Garmin's LTE strategy

I’m disappointed that the new Fenix 8 doesn’t have LTE. Yes, a flashlight is good for safety but LTE for emergencies is a much better safety tool. I’m like many ultra runners that bring a phone with me on extremely long training runs and for races that require it, but to have LTE for the majority of runs which are mid to short distance would be extremely helpful. I won’t upgrade from my Fenix 6 until this obvious feature is included. Any idea what Garmin’s LTE strategy is at this point? Yes, many athletes likely bring their smartphone with them these days, but I also suspect there’s many like me that don’t want the hassle and 24/7 connection. Plus having a backup for emergencies with a long battery life like the Fenix is wise. 

8740591 said:

I’m disappointed that the new Fenix 8 doesn’t have LTE

Here's a wild conspiracy theory. There's a pretty good chance that the Fenix 8 is simply a repackaged Fenix 7 mainboard with the buttons and depth sensor of the Decent Mk3. This would be a good assumption given the performance across the F7 and F8 range is identical.

It would keep development costs to an absolute minimum and allow them to focus on developing the next Fenix or Forerunner with a new NXP SoC with integrated LTE (not ready at Fenix 8 launch) whilst still being able to showcase the work they've put into the UI refactor.

If true, it wouldn't make sense to put a significant amount of development into integrating LTE into the Fenix 8 given it's likely the last device running on the current NXP RT500 platform. As a side note, it's also pretty cheap for Garmin to run the experiment of having a MIP and AMOLED display in the F8 line given they're made of cobbles together components that already exist.

In summary, there's still a very good chance that we're going to see LTE on the next Fenix and this may happen sooner than some people anticipate. Or it might not... all speculation on my part.

This theory just does not hold water based on technical merits. Garmin already developed/sold LTE products on NXP RT500 such as 945LTE and Bounce. About the only technical hurdle with LTE in Fenix would be the metal case relative to antenna. But why would Garmin drop LTE from the latest 2 forerunners (955 and 965) when already the 945LTE has it, while simultaneously introducing a bottom tier $150 kid watch with LTE? This makes zero sense!

msquared2 said:

Garmin already developed/sold LTE products on NXP RT500 such as 945LTE

Was the 945 LTE on RT500? I was under impression it was on the same hardware as Fenix 6 (not sure which older RT processor that was based off). The point that it might be too expensive to incorporate LTE into the Fenix 7/Pro platform if a newer more efficient SoC with LTE integration is just about to drop.

msquared2 said:

introducing a bottom tier $150 kid watch with LTE?

This is a platform that likely won't evolve for years. They lose money on development in the short term for an eventually make it back and more a few years later with the subscription fees. So it's really back to the question of whether Garmin would develop LTE into the 7/Pro platform for the 8 if a new processor is about to drop - one that might power all Garmin products for the next 4 years like the RT500 basically has/will.

I sure hope I'm right and you're wrong because I'd really like LTE! We'll see in time.

Same here. 

No one is bringing a clunky InReach messenger on a run, and why bring that on a bike ride rather than a cell phone?! I dont want to carry either. The 945LTE connectivity is fine for emergency connectivity. Im not buying another Garmin watch unless it has connectivity at least as good as the 945LTE.