5 Garmin product launches to look forward to next year
Garmin isn’t quite finished with its 2025 product releases, and there should be a couple of good launches in the next two weeks. Nevertheless, I’m already looking forward to what next year has in store. Here are my highlights, and stay tuned in the coming months for more news and insights.
Next generation Fenix 9
It’s only been a few weeks since the Fenix 8 Pro amazed us with Satellite and LTE connectivity and then underwhelmed us in equal measure with the poor battery life on the microLED option.
Yet the 8 Pro’s launch confirmed one thing: Garmin wants to copy the tech giants and get its number one product onto an annual refresh cycle if it can. The obvious conclusion is that there is a very good chance we will see Fenix 9 grace the shelves in September 2025.
This is a big deal as it means the Fenix 8 you already own will likely stop getting major new features after then. That might convince you to upgrade to a new generation of Garmin Elevate 6—its next-gen optical heart rate sensor, no doubt with other goodies on board the Fenix, too, like a faster processor to make those onboard maps slide and glide with renewed ease as you navigate around Garmin’s ever-improving screens.
Garmin Edge 1060
Edge 1060 has not been rumoured, but it is on a 2-year refresh cycle following the Edge 1050‘s launch in 2024. That doesn’t seem so long ago, as we’ve only recently seen the Edge 1050’s technology passed down to the mid-sized Edge 850/550 models. But it will come, for sure.
The case format for the Edge 1060 will be unchanged, so expect improvements in battery life linked to a more efficient display. My big hopes would be for further usability tweaks to the software interface to make it just that little bit easier to use. Still, all we’ll likely get is a new mini feature or two, plus the ability to service (change) the battery ourselves.
Garmin’s True Whoop competitor
A genuine alternative to Whoop has been years in the making by Garmin. 2025 has seen the Index Sleep armband foreshadowing what next year’s product will expand upon…all we’ve seen so far is Garmin nailing the sleep wearability part of the Whoop equation.
Despite Garmin selling its own blood pressure cuff, it lacks a similar hypertension monitoring capability on its Elevate 5 wrist sensor. That new capability will likely come as Garmin seals its competencies in gathering all the wellness vitals it needs to compete with Whoop.
Garmin has also given us powerful hints in the last few weeks that it aims to copy Whoop. Its Health Status and Lifestyle Logging features add two more features from which Whoop already benefits.
While it’s exciting to think of a true Whoop competitor, like Polar discovered with its LOOP band, Garmin will also struggle. Garmin Connect doesn’t have the clarity and usability of the Whoop app, and it doesn’t adequately use AI coaching, unlike Whoop Coach (2023!), which has excelled in that area for over two years.
Garmin Venu X1 Pro
If the Venu X1 came out of left field, the X1 Pro would be an early surprise for 2026 in equal measure from right field.
Venu X1 signalled that Garmin wanted to take on Apple Watch in the squircle (round rectangular) format that so many people obviously love—the Apple Watch is the best-selling smart watch of all time, after all. Except Venu X1 does the smarts but adds Garmin’s superior sports features.
The killer new feature for the Pro version will be the same as for all the other Pro versions Garmin plans to release: the 4G LTE connection. All the awesome Garmin live sports tracking and emergency features will pass to the X1 Pro and not require you to carry a smartphone for them to work.
There’s always a dark cloud to every silver lining regarding Garmin features. In this case, there will be three. Firstly, all those lovely connected features, like calling a loved one, will only work with people in your inner circle.
You can only call other people using the Messenger app. That can be someone else with the Messenger app on their Fenix 8 Pro or your friends and family back home using Garmin Messenger on their smartphone. [the5krunner]
Then there is the lack of true, deep smart integration with your smartphone. You might be happy with the notifications and the likes your Garmin currently gets from your iPhone. However, you don’t really know what you are missing with smart features until you have used an Apple Watch. The integrations are much deeper, and Apple currently rings fences around all those lovely features for its products. The EU might force change in that area, but it will be change at a glacial pace.
Finally, we only get 4G LTE connectivity. Garmin is now lagging Apple Watch 11, which has taken on the next generation of tech with 5G RedCap.
Garmin Forerunner 170 – Will Set the Bar High for Entry-Level Sports Watches
Garmin will complete its new generation of running watches, with tech from the Forerunners 970 and FR 570 passed down the range to a new Forerunner 170.
It’s debatable that this $300 watch will count as an entry-level sports tool in most people’s eyes. But it does in Garmin’s!
The FR 170 will pack on board some serious sports and sports physiology features—just not all of the ones in Garmin’s extensive stable. I also expect another bump to the hardware with more accurate and power-friendly optical heart rate and GNSS sensors.
A more comparable beast all around!
Other Garmins
Garmin has many more releases planned.
Take Out
2026 is going to be a good year for those watching Garmin. There will be many products, a few surprises, and some pretty interesting new product categories I’ve not covered here. And this post promised some quite exciting things, right?
However, don’t set your sights too high. 2025 has been an excellent year in the Garmin world. 2026 will be good, but not as good as we’ve just experienced. Stay tuned.
With 20 years of testing Garmin wearables and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, I provide expert insights into fitness tech, helping athletes and casual users make informed choices.
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No forerunner with LTE? Boooooo
The fenix just seems huge and heavy. Might have to keep running with my 955 on one wrist and Apple Watch on the other
they might come as smaller pro versions eg of the 970.
I’m wokring on a post for all that ATM
but is the Garmin’s LTE implementation working as expected ?
https://www.nakan.ch/wp/2025/10/02/tout-savoir-sur-la-connectivite-lte-m-des-montres-garmin/
How about Enduro 4?
there was only space for 5 as i only had one sheet of A4 to write on
that one might be covered here: https://the5krunner.com/2025/10/05/new-garmin-models-for-2026-october-2025-update-trusted-garmin-rumours-2025-leaks-insights-dates-for-all-new-models-plus-apple-coros-polar-suunto-wahoo/
Marq Gen 3? 😭😭😭😭
there was only space for 5 as i only had one sheet of A4 to write on
that one might be covered here: https://the5krunner.com/2025/10/05/new-garmin-models-for-2026-october-2025-update-trusted-garmin-rumours-2025-leaks-insights-dates-for-all-new-models-plus-apple-coros-polar-suunto-wahoo/
Not excited at all by those.
– Fenix 9 : too expensive and heavy for me
– Edge 1060 : I’m not a cyclist
– Whoop-like : not interested in this kind of device
– X1 Pro : will get a laughable battery life (assuming the drop will be the same that for F8>F8 Pro)
– FR 170 : I already have a high-end watch
Like the comment above, I’ll stick with my 955 for another year (at least) 🙂
if it ain’t broke, dont fix it
if it works and you’re happy…dont replace it
Five Apple products in the title 😃
Still no “woop” style garmin band?
I’m still holding on to the hope that Garmin will eventually find a way to give us the microLED tech we were supposed to be getting.
We were promised:
1. Comparable or better battery life than Amoled
2. A screen that costs about $100 more for them to buy, resulting in a watch that should cost around $100 more at retail, not $700 more.
3. A screen that results in a thinner watch, not a thicker one.
If they can’t get all 3 of those promises fulfilled then MicroLED tech in wearables is dead on arrival.
People need to get real.
1. µLED is more efficient than AMOLED but it still can’t break the laws of physics. Even 100% efficient lights still need power and the brighter you make them the more power they need. Garmin have given us watches that now pump out 4,500 nits. Presumably you can turn down the power and the battery will last much longer.
2. Garmin don’t just charge for the marginal hardware cost: you need to factor in the cost they incurred developing it and then at least double that to still make a reasonable return after the time cost of money and risk. They don’t have anybody else to pay those bills.
3. The greater thickness appears to be from the additional antenna and battery, not from the µLED.
and the marginal hardware cost for microLED is probably quite a lot more than AMOLED (and garmin has to make at least 100% markup as you say)
I’m not convinced That an Edge 1060 will come next year. I expect that number for a unit in 2028. 2026 will have a 1050 plus is my guess. (And my hope is a better Edge Explore, or 950)
hi
yes, you could be right. I’d see the two as effectively the same thing. 1060 sounds better
Do you think there will be a replacement for the 1040 Solar? When Garmin launched the 1050, they were careful to say that the 1040 was still current but, by next year, it will be four years old, which is an eternity in gadget land. Will they quietly retire it or release a new version?