It was only a matter of time. Today, Garmin announced the launch of Garmin Connect Plus, a premium tier of its app that adds AI-powered analytics and several other advanced features. Existing and new Garmin users will be able to take advantage of a free 30-day trial and then choose between a monthly or annual subscription for $6.99 or $69.99. At the same time, all existing health data and features will remain free.
“Developing a premium tier allows us to expand our investment in the Garmin Connect platform, both in terms of features that require additional costs and in terms of scaling our engineering teams to build and support these features,” says Garmin spokesperson Natalie Miller.
Artificial intelligence is an important addition to Connect Plus. This feature, called Active Intelligence, will be launched in beta and will supposedly provide “personalized ideas and suggestions” based on your health and activity data. Over time, the ideas and goals are expected to become more personalized for each individual user.
That’s about all the information Garmin has provided about AI so far, but it has been trending among fitness apps and wearables manufacturers lately. Whoop was the first to add an AI trainer at the end of 2023, and Strava also launched AI workout tips last year. Among the major tech companies, Samsung added AI-powered insights and Google added AI-powered running training to its smartwatch last year. Oura has also added an AI chatbot to its popular smart ring, as have several smaller manufacturers over the past two years. Garmin and Apple have been the two main leaders in wearable AI technology so far, and after today’s announcement, only Apple is left.
Connect Plus also adds a new dashboard that allows users to compare their own charts and graphs over a period of time to visualize progress. Subscribers will also be able to view activity metrics on their smartphone for workouts that have been started on the watch. The LiveTrack feature will also be expanded to allow you to notify selected contacts when you start an activity, and a personalized profile page for subscribers. People who use Garmin Coach plans for running and cycling will also receive additional recommendations from Garmin coaches. Finally, there will be exclusive icons and frames for app user profiles.
Whether this will be enough to tempt loyal Garmin users is another question, especially since Garmin has repeatedly stated in the past that it will not provide paid features. In 2022, I asked Phil McClendon, Garmin’s project manager for the Venu 2 Plus, about the company’s philosophy on subscriptions. At the time, McClendon told The Verge: “We don’t charge for access to your data, and that’s something we’ll continue to do, and it’s something we take very seriously.” McClendon no longer works for Garmin, and technically this is still true, as all existing features and data will remain free. However, in the years since that conversation, Garmin has occasionally softened its message about paid services. At the 2023 press briefing for the Venu 3, Garmin executives noted that the company has robust subscriptions outside of its fitness tracker business, but refused to say that there would never be a subscription.
Among fans, the absence of subscriptions (with the exception of mapping features or LTE connectivity) has always been seen as a plus. Moreover, Garmin watches are on average more expensive than competitors. It’s hard to say how fans will react, given that so much will remain free, but in general, introducing a subscription is a risky proposition. For example, Oura faced a huge backlash when it introduced a subscription for its Gen 3 ring.
Either way, Garmin has faced increased competition in recent years. Both Apple and Samsung have released their own reliable smartwatches for outdoor activities, and Coros has become another popular brand among athletes thanks to its long battery life and advanced GPS. At the same time, Garmin’s wearables division is definitely not suffering. It recently exceeded expectations for fourth-quarter earnings, reporting a significant 31 percent increase in fitness tracker sales, and its shares hit record highs.
