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VO2max Petition

One thing pretty much all Instinct owners and reviewers agree on is that the VO2max omission is odd for a device at this price point, considering lower-tiered devices have it.

Adding it would make the Instinct a much easier purchase for lots of runners who would prefer this style of watch/display over the color models, just based on gauging reactions from personal encounters, as well as countless others around the internet.

Garmin team seems pretty good at responding to user feedback [sometimes], so let's see if we can draw their attention and hopefully get this feature added to our Instincts.

Reply to this post below if you support this petition!
  • All Instinct owners? All reviewers? I’ve watched pretty much every video on YouTube in relation to the Instinct and the only “reviewer” who thought it was an odd omission was DC Rain.

    You want the feature, that’s fine. But this isn’t a watch geared towards runners based on Garmin’s marketing and included features. From a business standpoint, they can’t have all of their watches have the same features.
  • All Instinct owners? All reviewers? I’ve watched pretty much every video on YouTube in relation to the Instinct and the only “reviewer” who thought it was an odd omission was DC Rain.

    You want the feature, that’s fine. But this isn’t a watch geared towards runners based on Garmin’s marketing and included features. From a business standpoint, they can’t have all of their watches have the same features.


    And you felt compelled to come here and type that reply? Wow, some people on the internet, I tell ya… I thought these devices were purchased by the types that actually go outside. Sigh.

    Anyway, anyone else have something actually constructive to contribute?
  • I don't even know what Vo2max is so I guess I don't need it. I kind of agree with odie21. The watch is not really targeted at the people who would require Vo2max whatever it is.
  • I guess this will also be labeled unconstructive by the OP, but anyway, here goes:


    Garmin have a line directed towards runners: The 235,645 and 935 (there are probably more models than that).
    Then they have a more expensive line directed towards people who want to do anything outdoor, including running and hiking and trail navigation: The Fenix watches.

    What Garmin have been missing until now is a more cheapish line which is mostly directed at stuff like hiking and trail navigation, but not towards running. The Instinct seems intended to fill this gap.

    If they made full support for running, they would cannibalize their Fenix line. So it seems to me that it is a deliberate, strategic choice to leave VO2Max out.

    Apart from this, the VO2Max calculation is not Garmin's own. They license it from a Finnish company called Firstbeat. So if they include it in the Instinct watches, it is quite likely that they will have to pay a royalty to FirstBeat for every Instinct sold.
  • I fully agree with AllanOlesen67.
    The Instinct is not a "Forerunner" line watch. It is categorized as an outdoor watch (e.g. in the forum) such as the Fenix so the idea is to keep most of the outdoor features from the Fenix and exclude other things to make it cheaper. And this is exactly why I bought it.
    The choice of features and price is always a company strategic decision. You are right that some cheaper watches do have VO2max but all of them miss other features that are inside the Instinct.
    To make a comparison some people also ask for a multisport activity (or at least triathlon mode) in the 645 arguing that some cheaper watches have it (such as the 735 or other companies watches) but this was not the strategy decided by Garmin for the 645. On the other side the 645 has a lot of firstbeat features that runners like.


    Now from a very personal point of view, I had a 235 previously and now I don't miss VO2max at all. Basically it was just telling me that I was able to run fast after doing a fast run, or that I was in a bad shape after running in tough conditions or on uneven ground.
    One should keep in mind that on a watch it can only be an estimation of your real VO2max. So I understand it can be motivating to see your VO2max improvements but for me it remains a gadget feature and I'm mostly interested by raw data.

    Of course I wouldn't complain if VO2max was added in a future firmware update.
    But apart from the fact that I doubt Garmin will do it because of the license issue (I don't even know if they *could* do it if they ever wanted, because we did not pay for it), I prefer that they spend time and money on adding more outdoor features and improving sensors accuracy.
  • And you felt compelled to come here and type that reply? Wow, some people on the internet, I tell ya… I thought these devices were purchased by the types that actually go outside. Sigh.

    Anyway, anyone else have something actually constructive to contribute?


    Well son, my post was very constructive, you just didn’t like it... you felt compelled to write a post requesting a feature and I responded stating that the watch isn’t geared towards that. If you’re afraid of people disagreeing with you, don’t post “on the internet”.

    As I said in my first post, from a business standpoint, Garmin isn’t going to put every single feature, on every single watch. They’re attacking a different market such as Suunto and Casio.
  • My Instinct tells me that the product watch doesn't need VO2Max to be a success. I have to hold it to my ear to hear.
  • I strongly agree with the OP.

    Just a few points.

    1. Instinct will NEVER eat Fenix market. The newer Fenix has a colour screen, all smartwatch gadgets (smart payments, apps ecc...) and maps with streets. It has a dozen running metrics and can be paired with the Garmin Running Dynamic Pod to get advanced information about the way you run. Moreover, the style is completely different. As for the Fenix 5, it will be discontinued soon.

    2. VO2Max CAN be added via firmware update, and first beat licence is not a major problem. Garmin has already introduced VO2Max via firmware update after 9 months from the introduction of the Forerunner 35.

    3. Every Garmin watch available on buy.garmin.com with wrist heart rate sensor has VO2Max, the only exception being the Instinct.

    4. Personally, I'm really on the fence between going for the Instinct or stand by and wait. I absolutely need a barometric altimeter and navigation (I live in a hilly countryside and often I hike in the alps: ascent and descent are very important metrics for me). I really don't care about smart payments, apps etc.. and I can live without advanced running metrics. But at least VO2Max is a metric I really care about, and I do not consider it "advanced".
    I can't spend 600€ for a Fenix 5 plus. So either I find a very (but really very) good black friday deal on an old Fenix 5, either I buy the Forerunner 645 non music (but I loose some navigation features including Garmin Explore and I get something like smart payment I really don't use) or I go for a Suunto Spartan Baro (which is a bit too big for me and I don't like the idea of needing internet to be able to configure the watch and exporting my data).
  • I’m an Instinct owner and don’t think it’s odd it doesn’t offer VO2max!!

    I read about the features the Instinct offered, downloaded and looked at the manual and made my decision to purchase it based on the features it provides, as I would believe most everyone else has done that’s already purchased an Instinct.

    If it were important to me to have VO2max, I would have researched those models that provided that function and bought one of those, like a 935!!

    I would rather see firmware updates to tweak, enhance and fine tune existing functions.

    One of the reasons I have this watch is because it has just enough…

    I’ve been walking, running and trail running with it and so far, I’m a happy user!!!