Thousands and thousands of words have been exchanged between ChatGPT and me about one topic: the next Garmin flagship watch. I won’t drag you through the whole labyrinth we built together, but after hours of back‑and‑forth I found myself fantasising about a Fenix 9.
This fascination began when my first‑generation Garmin Venu appeared to die while we were in Jeju. Its touchscreen stopped working and it wouldn’t reboot. I was almost delighted: perhaps this was my chance to upgrade. I have become more active in recent times and could use a better watch.
But life is ironic. After letting the battery drain completely, I charged the Venu out of habit and the screen worked again. Close to 150 activities tracked and now it has risen from the ashes, like a phoenix. Not quite the return on investment I hoped for, but we’ve had some good times together — or rather, I had good times while wearing it.
With my Venu refusing to retire, I turned my attention to my partner’s Fenix 5. During that long conversation with AI I began to appreciate Garmin’s flagship more and more. As the chat — or time — went on, I was building a case for her to upgrade to the Fenix 8, and for me to jump from the Venu to the Fenix 8 as well. The deeper I dug, the more I began to hallucinate: what would a Fenix 9 be like?
I’m putting this infotainment out there because when Garmin eventually announces a Fenix 9 — widely expected in the second half of 2026 — AI and I can look back and laugh at how wrong (or right) we were. For the record, we both agreed carbon grey is a no‑brainer. The burgundy red was my idea. ChatGPT favoured midnight green or forest titanium.
Be back in Q4!