Garmin’s new Sport & Wellness products in 2025 – beyond watches and bike computers

This article looks at Garmin’s new sports and wellness technologies in 2025 – beyond the watches and bike computers I regularly discuss on this site.

For this piece, I’ve received some insider tips, and done some digging myself. There should be some unexpected developments from Garmin in the year ahead.

I’m not going to give the sources. Media outlets: this post is your source!

a new Varia Vision

While Garmin’s Varia sub-brand remains active, the original Varia Vision head-up display was quietly discontinued around 2020/2021. Varia Vision will make a comeback in 2025.

Garmin invests heavily in research and development—look at their latest quarterly financials for proof. This commitment to innovation is the driving force that keeps Garmin at the top of its game.

However, cutting-edge technology often comes with cutting-edge prices, which only seem to climb higher. This results in improved margins and keeps Garmin’s shareholders satisfied.

The Varia Radar, for instance, saw a modest improvement from the RTL510 to the RTL515. While technically superior to competitors and reasonably priced at around $150, Garmin faced competition offering products for less than $100. The response? A high-end GBP300 upgrade to the RCT715 with a built-in camera, once again staying ahead of the curve.

The point: when the competition catch Garmin, its R&D often takes them another step ahead with a new product.

Prediction for 2025

Here’s a throwback to the original Varia Vision, which, while a bit bulky, boasted a decent display. It resembled current heads-up displays like the  FORM Swim 2 Goggles and Engo 2 Sports Eyewear.

Garmin will likely release a new Varia Vision with a high-brightness, high-resolution field-of-vision display (probably microLED). The challenge is to ensure compatibility with a wide range of helmets to secure higher sales volume.

Alternatively, Garmin is planning Engo-like glasses with image projection. However, a proprietary glasses-based system would severely limit its market scope—something Garmin is likely smart enough to avoid.

Source: Research

Garmin Fenix and microLED

I’ve covered the new 2025 Fenix 8 microLED elsewhere on the site several times. Check out the links if you want more on this. It’s a leak; it will happen.

Source: Leak

Garmin and Wellness

Garmin finds itself at a crossroads: an excellent sports tech company, a decent wellness company, and an aspiring smart tech company. While it excels in sports, it needs to improve in wellness and smart features to thrive long-term.

A potential game-changer could come from the EU, forcing Apple to open its iPhone ecosystem to competitors. However, this long-term opportunity is unlikely to impact Garmin in 2025.

This year, Garmin’s focus will shift to sleep and recovery, two interconnected areas with extensive features. However, despite claims from Garmin and other reviewers, current data quality leaves room for improvement due to technical and practical limitations.

Consider: Pro athletes often rely on non-wearable solutions like EightSleep, which collects sleep metrics without requiring a device on the body. Garmin could take a similar approach, potentially using ballistocardiography, a validated technology that measures subtle movements caused by heartbeats and other nighttime activities.

Prediction

Garmin might introduce an under-mattress or under-pillow device similar to the discontinued Beddit or the portable EMFIT QS. If executed well, such a product would be compatible with most mattresses and could seamlessly integrate with Garmin Connect to significantly enhance sleep data collection.

Sources: I don’t want to get anyone sacked

Legislation-Driven ‘Innovation’

New regulations are impacting product designs across the tech industry. Garmin, like others, must ensure compliance with updated standards, such as child-safe coin-cell batteries, battery charging and encrypted BLE data transmission.

dcrainmaker wrote this piece on the new Garmin HRM 200, pointing out the need for child-safe coin-cell batteries and the ability to broadcast encrypted data over BLE. He also wrote a related piece on how that negatively impacts ANT+, and I wrote a similar, shorter post here.  I also recently published a piece on the impact of the EU on global tech charging standards.

Note here what dcrainmaker says; he has many contacts in Garmin:

it also likely illuminates the path for higher-end Garmin HR sensors. After all, Garmin can’t easily add a physical button (which complies with the human ‘authorization’ component) to their existing HRM-PRO Plus (which will be 2 years old this summer). Nor can it do it for the HRM-FIT. Same goes for coin cell battery compliance. Both will undoubtedly require refreshes. [dcrainmaker]

While Garmin’s current watches and bike computers are largely compliant, some accessories may need updates. Rather than refresh a product solely for compliance, Garmin is more likely to bundle these changes with other meaningful upgrades, such as better energy efficiency or increased battery capacity.

Expected Updates

• Refreshed RALLY power meter pedals
• Upgraded HRM PRO Plus or similar heart rate straps
• Possibly, a refreshed RTL515 radar

If you enjoyed this, check out more leaks and predictions, including:

• Technology areas where Garmin is innovating
• A new forerunner 975
• Fenix 8 Pro and Fenix 8 microLED (2025)
• All Garmin releases predicted for 2025