED display. The 265 uses a smaller 1.3-inch AMOLED, the 165 has a 1.2-inch AMOLED, and the 955 and 255 use Garmin’s older MIP (Memory-in-Pixel) transflective screens.

That display difference is precisely why the always-on display battery estimate error only surfaced on the 965.

AMOLED pixels produce their own light, and their power draw is content-dependent: dark pixels consume near-zero power, while bright ones draw at maximum. A dark watch face in always-on display mode will drain the battery at a meaningfully different rate than a bright one. MIP displays, by contrast, reflect ambient light and maintain a relatively constant power draw regardless of what is on screen — making battery estimation comparatively straightforward.

Garmin rates the Forerunner 965 at up to 23 days in standard smartwatch mode (raise-to-wake). Enable always-on display, and that figure drops to approximately 7 days — a reduction of roughly 70%, cutting endurance to less than a third of standard mode. The firmware bug introduced before 29.52 meant the power-saving menu’s projected remaining time did not accurately model that content-dependent draw. Version 29.52 corrects the power model so the estimate matches what the watch actually consumes with AOD active.

The Technical Backstory on Widget Speed

All six of these Forerunner models are built on ARM Cortex-M–based microcontrollers — specifically NXP’s i.MX RT crossover family, as confirmed by third-party hardware teardown. Unlike the system-on-chip designs found in smartphones, these MCUs handle all display rendering on the same CPU cores that manage sensor polling, GPS processing, and application logic. There is no discrete graphics processor to offload frame updates.

That architecture means the widget scroll pipeline competes directly with everything else the watch is doing. When the render loop is not fully optimized, the brief stutter that results is a predictable consequence of the CPU’s workload rather than a hardware deficiency. Garmin’s fix in 29.52 targets that render path specifically — an optimization in software to what the hardware cannot handle in dedicated silicon.

Context: Where 29.52 Falls in the v29 Cycle

The v29 firmware cycle for this family opened with Garmin’s v29.04 beta release in early August, which introduced a set of bug fixes confirmed across this model family before a phased rollout. Version 29.05 followed on August 21, 2026 as a new beta update, addressing a strength-record sync issue with Garmin Connect and a configuration problem affecting heart rate and power fields in Garmin Connect Mobile per Notebookcheck’s v29.05 coverage.

Beta Version 29.52 is the first active beta release since that late-August update — roughly two months of beta silence before this release.

How to Get Version 29.52

This update is part of the Garmin Public Beta Program and will not appear on watches that are not enrolled. Garmin typically begins a beta rollout at around 20 percent of enrolled devices before expanding to full distribution within days.

To enroll in the beta program: Visit Garmin Beta Program enrollment and register your device. Enrollment requires accepting that beta software may contain bugs and that rollback to a stable version may require Garmin Express.

To check manually once enrolled: On your watch, go to Main Menu → Settings → System → Software Update → Check For Updates. The watch will ping Garmin’s servers and display the available version if it has been assigned to your device.

To install via Garmin Express: Connect your watch to a computer running Garmin Express on your computer, open the application, and check for software updates in the device panel.

A Note on Always-On Display and Battery Expectations

The 29.52 fix corrects the estimate shown in the power-saving menu — not the underlying battery consumption of the always-on display itself. Forerunner 965 owners should expect AOD mode to continue drawing significantly more power than raise-to-wake. After applying this update, the remaining-time projection will simply be an accurate one.

For owners who leave always-on display enabled during long training blocks or races, accurate battery projection is not a cosmetic feature — knowing the watch has seven hours of display life rather than a falsely estimated fourteen hours is the difference between a confident training decision and a mid-race power-off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this update affect the stable (non-beta) firmware channel?

No. Version 29.52 is a public beta release. Owners on the standard firmware channel will not receive it. If Garmin promotes a future 29.xx build to stable, it will be distributed automatically via Garmin Express and over-the-air sync.

Is the widget speed fix limited to any specific Forerunner model?

No. The widget performance improvement applies to all six models receiving 29.52: the Forerunner 965, 265, 165, 955, 255, and 255 Music.

Can I roll back if the beta introduces new issues?

Yes. Garmin Express allows users to downgrade beta firmware to the most recent stable release. The process requires a wired USB connection; rollback cannot be performed wirelessly.

Does this fix apply to the newer Forerunner 970 or 570?

The models covered in this release are the FR965, FR265, FR165, FR955, FR255, and FR255 Music. No changelog information was available at time of publication for the FR970 or FR570. Check the Garmin Beta Program forum for those models separately.