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Garmin's LTE strategy

msquared2
over 2 years ago

I have been waiting (expecting!?!) to see an imminent Fenix 7 (and EPIX 2, and Forerunner 955) release with some LTE features. Perhaps not full blown Apple style LTE (phone/texts/emails) but at LEAST the basic tracking and safety features found 945 LTE. Along with (hopefully!) some improvements in basic "gonna be late for dinner" messages to the wife. Garmin has proven (vis-a-vis 945 LTE) that this extra LTE hardware is low cost, doesn't hurt battery life, and provides a recurring revenue stream.

However now with the Marq 2 being released sans LTE, this makes me wonder if Garmin is just going to give up on LTE entirely for the next 3 years. Can you imagine the uproar from Marq 2 customers who just dropped $2K for Garmin's flagship watch, only to see attractive new LTE functions arrive in the humble Fenix and FR series?

If the LTE-less Marq 2 really DOES reflect a lengtht pause in Garmin's LTE rollout, we can only imagine where will Apple Ultra be 3 years from now.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to jorgemorenof

    Completely agree. Currently double wristing is the only option. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to jorgemorenof

    Considering that Forerunner 945 LTE is Garmin's first and only model with LTE (and was introduced some time ago), I think it's quite safe to bet that sales of that watch have been so low that Garmin has decided for now not to introduce new LTE models. But this is of course just a guess.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Bitti

    they actually have at least 2 more models with lte..

    the Garmin Vivoactive 3 LTE version was the first proper watch, and the Garmin Bounce, a kids watch

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I really hope it isn't a lack of integration with Apple Messages holding LTE back. At this point I straight up don't care for messaging or even notification forwarding of over LTE. Just give me the g-damned ability to make and receive a phone call.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I also believe that any autonomous function without a smartphone should be available. Iridium technology would be better to call for help or just communicate. even if it is on a subscription basis, it is important for our safety. Of course, LTE has improved functionality even more. Therefore, one of these two functions, even for security issues, should be created. Then Fenix/Epix would be complete.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    LTE and better bleutooth audio quality are the two most important things for me for a new garmin watch.

    But it would also be nice to utilize  WLAN for weather information for example, which is sadly still not possible. Hence why I don't set my expectations too high when such basics aren't working.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 4389125

    In general, autonomy, better and more comprehensive communication, is needed. It's not even about turning Farmon into an Apple Watch, but safety, synchronization, as you wrote, even this weather has problems without a phone, and in the mountains, a good assessment of this parameter often saves lives.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Well we're two years down the track and we're getting our first hints of what Garmin's LTE strategy is going to be for the Fenix. In fact, you really just need to look Garmin Bounce to see how it's going to be implemented. Here's what's obvious so far:

    • Garmin are going to continue to offer LTE as a subscription service - i.e. being data only.
    • Garmin Messenger will be the first officially supported messaging app, allowing for two-way text and voice messaging between Garmin devices, plus with anyone using the Garmin Messenger app on their phone. This brings with it the potential for real time calls down the track. Perhaps Messenger paves the way for WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal etc to develop their own clients given that all of the hardware client components will now be there.
    • Full activity and course syncing over LTE
    • Possible music syncing over LTE, although that depends on how large of a data plan they've negotiated.

    I'd be admittedly a little disappointed if the next Fenix were to come out with the above and missing voice calling, SMS and WhatsApp / Insta integration out of the box given its something other watches have had for a few years, but I'd also be pretty excited to see the road being laid for future client integration. Got to build it before they come I guess.

    Oh and for any Garmin devs reading on, I also fully appreciate how much of an undertaking integrating LTE into a Fenix would be - from modifying the OS to integrate service watchers without tanking the battery, all of the APIs that would need to be modified, developing and running your own messaging infra, and probably the most tedious bit - setting up contracts and integrating with global telcos to make onboarding a new device seamless to the customer. There's years of work behind the scenes in all of that.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to jorgemorenof
    jorgemorenof said:
    I was hesitant to admit it but finally this year, I took some courage and did the switch. I just can't be out for 3-5 hours (training) incommunicado. It just doesn't cut it. I need to be reached by my wife specially having young kids. Lots of my friends have the same issue.

    Yep, and this is my concern as well. My friends and family aren't going to download the Garmin Messenger app and then swap over to using it for those moments when I'm out running. Communication really does need to be as seamless as making a voice call or shooting a message off over an app people are already using.

    I really do hope that Garmin bring a voice capable watch out with an eSIM which allows us to manage our own voice/data plans, but I'm highly doubtful.

    Until then, the clunky phone will keep being jammed into the running vest for the long runs Persevere

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455
    2529455 said:
    I really do hope that Garmin bring a voice capable watch out with an eSIM which allows us to manage our own voice/data plans, but I'm highly doubtful.

    I really hope for that too! This is the only one solution to make it works "anywhere", because Garmin´s LTE is not supported in many countries... Also there could be an option in the watch to start the LTE only with incident detection to save the battery life.