Latest news with #GarminConnect+
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
More Future Garmin Watch Features Will Be Locked Behind The Connect+ Paywall
Garmin Instinct 3 watch In a recent earnings call, Garmin confirmed it plans to begin placing more features behind its Connect+ subscription paywall. As part of a Q+A section of Garmin's Q1 2025 earnings call, Garmin CEO Clifton Pemble hinted, unsurprisingly, more future features will only be accessible to Connect+ subscribers. 'We still have a strong commitment to develop Garmin Connect and our devices with broad features that are available to everyone. But certain ones we will likely reserve for our premium offerings,' Pemble said, while reaffirming the official line 'we're not taking any features away.' A recording of the call has been posted on YouTube. He also claimed Garmin Connect+ had received a 'positive' reception, which isn't the impression you might come away with following at look at online communities like Reddit. Users have accused Garmin of greed, others have intimated they may stop using the brand's watches in future as a result. Garmin Connect+ is not going anywhere, though, based on the company's wording. 'It's a long-term thing for us, a very important part of our fitness segment going forwards,' Pemble said during the earnings call. At present Garmin Connect+ is not a hugely substantive service. It provides AI-generated summaries of your progress, alongside a few additional features such as live tracking of your activities, so other people can follow along remotely. The big question is what could be planned for future integration into Connect+. Garmin has already debuted ECG readings as a standard feature in its watches, but it could potentially expand its coaching options into a paid service. One problem for Garmin is its free Garmin Coach and Suggested Workouts platforms are already excellent. You can effectively get marathon coaching without paying anything extra. There is scope for building it up into a more direct competitor to Runna, one of the hottest fitness platforms of the moment, though. While both can help get you fitter, a not-insignificant portion of the Runna user base likely already owns a Garmin watch. This expansion of training could involve more varied training, tied to a more appealing training interface and likely more prominent use of AI. Garmin Connect+ costs $6.99 a month, significantly less than the $19.99 a month Runna charges. Strava recently acquired Runna for an undisclosed sum, but claims there are no imminent plans to fold the platform into Strava's own.
Tom's Guide
08-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Bad news for Garmin users — future features could go behind the Connect+ paywall, according to CEO
When Garmin Connect+ launched earlier this year Garmin stressed that all the existing features available in its app would remain free to users. Given that the features you do get with Garmin Connect+ have thus far underwhelmed, it wasn't a great hardship to skip the subscription entirely. However, the fear Garmin users had was that future features would end up locked behind the Garmin Connect+ paywall, and that fear may have just been confirmed by Garmin's CEO. Speaking during Garmin's Q1 2025 earnings call CEO Cliff Pemble spoke about Connect+ and the features it might get in the future, saying, 'certain ones, we will likely reserve for premium offerings.". While Garmin Connect+ certainly does need some new features to make it worth the outlay, if it becomes a requirement to get the most from a watch then that's bad news for Garmin users who have already spent a lot of money on a watch. Pemble's also spoke about how Garmin Connect+ had been received by Garmin users, saying that the response 'had been positive', which is a surprise to me. Notwithstanding the fact that introducing a paid subscription rarely, if ever, goes down well, Garmin users seemed particularly outraged by the arrival of Connect+. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. This is partly down to the fact the best Garmin watches like the Garmin Fenix 8 cost more than $1,000, meaning the idea of paying an extra $6.99 a month to unlock features is galling. Even if you opt for a cheaper model like the Garmin Forerunner 165, part of the appeal of using a Garmin in the past has been that you don't have to pay more once you've bought the watch. Furthermore, Garmin Connect+ hasn't drawn very positive reviews from those who have used it. The AI-based Active Intelligence feature in particular is yet to provide any useful insights, in my experience. Once Garmin Connect+ was introduced it was inevitable that future features would end up behind its paywall, and if the service is to be a success it does need some more useful features than it currently has. Subscription services are only likely to become more common with the best sports watches, unfortunately. However so far Suunto and Coros haven't introduced one to use with their devices. The core experience of tracking and analyzing your training will remain free across the board I would expect, and it's still an excellent experience with Garmin. However, if we read the tea leaves, it's likely that when interesting new Garmin features launch in the future, some are likely to cost you.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Garmin launches monthly subscription for extra features on its watches
Garmin will start charging a monthly subscription for features in its app. The move marks a dramatic departure for a company that has until now resisted the subscription trend that has overtaken much of the technology and fitness industry. And it marks a major change for users, who will now have to pay $6.99, or the same in pounds, for access to all of their devices' features. The new premium plan is called Connect+, and Garmin says that it will offer 'even more personalised insights to its customers, with new features to help users elevate their health and fitness knowledge'. Some of the new tools are based around AI, and others include training tools and new badges within the app. All of the features currently offered on the Garmin Connect platform will remain free, the company promised. Users will also be able to trial the new tools for 30 days for free, before being asked to pay for them. 'Customers worldwide love using Garmin Connect to track, analyse and share their health and fitness activities,' Susan Lyman, Garmin's vice president of consumer sales and marketing, said. 'We are excited to provide even more personalised data and enriched features with the addition of Garmin Connect+. You can now learn even more about yourself, take on new challenges, train confidently and stay even more connected.' The new tools include AI features that have been branded as 'Active Intelligence' and offer personalised insights based on health data that has been collected by the device. It will initially be launched in beta, and Garmin said it had been engineered to 'help keep users' data secure'. It will also include new performance dashboards for seeing changes over time, more detailed live tracking for followers, more detailed training guidance and new social features. Garmin joins other platforms such as fitness tracker Whoop and active social network Strava in offering extra features for a monthly subscription. Until now, Garmin had resisted doing so, a stance that had been applauded by users who pay something of a premium for the company's devices. Both Whoop and Strava have also explicitly embraced AI tools for exercise, too.
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Garmin Owners Now Have To Pay To Unlock Features Thanks To Connect+
Garmin Fenix 8 Garmin has introduced a paid tier to its Connect platform, one that offers 'Active Intelligence' insights provided by AI, and more. It's called Garmin Connect+, and will cost $6.99 a month or $69.99 for a year. Garmin claims all features Connect users can currently access for free will remain free, but this marks a major — if predictable — change in the company's strategy going forwards. Here are some of the key additions you get with Connect+. Garmin Connect+ screenshots Enhanced Livetrack: Lets you notify friends and family of updates to live-traced exercise over text message. And those with more of a social media following can setup a page fans and friends can follow as the activity takes place. Exclusive badges and challenges: Some challenges and achievement badges will be exclusive to the paid version of Connect. Videos and guidance: While Garmin Coach has provided a lot of great stuff for free, 'exclusive coaching guidance' including videos will be available through Connect+. Active Intelligence: Your Connect dashboard will now be peppered with AI-generated commentary on your activities, making the experience appear more personalized and conversational. This feature is currently listed as in 'beta,' presumably as the LLM tech on which it is based could potentially spout some strange stuff. Live activity: In a 180-degree flip of the way watch and phone activity integrations often happen, this feature will let you see a live update of tracked activities are they are happening on your phone, after you start them on your watch. It's likely to be particularly handy for gym use. Performance Dashboard: This appears to be a view that provides a more versatile view of the stat charts and tables already accessible through Connect, likely ideal for use on a larger-screen device like a tablet. 'We are excited to provide even more personalised data and enriched features with the addition of Garmin Connect+. You can now learn even more about yourself, take on new challenges, train confidently and stay even more connected,' says Susan Lyman, Garmin Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing. Is Garmin Connect+ worth it? It's too early to tell, but a 30-day free trial is on offer if you want to try it out. A longer-term worry for already long-term Garmin fans is how the free experience may be sidelined in future. For example, it's not clear what proportion of future challenges and badges will only be available to Connect+ subscribers. Or if future revisions of Garmin's watch platform may eventually limit the coaching, training and route-making features included for free at present in higher-end watches like the Fenix 8 — potentially replaced by improved AI-enhanced versions in future. If Garmin focuses on bringing value through bespoke content and training guides, as seen in Apple's Fitness+, though, Connect+ could easily justify the subscription's cost. But for now? It's one to watch develop.
