I have a Fenix 5x and was looking to get a 7 or 8 but now I will just stick to my 5X. I am so tired of all the enshitifacation of every fucking thing.
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Yikes.. Once my current Garmin watch dies I'll just switch back to a regular non-smart watch
Don’t worry, the c-suite will pull a j/k and then do it anyway later.
Fuck ‘em, eventually they will learn.
I recall an app called endomondo doing similar. I'd bought the Pro version for lifetime only to find them move to a Premium option.
That was fine as I still had what I had paid for.... until take up wasn't good enough and slowly key features moved behind the paywall.
Im fairly certain this is the direction this is going. I wonder if there'll be a class action if so to force buy back of the hardware
Oh yeah, Endomondo brings back memories. Let's see what's next for Garmin, though this is not a good sign. Unfortunately, there's no real alternatives out there if you consider batters life.
Pebble, but neither of their upcoming revived models have the same spread of sensors shoved into them as Garmin does if that sort of thing matters to you.
I would happily buy something just like my Fenix without the stupid pulse ox/heart rate monitor, but I understand I am in the minority there. I'd keep the GPS, compass, temperature, altimeter, and barometer functions. But then, I'm probably the sole person on Earth who would be the first to buy a phone without a goddamned selfie camera on it, either.
I just saw DC Rainmaker's video on this, and I'm not impressed. In any case, I've bern using my Garmin watch mainly for running, and I've been more interested in spot data than history on Connect. Still, I'm on my last Garmin watch. The hardware itself seems to last for only 18-24 months before problems start piling up, so I decided that my next watch will be Coros. I'm under no illusions that the hardware would be more reliable, but it costs half of what I've paid for my Garmin.
I've had and seen several last for years with daily use and never had an issue. Their support has been top notch anytime I had an issue I've gotten a new watch or several bands free of charge. They even paid for the return shipping of my old device.
My old FR 110 is still working. Since then:
- Vivoactive HR - 2 years in, the casing broke at one of the points where the wristband is attached. Material fatigue. Out of warranty.
- Vivoactive 3 - 2 years in, altimeter went haywire. Also, battery life decreased to one day. Just out of warranty.
- Fenix 6 - 1.5 years in, GPS got really bad. As in, drift of over 200m from route. Within warranty, so I contacted them and they sent me a replacement watch. That one is still working, and I hope it will for a long time.
By now, I developed a certain expectation of the life of Garmin watches. I divided their price with expected lifetime, and compared that with similar data for Coros. Coros is simply better value for money.
I've had several Garmin Venu's and GPS devices inside the car. But for specifically health trackers I have yet to find a more comprehensive coverage of overall health data. That's easily accessible to anyone. I seen you mentioned spot data is what you prefer. A Polar H10 might serve the niche better for heart data. Self hosting options for them.
Sure I'd like it fully open source and more on device functionality rather than APIs and algorithms in the cloud. But pound for pound Garmin still runs the fitness and health tracking sector. There are some newer companies popping up with promising options but the tech and IP just isn't mainstream yet.
There it is.
So glad I skipped out on buying one of these.
I got a used dumb tracker for $8 (looks like it's gone up since). No internet, no synching. Perfect for workouts.
Time to search for a new brand for my next watch 😓 (when I need it)
Pebble!
Google (which purchased Fitbit, which had bought Pebble) still owns PebbleOS - https://repebble.com/
Right in their website.
All existing health data and features, however, will remain free.
Perfect!