No smart phone, what device options do I have?

Former Member over 4 years ago

Hi there

I currently have a smart phone right now which helps me track runs and such, but for a multitude of reasons, I will be getting rid of it. For a while I have wanted to get some kind of fitness tracker, and wanted to make sure I got something smart phone independent. I don't want to have to have a cell phone for my watch, at all. Are there any features on the fenix 6 that I wouldn't be able to use because I only have a laptop? The big thing is Strava, Spotify, and run data. Can I load spotify playlists onto my watch from my computer, and go running and listen to music without a phone at all? Can I pair my headphones right to my watch? Can I import my runs to strava without a smart phone, through the computer?

I know it doesn't really make sense, smart watch, no smart phone, but that's my business. Am I crazy for thinking I can have a garmin that fully functions with only a computer?

0 2572376 over 4 years ago

Yes you can load music onto the watch using GC

Yes you can pair headphones to your watch using bluetooth

Yes you can sync runs to GC via GE and then export a gpx file to strava

Yes it does fully function on its own without anything actually.

I hike and I don't use a phone, its turned off for emergencies, up in the hills there usually arent any signals anyway, and when you think about you go into the great outdoors to get away from people, phones, emails, texts, etc and just embrace nature and enjoy it, who the hell wants to be still attached to the rest of the bloody world. !!!

I am sure a few people do, but I don't.

0 mcalista over 4 years ago

You can also force a sync over wifi, as well as connecting by cable to a computer.

You can also have activities upload automatically to Strava, rather than exporting a GPX.

0 mcalista over 4 years ago

Actually, I can think of one thing, and that is weather forecasts. The sync process uses your PHONE's location to download appropriate weather forecasts. You may not get this over wifi or a cable sync.

0 DBR over 4 years ago in reply to mcalista

The weather has been my biggest disappointment anyway. Even with my own API and a personal underground weather station my watch still wants to tell me the weather for my town 20 miles away and 1K feet lower in elevation. O well. The watch is an ABC so the barometer change from the watch can always be used unless I'm on the move. I too either turn my phone off or leave it behind and am very happy with my Garmin watch.

0 skopek over 4 years ago

Yes you can upload music directly from your PC but I'm not sure if you can sync spotify /wo a phone.

0 bjornhellstrom over 4 years ago in reply to skopek

I think you need the smartphone app to configure Spotify the first time

0 skopek over 4 years ago

Another solution might be this: https://theqalead.com/tools/android-emulator/

Never tried to run Garmin Connect.

0 C.sco over 4 years ago

I think outside-of-activity automatic altimeter calibration won't work without a smartphone connection, as it uses the smartphone's GPS location (rather than its internal GPS) for that function.

There might be other little things here and there that don't work easily, or at all, without a phone (some already mentioned by others above), but most major functionality should work ok. Phone connection isn't required at all during activities, most of the time I have my phone in "airplane mode" while I'm out doing activities and the only thing I'm really "missing" (but really, not missing) is getting phone notifications.

A bonus of not having a smartphone is you'll get a few more days of battery life per charge than the rest of us.

0 3578311 8 months ago

I have a GaRmin Approach30

0 seilogramp 8 months ago in reply to 3578311

Do you mean Approach Z30 or possibly Approach G30?