new Garmin Features for Fenix 7/Epix 2 and Enduro 2
Garmin has just sent out a few new features to Fenix 7, Epix 2 and Enduro 2 watches. Together these comprise noteworthy improvements to RUNNING POWER and the MORNING REPORT that we should soon see in the public domain. Let’s take a quick look at the main additions
Running Power Tweaks
Garmin has made a great start with their proprietary, native implementation of running power. There were always going to be additions that needed to be made and today we get a new metric in the form of a chart datafield for power…#nice. There are also two other w/kg lap averages added which will be useful. Running Power Alerts are also added, I’ve not downloaded the alpha yet but I would imagine these will be similar to other alerts in that they allow alerts based on ZONES as well as manually set high/low alert levels. Finally, there is a power chart added to the workout summary you see when you finish a run.
It’s almost certain that these features will find their way to all other watches that support running power, like the Forerunner 955.
Running Power Market Insight: We’ve just seen Suunto release running power calculation on the wrist in its 9 Peak Pro watch as did Apple with its latest WatchOS 9 update for Watch Ultra, Watch 8 and others. Stryd has also announced its next-generation pod which will ship soon. One more mystery announcement will land in the next few weeks and that pretty much completes the tech landscape for running power for the next few years. Who will succeed and who will fail? The next 2 years should tell us.
Morning Report
There are a couple of cosmetic improvements to the Morning Report that add backgrounds to all pages and allow you to change the order of the various elements that make up the morning report (I thought you could already do that in the Connect app?). The addition of STEP GOALS and CALENDARs should please some of us.
Source: Garmin
- Added Calendar and Step goal to Morning Report.
- Added alerts for running power.
- Added power chart data field.
- Added power chart to post activity summary.
- Added run power data fields for average watts/kg and lap watts/kg.
- Added System Settings App.(?)
- Added hotkey and power controls access for Settings app.
- Added QR code to Bluetooth pairing flow.
- Added a prompt to end Resume Later for an activity when the user is near their sleep window.
- Added ability to add, remove, and reorder Morning Report items.
- Added background to Morning Report data pages.
- Fixed an issue causing Morning Report to show up at incorrect times.
- Fixed issue causing confusion between daily suggested workouts and primary races.
- Fixed issue causing incorrect What’s New strings.
- Fixed issue causing storm alerts to improperly show up.
- Fixed issue with the activity history list when a large number of activities were present.
- Fixed issue with Connect IQ Swim data fields.
- Fixed an issue with the Tides app not reflecting the system time setting.
- Fixed issues where maps were loading more than necessary.
- Fixed issues with QR code pairing flow and pairing flow in general.
- Fixed potential issues in Daily Suggested Workouts when changing target type.
- Fixed potential issue with power zone graph drawing.
- Fixed potential issue with run power data field subcategories.
- Fixed some graphics drawing issues.
- Fixed UI issues with Training Readiness and Intensity Minutes in Morning Report.
- Fixes and Improvements to Morning Report.
- Fixed the issue causing increased battery drain after disconnecting from a charger.
- Fixed potential issue where Always On display would turn off.
- Improvements and fixes for running power.
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I like Stryd and was happy user for a couple of years, but I don’t see what’s their future in Garmin land, as they are missing on all the integration. E.g. post activity graphs, w/kg numbers, etc. Unless they get much better and natively integrated, I think they’re going to lose all non-elite users…
Imo Apple and Garmin will surely succeed as they have running power integrated in their systems, just have to polish and expand it with every update. More difficult will be for Stryd..maybe as a software company but if Garmin expands it to the mid range watches who will pay for a pod with similar price level as a watch and attached to a subscription model to take advantage of its whole potential.
A bit off topic but still no news from Tacx..
yes maybe. we shall see
and yes no news from Tacx. thanks for reminding. I thought there was a new trainer out this year.? there’s still time i guess
Or the other way round: If Garmin still won’t bring the Stryd metrics into their data fields, they will lose all users who rely on the leading power sensor in the market…
I estimate that Stryd is the party with more to lose in that equation.
yes sir.
stryd has a business to lose!
I dont think garmin will do that now.
Why really relies on running power?
Elite athletes wear a garmin because they get paid to do so.
Non elite athletes wear a garmin because it generates the most data. Those people only collect data and don’t really use it. They have no idea of the quality of the data and are happy as long as they get more of it.
Just to be clear, everyone who implements “running power” is using a proprietary algorithm developed by someone. There is no open standard or direct force measurement. The term “power” is pretty loose and confusing.
The addition of grade-adjusted pace as an on-watch field and a graph in Garmin Connect is also a really nice middle ground. GAP is a similar concept to power that may be more approachable to runners who have “pace brain”.
I agree with @Lustin Pop. I don’t see a very good future for Stryd on Garmin unless they have a way to plug into the native feature pipeline. I have used Stryd for years but I was off running entirely for 4 weeks for a foot injury. I decided to dust off my RD Pod and test out the new Garmin implementation since the 10.33 alpha. (Suddenly left-right balance running dynamics is an important to monitor my recovery.)
It’s more than serviceable. The on-watch data presentation is superior in every way to Stryd. The in-GCM data presentation on workouts is much better than the unusable IQ graphs. None of this is Stryd’s fault.
Other than training plans and coaching, the only really missing thing is a Critical Power / Functional Threshold Power curve in Garmin Connect but it does have a FTP auto-detection feature.
Some people claim that there is no relationship between Stryd and Garmin power. If that is true it begs the question of the validity of the concept at all. I find the graphs appear proportional with a scaling factor of ~1.3 (and I’m not the only one). I think you can get started by setting your Garmin FTP to 1.3x the Stryd auto detected value and let it adjust from there.
Training Peaks prefers the native fields for TSS over the Stryd fields, so I also adjusted the zones there.
I don’t see why Garmin loses the people who want Stryd and have Stryd. It works the same as it ever did. But the Stryd implementation with ConnectIQ is never going to be as nice as native. To be clear, I think Garmin should absolutely provide a mechanism to have a power meter in Running and I don’t see why it can’t be the “power meter” ANT+ feed that Stryd does already provide.
from: https://the5krunner.com/2019/01/16/stryd-review-2019/
see also: http://www.georgeron.com/2017/12/stryd-running-power-model.html
“Running power can probably never be directly measured and so algorithms are used to calculate it. There is no accepted standard for that calculation and two broad approaches are used. Stryd is validated against the ‘metabolic cost’ of running and probably uses the External Energy Summation Approach (EESA) whereas others use the Gravity Ordered Velocity Stress Score (GOVSS).”
And? So? Therefore?
As far as I can tell George doesn’t say is whether the two models are proportional to each either and VO2 or not. He only discusses the EESA model.
The GOVSS model which might be related to the Garmin model is total power and the EESA model that Stryd is based on is the vector of power contributing to forward motion of the center of mass.
The tantalizing comment is that the GOVSS model is important for short, high intensity efforts.
I personally only use power for interval training and also much more loosely the TSS score in Training Peaks for keeping an eye on total load. I don’t see a clear theoretical advantage to either algorithm or at least it hasn’t been explained to me adequately. I’m not an expert in the math and the theory behind it. I strongly suspect any theoretical advantage is swamped by noise in the data collection of any practical commercial sensor system.
I don’t think it matters if the sensor and algorithm from Stryd is better or not. The first party implementation from the dominant market leader is going to win.
It is very unfortunate that the industry cannot standardize on a single model / definition for running power and compete on the best implementation. But that is where we are.
To me it is more than just power: The accuracy for pace and distance of the Stryd pod is a big value. It allows me to turn off GPS on my watch and widen the battery time significantly (if needed in long distance workouts). Also the (additional) recording inside of the Stryd is a big deal to me. It allows me to track my run completely independent from the watch I use and it’s a great backup in case of having problems with my wrist device.
Garmin’s guided LT test, that you can execute at will, now incudes power as well, which gets saved as LT power (effectively, your critical power) in the user profile. You can setup your power zones off that value to update automatically. We can split hairs on exact scientific definitions of FTP, LT power, critical power, and on, but for the vast majority of people this will be sufficient. I also see my LT power/pace roughly correspond with Stryd critical power curve wise, so personally I’m good.
Two more advantages to Garmin: no pod is actually required as the wrist based power works every bit as well. I compared my HRM-TRI numbers with the watch only on similar route and — surprise! — they are consistent.
But most importantly, you can turn off wind in Garmin’s running power and do so per running profile.
I have a route with very strong wind gusts in a very specific location of the loop due to surrounding trees and buildings that last for about 15-20m. Ever since I switched to Stryd Air, it was a nightmare to run there. Because every time I’d come to that turn on a windy day, my power would spike like crazy. I get the usefulness of wind contribution, but I think short gusts that last a few seconds shouldn’t throw off the continuous power measurement.
(I use 3s average, but even 10s average was iffy, and most devices don’t let you choose what averaging to use for structured workouts).
Good to hear wrist vs -TRI is consistent.
I currently use Stryd but do a few races involving river crossings (Stryd blocks and misreports for hundreds of metres afterwards) or forget to attach if I’m sleepy with an early run and rotating trainers.
Given Stryd v Garmin seems way off, I’m tempted to get a Garmin Pod, use that (for the extra dynamics available over and above the wrist), and know that I always have wrist measured power in the same ballpark to fall back on.
(Ideally there would be a possibility to apply a simple offset, and I could normalise Stryd to Garmin, but obviously that isn’t going to happen!)
Do the ‘improvements in running power’ and ‘daily suggested workouts when changing target types’ confirm that Suggested Workouts (for running) are now available based on Power?
(PLEASE!?)
that would NOT be my reading of it. (I’m not going to put alpha software on my watches!)
I don’t think it is really “alpha” suggesting software only tested by the developer. It’s the same level of quality that Garmin used to call beta — meaning they have tested it and don’t expect serious issues. (But this is Garmin we are talking about.). The beta that auto-deploys over the air is what they used to call release candidate and in fact the last beta in a major version just gets released to everyone.
I’ve just installed alpha 10.37 and i can only choose between pace or HR in the target types under suggested workouts. Still alpha so maybe in the next one
Yup, I arent using alpha either (I would consider using the release candidate betas if they had a feature I wanted), I’m just desperate for power based Workout Suggestions!!
(That was me above as NT!)
Interesting what you hint in the running power market overview.
« One more secret announcement in the coming weeks ».
I can’t think any major actor in the watch market who doesn’t have wrist power as of today. Except for one major brand /minor watch…
Or this is not the direction where you point towards with this sentence.
Polar Ignite 3, maybe?
Replying to myself: Coros will announce a Pod that does…things.
I have a question about running power at Garmin (no matter it is collected from the Running Dynamics Pod, chest strap or wrist). Can you set up power-based workouts/intervals like on Stryd or Polar, or does it just show a number during running as a datafield?
Thanks a lot!
yes you can