Garmin’s new ECG functionality for Epix, Fenix and Venu smartwatches proven to work outside supported countries

It is possible to enable ECG functionality on a Fenix 7 Pro without residing in supported countries. (Image source: Garmin)

So far, Garmin has only distributed its ECG app to three countries, including the US. Following this week’s expansion to Epix 2 Pro, Fenix 7 Pro and Venu 3 series smartwatches, some intrepid owners have already got ECG functionality working in the UK and Europe with a few temporary tweaks.

Earlier this week, Garmin announced that it received approval to expand the rollout of its electrocardiogram (ECG) app to many of its recent smartwatches. In summary, it is now possible to take ECGs on Fenix 7 Pro smartwatches, as well as the Epix 2 Pro and Venu 3 series. With that being said, the app’s distribution remains limited to Hong Kong, Vietnam and the US, likely because of regulatory restrictions.

Seemingly, Garmin uses geofencing to enable ECG functionality in supported countries and prevent its usage elsewhere. Thus, it is possible to spoof a Fenix 7 Pro, Epix 2 Pro or Venu 3 smartwatch into revealing its ECG functionality, provided you can convince it you are in a supported country. Currently, there are a few more steps involved than simply changing your location to the US, Hong Kong or Vietnam within the Garmin Connect app.

According to Redditor u/flippiej, they were able to enable ECG functionality on a Venu 3 but only with tweaks applied to a paired smartphone and their Garmin account. Specifically, u/flippiej installed the Fake GPS location app and a VPN, after which they set both to a US location. Additionally, they applied the same change to their Garmin account through the company’s website and disabled Wi-Fi on their smartphone while keeping LTE activated.

Following these changes, they were able to configure and take an ECG freely, even after resetting their Garmin account, GPS and VPN to their default locations. For reference, there are similar workarounds for iOS devices too, details of which you can find in the ensuing Reddit thread.

Alex Alderson – Senior Tech Writer – 8775 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018

Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.

Alex Alderson, 2023-10-21 (Update: 2023-10-21)

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