Product Quality Vs Commercial Reality

Former Member
Former Member

I am a relatively new Garmin owner.

Bought THREE Fenix 6's (2 Pro & 1 Sapphire all X's) and returned.

I have two 6X Sapphires due today and hopefully will choose the best with no blue screen or button issues.

Whilst this is a major ballache, at the same time, playing devils advocate, I do understand why these issues arise.

Products are getting more and more complicated with more scope for screw ups. Range Rovers are relatively expensive, have a ton of bells and whistles, yet you look at the reviews and they also have a ton of issues. For a vehicle of that cost its ridiculous.

However if you are a manufacturer trying to constantly innovate. Trying to beat the competition. Trying to remain commercially viable.

What are you going to do?

In business you come first (thats what she said) or undercut.

To come first speed is of the essence and this will inevitably mean getting the product out asap, acknowledging (internally) that there will be a host of issues, then working through those issues post-launch.

If the product on the whole is better than the competition, consumers will stick around and work through the issues (Garmin and Apple spring to mind). If not they fall.

From my limited experience I have found that Fenix 6 is without doubt unparalleled in terms of capability (my main use is utilising navigation for running).and aesthetically looks better than anything else out there (from my perspective of course) which is why I am sticking around.

Would I like a product that works as it should?

Of course and who knows if I have any more issues I may throw in the towel. However I also appreciate the commercial realities of selling a product like this and remaining at the top of the tree in a very competitive industry. Unfortunately QC and product testing will not and cannot be conducted to the ideal degree.

Thoughts?

  • I got lucky with a black lit screen, but my buttons are not aligned perfectly, I just accept it, probably would not even sent it back with the bluish screen, just isn't worth the hassle setting everything up again.

    A lot of products have quality tolerances the end user has to accept, for example in cheap screens or cameras a certain amount of dead pixels. I remember an old Sony smartphone that had 2 display manufactures, one was noticeable inferior. I took a testing app in the store to buy the better one and asked if I could install it.

  • When I bought my MacBook air many years ago, they came with either Samsung or Toshiba SSDs. I got lucky with the Samsung one that was somewhat faster.

    A lot of consumer electronics manufacturers do this (including Apple!)

  • When I read what opinions there are about the quality of the Fenix, I am almost speechless.

    It can only be true:
    100% money for 100% product
    Improvements to software are now commonplace, but product maturation at the customer's site is an unreasonable demand. Just as the watches cannot be repaired and there are no spare parts, no one seems to mind.
    There is no talk of sustainability.

  • By the way - how does it look like in case of these mushy buttons? No hearable click once pressed? Something else?

  • They do click on the final push, but two feel like the shutter button on a professional camera (where you half press for auto-focus to start und fully press to take a picture), a two step button.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to 7744129

    Have you had a 5x?

    As KK says it's like a camera shutter button. That was normal however on the 5x and they chose a different direction with the 6 hence the clear 'click'

    Another member hypothesized that it has something to do with the internal circuit board that may either not be equidistant between left and right pushers or get moved slightly over time due to internal tolerances.

  • Sorry you've had bad luck with getting defective watches so far - I'm a little surprised that so many of them had issues. I got one of the very first 6X's they made (bought it on the day of release) and have been very happy with it, it meets all of my expectations and what I needed. Only issue is the "dreaded" blue tint, but since everything else is working great, it doesn't bother me, and I wouldn't risk giving up my otherwise-working-perfectly watch to try to get one without blue tint but with a whole host of other issues.

    My battery is great, buttons are great, GPS tracks are great, software is stable, WHR works well enough, altimeter is working beyond great (since the last firmware update, it's been "spot on" every single day, within a couple feet of actual elevation, and elevation gain/loss during activities is dead-on accurate). External sensors are connecting and working perfectly, BT connection with phone is working perfectly, etc etc etc... so I can live with a little blue tint Smiley

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to C.sco

    Good to hear mate!

    Hope I am in the same boat an hour from now when my 6x's come!

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    Apple, in comparison to Garmin, makes rock solid products (with some exceptions). They just work and have no QC issues in general. That's the reason why they can sell them with a high price sticker. Garmin can sell half-baked stuff and lousy QC products because there is no competition. Totally different story. As soon as Apple is willing to make a fitness watch or Polar improves even more on the GritX or Vantage successor people will jump ship. I can't even believe that the Fenix 6 gets so much praises. I had two and both had a blue tint screen and mushy buttons. The software is atrociously buggy and 9 months after the release it's still not OK. I guess I just have a lower tolerance to bad products than others.

  • Apple, in comparison to Garmin, makes rock solid products (with some exceptions).

    One could also say:

    Garmin, in comparison to Apple, makes rock solid products (with some exceptions).

    Are we to dismiss Apple's exceptions and hold Garmin accountable for theirs?