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Garmin AMOLED Announced (again): Will Garmin Fenix get it too?

Garmin Fenix to get AMOLED?

 

Garmin has just announced the D2 Air which has a 1.2″ (30.4mm) diameter AMOLED touchscreen and an optional always-on mode, it’s destined for the aviation market.

This certainly signals the fact that Garmin is moving its AMOLED technology beyond the original Venu. But does this signal that the Fenix will get AMOLED tech too?

First up. A: No! At least not yet.

Garmin’s current aviation range is now the D2 Air ($499), D2 Delta ($899) and MARQ Aviator ($1500). The more expensive D2 Delta seems to be a Garmin Fenix 6 but if you look closely at the specs, the new D2 Air is ‘just’ a Venu model with a few extra features and a different name.

So the high-end Fenix models will NOT move to AMOLED anytime soon, however it looks like Garmin could well be spreading the AMOLED tech across some of its other ‘mid-priced’ ranges. By that, I mean mid-priced to Garmin. The Venu SQ ($200) is mid-priced as far as the wider market is concerned but that’s, sort of, low priced for Garmin.

This means that whilst we won’t see AMOLED in a top-end Fenix, we might see it in a Forerunner, perhaps the 655. Although I don’t think so.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting announcement and what’s not to like about a beautiful AMOLED screen? (Edit: battery hit, readability!!…I know, I know!!!)

Now DCr’s said the same thing, maybe you might believe me 😉

 

 

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46 thoughts on “Garmin AMOLED Announced (again): Will Garmin Fenix get it too?”

  1. “By that, I mean mid-priced to Garmin.”

    Samsung has being making and putting AMOLED into lower tier devices such as the Galaxy A31 for years. OLED is currently is expensive, but even that is finding it’s way into lower priced devices like the Pixel 4A.

  2. I like my true always on and easily visible, low power screen that’s why. I can only hope the same tech can have more crisps and sharp contrast with out going Amoled route. Or perhaps two in one like Ticwatch and combine both, why not?

    1. Ticwatch’s implementation is just brilliant hey. Transflective with better contrast or higher resolution would be great, not sure if it’s a pricing or technical limitation. Contrast might be a technical limitation but knowing Garmin, resolutions are probably limited due to price.

    2. see comment below about 20 hours of gps usage, sure that will be in ideal circumstances but that kind of performance does the job for most, not all, people.

  3. “[…] and what’s not to like about a beautiful AMOLED screen?” …uhm, the battery thirst that comes along with that blingg blingg? They should not do the mistake and cut off runtime for beauty. At least not in those watches that are tools to their owners.

    1. d2 air is 5 days as a smartwatch and “GPS mode without music: Up to 20 hours”, which is pretty decent.

      1. Seeing as the “21 day” life of the 6X is really 6 days, you need to divide by 3. So “5 days” means 1.5 days. Which means you need to charge it every day. Sold by Apple Watch because it needed daily charging.

  4. What’s not to like about a beautiful AMOLED screen. Bright sunlight, that’s what. I have a Venu and a Fenix 5 Plus. The Venu screen looks great in most situations, but not sunlight. The Fenix screen looks great in sunlight, but very mediocre in most other types of light. They are pretty much opposites. If I’m going outside for an activity in sunlight, I’ll reach for the Fenix every time. Plus, the always on display of the Fenix is nice too. A hybrid of both technologies would be ideal, if that is even possible.

    1. luckily you can gte a weather forecast on each one and then know which to wear for the day 😉 point taken tho. with a polar amoled watch i have and the brightness turned up to 11, it’s mostly good.

  5. Given that pretty much all the display has to do is to show numbers, texts and the odd graph I don’t really understand the use-case for AMOLED displays in this class of Sports Watch.

    It’s certainly not worth the power drain sacrifice.

    1. yes, a sports watch doens’t need it but to crossover to the samrtwatch market it does.

  6. Personally I prefer the traditional LCD display over the AMOLED, AMOLED makes the watch look cheaper, it’s too colorful, guess why there isn’t a rainbow Bentley or Rolls color option. It’s supposed to be a piece of jewelry abs having a bright AMOLED screen just makes things look cheap.
    I got a garmin because I don’t want a wrist computer. I wanted a sports watch and health monitor. Toys like Apple Watch, remind me of the 1980s Casio watches with calculator.

    1. if you’re spending over $300k on a Rolls I’m guessing you can have any colour you like 😉 point taken tho !!!

  7. I’d rather keep my 22 days of battery life, than have it cut down to 5 for pretty colors and worse visibility in sunlight. Functionality should never be sacrificed for asthetics, or atleast on a model meant for people serious about training.

  8. Please no Amoled on Fenix, I like always AOD display with perfect visibility on direct sunlight. But maybe make Fenix 7 “touch” with txt reply on messages. Plus outdoor thermometer like a bonus. Than you ?

    1. Touch screens suck. Even though I currently use my Apple Watch 6 all of the time and leave my Fenix 6x Pro on the desk, touch screens suck.

      I use the Apple because the WHR is so much more accurate than my Fenix. My Fenix seems to be a random number generator as of late, even with the latest beta’s.

  9. AMOLED is nice.

    AMOLED is Pretty

    AMOLED is a battery hog

    AMOLED looks like crap in direct sunlight.

    And, no thanks for touch screens.

  10. So, this reporter has never owned/used the Fenix then – good to know. Was that sign off genuine research, because you should probably do some unless you are happy rewriting a press release as a glorified advert.

    2. great to find your site, those are the most detailed reviews and longest!! i have seen on the fenix and I have seen all the main ones that google spits out.

  11. For map scrolling a touch screen FR or Fenix would be tempting, especially with pinch-to-zoom and a larger watch face.

    1. Except the fact the a touch screen while covered in sweat works only 80% of the time at best. Good luck timing your track workout!

      2. True, but unless it’s 100% accurate (like a physical button) I’ll never buy a fitness watch with a touchscreen. And while it may be getting better, it will probably never be 100%, so I can’t imagine it ever being on my wrist.

      4. If only the WRH was as accurate as the 100% buttons. Until Garmin gets their act together, I’m sticking with the sucky touch screen of the Apple Watch.

  12. Well, unless I want to watch a 4K HDR movie via 5G on my wrist while waiting for a race to start (or in line at the post office), I would prefer to stay with currently tech that gives more battery and readability under sun light…

    “This means that whilst we won’t see AMOLED in a top-end Fenix, we might see it in a Forerunner, perhaps the 655. Although I don’t think so.“
    Oh please, stop teasing about the 655 or I’ll never able to upgrade peacefully this month to the 745 from my dying 235 ?

      1. don’t you think the 7xx and 6xx are staggered? When the 735 was getting old, the 645 came out, as the 645 is getting old, the 745 came out and the 645 disappeared from the current catalog. They don’t seem to be refreshed at the same time.

      2. meaning: that is why you wouldn’t expect a 655 now?
        there’s probably a complex answer involving the similarities of the target markets/features and the volume of the units sold that might favour these two specific models to be staggered, yes.
        the 735xt was really old tho. don’t forget, garmin will have intel from your Garmin Connect account on how and when their customers upgrade from, say, a 735XT to a 945. the timing of new releases of mid-range garmin devices will be a complex decision-making process – maybe they wait for as long as possible for those to upgrade to the expensive devices before finally teasing the rest of those who haven’t upgraded with a cheaper one? That said, the 745 isn’t cheap.

  13. Are you serious? What’s not to like about an AMOLED screen?

    First, full-sun visibility! Us Garmin people workout outside sometimes in full sunlight! The current Garmin fenix screens are SUPER visible in full sun, unlike AMOLED.

    Secondly, battery life! Us ultra-distance athletes need a watch that will last us for an entire 24 hour run or hiking off-grid for a week. AMOLED uses more battery life, which makes these things impossible.

    You should stick to morning 5k runs and get an Apple watch :rolls-eyes:

    1. agreed, I do have an AW6 and a few Fenixes and a few Coros watches. All are fine for an early morning jog but perhaps not all of them for the high-performance usage you are talking about.

      3. there is a gap in the pricing of new models between the Instinct and the Fenix. Why not a smart Fenix to fill it? I wouldn’t buy it but there is a gap

  14. “and what’s not to like about a beautiful AMOLED screen?”

    What’s not to like? You can’t read them in bright sun, and they crush battery life. Basically, they are not for serious use – which is why the high-end watches won’t get them.

  15. I doubt they’ll go to amoled any time soon with Fenix. If you want that, get the Venu – they have that product line already. Maybe they can release a sort of harder-core Venu that has a lot of crossover with the Fenix (more rugged, battery focused, but still amoled and touch screen) for people who want it.

    I dunno, I used to buy a new phone every year, now it’s more like every 5 years because they’re “good enough”. I almost see Fenix as hitting that mark for me too, not too much I’d like to see they’re getting close to good enough. Only feature I really want is a new style of HRM of some sort that works as well as a chest strap but on the watch. Otherwise just incremental battery/GPS accuracy improvements maybe and it’s perfect for me.

    1. For WRH accuracy, the Apple Watch (ECG is damn nice to have as well). For Rugged and most other things, the Fenix.

  16. I like the amoled screen ?
    Imaging that it would be possible to disable touch screen during a activity, that would be great.

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