Garmin Fenix 9 Pro Drops GLONASS After 20 Seconds to Save Power
Updated
Updated · the5krunner.com · Sep 4
Garmin Fenix 9 Pro Drops GLONASS After 20 Seconds to Save Power
3 articles · Updated · the5krunner.com · Sep 4
Summary
Testing logs show the Fenix 9 Pro starts runs tracking GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS, then drops GLONASS about 20 seconds in and does not restore it during the session.
GLONASS appears to be cut because it is typically the weakest of the major constellations, letting the watch save battery while maintaining or improving position quality under conditions such as tree cover.
Garmin also changed satellite modes: GPS-only is gone, Extended Battery now uses GPS plus Galileo, and SatIQ is no longer a user-selectable option because dynamic switching is built into each mode.
The behavior does not point to new tri-band hardware or a new chip: Garmin still markets the Fenix 9 as dual-frequency across five systems, and the same GPS firmware version also appears on the Fenix 8.