Unlocking Fenix 8’s LTE: How Garmin’s Next Move Keeps Apple Watch Ultra 3 At Bay
Garmin’s recently disclosed LTE capability for the Fenix 8 series represents a pivotal opportunity to invigorate its subscription service, Connect+, and to close the feature gap versus rumoured capabilities of the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Here’s how Garmin can tie LTE into a compelling value proposition.
Context: LTE to arrive on Fenix 8
Reading between the lines, comments by Garmin insiders and new software capabilities in the Garmin ecosystem have long implied the company will add to existing capabilities with 4G LTE. The latest images discovered in Garmin Connect show 4G LTE connectivity options on a Fenix 8 – these images can still be seen when failing to pair a Fenix 8 to the iPhone’s Garmin Connect app.
4G LTE is another way wearables can be connected to the internet – satellite, WiFi, and Bluetooth links to smartphones are other ways, each with its own benefit. LTE breaks with the need to carry a smartphone or be within a few tens of metres of a WiFi point. Maybe you are cycling and don’t want to risk carrying and breaking your phone, maybe you have surfaced after a dive and want to know your location, or maybe you are running in an unfamiliar city and have an accident. LTE help all these scenarios, but does not help adventurers out in the wilds where only satellite connectivity exists.
When first considering the benefits of 4G LTE, most people are intrigued by the prospect of calling or messaging. The benefits go far beyond that to include SOS, live tracking, live weather alerts, smart assistant responses, and real-time data syncing – anything a connected app on your smartphone can do is possible on a connected watch like Fenix 8 LTE.
Garmin’s Drivers
Garmin’s unique competitive position faces challenges from ever more connected competitors, but LTE also offers opportunities to catch up and innovate.
The strategic imperative for Garmin is to become smarter as its larger and better-resourced competitors (Apple, Google, Samsung) become increasingly competent at Sports. It has to compete better in the middle ground of a smart sportswatch or lose potentially significant points in its market share, which would eventually undermine its current business model.
Tactical issues Garmin faces include Apple’s attempts to position its iPhone and Watch Ultra as a pro tool for adventurers (it’s not, but…). iPhone now has satellite connectivity, and Watch Ultra 3 is reliably rumoured to get the same feature later in 2025. This move by Apple might make some people consider the Watch Ultra over a Fenix. However, Garmin also has a pro-grade subscription service called inReach, which provides emergency connectivity via satellite. Both Fenix sales and inReach subscriptions are threatened by Apple and other developments in the industry.
Apple’s steady rise has threatened aspects of Garmin’s business, but in recent years, Google’s Wear OS seems to have gotten its act together with partnerships with Samsung (Galaxy Watch) and Qualcomm (SoC). The second generation of the Snapdragon W5 chip for Wear OS is rumoured to possess next-gen 5G Redcap capabilities. Cost, power, size and smaller antennas are all production-focused reasons to jump to 5G Redcap, with connectivity speed and technical kudos being others. Garmin is usually not a tech leader, but 5G Redcap offers solutions to some of its technical product issues.
Finally, we come to the underwhelming and overpriced Connect+ subscription service. That deserves a section all of its own.
Bundling LTE with Connect+ Premium Services
There is near-unanimity that Garmin Connect+ is overpriced. Garmin will undoubtedly not lower the price; it follows that it plans to boost its features.
In some sense, Garmin is running out of features to add – many have already been invented! However, it might be much easier to add value by enabling existing features to work in a new way – via LTE.
It’s plausible that Garmin can bundle the following with Connect+
- Garmin Messenger
- LiveTrack over LTE – positioning, leaderboards, live pacing (wind) and more
- Weather over LTE – alerts, forecast and map layers
- SOS, check-ins, fall/crash detection,
- 2-way messaging and group messaging
- Voice Control
- Initiate calls and messaging
- Music streaming
- Maps
- Live maps and map layers
- Remote IoT control and view
- Voice Assistant
- Perhaps further down the line, integration with live cloud-based assistants and AI.
Tiered Subscription Model
Companies have long since realised that simplicity is the best model. For subscription services, you have a free and paid-for tier; perhaps there is scope for a premium or parallel tier in rare cases involving external providers.
I would envisage the LTE connection charge separate from the Connect+ subscription. Thus, you would pay a monthly amount like £7/$10 to your cell provider and continue to pay your inReach satellite subscription fee, but new Garmin Connect+ features over LTE would be included at the existing price ($7pcm, $70pa).
There would be a free 3-6 month Connect+ subscription with any new Garmin watch.
How Garmin Fenix Keeps Apple Watch Ultra At Bay
The answer to the question posed in the title is fourfold.
- Increase smart features
- Protect adventure feature dominance (satellite connectivity)
- Improve usability
- Improve reliability
Whatever your opinion on Garmin, the likelihood is that they are already working on those four areas.
Conclusion
Garmin, Apple and Google/Samsung have yet to make their next move with watch connectivity. Whichever move each one makes will likely fix that ecosystem’s tech for the subsequent 2-3 years.
I suspect Garmin will go for what it knows, best 4G LTE, and rather than trying to bag the latest, greatest tech, it will focus more on using enhanced connectivity to boost the value of its latest strategic release – Garmin Connect+. Although rumoured, I have strong reservations that Apple will release satellite connectivity in 2025 that is independent of an iPhone and thus no threat to Garmin inReach. I expect Google/Samsung/Qualcomm to go for 5G Redcap, but they have a long way to go, and that is no immediate threat to Garmin.
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Based on my 945 LTE experience this is not a feature you want – it KILLS the battery life (I guess it might have some livetrack utility for half irons or less provided you aren’t banned from using it by the rules. But LTE coverage is frequently too spotty for ultra runs and you absolutely don’t want to burn through your watch battery in an event lasting 8 – 30 hours… – and you can (and do) carry your phone anyway). Now, if they could integrate InReach satellite SOS features which you could use to message only if you had an emergency then that would definitely be desirable.
indeed so. tho it will be interesteing to see how much lte imapcts battery life on garmins more modern architectures.
i believe there is much better energy management in 5g redcap…but as said, i suspect that isn’t going to happen.
Could still be useful for long runs/bike rides around your town. Running with a phone that are bricks is uncomfortable, and having LTE in case you twist your ankle 1h from home and can call for help from the wrist would be ideal. Ideally with an on/off toggle we could turn it on only when needed
Exactly what happened to me half a year ago. That’s why I always have a phone with me which I’d rather leave at home.
I hope LTE can be set to “auto activate in case of incident detection”, then I’d have it switched off most of the time.
I assume this would be a new model of Fenix 8, because the last post with teardown there was no antenna listed, right?
Yeah there’s no indication that any existing Fenix models have an form of cellular connectivity; these recent leaks seem to indicate that there will be a totally new model called the “Fenix 8 LTE”. It’s also possible that the upcoming Fenix 8 Pro and Fenix 8 Amoled (leaked a few months ago) might have LTE too, but at this point all we can do is speculate, there’s not enough leaked info to draw any serious conclusions yet.
@richards, yes I would assume that.
so either
a new Fenix 8 then later a Fenix 8 Pro (which may or may not have LTE) and then a later F8 microLED version
OR
the Fenix 8 Pro has LTE and then a later F8 microled
I would have thought Garmin would release a different LTE model before putting it in the F8 . Im guessing the LTE chip would be different to those its already used.
there’s lots of stuff coming out in the next few weeks so lets see what hits
Any word on how much this would add to the already sky high cost of the Fenix series?
as an indication:
there was a $50 price difference for the 945lte hardware vs fr945.
if its an F8 LTE then it will be a small bump $50-$100, plus any required subscription or service costs.
if it’s the F8 Pro whose main feature is the LTE, then the price difference will be $100 to $150 compared to F8.
As for battery life, it would be easy to build in the option of auto switching off lte when the watch is connected to the phone and share the phone connection as normal. Only switching on the lte when the watch is being used as a stand alone. If Garmin bring this to the Tactix they can have my money!
Apple Watch seems to do that, hopefulyl Garmin has given it some thought