A place for runners.
Garmin still has pay-to-unlock shit in their app? I just checked, yes they do, and advertises at you on the app's home screen. So, still no sale.
And Fenix owners, don't get used to this. Garmin has apparently already abandoned the Fenix 7 which was only released in 2023. Surely nobody keeps an $800 watch for more than a year, right?
I used to recommend Garmin watches to people. Nowadays, I recommend you just buy a dumb Timex with a pedometer in it.
The problem is, at this point at least, Garmin is still the best in market, and their path down enshittification hasn't cut away the tools that make that so. The stuff they paywall is stuff that isn't needed, and as long as they keep it that way, I'll be ok with staying with them. I use a Fenix 6S, and they stopped doing anything interesting with it years ago, but it still works and still does everything it did on the day I bought it. I probably won't replace it for another 6 months or so, but even though I'll likely buy Garmin again, this shit has me concerned enough that it probably won't be a Fenix this time, because I feel like enshittification that does impact basic functionality could drop at any moment...
Coros seems pretty comparable from what I've seen.
Fenix 7 which was only released in 2023. Surely nobody keeps an $800 watch for more than a year, right?
I mean, even if it was released end of 2023, that's two years now, not just one...
The point being, they abandoned updating it last year after roughly only a year and a half since its release.
People who still own one now have had it for two years and possibly some change. That doesn't have anything to do with how quickly Garmin dropped it.
But what do you need updates for? If it’s not internet connected then security isn’t a huge concern. So long as it can still do all the stuff it did when you bought it I don’t see a problem
AFAIK they are still fully functional with all features at time of sale still available to them. It's not like they bricked the devices or stopped supporting them in the app or the Garmin ecosystem.
I'm still using an FR630 and have an old etrex legend as a backup on my boat. I've never seen Garmin take anything away featurewise. Battery life or charge ports have typically be the end of life or repair decision for the Garmin devices I've had over the years. The ones that take AAs are all still good to go.
I still have an old FR235 that's about a decade old now as a backup, aside from the battery life being very poor (it lasts just long enough for a 1h run on a full charge) it works fine.
I am still getting monthly updates on my Fenix 7X, with bugfixes and sometimes new features - 23.48 was released on 12/5
My Fenix 5 got last updated in 2022, but still works fine despite being almost 9 years old, still on the original battery too.
the garmin I used a few years ago had atrocious software. Laggy, slow, poor UX.
This guy hemmed and hawed through Garmin's turn and now I have to see his thumbnails/ads for this shitty company on Lemmy? No thanks.