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Garmin adds AI and a subscription tier to its app
(www.theverge.com)
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this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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What would you like them to add?
I don't want them to add anything, I want them to switch from making a thousand models and selling software features as hardware revisions to making one model which can go do everything and to have a proper app store instead of a joke they have right now.
Gotcha, one model for everything would be quite expensive though given all the extra sensors, better displays, solar charging and stuff the higher end ones have yeah?
What kind of apps do you want to use?
These probably seem like dumb questions but the only other smart watch I've used was an android wear model, and that was an absolutely miserable experience compare to my garmin. I never found any apps worth using on it aside from normal built in smartwatch stuff.
That's the problem with Garmin - it won't be more expensive. If we ignore optional gimmicks like solar charging, then there are no real hardware differences between VivoActive 5 and Fenix 8 apart from the barometer, which was present in even cheaper VivoActive 3. Depth sensor, for example, is just a software feature of a barometer (you need to calculate depth and altitude differently from the same data).
Garmin is selling software features packaged as different hardware SKUs and charging up to 4x more depending on a feature set. Their product range is extremely large with multiple product families divided into multiple physical products, which all are essentially the same piece of hardware. And today their range is actually more streamlined than it was before.
This is a stark contrast to Apple, for example, where you have one bloody watch and that's it. Yes, you have different physical sizes to fit different people, you have different materials and finishes to choose from, but when you're buying an iWatch you're getting all the features no matter which screen size and arm band you choose.
Garmin should realistically only have two lines of watches - base model which has everything Fenix 8 has for £250-300 to compete with iWatch and advanced model with solar and other gimmicks no one cares about for £650-800 to compete with iWatch Ultra. That's all.
Solar charging isn't an optional gimmick. Everything else is opinionated mixed with some facts.
Garmin and Apple watches are very different for the core purposes. The best apple watch costs as much as one of the best Garmin models.
The Apple watch lasts roughly 18 hours give or take before charging. Where as the best Garmins last 1 to 2 months with Solar charging. But again different uses and feature sets too.
I'd argue Apple is the bigger cancer here due to battery and hardware cycles, models, skus, as a whole companies footprint goes. Eco friendliness to Garmin no question. This could go deeper but I'll leave it this brief. Apple's to Oranges.
You wouldn't want to wear a dive watch if you never dive, so why put that feature set on everything? Probably similar thoughts for a lot of these models.
That said, you are correct that they should streamline a little. It's a ton of nonsense and very frustrating to hide features that are clearly being calculated (HRV) but hidden because you didn't buy the right model.
One glaring omission for me is the lack of database options in the app store. They have a TINY bit of hard drive dedicated for a third party app. I used to own a Samsung and wrote an app for my gym workouts. It was great, but I like Garmin watches better. But even if I use the available key value pair database on Garmin, it only gives me space for maybe 100 sets before I am out of memory. Useless if you want to track any kind of history for multiple workouts. Same for the disc golf app I made for Samsung. I could technically save enough to play, but my old app has room to let me know all my previous scores per hole at each place I was, etc.
This isn't a huge amount of space needed for these things. A few MB. But it's walled away for some random reason. Really limits developers from making good stuff.
I'm talking about regular smart/fitness/sport watches: VivoActive, Venu, Forerunner, Fenix, etc. None of them are dive watches, but they all have the exact same hardware feature set. Battery size and screen resolution are dictated by the watch size and apart from physical dimensions they all are exactly the same.
P.S. My very personal issue is with Forerunner series. 265 has the screen size I want, but 965 has additional MTB sports I need. Sports and watch size are the only fucking difference! Even if I don't care about the price, I can't have the watch I want, because Garmin decided to show me a middle finger.
As for apps, Garmin store has some useful apps, which show additional data, and additional sport types, etc, but Garmin shop itself is a bloody cancer. If you want to buy something, most developers opt for a separate PayPal payment or bank transfer, then you need to wait for them to mail you a licence, etc. It's just a cumbersome piece of shit, which leaves you open to scams, etc.