Fear and loathing in Amsterdam
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I have an explanation for Ray’s almost palpable hatred of the latest Suunto offering. Should Suunto execute this competently (not even perfectly), Garmin’s days lording over sporty wrist things might be coming to an abrupt end.
We all like to think it’s the smaller boys like Suunto and Polar and COROS duking it out against 800 pound gorilla of Garmin. But in reality, and especially after Fitbit acquisition, the real player in the room is Google. If Mountain View gets serious about wearables, it can move at a scale and speed Garmin can’t even fathom. Especially with influx of new blood from Fitbit, and Pebble and Vector previously snapped up by the Team Fitbit.
Sure, Garmin has won feature war against Suunto and Polar by building up its proprietary faux smartwatch OS. But can you seriously compare ConnectIQ with Apple’s Watch OS or Google’s Wear OS? How come after so many years no decent daily apps ecosystem has emerged? Where are hordes of developers vying to build on Garmin’s toolchain? Why isn’t Monkey-C crashing the programming language rankings?
But lack of a solid platform foundation is only part of the story. The other part is a Potemkin village of features.
Yes, Garmin has its own contactless payments, but its narrow coverage of banks makes it far less useful and practical than it appears on paper. Sure, Garmin watches support running power. But in blind insistence on it being ConnectIQ data fields, Garmin screwed the pooch big time: just compare Stryd’s running power apps on Apple Watch vs Garmin devices. Most of sports analytics differentiators – all these much touted VO2 Max, anaerobic TE, training focus, and the likes – are not developed in-house like Polar or COROS, they aren’t exclusive, but are purchased from Firstbeat who would happily sell it to anybody. There are many music services integrated, but start playing music during your workouts and weeks of battery life suddenly evaporate like fog in the morning, not to mention bugs, bugs, and bugs galore. You might be able to get maps on your device if you pay enough, but then these sometimes take minutes to load, crash your watch, and are limited to region in which the device was purchased. So, what really makes Garmin a Garmin?
Is it GPS that never has been nor is better than competitors? OHR that’s finally decent but isn’t groundbreaking? Training Peaks integration that clutters your Garmin Connect calendar with dozens of copies of workouts?
As the competition moves away from dedicated sports watches, the field opens up to casual fitness users, and they increasingly demand smart, daily life features and apps, what has Garmin got to offer?
With their dim MIPS displays and deadend bound ConnectIQ, they have no way of catching up to Apple or Google in terms of real smartwatch operating system, features, hardware options, developer mind share, or app ecosystem. With Fitbit strategically removed, this effectively becomes a three way race for your wrist. We all know who dominates iOS end of things. It would be fairly foolish for Google to cede much more numerious Android.
So, what does Suunto 7 have to do with all this? Simple.
If Suunto 7 can prove that a competent sports smartwatch is possible and desirable, Google might be more compelled to invest heavily and aggressively into next round of wearables war. Even Polar might reconsider and deliver a much rumored successor to M600. And whatever Google learns from working with Suunto will get injected back into Wear OS DNA to benefit other manufacturers like Fossil and Skagen.
This is a Nokia moment for Garmin. Just like a Finish frontrunner of yore, Garmin might have their once super popular feature phone with an amazing battery life, but nobody needs that in the age of AMOLED screens, countless features, hundreds of apps, and in multitude of form factors for any taste and budget. Just like Nokia, Garmin can continue to enhance said feature phone, but we all know how it ends.
With a burning ship memo and eventual surrender…
Now that it has a great smartwatch, all Suunto has to do is to expand its sports offering by adding sensor support, sports mode customization, daily tracking, and perhaps S9 like intervals and targets. Hell, throw in multiple watch sync and a few key Firstbeat metrics for a good measure! Plan minimum.
Plan maximum would be adding native running power and enticing third party developers or Stryd to build a running app similar to their Apple Watch version. Perhaps, even integrating its features into Suunto own app directly.
All of this can be done here and now. Just bring in half a dozen of good Android devs and promise them a hefty bonus.
A real question here is: how does Garmin respond when a smartwatch like this finally comes?
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@NickK said in Fear and loathing in Amsterdam:
A real question here is: how does Garmin respond when a smartwatch like this finally comes?
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@NickK Interesting point of view!
I have been running a fair bit with both the AW4 and S7 on my wrists as I am on iOS and love the smartwatch features of AW4. Using SportsTracker with AW4 the runs will appear in SA. No matter how much I like the AW4, I am thankful I was wearing at least one Suunto, sometimes 3:). The GPS tracks and OHR from AW4 do not compare to the S7. So, S7 and my other Suunto watches are on a trip, AW4 left at home to run out its battery without a phone…
The S7 needs more love but the core is good, best OHR I have ever used and I am getting great GPS tracks. -
@NickK said in Fear and loathing in Amsterdam:
This is a Nokia moment for Garmin. Just like a Finish frontrunner of yore, Garmin might have their once super popular feature phone with an amazing battery life, but nobody needs that in the age of AMOLED screens, countless features, hundreds of apps, and in multitude of form factors for any taste and budget. Just like Nokia, Garmin can continue to enhance said feature phone, but we all know how it ends.
With a burning ship memo and eventual surrender…
Now that it has a great smartwatch, all Suunto has to do is to expand its sports offering by adding sensor support, sports mode customization, daily tracking, and perhaps S9 like intervals and targets. Hell, throw in multiple watch sync and a few key Firstbeat metrics for a good measure! Plan minimum.
Plan maximum would be adding native running power and enticing third party developers or Stryd to build a running app similar to their Apple Watch version. Perhaps, even integrating its features into Suunto own app directly.
All of this can be done here and now. Just bring in half a dozen of good Android devs and promise them a hefty bonus.
A real question here is: how does Garmin respond when a smartwatch like this finally comes?There are interesting thoughts in your text. As i told before, Suunto if they want can put Garmin at miles behind. Just with a concept Objectif information - Pointing dates. Giving confidence to buyers. Just with this S7 can sell triple of units.
"We are delighted to inform you that:- First quarter we will bring custo sports like you have for S5 and S9;
- Second quarter we will bring import routes with waypoints;
- Third quarter we will bring stryd and hr ble support;
- Last quarter we will bring Firstbeat goodies (not all) just important ones;
- SuuntoPlus add-ons also at first quarter 2021."
Stryd team made a excelent iOS app because they are smart. Just see potential buyers of stryd with AW sells…
Garmin… i prefer not to talk about. They keep adding layers after layers to her property OS, but system is about to reaching final limit. And after? they will have to adopt Android or redesign a new OS system. But their problem…
Polar… i like the way they do things. Design, their own ideas, accomplish what they promise. They will have to redesign app.
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Suunto could have “killed” Garmin with S7 just with one addition… LTE on the watch. A lot of garmin users are actively asking Garmin for this feature
Wear OS watches are 100% compatible with LTE. The Xiaomi MI WATCH (170€, qualcom 3100, apple watch clone, etc…), the Wear OS watch from Xiaomi is capable of LTE and it is working with a lot of companies all over the world.
I’m 100% sure that this “little feature” will made a lot of users to switch to S7
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@NickK said in Fear and loathing in Amsterdam:
Now that it has a great smartwatch, all Suunto has to do is to expand its sports offering by adding sensor support, sports mode customization, daily tracking, and perhaps S9 like intervals and targets. Hell, throw in multiple watch sync and a few key Firstbeat metrics for a good measure! Plan minimum.
I agree ‘all Suunto has to do’ is add in the features the Ambit3 had to the Suunto 7 and finish their web/mobile platforms and they have a Garmin killing watch and ecosystem. Sadly based on their progress in getting Ambit3 features into the Spartan/S series and replacing Movescount I can’t help suspecting it will either never happen, another competitor will get their first (Polar?) or Garmin will add a WearOS co-process to a Fenix…
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@amasidlover What are the Ambit 3 features you miss? Swim style recognition and navigate from LogBook ?
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@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos If I went to the S5/S9 - Pool Swim Drill Mode, Structured Intervals, routes with next POI navigation screen - are the ones that would affect me most (that I’m aware of). I hadn’t realised Swim style recognition had gone (that wouldn’t really bother me but would be annoying to lose) and I never use navigate from Logbook.
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I really hope Suunto manage to get an ‘Ambit3 + WearOS’ device out; the S7 looks a really good proof of concept towards that journey (I don’t have the spare cash to invest in a proof of concept sadly…) I’m just concerned we’re looking at several years before that device arrives.
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@amasidlover roger
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@amasidlover said in Fear and loathing in Amsterdam:
or Garmin will add a WearOS co-process to a Fenix…
As one friend of mine used to say, it it were that simple, it would be sitting on a shelf at Walmart for $3.
Fenix is incompatible with WearOS from the ground up. Basically, Garmin would have to abandon what they currently have and spend upward of a year or two catching up to where Suunto is here and now. Worse still, having all these bells and whistles, aka features, means a bulk of them will have to be ported too. Otherwise, it ain’t be Garmin. Look at the flak Suunto is getting for leaving features out of Suunto 7. Imagine tenfold of it for Garmin.
Worse still, they can’t just abandon ConnectIQ and will have to continue to bleed cash on it because it already made its way into Forerunner and other series. For now Fenix and other high-end watches underwrite further development. It will become a much tougher proposition once left to mostly Forerunner line.
