Fenix 8, Garmin’s good (not really) software support, and new strength training features

Consolidation?

Recently (at the time of writing this), Garmin released the Fenix 8 line. People have been criticizing Garmin for offering too many similar models for a long time, and it looks like Garmin has finally listened. Now, the Epix and Fenix are essentially the same model, with MIP and AMOLED options – nice!

I really hope that other lines will be consolidated as well. This would simplify choices, free up Garmin’s R&D resources for more important things, and make software development easier. All good things I’m looking forward to.

Price

Okay, the Fenix 8 is impressive, and it even addresses diving from both hardware and software perspectives—great. But this watch is crazy expensive!

Generally speaking, consolidation should allow for cost reductions through reusability.

Let’s say:

• The Epix Pro Gen 2 is priced at €850.
• The Descent Mk3 is priced at €1,250.

Now, let’s assume that for every 1,000 Epix units sold, Garmin sells 20 Mk3 units. This totals €875,000 (with high costs to create, test, and maintain Mk3 firmware and hardware).

Now, Fenix 8 can also do diving and if Garmin would sells it for €900 per unit, selling 1,020 units would bring in €918,000 – more than before. With fewer internal costs!

Yes, my math here is oversimplified, but I think you get the idea.

Unfortunately, the prices for the Fenix 8 start at €1,000, with most models costing €1,100 and this is very very disappointing.

Software Support

Many people say that Garmin supports its watches very well. I used a Galaxy Watch before, and from this perspective, the support offered by Garmin seems bad – probably one of the worst possible.

Let me compare.

The Galaxy Watch has officially declared 4 years of major OS updates and 5 years of bug fixes. A major OS update means that the watch will receive:

• A new user interface
• New generic software features that don’t require new sensors or other hardware (like on-device AI)
• New watch faces introduced with newer models (and new complcaitions)
• New metrics and health features (like HRV and Samsung’s version of “body battery,” which was released with GW7 and is available for Galaxy Watches 4, 5, and 6 as well)

What do we have on the Garmin side? I did not find an official statement about the support strategy for the Epix Pro Gen 2. Generally, one usually can rely on 2 -5 years of support. But what we do know is:

• The new UI introduced with the Fenix 8, which solves some issues (like “watch notifications” issues I mentioned in article “Garmin Venu 3 versus Galaxy Watch – Smart Features Comparison“, will not be released for older watches.
• New watch faces will not be released for older watches.
• Will the voice memo feature (a must-have for any mic-enabled watch) be released for my Venu 3? I definitely hope so, but I’m not very optimistic.

Translating this into Galaxy Watch language, this sounds like 0 years of major OS updates and 3-5 years of bug fixes (without any official statement). And this is not great at all.

New Strength Training

I use my Venu 3 for strength training and know that this area needs much more love from Garmin (see “Strength Training with a Garmin: In a Gym” article). I read similar reports on Reddit rather often. Most of the pain points can be solved on the software side. Moreover, many of them don’t impact the watch at all—just the mobile and web apps need to be improved.

Therefore, I was excited to hear that new strength training features were released alongside the Fenix 8 (of course, with no information on whether they’ll be available for older models).

My excitement didn’t last long. In a video I saw on one of Garmin’s YouTube channels, I found that the new features are just new training programs which addressed none of the issues reported by users, and they’re still focused on endurance athletes!

Come on, Garmin, you can do better!

Kind of Bonus from the 3rd party developers

Third-party developers managed to implement some Fenix 8 watch faces in just days. Below is a photo of one of them (“GB Fenix8 Like”) on my Venu 3—it looks pretty nice for occasional use and, as far as I know, is more customizable that one created by Garmin itself.