I do none of the things Garmin warns about that could lead to this, and do all of the things they say will resolve it, and it doesn't work. 2 Fenix 5 watches (original and 5+), same issue. So clearly there's an ability for stuff to get into the mechanism.

It's exposed on the sides in a way none of the others are. If you look at the buttons, the Action (stop/start) button is different. Now, it's like a process every 2-3 days just to keep the watch working where I do a warm water soak for 30 min, then click the button a ton (with the watch off), and it's ok for a day or so, but not perfect, then starts getting stuck again. I have been doing weekly warm water soaks, Still happened. I've never had it in a pool or the ocean, and rinse it after any workout. So frustrating as there's clearly something wrong here. This happened to my Fenix 5, too, but at month 11, so they replaced it for free. Garmin wants $160 to get a refurb replacement. Just outside of warranty, and mine is now so bad, I had to do something.

Red button up sweater with white middle