Garmin Fenix MicroLED Leaked – two Fenix 8 Pro models too
Garmin Fenix Either there are humongous typos in Garmin’s software or there is a leak of the next tranche of Garmin Fenix PRO models. This could contain the hardware bumps that should have been in Fenix 8. If you’re thinking of buying a Fenix 8 you REALLY might want to wait 3-6 months to see when a superior Pro version emerges.
#Kudos: via @Eskieboi
What is leaked?
There are two types of leaks here that appear to be separate – a TWOFER!
Firstly there are two new 8 PRO models listed and then (I can’t believe this), there is a MicroLED model leaked.
It seems my previous post claiming that Fenix 8 was a cash grab was entirely wrong. It would more correctly have labelled the Fenix 8 as ‘the Mother of all Cash Grabs‘ if the leaks are true.
Before some thoughts, here are two images,
General Comments on the Garmin images
I have the full original but have shown a cropped version. Someone is investigating further for me and I don’t want to give away too much yet in case any other goodies appear!!
The reason these are unlikely to be a typo is that the watch face is shown as black. A ‘correct’ image of a live product, inadvertently given the wrong name would have the watch face on it from this source. I haven’t blacked out the face myself. Also, there are at least 3 typos…not one!
Fenix 8 MicroLED
You can read in detail about microLED here on Wikipedia. In a nutshell, brighter pixels are individually controlled resulting in a notably more energy-efficient display. This is better than AMOLED and represents the next generation of screen technology.
This technology has been around for a few years, AFAIK has not yet made its way from TVs to the smaller format of smartwatches. All of the larger smartwatch companies will have been looking at this technology for well over a year, including Apple and Garmin.
The problem for Apple was reported to be getting its suppliers to make the displays at an economical cost. That wasn’t possible so Apple cancelled one of the development contracts it had (it almost certainly had a backup). Other rumours were that TAG would be the first MicroLED smartwatch, the higher selling price of the TAG watch meant that it could afford to incorporate more expensive components without impacting margins or end selling price too much.
Fenix 8 Pro – 47mm and 51mm
The existing Fenix 8 solar model (non-Pro, non-AMOLED) is only available in the same two sizes – 47mm and 51mm. The leak for the Pro version only lists those same two sizes.
So this could be a spec bump for the solar models by the addition of new internal components.
But then it should have been labelled as the 8 Pro Solar model in the leak.
What Would a Pro Model Include?
An 18-24 month refresh cycle is normal but a 12-month cycle is possible if a significant piece of tech becomes newly available.
- Mar 2017: Fenix 5
- Jun 2018: Fenix 5 Plus
- Aug 2019: Fenix 6 and Fenix 6 Pro
- July 2020: Fenix 6 Solar
- Jan 2022: Fenix 7 and Epix Gen 2
- May 2023: Fenix 7 Pro
- Sep 2024: Fenix 8, Fenix E
For context, when Garmin released the Fenix 7 (Seven) it added the following
- Added Elevate Gen 5
- Added ECG capability
- Added new improved MIP display
- Added new multiband GNSS with SatIQ to all models
- Boosted storage to 32Gb to all models
- Added flashlight (torch) to all sizes
In general, that’s a new screen, new oHR and new GPS chipset. Those are 3 critical components for an accurate sports watch and to boost all 3 easily warranted the PRO moniker. I and others said at the time it should have been the Fenix 8.
I would hope and expect a significant hardware bump for an 8 PRO model.
As far as I know, there are no released GNSS chips that are better than the Sony/Airoha chips currently used by many smartwatches. That’s not to say others are not inbound but I just can’t see how they can be improved unless satellite connectivity is added for calls/messaging. Again, as far as I know, the antenna for that would be too large for a smartwatch (I could be wrong).
It seems unlikely that Garmin needs to iterate Elevate v5. However, a Q1-Q2.2025 launch of a Fenix 8 Pro would be 2 years after Elevate Gen 5 was released so a Gen 6 is plausible, although existing non-US owners will still be disgruntled that their ECG’s are not yet enabled. More likely would be a Summer launch.
What would Elevate Gen 6 add? it could be a bit more accurate and a bit more power efficient but I’m not convinced there is a need for that as Gen 5 is already very good. I would expect it would either introduce
- Continuous ECG during sports to give these sports features: ST RR segment analysis to determine sports-related heart stress (like Fourth Frontier X2), LT1/LT2 threshold determination with advanced DFA modelling (eg Monicardi), HRV during exercise, and improved methods to determine HRV during sleep; or
- New sensing capabilities eg for lactate, hydration or creatinine.
Probably the former as, other than Rockley Photonics, I don’t know of any novel sensors close to market, that are sufficiently miniaturised and incorporated into a NIRS (ohr) sensor.
Take Out
This is a single-source piece of currently public info provided to me by a 3rd party. I’ve also seen the original. I’m pretty sure it’s genuine and if it’s a typo…it’s THREE typos. HIGHLY unlikely.
I don’t know about the timing. The location and nature of the source will probably emerge later today or this week. That will confirm to you the products are relatively close to market and already being tested in the real world.
Fenix 8, to me, seems to be the end of the line for meaningful improvements in most of its existing components. Thus we might be on the edge of the next tranche of new tech – MicroLED, satellite and sports ECG could give us that.
I suspect Garmin needs to clarify when its next release is coming, otherwise, there will be a lot of people returning their Fenix 8 models now and others delaying purchasing one.
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Easy to corroborate this as official Garmin material, I checked it out myself, but I think your reading too much into this.. this release is the ‘bug free’ Fenix 8, a superior upgrade to the current one!! 😂
🙂
bug free?… nah 😉
But surely these will not release in 3-6 months?
March 2017: Fenix 5
June 2018: Fenix 5 Plus
August 2019: Fenix 6 and Fenix 6 Pro
July 2020: Fenix 6 Solar
January 2022: Fenix 7 and Epix Gen 2
May 2023: Fenix 7 Pro
September 2024: Fenix 8, Fenix E
plus Q1 would be 2 years after Elevate Gen 5
think some of new Fenix8 users are now p****
yes
If this is true and gets released within the next 6 months I really feel sorry for those that pulled the trigger on the Fenix 8…
A hardware bump like that should be the real Fenix 8, not what was released a couple weeks ago.
absolutely
They need free beta testers for 6 months, before releasing the bugless 8Pro version :-)).
I can’t see it happening because it’s just such dumb business strategy. The competitors, who are more focussed on the fashion watch market in any case (Apple/Samsung) have released their new devices, with another coming same time next year, with minor upgrades.
At least according to https://www.microled-info.com/wearables, Apple won’t be releasing a microLED watch until 2027, and Samsung 2025. They both have vastly bigger R&D budgets than Garmin, and yet Garmin who is a niche player in the Smart Watch space is going to beat them to it?
It’s absurd.
We know the 8 Pro is coming, but then we also know the 9 and 9 Pro are coming, like night follows day. If you hold off buying the 8 for the 8 Pro, you may as well hold out for the 9, and then hold out for the 9 Pro… And then you’ll never buy another Garmin watch ever again, constantly waiting.
I expect the 8 Pro to be announced towards end of next year and available Jan-Mar 2026, or earliest Q4 2025. If it’s announced late spring, it will completely cannibalise sales of the 8, which is one big reason why it won’t happen.
That’s over a year away still, and 12-15 months later the Fenix 9 will be announced. Back to playing the never-ending ‘waiting for the next upgrade’ game.
“yet Garmin who is a niche player in the Smart Watch space is going to beat them to it?”
have to admit my surprise as well.
i think this leak is actually quite significant information on mnay levels.
it indicates how close other comapnies must be (for the reasons you infer)
also i’d point out again that it’s not necessarily technical reasons that stop apple, more so that it’s meant to be unit cost reasons (maybe also volume production as well, although the two are linked)
Why wait, releases are always minimal 1 year apart. Off course there will be a pro, but you can always wait for the latest. If you want a Fenix 8, just buy it.
Nothings shouts “It’s going to be mega-expensive” more than stories that Apple, of all companies, tried to use the same technology but were concerned about cost 🤣
yeah, i think it was more that the additional component cost would have menat that the ending MSRP/RRP would have had to have gone up more than Apple wanted to enable them to maintain the margins.
Like TAG, Garmin will have more wriggle room on costs/pricing
I would be properly pissed off if this were true…nothing short of a major money grab indeed.
it’s true.
it’s just the timing we don’t know.
I’ll stick with my 955 for the time being. It really is a cash grab. Even the 955 still has bugs in it. I think the least buggy Garmin I ever owned was a forerunner 305 🙈
At a guess, I’d say that Samsung will be making the MicroLED parts, so expect a new MicroLED WearOS device to appear soon.
Then probably next years Pixel watch.
around 50% more battery life in them might really put the pressure on Polar, Sunto etc…
reality polar is dead
Satellite communications is very unlikely. As far as I understand the antenna requirements preclude anything smaller than a phone or puck-sized thing.
I think you are overstating the changes in the fenix 7 pro series. The only really new thing was the HR sensor which is inclusive of the ecg functionality.
The display sizes, torch, GNSS chip all already existed in a previous SKU of the fenix 7. The GNSS chip in particular was supply limited at launch of the fenix 7 so only the sapphire models had the multi band version.
I have no doubt that there will be a fenix 8.5 and a fenix 9. They have to put new stuff in there and microLED or quantum dot OLED is what there is in the future.
I think if this is real these things are coming no sooner than UTMB 2025.
I think the reality is that wrist technology is fairly mature now. The CPU I think is the same I think since the fenix 6. Even Apple often will release a new watch with the old system on a chip. If Garmin manages to regularize hardware into an annual release cycle the incremental changes are going to be relatively small.
I don’t think most people should buy a Garmin watch every year. More like 2-3 years, if you are a heavy user.
Is your contention that Garmin should have not released the fenix 7 pro / Epix 2 pro range and waited for the fenix 8 or that they should have not released the fenix 8 and waited for the fenix 8.5?
perhaps f7 pro should have been f8. the current f8 being the f8 pro and then whatever this thing is the f9.
yes the base apple chip seems similar but they have been adding gesture/AI modules to things recently.
yes 7pro changes were slightly overstated so i’ve clarified. a few of the features had previously only been on one model eg flashlight on 7x
I keep forgetting about Dick Tracey mode. I don’t talk to my phone or computer so I don’t think I will be talking to my watch!
I have a 7X. I did not purchase a 7 pro generation although I considered an Epix 2 pro 51 but in the end decided it made sense to use my watch for a solid 2.5 years. The Fenix 8 51mm is a significant upgrade from the fenix 7X IMO. Range is the same or better for a SatIQ activity even with always on AMOLED. The button upgrade is significant and addresses a real fault I have experienced. Ok there is a new oHR which I guess will make all day tracking better but I use a chest strap for activities. The speaker sounds are presumably a bit more posh than a beep which ok is frivolous but why not?
I think the thing that is odd and upsets people about Garmin’s strategy is they keep making and selling the old devices. These are offend first party discounted or deeply discounted at retail outlets. For example the original fenix 7 and Epix 2 series are still for sale new from Garmin. WTF?
It does seem like Garmin charges a premium for new but the components in manufacturing are largely shared back to the fenix 7. They then get this blended ARPU from discounted new old stock and upsell on new kit rather than just selling only the new thing and the previous gen while supply lasts but not manufacturing more.
I think that long tail and discounting of previous models combined with super-premium pricing for new kit that is not quite out of beta drives the annoyance at the pricing strategy.
The CPU/SoC is still the same as F7 but should be upgraded by now. Just have a look at the sluggish map and you see what i mean. I am not asking for 1.8Ghz (AW Ultra) but either not willing to pay 1k for hardware which wasn‘t change since years. There may be a time when this doesn‘t matter anymore (everything runs fast enough), but we are not there yet (map).
PS: F6 had a different CPU, see http://www.f-blog.info/garmin-fenix-6x-pro-disassembly-or-teardown-whatever-you-say/
yes, as i said elsewhere, zooming on map can take 5 secs to render sometimes
Everybody could easily check the leaked information source:
just go to ‚add new device’ at Garmin connect and go for ‚Fenix‘ section and the ‚Fenix 8 MicroLED’ will appear under compatible devices
Now removed, it would seem!
Nope, still there as of now.
MicroLED not ready might be the reason there is not AW Ultra 3 this year.
Anyways, hope it finally arrives one day, if only so that we all can admit how ourselves how badly Amoled sucks 🙂
yes
it needs that display bump and the new OHR.
probably the new display on the Watch 10is there for 2 more iterations…as you say not necessarily so for the ULTRA
The black screens on then tends to suggest that these are hardware prototype for 2025. It takes a fair while to bring them to market so these are probably test designs they’re working on that got accidently exposed
i’ve seen a few similar leaks via connect and they are always for devices that are relatively close to coming out.
i’m not looking to suggest that f8 pro will hit the shelves on 1st jan but the first half of the year would be a decent bet.
Can’t see it happening. It would kill sales of the F8 and irk a lot of loyal Garmin customers who would wonder why they’ve bothered buying what was really an Epix Pro “2.5”.
Plus the pricing would get out-of-whack where Garmin would be forced to charge an even bigger premium to justify their F8 pricing strategy, so basically double that of Apple and Samsung’s flagship adventure watches, outpricing almost all prospective customers – and yet it’s supposed to be their flagship device.
A flagship device needs to be within reach of the core market.
I think it was an accident testing a future device that won’t be available until Q4 next year at the earliest, possibly Q1 2026 based on the Pro line release schedule.
Also, where even Samsung is not likely to release a mLCD device until 2025, and Apple 2027, it could also be a false dawn – perhaps a wrongly labelled project that Garmin’s dev team was working on – so the Pro 8 might only come with minor hardware upgrades that wouldn’t justify upgrading from the 8, such as slightly faster processor (I can live with a slower device) and LTE (I wouldn’t use it for battery life reasons).
three accidents!
there are also shareholder pressures and the need to react to the competition.
if apple watch ultra 3 has microled, it causes garmin more of a headache.
The question is: What would the price of a Fenix 8 Pro 51mm (with or without MicroLED) be? 1500€ or even more? Who shall buy this? Or is Garmin nervous because of the T-Rex 3 and feels the need to release pro models earlier? Who knows….
t-rex looks good. i might get hold of one.
microled should make a notable difference to battery life, will keep garmin ahead for those who want performance
I ordered one too, together with an Helio Ring, i plan to wear at night. I don’t like to wear big watches while sleeping due to many reasons. Something Garmin should consider. A Garmin Ring, or at least one that ist compatible with Garmin Connect would be a dream for me.
I am curious to see what MicroLED will bring. But do we need an Fenix 9 with MicroLED and 72h or more dual-band GPS? Who will really need 72h continous GPS Tracking? Maybe you can watch Netflix on it or else 🙂
I hope they add LTE. That’s been my reason not to go Garmin yet.
Not only is screen black but as importantly the picture of the watch/case itself is just generic/clip-art type. Suggests to me that these entries are placeholders that were accidentally added to the live code but are still quite early in development/long way from release.
Huawei leaks have just been revealed the past few days that their next gen HUAWEI WATCH ULTIMATE 2 will have satellite messaging so It may not be as far a stretch as we may think for a big player such as garmin to incorporate it.
i’d not heard that
can you post a link?
https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-certifies-watch-ultimate-2-with-uwb-and-satellite-sms-support/
ty
and this: beidou short message: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1345/2/022014/pdf
what does Starlink need antenna-wise for sms? (I know nothing about it but it seems tha tthe sms thing for beidou might not be on galileo et al)
Just a question: why is there no Fenix 8 Pro solar mip version?
the leak of those 3 models isn’t a complete list of the future