Garmin attracts criticism from fans after limited watch face rollout

Garmin released two new watch faces last week to celebrate World Sleep Day. Both Pokémon-themed,  the pair offered a choice of 48 Pokémon with three complications to choose from. Despite offering multiple customisation options, Garmin has been rather restrictive with supported smartwatches.

For some reason, the watch faces are ony compatible with round displays. As a result, the expensive Venu X1 has missed the cut (curr. $699.99 on Amazon). Moreover, having an AMOLED display is also a requirement. With Memory in Pixel (MiP) panels still in Garmin's lineup, this means that the Fenix 8 Solar has not received these Pokémon watch faces either.

Likewise, the Forerunner 255 and Forerunner 955 have been locked out, as has the entire Fenix 7 series. By contrast, the cheaper Venu 2 and Vivoactive 5 are eligible to download the new watch faces. This limited rollout has not gone unnoticed among the Garmin community, with plenty questioning Garmin's decision to skip all smartwatches with MiP displays. Unfortunately, Garmin has not elaborated further yet. Please see the company's Connect IQ listings for more details about its new day and night watch faces.