Hey everyone, I’m looking at getting the forerunner 165 due to it being entry level and it has the features I want. One piece of info I would like clarification on is: do any of the advertised features require a subscription? It is an absolute deal breaker for me if they advertise all these features but don’t mention they are behind a subscription that I won’t know about until I’m setting up the watch.
Thanks!
To my knowledge I don’t think any of them do, but if you share what features you’re looking at it might give you more peace of mind when people confirm :)
I’m wanting all the workout and activity tracking. HR, GPS, altitude, speed, saving past workouts etc. I’m just asking because I got my mom a fitbit and the sleep tracking was locked behind a subscription.
I’m more familiar with a different model (venu), but none of those features required subscriptions. Part of why I keep an eye on Garmin devices is because they’re generally more privacy friendly, and it’s easier to track health data without using their app / network if you wanted to.
I found this this: https://www.garmin.com/en-CA/c/subscription-plans/
The subscriptions seem to be related to features that would rely on their network, and not workout / activity tracking:
- using cellular networks to text/call/track location without a phone
- storing photos on their servers
- SOS / inReach services
There are a few I’m not sure about, such as the Tacx cycling option or Maps+. You could double check if you wanted those things
