- Yes, Samsung is considering a premium subscription level for Samsung Health
- It is not a rumor – it was confirmed in an interview with the Samsung digital health manager
- Advanced coaching features would be included for free in new watches, while being locked behind a payment wall for older models
In these times short of money, none of us like to pay more than we have to. When our best streaming prices increase, we grow, even if more movies and television are added all the time.
Likewise, if we buy a device such as one of the best smart watches, and previously we have been able to use all its features for free, we do not like to be charged a monthly subscription for future.
Just ask Garmin users. There was a huge collide of vitrioli and indignation of the brand’s very committed user base when Garmin introduced its premium level, Garmin Connect +. Despite promising AI training ideas, new LiveTrack capacities for endurance athletes and advanced means to see your training measures, the new level was not considered good for the cost – and above all since the best Garmin watches are sold at high prices in the first place. The community was in a tumult, but Garmin did not hesitate, continuing his plans.
Now Samsung is in the act. In an interview with CNET, Samsung’s digital health manager, Dr. Hon Pak, confirmed that he “explored a premium subscription model similar to Fitbit Premium or the new Garmin Connect which requires a monthly subscription to unlock advanced coaching features.”
This is bad news for owners of Samsung Galaxy watches, and even owners of the best Samsung phones or the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Any modification that Samsung here will probably affect the Samsung Health application, so if you want additional features that Samsung decides to present behind a payment wall, you will have to get rid of a premium level.
Samsung has not yet revealed if it certainly goes ahead, or how much it will cost: this type of mid-see slips probably tests the waters, to see if an outcry as strong as the Garmin user base will follow.
The author of the original article suggests suggests that Samsung could offer features free of charge with its new watch and make them available from older models for costs, but there is no direct quote from Pak or anyone at Samsung addressing this particular idea.
Like Garmin Connect +, it is likely that this premium level will start, many new features that would have come to your free watches will land behind a paid wall instead. This means that there is a risk of “creeping functionality”, so that in a few years, all the features that Samsung fans really want will be behind a payment wall, forcing users to subscribe to avoid missing.
Paraphrase DuneIt is the slow blade that enters the shield. Premium levels are a way for companies to extract long -term income from users and subscribers, unlike the launch of a technological product, soon obsolete, which creates a temporary point of income.
Of course, no one says that you should not pay an equitable price for the features you use, and that your data is sitting in a server, ready to be recalled at any time, costs businesses in the long term. Many of our best fitness applications require subscription costs and we highly assess them.
However, when a portable company offers a level of subscription, this money is recovered as long as you subscribe, because its recurring income in addition to the unique purchase of a watch. I cannot shake the feeling that I pay twice: once for the privilege of ensuring that the watch collects my data, and once so that the data is sold to me in the form of a graphic. And as you choose to pay, whether unique or recurrent, I think you should not pay the only time.
