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AI-generated summary
Garmin, the specialist in connected watches for demanding athletes, launches Garmin Connect+, a subscription at €8.99/month or €89.99/year, supposedly bringing a new layer of premium features to the Garmin Connect app. On the menu: AI, advanced dashboards, live tracking, exclusive challenges… and controversy.
🆕 What does it actually add?
Here are the main new features included in this subscription:
- Active Intelligence: personalized recommendations (rest, training, nutrition) based on AI analysis of your data.
- Performance Dashboard: advanced visualization of your stats from the Garmin Connect website, with new dynamic charts.
- Live Activity: real-time tracking of pace and heart rate, plus access to workout videos during your indoor sessions.
- Improved LiveTrack: automatic message sent to your contacts as soon as you start an activity.
- Exclusive challenges and badges: rewards reserved for subscribers, to motivate you to move more.
💸 One subscription too many?
And here… it’s a disaster. Garmin is pulling the subscription trick again. I get that some features require resources (hello, AI), but honestly, this is a bit much.
When you spend €1,200 on a Fenix 8 or €1,500 on a Tactix, you expect EVERYTHING to be included. And now they’re asking you for another €90 a year for “extras” that aren’t exactly essential? Seriously, Garmin?
💭 What I would have preferred instead
To my mind, the right strategy would have been simple: 2 free years for all premium watch buyers, then an optional subscription afterward. That rewards loyal customers and avoids frustrating people who have already invested heavily in their gear.
Above all, Garmin could have made a real splash by launching a genuine personalized coaching platform, with training programs, videos, progress tracking, and so on. That’s something I would have understood paying for. But putting badges or improved LiveTrack behind a paywall? Baffling.
🤔 Verdict
Garmin Connect+ feels like a poorly calibrated product. There are good ideas, but poorly executed. And above all, the impression that Garmin is trying to monetize what was free until now, without any real added value.
In the meantime, if you want a real online coaching service, you’re probably better served by platforms like Nolio, TrainingPeaks, or Zwift — which clearly own their paid positioning from the get-go.
