Garmin seems intent on releasing new watches with old sensors onboard. We’ve seen Instinct 3, Descent G2 and MARQ Damascus; both come with the previous-gen Elevate 4 optical heart rate sensor rather than the passive-ECG-capable Elevate Gen 5 (2023).
Good move – It uses up old stock and saves money with cheaper component costs. It gives a reason to upgrade to a more expensive Garmin alternative than you might have considered.
Bad Move – leaves a bad taste in the mouth when the buyer realises that Garmin deliberately under-specified their new, prized possession. Bad for the brand.
I think this was probably a sensible strategy for Instinct 3, nicely stating why Fenix 8 is better in one more respect. However, if I’d bought MARQ Damascus, I would undoubtedly feel cheated but probably still happy I had a beautiful watch.
Bad Move – only a tiny percentage of Garmin Connect users seem willing to pay. The features announced so far are not worth the subscription. It feels insulting to pay $1000 for a watch and then pay more.
3. “Abandoned”, Recent Premium Watch Models like Fenix 7 Pro
Sports watchmakers must build their products with some type of obsolescence; otherwise, we will never upgrade, and they won’t make money. The alternative to such a strategy is a subscription-only model like Whoop.
When the hardware allows it, Apple appears to be a comparable company to Garmin and adds new features to very old models – that seems more than fair. Garmin gives a distinct impression that it deliberately restricts the availability of the best new features to slightly older models. When you’ve paid getting on for $1,000 for a new watch two years ago, that doesn’t sit well.
While what I said above is true, Garmin is internally re-organising and simplifying how its software is written and updated. To cut a long and tedious technical story short, some old watches are caught on obsolete software branches. They’ve been largely abandoned, but this situation shouldn’t arise again, and garmin is taking the reputational hit now.
Instinct Maps with dwMAP vs Forerunner Maps
4. No Maps On An Outdoor Navigational Watch – Instinct 3
Garmin’s two main outdoor adventure watch series are Instinct and Fenix. It has to differentiate between the two in several ways to justify the much higher price of the latter. Fair enough. Using the latest components, incorporating superior materials, and having every feature are obvious ways to do that. Omitting a key feature like maps seems crazy.
Good Move – Provides a clear point of difference to Fenix. There are workarounds with dwMAP and Garmin Explore. Many people don’t need a map to follow a simple and popular trail in the middle of summer.
Bad Move – damages the brand and gives the impression that Garmin doesn’t understand its customers. It encourages potential buyers to look elsewhere, where they will easily find maps with similarly priced competitive offerings.
I’m torn on whether this is as bad a move as it seems. Garmin’s launch marketing for Instinct was not aimed at outdoor adventurers following complex routes. Instead, the company identified a lifestyle market for youngsters who like the rugged Casio aesthetic. I’m pretty sure Garmin has made a profitable move here, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, it feels like another ill-thought-through attempt to damage its brand.
5. Instinct E Loses Features
Garmin’s confusing product line has models that overlap others in numerous ways. The latest incarnation was the release of the budget Instinct 3 series – called Instinct E; this just happened to have several worse features than the older Instinct 2 (and some better).
Good Move – Garmin has to differentiate the models within each generation. Sure, there is overlap from the bottom of a new series to the top of an old series, but that overlap will vanish as old stock runs out.
Bad Move – Garmin has too much stock of older models in the retail supply chain.
Apple does the same thing as Garmin, but you will struggle to find watches for sale by the older generation much after the new series launch. Apple better manages and predicts sales, stock and production levels.
So this is a good move by Garmin, but it was poorly executed.
6. Forcibly Disabled dual Frequency GNSS and SatIQ
Garmin’s multiple constellation GNSS (GPS) chips from Airoha with dual frequency reception are amongst the most accurate on the market and used by its competitors.
Compared to every previous generation whose accuracy I repeatedly lambasted as ‘not accurate!’, these Airoha (MediaTek) chips now have acceptable (good) accuracy. Dual frequency gives us the accuracy we never had – it’s the accuracy we need, but it comes at a price – both in dollar terms and battery consumption terms.
Good Move – it’s another point of difference, and the accuracy is OK, so does it matter?
Bad Move – Artificially disabling a hardware feature seems petty and damages the brand. This appears to reinforce similar deliberate actions by Garmin to hamstring its products.
My take follows a different line and was partially revealed by recent Garmin Running Power algorithm changes. What I think is going on here is that Garmin is using the latest generation chipset from Airoha, but there are two versions – a dual-frequency one and one that lacks that feature. So Garmin is using a cheaper component that is probably also more power efficient. It’s accurate enough, so…good move.
7. Instinct 3 Solar is under-specified and firmware can’t always be updated
Garmin appears to be scraping the barrel of minimum specified products when delving into the details of Instinct 3. There is so little free space on Instinct 3 that it can’t update its firmware on Garmin Express.
Good Move – help me, I’m struggling here.
Bad move – Yet another product that hasn’t been adequately tested, revealing a serious hardware flaw that is impossible to rectify. Awful hit on the brand, showing incompetence.
Garmin has also mysteriously added insult to injury by giving Instinct 3 AMOLED way more space than it seems to need. However, this is likely because music will be added in the next few months.
This is a terrible oversight by Garmin.
8. Failure to act on spam, 3rd Party Watchfaces in Garmin Connect
This petty move was likely part of the broader strategy to introduce paid-for features, testing our willingness to pay for watch faces and having the payment mechanism to handle the transaction. It’s hard to criticise Garmin for not testing things on one hand and then blame the company for testing them here, so I guess this is a good move.
Expect more of this and some premium watch faces behind the Connect+ paywall.
9. Aesthetic Nonsense
Instinct 3 was another example of a Garmin launch where a preponderance of odd colour options were available to the exclusion of colours most people want.
Maybe I’m naive, but I would have thought a vanilla black option would sell the most.
We all like customizability. Sure, Garmin lets us change straps more easily these days, but the Instinct 3 Solar has an orange metal ring that is part of the case structure. It so cannot be changed (some owners on Reddit were painting over the orange !).
Good Move – No, at least not at launch. Release the dodgy colours later. Brands DO like to give unusually coloured watches to reviewers as they think they give more striking imagery in reviews.
Bad Move – Yes, it seems that a black-only model isn’t going to happen. You must get the Instinct 3 Tactical version if you want all black – but it’s not yet released/
Image @thekristianhansen @garminid
I guess that’s the problem with letting 17-year-olds design the colours of watches grown-ups buy.
On the positive side, Garmin’s Instagram people loved one of my Instinct 3 images so much that they asked if they could use it on their reels (or for whatever other purpose; I don’t mind, as they asked nicely).
10 A Budget $800 watch
Fenix E is the budget Fenix 8, coming in at $799. Can you have a budget or ‘essential’ model at this price point? I don’t think so. Maybe if branded as ‘core’/’core features’, that would sound better?
Similar issues are raised here, such as with the Instinct E, most notably overlapping with older Garmin watches that are still actively sold. In this case, that means Epix 2 Pro.
It will be interesting to see if Garmin’s upcoming Edge x50 series also includes an Edge E model, replacing what would otherwise be called the Edge 150. Garmin certainly should do that if it values consistency, but I suspect they won’t. That decision will again highlight how Garmin’s two internal divisions work at loggerheads with each other. Decisions like that (if they happen) are detrimental to the overall Garmin brand, perception, and positioning.
My takeout here is the same as what I gave to Instinct E. Garmin made a good move but poorly executed it.
Bad Move – Perhaps Garmin could have allocated more resources and moved the regulatory applications faster in parallel for all countries.
I’m not overly concerned about this. The ECG feature is passive in any case, requiring manual initiation and is of little use (but some).
12. A More strategic take on things Garmin does wrong
This article has been about specific failures and annoyances, which are probably all fixable to some degree if Garmin is motivated in that direction. Some of Garmin’s bigger problems at a strategic level are covered in this article.
Present company excepted, we all mess up from time to time. Large organisations can compound mistakes made by multiple people or have the checks and balances to stop them from happening and align product launches with strategic vision.
Garmin has made a few c*ck ups of late – the issues above are all genuine ones.
I suspect we will look back in a few years and understand that Garmin is transitioning. It’s changing its product naming and differentiation strategies, boosting its potential income streams, improving how its products work at every level, and more. In many of our minds, Garmin is far from perfect, but its balance sheet and cash balance suggest otherwise. Geopolitical storms are coming thick and fast and will continue to do so – Might the President’s tariff action against China fatally wound Chinese-based competition like Coros? Garmin will survive to see the end of those problems; others might not. Might China invade Taiwan where Garmin’s wearables are assembled? the US government has a working assumption this will happen before 2027 – has Garmin?
11 thoughts on “10.5 Garmin C*ck Ups – What’s going on at Garmin HQ?”
1. I’m not convinced there is a big difference between elevate 4 and 5 sensors other than ECG and skin temp which are fairly gimicky. Here’s my thought: they are pretty equivalent for 24×7 and sleep tracking while neither is adequate for actual sport so you need a chest strap anyway. Most competitors other than Apple are hardly covering themselves with glory so it isn’t much of a competitive comparison. It is a complete joke on the Marq watches for $5000 not to have the latest sensor tech.
2. Bad strategy pivot to increase ARPU and copy Apple (poorly) just as the Fenix E strategy is poorly executed. It is breaking the brand promise of high entry point but no recurring costs.
3. Abandoned? Is the fenix 7 pro and epix pro abandoned? I am still getting updates on the fenix 7X. But yes you don’t get the more buggy than usual reworked new OS and limited new features. On the other hand the bugs get tamed. In general the Garmin stratification of features by SKU and model year rather than hardware capability is at odds with Apple. But again that is why the services strategy shift makes no sense. If it’s a subscription then the watch software features should also be upgraded continuously rather than just 2 years.
9. They need to hire some European designers or something. The watch faces are the most off-putting thing about the fenix 8 and that is dumb. Maybe it is a Kansas aesthetic and I’m a coastal elite or something but I can tolerate one or two of the built-in faces.
1. i’m not either
2. not sure how it copies Apple (ARPU) – you mean for services/subscriptions? apple has very meaningful services, garmin doesn’t (inreach is somewhat perihperal compared to, say, apple tv+)
3.quite!
4. there used to be no nice faces. at least now there are some. press renders for some of the chinese watches look to have really good faces, TAG too. others like coros are perhaps worse than garmin. not sure why a european designer would be better than a us one!! just better designers would be a good move.
2. Exactly so. Increasing average revenue per user by adding services that you kind of really have to buy at least some Apple+ things to have a reasonable experience. The new Connect+ strategy is similar except there is nothing worth buying and the brand promise up until now was that you paid a premium (higher than Apple even!) up front but no recurring costs.
9. I was making a reference to Bauhaus Swiss design school again Apple-esque. Suunto and Polar have more pleasing watch face designs in the Bauhaus tradition. I prefer analog faces and they have not added any new ones. There are better options on the epix pro. I agree that Coros is worse and their industrial design is also more garish such as the giant engraved COROS on the Vertix bezel is worse than the tiny garmin one under the glass at 6 o’clock on a fenix bezel — which I also dislike.
Which image did they borrow for their instagram? The ones you posted just below that section? Confused by that section.
Garmin pile-on posts are always good fun (and probably get good traction). I will say though that after 2 years of use, my 965 has settled down to be a pretty good tool. I had issues with excessive battery drain but that seems to have resolved I guess from better FW.
The biggest mistake is not adding / having added LTE/5G. I mean like on the Galaxy Watches. Not like the 945 LTE.
Where I can use any eSim, can write texts, make calls and so on.
Sadly the battery on my Galaxy watch drains way too fast compared to my garmin and the GPS is not as accurate. Otherwise I would have switched completely by now.
Cellular connection on the wrist is such an advantage since I don’t l ike being out running without my phone, but I don’t like carrying my phone. So a phone that is not actually a phone would be great.
Sometimes I just wear my Garmin on the left wrist and my Galaxy on the right as a phone and leave the “real phone” at home.
One thing that really annoys me is how half baked the skin temperature feature is: There is still no way to view it on the watch and it’s quite hidden and not easily accessible in the app.
What happened to the UI that was leaked with the Venu 3? Even Polar managed to display it on the watch.
But all criticism will be brushed aside once the new Forerunner Models start to show up 😄
I’ve been using gps watches for over 10 years. Most of them didn’t have dual frequencies.
I never had a watch that wasn’t usable for navigation or pacing long runs. Or doing races, trailruns or trainings or hikes or bike rides.
I really don’t understand people who claim their watch is only usable with a super accurate gnss.
(And if you do like accurate instant pace info on your watch, buy a stryd. Even the overhyped dual frequencies gnss cannot give you accurate pace, specially on intervals or twisty courses.)
I think Garmin now have a really confusing product line, too many products which in turn have too many versions. When I eventually decide to retire my f7x pro I’ll be moving to a brand where it’s simpler to make the right choice, Coros or Suunto I expect, just need them to add a few features I’d miss from Garmin
After years with Garmin, I returned my F7Pro and go for Suunto Race+Wahoo elmnt roam 2. The battery life of Suunto is brutal compared to F7Pro. I can’t stand the tons of bugs, some since release and never be solved. Like the map setting on weather widget (on/off some maps) affects this setting in last used activity profile. So you never can’t set the map…
1. I’m not convinced there is a big difference between elevate 4 and 5 sensors other than ECG and skin temp which are fairly gimicky. Here’s my thought: they are pretty equivalent for 24×7 and sleep tracking while neither is adequate for actual sport so you need a chest strap anyway. Most competitors other than Apple are hardly covering themselves with glory so it isn’t much of a competitive comparison. It is a complete joke on the Marq watches for $5000 not to have the latest sensor tech.
2. Bad strategy pivot to increase ARPU and copy Apple (poorly) just as the Fenix E strategy is poorly executed. It is breaking the brand promise of high entry point but no recurring costs.
3. Abandoned? Is the fenix 7 pro and epix pro abandoned? I am still getting updates on the fenix 7X. But yes you don’t get the more buggy than usual reworked new OS and limited new features. On the other hand the bugs get tamed. In general the Garmin stratification of features by SKU and model year rather than hardware capability is at odds with Apple. But again that is why the services strategy shift makes no sense. If it’s a subscription then the watch software features should also be upgraded continuously rather than just 2 years.
9. They need to hire some European designers or something. The watch faces are the most off-putting thing about the fenix 8 and that is dumb. Maybe it is a Kansas aesthetic and I’m a coastal elite or something but I can tolerate one or two of the built-in faces.
1. i’m not either
2. not sure how it copies Apple (ARPU) – you mean for services/subscriptions? apple has very meaningful services, garmin doesn’t (inreach is somewhat perihperal compared to, say, apple tv+)
3.quite!
4. there used to be no nice faces. at least now there are some. press renders for some of the chinese watches look to have really good faces, TAG too. others like coros are perhaps worse than garmin. not sure why a european designer would be better than a us one!! just better designers would be a good move.
2. Exactly so. Increasing average revenue per user by adding services that you kind of really have to buy at least some Apple+ things to have a reasonable experience. The new Connect+ strategy is similar except there is nothing worth buying and the brand promise up until now was that you paid a premium (higher than Apple even!) up front but no recurring costs.
9. I was making a reference to Bauhaus Swiss design school again Apple-esque. Suunto and Polar have more pleasing watch face designs in the Bauhaus tradition. I prefer analog faces and they have not added any new ones. There are better options on the epix pro. I agree that Coros is worse and their industrial design is also more garish such as the giant engraved COROS on the Vertix bezel is worse than the tiny garmin one under the glass at 6 o’clock on a fenix bezel — which I also dislike.
Which image did they borrow for their instagram? The ones you posted just below that section? Confused by that section.
Garmin pile-on posts are always good fun (and probably get good traction). I will say though that after 2 years of use, my 965 has settled down to be a pretty good tool. I had issues with excessive battery drain but that seems to have resolved I guess from better FW.
I consider these kinds of posts as antidotes to the other kinds (including what i write).
i’ll revist that section
The biggest mistake is not adding / having added LTE/5G. I mean like on the Galaxy Watches. Not like the 945 LTE.
Where I can use any eSim, can write texts, make calls and so on.
Sadly the battery on my Galaxy watch drains way too fast compared to my garmin and the GPS is not as accurate. Otherwise I would have switched completely by now.
Cellular connection on the wrist is such an advantage since I don’t l ike being out running without my phone, but I don’t like carrying my phone. So a phone that is not actually a phone would be great.
Sometimes I just wear my Garmin on the left wrist and my Galaxy on the right as a phone and leave the “real phone” at home.
yep I’m similar to you with my Apple Watch LTE on the other wrist.
on a more positive note, the 5G stuff is yet to come.
One thing that really annoys me is how half baked the skin temperature feature is: There is still no way to view it on the watch and it’s quite hidden and not easily accessible in the app.
What happened to the UI that was leaked with the Venu 3? Even Polar managed to display it on the watch.
But all criticism will be brushed aside once the new Forerunner Models start to show up 😄
I’ve been using gps watches for over 10 years. Most of them didn’t have dual frequencies.
I never had a watch that wasn’t usable for navigation or pacing long runs. Or doing races, trailruns or trainings or hikes or bike rides.
I really don’t understand people who claim their watch is only usable with a super accurate gnss.
(And if you do like accurate instant pace info on your watch, buy a stryd. Even the overhyped dual frequencies gnss cannot give you accurate pace, specially on intervals or twisty courses.)
I think Garmin now have a really confusing product line, too many products which in turn have too many versions. When I eventually decide to retire my f7x pro I’ll be moving to a brand where it’s simpler to make the right choice, Coros or Suunto I expect, just need them to add a few features I’d miss from Garmin
After years with Garmin, I returned my F7Pro and go for Suunto Race+Wahoo elmnt roam 2. The battery life of Suunto is brutal compared to F7Pro. I can’t stand the tons of bugs, some since release and never be solved. Like the map setting on weather widget (on/off some maps) affects this setting in last used activity profile. So you never can’t set the map…