What is Garmin Connect+, anyway?
Why has this angered Garmin users?
Another commenter puts it more succintly: “Is this the beginning of the end?”
(Image credit: Future)
Garmin Reddit is furious
Another said: “wow!
However, in the interest of balance, not everyone is irate about it.
“A greedy company”
The emails have begun to roll in.
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We just like the quality and the details you get from a premium machine.
“This is why I’m so vocal right now.
If Connect+ goes on, I’m definitely done with Garmin.
I’ll start discouraging people from buying Garmin and propose a valid, European, alternative.
“Tread lightly Garmin, people hate subscription models, especially on PREMIUM products!
Sincerely, A very, VERY, angry customer.”
Garmin’s AI-powered insights
What exactly is “Active Intelligence”, anyway?
Meanwhile, a new comment on TikTok simply says “How do you sign up to it?”.
Sounds like someone’s convinced!
(Image credit: Future)
“They were different than smartwatch companies locking you to a specific phone.
They were different than smartwatch companies forcing you to pay a monthly fee just to use the watch.
“They felt like one of those companies you loved being associated with…. Below are some more examples of negative, highly-upvoted feedback from the subreddit.
(Image credit: Future)
I mean, you’ve got to laugh…
Is the panic overblown?
If you’re a new Garmin owner, don’t panic.
Garmin was keen to emphasize this in all communications about Connect+.
(Image credit: Future)
We’ve seen it happen enough times that these fears are not unfounded.
Then, they die.
I call this enshittification.”
Has LiveTrack changed?!
This is confirmed to be different to the Performance Stats tab in the free version.
Strong advocate of Garmin to anyone who will listen.
“It’s especially annoying for those of us, myself included who are well-invested into their ecosystem.
While I’ve always been a Garmin fan, I think Coros make superb watches.
TheCoros Pace 3tops ourbest cheap running watchlist thanks to its absurdly long battery life and powerful insights.
In theGarmin subreddit’s megathreadon the issue, one user had this to say.
I’m back!
“Hi Matt, I just read your article.
I have been a Garmin fanboy since I bought my Fenix 6 over 3 years ago.
What an absolute scam.
“My Fenix 6 is still going good, and I’ll go elsewhere now when it dies.”
I’m really tired of having multiple subscriptions for every lil damn thing.
never look at anything on Garmin connect, only Strava.
So it shouldn’t be much of an issue.”
I wasn’t expecting new features, so I don’t care if they’re free or not.”
They’ve got a point: at present, the new features are only likely to affect power users.
But this is a very grey, vague and hollow statement.
“There will be no improvements, there will be no updates.
And the free will eventually become out of date.
Also, the free will gradually not be compatible with new software.
Garmin will see a massive exodus as users migrate to other platforms.
Garmin will die, like HTC.”
Anyone else miss their old HTC Desire?
I know I do.
Still, people could justify these tradeoffs, considering the one key benefit.
That has now been lost.
“With Connect+, Garmin has fundamentally misunderstood their point of difference in the extremely competitive sports technology market.
Key word: theCOMPLETEset of Garmin features and tools.
Now, that agreement with consumers has been betrayed.”
What do you actually get as part of Garmin Connect+?
The introduction of a paid tier is probably a deal-breaker for me.
Have you tried Garmin Connect+ for yourself yet?
