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What features does the Fenix 9 need to have to make you upgrade?

bw
8 months ago

Since the release of the Fenix 8 is imminent close and the related feature discussion is closed, let's start over:

Hey everyone, with the Fenix 9 takes a glimpse far, far away on the horizon, I'm curious—what would make you excited enough to upgrade? Whether it's better sensors, longer battery life, or some totally new feature we haven't seen before, what would make the next Fenix irresistible for you? Let's get a discussion going and share our wishlists for what we hope to see in the next generation!

Please also take the point in time with a good sense of humor, we're in a user forum to share thoughts and also have fun, right?

  • 0 8 months ago

    I was just wondering how many of the items on my wishlist I posted last year in the other thread came true...

    1. More storage space (PLEASE!), give us 64GB or more! Nope.
    2. More color depth (10-bit / 512 colors would be a massive improvement) Nope.
    3. Bump up the display sizes by 0.1 inches each (1.3", 1.4", 1.5") Yes, Yes, and NOPE.
    4. Increase screen resolutions accordingly (260x260, 280x280, 300x300) Yes, Yes, and NOPE.

    So I guess that's my wishlist for Fenix 9. Change all the NOPE to YES.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to simontri

    But make it usable with your custom eSim and just LTE-M for basic tracking and small data stuff - like weather forecast, warnings and bare minimum text messaging stuff!

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to bw

    You need to be able to make phone calls and be able to fully turn off this functionality when not needed. Remeber, people want to leave their phones at home when going for a walk, run,... and you need to provide security for them.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to simontri
    simontri said:
    You need to be able to make phone calls

    No, I don't need to.

    However, it doesn't hurt to carry a phone if I want to make a call. It would be nice, though, for my family to know where I am when I'm out running. Since I don’t live in a remote area, I don’t need IRIDIUM. Still, it would be convenient to have basic connectivity without needing to carry a phone.

    edit: go and buy a smart watch, this should stay a outdoor sports watch ;)

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to bw
    bw said:
    this should stay a outdoor sports watch ;)

    Why should it? what a stupid argument, it wouldn't hurt if it had some basic LTE safety functions, just like 945 LTE does - just improve on it. You might as well stop using bluetooth, wifi, phone notifications and everything associated with aforementioned connectivities - all of them being core smartwatch functionalities.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to 5925888
    5925888 said:
    Why should it?

    Cause it's an sports outdoor sports watch? Or would you buy a Jeep and demand Tesla features?

    Stick with features serving your purposes and do those well: low energy consumption, high reliability, low failure rates, proofed implementation. You are seeing many of the drawbacks of doing too much too fast in this forum, aren't you? Implementation errors, on-off bugs etc. This is a energy optimized hardware platform, not that Google, Apple, Samsung smart watch platform you need to recharge every day... 

    5925888 said:
    all of them being core smartwatch functionalitie

    Yes, core functionality and I don't speak against the safety tracking and messaging features, did I?

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to bw

    Your comment does not make sense. You don't need to buy the LTE version and even if you did you should be able to turn off the feature if not needed meaning that there would be no battery difference.

  • 0 8 months ago

    My partner and I have Fenix 6 pros. We wanted to upgrade to 8 but now we wouldn't. The price and capabilities and not quite there for us to choose to upgrade. Here's a list of things that Fenix 9 needs to have beyond Fenix 8's upgrades for us to jump right away. Then, nothing in the market can beat it. It'll be ideal.

    Need:

    1. LTE message/calls with an ability to turn it off (when you're taking your phone with you in the wilderness)

    2. MIP on 43mm. If AMOLED, at least 7 days of battery with 2 hours/day of GPS activity for 43mm.

    3. Battery life increase

    4. Better sensor

    5. Better sleep tracking

    Nice to have:

    1. Higher resolution MIP

    2. 40 GB

    3. Faster yet efficient processor

    4. Voice to text messages even on LTE

    5. Further enhancement of voice commands from 8

    6. Satellite messaging - mini version of inreach mini

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to stompbeat
    stompbeat said:
    6. Satellite messaging - mini version of inreach mini

    Regarding this one, I don't think the technology is quite there yet. It's possible they could implement the same satellite SOS service that iPhone or Pixel use, with their system that uses geo-stationary orbit satellites and requires pointing the antenna a very specific direction and doesn't have actual worldwide coverage (though it does cover most landmass).

    But, more likely, since they own InReach and all of that infrastructure, they'd want to stick with the existing high-orbit Iridium network which requires a substantially larger and more powerful transmission antenna (with the huge benefit of being omni-directional, it doesn't really matter where it's pointed). Plus it has true 100% worldwide coverage, whether you're in North America or antarctica or the middle of the Atlantic ocean doesn't matter, which I think is an important feature for a watch billed as an adventure device.

    It's possible that someday we'll get an Iridium antenna that can be crammed into a watch, alongside all the other stuff that's already crammed into the watch, but I think it'll be a while before Garmin gets there. Realistically that's probably a Fenix 10 or 11 feature.