Fenix 5X - 13.23 Beta Release

When will we see the updated features from Firstbeat used in the forerunner 945? There is no reason that this premium watch cannot support those features. I have the fenix 5x plus and it seems like all the sensors are the same from the 945. What gives?

Here we go again!

We're not going to see those new features on any of the existing watches. Even if the hardware could support them, Garmin pays licensing fees to Firstbeat for those features. There's absolutely no reason for Garmin to fork over cash for new licenses for old watches - especially when there's literally no way to recoup that investment. That doesn't even get in to the fact that implementing the code for those features would take resources away from 1) Working on unreleased/unannounced products 2) Bug fixing/feature enhancements for newly released watches & 3) Bug fixing the F5X - among other things.

Can we let this go, please?

When will we see the updated features from Firstbeat used in the forerunner 945? There is no reason that this premium watch cannot support those features. I have the fenix 5x plus and it seems like all the sensors are the same from the 945. What gives?

Don't bother asking. It seems that there are a lot of people here who are on Garmin side. And trust me, garmin will not put new features in fenix5x or older watches even if watches support that. To much nativity in this world...

There's absolutely no reason for Garmin to fork over cash for new licenses for old watches.

How about we don't continue making excuses for Gamin and why they can not or are unwilling to support future enhancements to their existing products. If they want more money for a licenses to Firstbeat and a little for dev I would be willing to pay. Lets think of solutions and less on unknown dependencies and requirements. More how can we make this possible instead of just making excuses. This device is capable of handling much more than it currently provides and shouldn't just be obsolete due to a companies lack of creative thinking.

As i said, for example Samsung updates their flagship phones for years like Apple,LG,Huawei, Sony... and i'm talking only about phones... Nikon, Canon, Sony continue tu update their cameras; Samsung, LG, Sony continue to update their TV, Nvidia and ATI continue to update their video cards and so on... Why Garmin shouldn't update their flagship devices? Because Fenix 5X and Fenix 5X+ were their flagship devices that cost respectively 749€ and 849€! As we have seen sometimes Garmin add new functionality also in their "old" products, so i can't see any reason in why they shouldn't update al least Fenix 5 Plus line!

I would also add that by introducing the 945 they have cannibalized the Fenix product line from any unique value props. Why would anyone choose to pay more for a product with less features? If they updated the Fenix line to include these software updates, Garmin would continue having sales of Fenix line of watches. Currently based on their current strategy, Garmin wants you to pay a premium price for an outdated Fenix watch. My advice is to upgrade the software going forward for new sales and provide a paid upgrade for existing owners. This would keep the Fenix line relevant along with not disenfranchising current owners.

How about we don't continue making excuses for Gamin and why they can not or are unwilling to support future enhancements to their existing products. If they want more money for a licenses to Firstbeat and a little for dev I would be willing to pay. Lets think of solutions and less on unknown dependencies and requirements. More how can we make this possible instead of just making excuses. This device is capable of handling much more than it currently provides and shouldn't just be obsolete due to a companies lack of creative thinking.

Garmin has in the past added newer features to older devices. Perhaps they'll add the newer features to your 5X. Who knows? There's a couple problems with paying for additional features per device. The first is it makes no sense business wise. If this were the case, Garmin would have one watch only and customers would order theirs "ala carte". Secondly, support and logistics. How would Garmin track who paid for what if it came down to repairs or exchanges? How would support troubleshoot our watches if there were numerous configurations based on add-ons? What about FW updates? The current updates are based on ROW and APAC devices or if you have a music or non-music device. How would you update watches with all the different add-ons? It's not as simple as just tossing Garmin extra money.

...Garmin would have one watch only and customers would order theirs "ala carte".

Yes and no. Like the iPhone camera, the hardware dictates the features. But features that are not dependent on the hardware are typically added to older devices to maintain the customer relationship to show good faith that a product bought today will not be obsolete in a mater of months after purchase when only updating software enhancements. I bought the Fenix 5x plus, the top of the line watch, in order to future proof myself against hardware enhancements over the next few years. But I would have never thought that it would not protect me against software enhancements. I get it, they can't help me if I don't have an OHRS on my watch, then for me to expect them to support that feature, but for simple software features that the hardware already has the ability to support erodes my faith in the company.

As far as who paid for the upgraded software, I would assume the same way the do for the maps and such. If they want to make money on existing customers who are not going to upgrade the hardware, provide a way to extend the useful life of the product they own until they are ready to upgrade. The thought that I would need to upgrade the hardware to simply upgrade the software is ridiculous.

As far as I can see, these features are insight features taken from sensors that already exist on the watch. Same data, same sensors. Just take the data that the watch is already giving me and crunch the numbers to provide these feature insights. Temp and pulseox, I have both sensors, just do the math and give me the insights. If not in the watch, at least in the connect app or Web app.