Garmin Fenix 8 Owners And More Get A Major Watch Upgrade

Garmin is letting users know a long-awaited upgrade is coming to various watches including those from the Fenix, Enduro and Venu families. But this one is not for US users because they already have it.

The ECG feature is being unlocked in a trio of Garmin watch models in Europe and Australia, according to posters over at the Garmin forums.

Garmin is sending out emails to those who may be affected, which according to the Garmin support website currently includes owners of the Fenix 8, Venu 3 and Enduro 3.

It’s not quite the whole of geographic Europe included in this grand unlocking, just EU countries. This means UK folks and those in Switzerland will have to continue to wait.

I’ve approached Garmin’s UK team for an update on the situation for Garmin users in the UK. Here’s the full list of countries that currently support the ECG feature in the latest round of Garmin watches:

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Croatia
6. Republic of Cyprus
7. Czech Republic
8. Denmark
9. Estonia
10. Finaland
11. France
12. Germany
13. Greece
14. Hong Kong
15. Hungary
16. Iceland
17. Ireland
18. Italy
19. Latvia
20. Liechtenstein
21. Luxenmbourg
22. Malaysia
23. Malta
24. Netherlands
25. Norway
26. Philippines
27. Poland
28. Portugal
29. Romania
30. Singapore
31. Slovakia
32. Slovenia
33. Spain
34. Sweden
35. Taiwan
36. United States
37. Vietnam

If you're lucky enough to have just has ECG unlocked on your watch, you’ll need to setup the feature in the Garmin Connect app on your phone before being able to use it.

This will then bring the ECG option onto the watch itself.

One curious part is the European and Australian unlocking doesn’t include all the Garmin devices that support ECG at present. Other watches on that list include the Garmin D2 Mach 1 Pro, Epix Pro (Gen 2), Fenix 7 Pro, Quatix 7 Pro, Tactix 7 and Venu 2 Plus.

What’s the difference? Those watches use slightly different heart rate sensor hardware, and therefore likely need to go through an entirely separate process to get the green light from the regulators in the EU and Australia. I’ve also asked Garmin if there’s any update on ECG coming to the older models.

What Is Garmin’s ECG Feature For ?

Unlike standard heart rate reading in watches, Garmin’s ECG feature assesses the electrical signals running through your body to determine your sinus rhythm. Normal watch HR reading just works out your heart rate using a series of light sensors.

ECG requires your active participation, putting thumb and forefinger on the watch bezel. The process takes around 30 seconds.

This can in turn spot irregularities that could be an indication of atrial fibrillation. While Garmin doesn’t purport to be able to make similar observations during passive all-day heart rate reading, it does provide optional alerts for when your heart rate is unusually high or low. And that too can be a pointer something isn’t right too.