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Non-watch tracker alternative

7584636
8 months ago

Hi,
I think I speak for myself and many more people who enjoy watches and want continuous data and to use the garmin ecosystem.

At the moment to get the data, for example, I cannot use my loved mechanical watches. Moreover, the are situation in which a person would simply want to be more dressy. In the end, a watch  or chest strap is really during an activity, and less so during rest time. My point is that there are some situation where I (and I believe many more users) would enjoy to get fitness data from a device that is not a watch, and still feed the data into garmin connect.

For example, if I am going to a wedding I would like to use the dressy mechanical watch but still get basic fitness data for the day during garmin connect. Then I could use my Instinct in selected days and during activities or sleep, but we would have the alternative to be more dressy or simply use different watches without sacrificing fitness and health tracking.

A solution that would be perfect would be either a band like whoop, wearable either as a bracelet or on the arm, which would be not so capital expensive to produce for gamrin given they already do chest bands. Or a smart ring. The goal would be to able to track data and feed it into garmin connect (mainly HR, to track fitness and recovery) when one does not want to use a smartwatch.

I hope with this post to engage the community  and show garmin market for this solution, which can be very simple if done through a band similar to whoop's one.

  • 0 8 months ago

    Garmin have a range of watches for all occasions. Now that the data is (almost) seamlessly transferred between compatible watches there’s little to be gained for Garmin going down that route. 

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to philipshambrook

    Arguably they have tons to gain. It might be the best, easiest and less capital expensive way to lock-in customers in the ecosystem, before they even consider buying a watch to train. I will make two example: think about how many strong high-school athlete would like to track their data and cannot afford a watch or do not want to wear one. They could much more easily spend 50 or 100 bucks for a HR band to be worn on the bicep or as a bracelet (whoop style) and have their data. With their first job they want a watch? They are locked-in Garmin ecosystem. The reason for the ring would be similar, all the people to care about style and dress would not buy a garmin watch, but would possible use a ring or again, and bicep band that would not be visible anyhow.

    Garmin has the technology for the band already available basically.

    Moreover, a counter-argument for wide range of Garmin watches for all occasions: out there there are many watch enthusiast, numbers are self-explanatory on the size of the market, and these people have multiple loved watches and want to wear them all on rotation. More than no gaining anything, Garmin would let these people get in, because at the moment they know that a Garmin watch needs data all the time, and if they buy it then they cannot use their loved watches or the purchase is useless (because Garmin needs data), hence the Garmin watch is ditched.

    I really hope Garmin management reads this.

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to 7584636

    I think this is a great idea. I love my mechanical watches but never get to wear them. So I am hopefully Garmin pick up on this. 

  • 0 4 months ago

    would love to see that too. the lack of this is actually the reason why I currently considered switching to whoop after years with Garmin so I get to wear my mechanical watches again. 

  • 0 3 months ago

    Yes, i agree 100%. It is actually pretty dull not to be able to wear mechanical watch and at the same time have comprehensive health data… I would buy such a band the second it would enter the market.

  • 0 3 months ago

    100% Agree, being able to still track steps, heart rate, body battery and HRV while using a mechanical watch would be ideal. Then switching back to the watch for every day wear and activity tracking.

  • 0 3 months ago

    I like the idea. I was looking for something like an ankle- or upper arm worn fitness tracker for a friend who can't wear a watch, ring or wristband during work. Was thinking of a wristband device on a longer strap or without a strap inside a sock or (part of) a compression sleeve.

  • 0 2 months ago

    Please please PLEASE develop something like this. I have, on occasion, worn my Fenix 6 Pro around my ankle to enable data to be captured whilst still dressing up with a mechanical watch for board meetings/weddings etc. I think a product designed as a bracelet with no visual representation would sell really well, would sell to those who already own Garmin watches, and would fast expand Garmin's market segment.