I have a Fenix 2 that is only 3-4 years old. Garmin no longer provides any support for this product. This is about the 5th or 6th Garmin product I have purchased and it will be the last as they seem to think it's okay to abandon a $400 product after just a few years. At this point I either try buying a replacement battery for $40-60 and see if it works or throw in the towel and try competitors brand.
Have you approached Garmin directly on this - not sure what the US legislation is but in the UK as well as warranty the sale of goods act states that a product must be "fit for purpose" and it would be considered reasonable here that a 400$ purchase should last more than 2-3 years. If nothing else they may offer you a refurb or replacement at a heavy discount.
not sure what the US legislation is but in the UK as well as warranty the sale of goods act states that a product must be "fit for purpose" and it would be considered reasonable here that a 400$ purchase should last more than 2-3 years.
While that aspect of consumer law is similar to what we have in Australia, there is no promise (and, no, it wouldn't pass the “reasonable person” test) that batteries – rechargeable or otherwise – will last the useful lifetime of the appliances into which they're installed. If the appliance or device will work properly once the battery is replaced at the product owner's cost, and the originally supplied battery has lasted more than two years, he/she has no case for being able to keep using the device without running costs (of paying for consumables such as batteries).
Oh, and no, the batteries don't even have to be user-replaceable without engaging a service centre or qualified technician at the owner's expense. If the battery cannot be replaced but was integrated or soldered onto the electronics inside the device, that would be a different matter.
Knowing that a replacement battery costs a certain price, I waited until the price of a new band hit twice the price of a replacement battery. In my case US $75 and US $150, both plus or minus depending on the sale and supplier.
Had I bought when the band was more expensive I'd feel much more strongly, but that is exactly why I waited for the price to fall. As long as my band lasts 2 years or more, mine is expendable.
3-4 years is actually a pretty good run for a Li-Ion battery, depending on how many discharge cycles it's been through. Have you tried contacting Garmin about this and asking about battery service? Usually what they will do for older units is replace it with a refurbished unit (that has a new battery) for much less than the cost of a new device.
I would have though getting 3-4 years out of a device like this was a good result. Given the advancements in technology and the push from the majority of consumers for quicker, faster, smarter. I think a life cycle of 3-4 years is on par.
Like many technology companies there is limitations, physically, supply chain and also probably a strategic and their ability and preparedness to support beyond these time frames. Furthermore the costs of supporting (ie providing the resourcing materials and the like) these products for an ever shrinking 'install base' (given the drive for quicker, faster, smarter) would be as I see it 'good business sense' to cease support (and based on these forum look and see the majority of people are willing to work with the latest devices F5, 935 etc etc (hell some of them even own 1 of each of the new devices)).
Further to this Garmin will more than likely be to a degree, at the mercy of its suppliers in terms of chips sets, buttons, batteries (ie all the discrete components that make up the device) in how they can procure, supply, manufacture and support their individual components over this time. I can tell you from experience that this is what makes it hard for OEMs to support a technology device for much more that 3-5 years.
Can you still get your Iphone 3/4/5 serviced and parts (a rhetorical question that I do not know the answer for nor have the inclination for an answer).
Of course this is just my opinion that this is 'on par' and every user will be different.
Not sure about the on par thing, but I certainly hope that my 735XT will last way longer than 4 years! (my way older 310XT still works! and ok my way way older 305 is now useless due to decreased battery life )
At this point I either try buying a replacement battery for $40-60 and see if it works or throw in the towel and try competitors brand.
My partner's Tag Heuer quartz watch (which cost me probably five times the price you paid for a fēnix‑2) has just stopped working the other day, after not even 30 months from the point it left the TH flagship store's premises in Melbourne and, no, she cannot just pop the cover open herself and put a new battery from the supermarket (or eBay) into the watch in her own time at trivial or nominal cost. Do you think she has a legal, contractual or moral entitlement to cost-free ongoing operation of the device for several more years, and as such TH ought to replace the battery free of charge?
We don't think she has a valid claim under local consumer law (and she has the qualifications and have been admitted to legal practice here in the state of NSW, Australia).
Is battery life extended by deep cycling? That used to be true on older generation NiCad batteries but is supposedly no longer true with LiIon generation.
I plug mine in most mornings while I'm in the shower. It generally has one bar dark at the start, all blocks light when I unplug it.
