A cellular standard - basically “enhanced 4G”. Verizon initially differentiated its upgraded service to 4G with the term “LTE”. Eventually became generic. Now the buzz is 5G.
No reason not to have a Connect App for your watch then. I guess the only thing you lose by not having your phone with you is "Live Track" and "Group Track". I use these. I use Live Track primarily so my wife can see where I am (in case anything happens) and I use Group Tracks from time to time to meet up with other riders. It would certainly be good if you could use these even if the phone was disabled (out of charge?) for some reason. There may be other functionality I'm not aware of.
Perhaps you should contact Garmin Support to see if there is any intention of having a connect app for the watch. Best of luck.
Nick
PS - do you have to have a contract with a phone provider to use the watch LTE?
Thanks Nick - I will follow up with Garmin. Most of my "activity apps" ported over to my watch during setup - Strava, Map My Ride/Run, Swift, etc. Was surprised not to see Connect there as well. When I went hunting in the watch app store... nada.
I have resisted getting an AW because I don't like wearing watches (despite having a drawer full). The iPhone 4 was a good size, but phones have continually grown in size (and cost) and are a pain in the ass for cycling, skiing, etc. The watch is smaller, less expensive, and less likely to get damaged or in the way during athletic activity. Trashing the AW is better than a $1200 phone. There was a company (velomounts) that offered a handlebar mount for earlier generations of AW, but not current generation. Would be great to mount the AW along side my garmin on the bars and forget about dealing with a bulky phone to link my Garmin.
The watch requires an additional cost ($10/mo) to use as a companion device on same number as cell phone. There is wifi mode for the watch, so possibly tapping off of someone's hotspot capability is another option. Haven't explored that.
Thanks - I see the problem - I've got an I phone X and just put it in my Jersey pocket. Useful for making calls etc and taking the odd picture. Seems ok for me cycling and skiing. We all have our individual preferences. Never trashed a phone yet - always a first time...
ive trashed a phone. i clipped a kerb which sent me in a somersault landing on my back where the phone was in the back pocket. i found a specialized saddle bag with 2 compartments the lower one has the spare tube etc and the top one has the phone in. i was thinking if i bin it again at least the phone has more protection under the seat.
