Outdoor Maps +

The POI map adds some extra outdoor Points of Interest. I don't know what the key is there, but here's an example.

Basemap without extra POIs

Basemap with extra POIs

Notice the lake itself and dam  at the south end are now POIs. I don't know how useful this is though.

I'm still having the same issue downloading Maps+ maps... download status sits there at 0% indefinitely, no matter what I try. Been happening for a few days now. Tried several reboots, tried clearing the download queue, tried several different wifi networks... no dice. Weird because it was working perfectly for the first few days.

Probably I'll wait until the next alpha/beta firmware comes out and see if that changes anything, before I reach out to Garmin directly about it

this is a tremendous post, thank you so much for doing it. i suddenly have an interest in this and this thread is helping me quite a bit. so, after 4 months and a couple of fw updates to the watch, how are you liking outdoor maps+? worth upgrading? my primary use is for hiking in national and state parks so i assume mostly satellite imagery with more detailed contours

For only $50 a year it's worth it in my opinion, though honestly I haven't used it a ton really. Part of the reason I haven't used it much is because I still have a ton of legacy Birdseye Imagery loaded on the watch, so I haven't had a reason to need that from Maps+.

But now I've just bought an Epix 51mm Pro, so I'm going to start using it a lot more often. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to buy 2 subscriptions, or just transfer the subscription off the Fenix and onto the Epix.

For me, the jury is still out. There has been some improvements since I started this thread. I haven't ran into stuck download issue lately, so hopefully that's gone. Also, without much fanfare, Garmin expanded satellite coverage to the whole world as far as I can tell. At least it worked for me in Europe in April/May pretty well. This obviously only applies to satellite maps, not other layers for now, but it's very important for me as I travel a lot.

The interface has also been improved somehow, but it's still missing more options for download. I want the ability to download maps for specific course I created in advance. I would appreciate clearer explanation of which layers will actually be downloaded. It's still somehow cumbersome process to download the map for the area I want. I do appreciate a ton though that it can be done from the watch on the go.

For me, the main reason I am still hesitant, is I just find I don't use most of the layers that much. I like the more detailed contours the most and keep those on most of the time (though there are cases where there is just too many contours on the map). Satellite maps are great in theory, and there's definite coolness factor to them, but for a quick glance, even on my Epix with AMOLED screen, the standard maps have much better contrast so I tend to prefer them for on trail navigation. But things obviously change rapidly if I move off trail or do some geocaching. They'd make great use case for backcountry multi-day trips, but downloading all the satellite maps for week long backpacking trip will be a hassle. USGS maps are cool and have almost as good contrast as the default maps, and occasionally trails and features that are missing on TopoActive maps, so they make a good alternative at places. The other layers don't really do much for my use case of mostly (long) hikes. It's nice that's it's easy to switch the layers on and off pretty quickly though.

So I think the value proposition here really depends on your use case. If you are in the situation where you will use some satellite maps or USGS a lot, than it absolutely makes sense to keep the subscription, at least if you're mostly in the US. I am kind of thinking there will be more improvements by the time my renewal comes around and that will tip me into the yes category, but if my renewal came now, I would be somehow torn. 

Than again, I think it makes even more sense now than it did 3 months ago to give the subscription a try for a year and see for yourself. $50 really isn't that much.

jsla7527 said:

Also, without much fanfare, Garmin expanded satellite coverage to the whole world as far as I can tell. At least it worked for me in Europe in April/May pretty well.

Oh wow, that's the first I've heard about that, that's great news for a lot of people.

So in the 2 hours since I last posted in this thread, I made the ultimate decision to cancel my maps+ renewal on my Fenix (although the subscription is still good for another 6 months I think), and activated a new subscription on my Epix.

90% of what I use Maps+ for is the satellite imagery. Like jsla7527 said above, I also haven't found a ton of uses for the other layers yet. And now that I have an Epix, I can't imagine ever wanting to use satellite imagery on my Fenix again... it works, but it just doesn't look that great and it's a little hard to make out what you're looking at.

C.sco said:

Oh wow, that's the first I've heard about that, that's great news for a lot of people.

I saw you can actually buy OM+ now for example in Czechia: https://www.garmin.com/cs-CZ/p/893561. The price still translate to the same price as in the US though and you're only getting satellite maps for your home area. I suppose this is true for other countries as well. And since garmin sells them abroad, they should support them as well. 

C.sco said:

So in the 2 hours since I last posted in this thread, I made the ultimate decision to cancel my maps+ renewal on my Fenix (although the subscription is still good for another 6 months I think), and activated a new subscription on my Epix.

Personally, I would probably just transfer the maps, because I am curious how the process works, but it's kind of cool to be able to compare the two devices too.  

Can you download aerial photos for Greece??? OM+ It's not available  for my country, can I buy subscription with address of another country and download maps for my country???

It's great news that Garmin have included the whole world again with satalite imagery as they did before with BirdsEye, however the price is £50 (65 USD!) that's pretty expensive for just satalite imagery compared to BirdsEye at £25 until it was discontinued.

I agree. They should have 2 subscription options for this - the standard $50/year one, and a $25/year one that only includes satellite imagery.