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VO2max Petition

Former Member over 6 years ago

One thing pretty much all Instinct owners and reviewers agree on is that the VO2max omission is odd for a device at this price point, considering lower-tiered devices have it.

Adding it would make the Instinct a much easier purchase for lots of runners who would prefer this style of watch/display over the color models, just based on gauging reactions from personal encounters, as well as countless others around the internet.

Garmin team seems pretty good at responding to user feedback [sometimes], so let's see if we can draw their attention and hopefully get this feature added to our Instincts.

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0 trux over 5 years ago in reply to WaleczneSerce

Yes, the next Instinct model will certainly have all the new features already available in other models, that's certain, but do not expect it at your old Instinct.

0 Otto-Destruct over 5 years ago in reply to trux

trux said:
The VO₂Max is calculated using algorithms and technology developed by Firstbeat, and it is subject of license fees. It means even if Garmin decided to retrofit old models like Instinct with this technology at their cost, and even if it was possible technically, Garmin would have to pay additional license fee to Firstbeat for every Instinct watch sold.

I used to believe the same thing but someone pointed out recently that FirstBeat features were added after release on the Forerunner 245. The point of contention is whether or not they were baked in from the start, with only Garmin's firmware development timeline holding them up until later.

Regardless, I wouldn't expect VO2max on the Instinct because of market segmentation. If Garmin added VO2max (and/or training metrics like training load, recover advisor, race predictor), it would very likely gut sale of the Forerunner 45 and 245. The Instinct has a dizzying number of sport profiles that you don't get in the Forerunner 245 - ditching things like VO2max and Training Load differentiate the lines.