November Market News – Garmin Fenix, Coros and quite a bit more

November Update

Yet more rumours are surfacing for a Garmin Fenix 7 in mid-January. Will it have native running power support? (IDK but it has already been extensively rumoured). It will have updated ELEVATE support and next-gen GNSS…check that link for more insights (it is follower/supporter-only, follow for free here)

Component shortages seem to be hitting new product releases (obviously) but shortages are also hitting existing products. There are several big-name sports tech companies that won’t be having spectacular Black Friday Sales. Though, it’s safe to say that most companies will at least make some token effort to either get rid of old stuff (Garmin) or just try to catch sales from people who always wait for the Black Friday bargains.

As an example, there will be some power meter deals…but not many. Grab the ones that come on Friday as, by Monday, you may be disappointed.

Coros

Read more: dcrainmaker.com

Yesterday, Coros went live with several small announcements including support for Galileo GNSS reception, KOMOOT routes and the introduction of WALK profiles and the like. Perhaps not the most interesting news unless you have one of the watches in question. I outlined that news here two weeks ago and DCR’s link, from yesterday, has the tech details.

Coros is also permanently lowering the price of their first-gen products.

Must Review: Garmin Fenix 7 Review & Thoughts

Coros Apex (Pro) got some small updates but that product, along with the original PACE, has come to the end of the line in terms of what new features can be added. It will be interesting to see if Coros brings out a next-gen Apex in 2022. Obviously, that’s the next one in line to be iterated, HOWEVER, I don’t know if that necessarily sells well enough. It’s a nice product but very much trying to compete against the Apple Watch/Samsung Galaxy Watch/Vivoactive part of the market where it doesn’t have quite so much of a USP (unique selling point).

Sensors

There are going to be a few sensor stories coming over the next few months. One that I can mention is the CORE Temperature sensor. The ANT+ profile for core/body temperature is now at the final beta stage and so companies that try to fully support the professional usage side of ANT+ will be chomping at the bit to be compatible with that. So that means Garmin and Wahoo (who part-own Supersapiens) for sure, but others too.

I would expect STRYD support to widen. Perhaps you might think that would be into Wear OS, which should grow next year? Perhaps not. Perhaps something else 😉 (Hint: the latter)

Apple Watch

Rumours already abound about the Apple Watch 8 for next year but I suspect that Apple is one of the few companies that is engaged in releasing misinformation to try to determine who actually is making the real leaks. So don’t believe all you read. The latest rumours are

• NOT a square-edged Apple Watch 8, but rather more onboard sensors
• A new model in the range. Likely an SE gen 2 and discontinuation of the AW3.