Garmin is bringing crucial life-saving and health features to several smartwatches

If you’re looking for the best fitness trackers and smartwatches, you probably have a few Garmin watches on your list. The company offers several smartwatches and screenless fitness trackers, and it regularly improves them with software updates. Now, it is adding useful new features to several of its smartwatches, including the Fenix 8 series, the Venu 4 and X1, the Forerunner 70 and 170, and more.

The Venu 4 now supports fall detection, which will automatically send a message with the user’s live location to selected contacts for assistance. You can keep the feature active all day or enable it for specific activities. It’s worth noting that Garmin watches have supported fall detection, but it could only be enabled during specific outdoor activities. This update finally lets Venu 4 users enable fall detection all the time if needed.

The update also introduces hands-free voice control with the “OK Garmin” hotword, letting users start an activity, manage timers, and even access the assistant on their paired smartphone.

Runners can now access features such as Quick Workout and new Run Coach plans on watches like the Venu 4, Vivoactive 6, and Fenix 8 series. These features, which offer workout suggestions based on the user’s fitness level, were previously available only on the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170.

The new software update is already rolling out to compatible Garmin smartwatches. However, the rollout could take a few weeks to complete. You can check for updates using the Garmin Connect or Garmin Explore apps on your paired smartphone.