- Garmin has recently updated the Fenix 8’s GPS
- The Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro are also getting ECG support in Europe
- Some Fenix 7 users are worried their devices are getting left behind
As Garmin fights to regain user trust after a catastrophic global outage earlier this month, customers of its premium Fenix 7 line of watches are worried their devices are getting left behind by the company’s chequered update schedule.
This week, Garmin has rolled out a GPS fix to its Fenix 8 to deal with a GPS acquisition problemand has also pushed the electrocardiogram (ECG) feature to the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro Gen 2 in Europe.
As noted by Gadgets and Wearablesa software update for the aforementioned models brings ECG support, after the company rolled out ECG to other EU and AUS customers in January.
However, notably absent from the ECG rollout is the mainline Fenix 7, which doesn’t have the hardware to support the tech in the same way its Pro model does. Some Garmin users are becoming concerned their premium smartwatch offerings are being passed over, left without updates in favor of the newer premium Garmin models, and even the mid-range Forerunner watches. Although the Forerunners occupy well-deserved places on our best running watches list, they are cheaper devices than the premium Fenix range.
Garmin users concerned about lack of updates
A thread over on the Garmin subreddit has rocketed to the top of the page in the last 10 days, under the very evocative title “Garmin abandoned Fenix 7 Pro after 1.5 years.”
As the original poster themselves notes, it’s a deliberately clickbait title designed to draw attention to a more subtle but still pressing issue. “Below I will present the facts, showing that Garmin actively updates its cheaper watches longer than its flagships. Which I find unacceptable considering the price of Garmin’s flagship watches,” the poster writes. “Now the problem affects the Fenix 7 and 7 Pro, but in the future it could affect any Garmin flagship watch.”
The proof presented is the roadmap of Garmin’s Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 software updates for all of the best Garmin watches. The former brought a big workout execution upgrade and Garmin strength training planswhile the latter added a big Body Battery upgrade, more strength workouts, and even passcodes to some Garmins for the first time.
The poster highlights the spread of new features and upgrades, noting that while it’s “to be expected that the Fenix 8 would receive exclusive software features,” the Forerunner 255 is getting more new features than the Fenix 7 Pro despite being nearly a year older and almost half the price.
The post has some 3,000 upvotes on the Garmin subreddit, a fairly clear sign of growing user discontent and a shared concern.
It’s true that in the last two rounds of feature rollouts, the Fenix 7 “family” (which includes the Pro, tactix, and some other models) have only received four of the 10 major new features available.
The Fenix 8 leads the charge, getting every feature from both rounds of updates, so it’s clear that the user exasperation seems to be aimed at the disparity between those Forerunner devices and the older Fenix 7 models.
Even the Forerunner 165 got the new Garmin passcode feature, while the 255 and 955 models got strength training plans and workout execution score improvements. The latter did arrive on the Fenix 7 line in the Q1 2025 update, but this again seems to highlight that it’s lagging behind some of Garmin’s cheaper, older models.
Garmin’s rollout of features and upgrades for its watches is by nature quite fragmented, the company adds different features to different models at different times, which is always bound to cause some confusion and indeed dismay. It’s part of what you sign up for with Garmin, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to dissuade this growing discontent among dedicated Garmin users.
Are you happy with your Garmin and the software support it receives? How do you feel about the company’s approach to new features? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!