Good News, Bad News: Garmin Smartwatches Get Several New Features, But Not All Of Them Are Free

TL;DR

• Garmin is bringing several new features to select smartwatches.
• The company is also adding two new premium features.
• Some of the new features include passcodes, breathing variations, and pack weight.

The new features that will be available to everyone include the following:

• Breathing Variations: This feature uses Pulse Ox2 to help users understand shifts in their breathing patterns as they sleep.
• Rucking Activity: Allows you to manually input your pack weight for load-carrying exercises. This allows for more accurate tracking and analysis of metrics like pace, distance, heart rate, VO2 max, calorie burn, elevation, and so on.
• Pack Weight: This option allows you to enter the pack load for activities like running and hiking, where carrying extra weight may be involved. This can help ensure that VO2 max estimates are accurate.
• Passcode: Users can set passcodes to access smartwatch data. There’s also an automatic wrist detection option that allows users to set up a PIN to regain access if the watch is no longer on their wrist.
• Stage Timer: A new tool for competitive marksmen that gives you alerts via paired hearing protection or from the speaker, so you know the remaining time in your current stage.

Meanwhile, there are two new features that will be a part of a paid experience. These two features target hikers and golfers.

• Garmin Trails: This feature is designed to make exploring the outdoors easier. With Garmin Trails, users will be able to filter and find the type of trails they’re looking for in select regions. For example, you could use this tool to find a trail that’s friendly for dogs or filter based on trail features like waterfalls, rivers, or forests. You can also get trail details — like difficulty, distance, total ascent/descent, and estimated time to complete — and access to community reviews with photos and descriptions. Additionally, a Garmin Connect Plus or Outdoor Maps Plus plan will allow users to “send trails directly to their compatible device for offline access and save a copy to their courses to add points of interest or edit the path.”
• Garmin Golf Membership: If you have a Venu 3, you’ll now be able to access the premium golf features that are found on Approach golf watches. This provides advanced details of courses, combined with full-color CourseView maps, touch targeting, PlaysLike distance, and Green Contours. You’ll have to pay $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for this membership.

Garmin says that these updates have already started rolling out for eligible devices. If you’re not seeing them yet, try enabling automatic updates and syncing with Garmin Connect or Garmin Express.