Garmin Pay: yes, you can do NFC tap-to-pay in stores without big tech

Late last year, I went on a long journey to rid myself of as much of my remaining ties to the big technology giants as I could. This journey is still ongoing, with only a few thin ties remaining, but there’s one big one I can scratch off the list: mobile in-store payments with NFC tap-to-pay. I used Google Pay and a WearOS smartwatch for this, but neither of those work on de-Googled Android – I opted for GrapheneOS – and it seemed like I was just going to have to accept the loss of this functionality.

That is, until I stumbled upon a few forum posts here and there suggesting a solution: Garmin, maker of fitness trackers and smartwatches with a strong focus on sports, health, and the outdoor lifestyle, has its own mobile NFC tap-to-pay service that supposedly worked just fine on any Android device, de-Googled or not. In fact, people claimed you could even remove the companion Garmin application from your phone entirely after setting up the payment functionality, and it would still keep working. This seemed like something I should look into, because the lack of NFC tap-to-pay is a recurring concern for many people intending to switch to de-Googled Android.

So, late last year, many of you chipped in, allowing me to buy a Garmin smartwatch to try this functionality out, for which I’m incredibly grateful, of course. Here’s how all of this works, and if it’s a good alternative for Google Pay.

The Garmin Instinct 2S Solar

First, let’s dive into which watch I chose to buy. Garmin has a wide variety of fitness trackers and smartwatches in its line-up, from basic trackers, to Apple Watch/WearOS-like devices, to outdoor-focused rugged devices. I opted for one of the outdoor-focused rugged devices, because not only would it give me the Garmin Pay functionality, but also a few other advantages and unique features I figured OSNews readers would be interested in: a simple black-and-white transflective memory-in-pixel display, a battery life measured in weeks (!), a solar panel built into the display glass, and a case constructed out of lightweight but durable plastics instead of heavy, scratch-prone metal. The specific model I opted for was the Instinct 2S Solar in Mist Grey.

I wasn’t intending for this to become a review of the watch as a whole, but I figured I might as well share some notes about my experiences with this particular watch model. It’s important to note though that Garmin offers a wide variety of smartwatches, from models that look and feel mostly like an Apple Watch or wearOS device, to mechanical models with ‘invisible’ OLED displays on the dial, to ruggedised, button-only watches for hardcore outdoor people. If you’re interested in a Garmin device, there’s most likely a type that fits your wishes.

The Instinct 2S is definitely not the most beautiful or attractive watch I’ve ever had on my wrist. It has that “rugged” look some people are really into, but for me, I definitely had to get used to it. I do really like the colour combination I opted for, though, as it complements the black/white transflective memory-in-pixel display really well. I’ve grown to… Appreciate the look over time.

The case and bezel of the watch are made out of what Garmin calls “fiber-reinforced polymer”, which is probably just a form of fiber-reinforced plastic. Regardless of the buzzwords, it feels nice and sturdy, with a great texture, and not at all plasticy or cheap. Using a material like this over the metals the Apple Watch and most WearOS devices are made of has several advantages; first, it makes the device much lighter and thus more pleasant to wear, and it’s a lot sturdier and resilient than metals. I’ve banged this watch into door sills and countertops a few times now, and there’s not a scratch, dent, or discoloration on it – a far cry from the various metal Apple Watches and WearOS devices I own, which accumulated dings and scratches within weeks of buying them.

The case material is one of the many ways in which this watch chooses function over form. Sure, metals might feel premium, but a high-quality plastic is cheaper to make, lasts longer, is more resilient, and also happens to be lighter – it’s simply the objectively better choice for something you wear on wrist every day, exposed to the elements. I understand why people want their smartwatch to be made out of metal, but much like how the orange-red plastic of the Nexus 5 is still the best smartphone material I’ve ever experienced (the white and black models uses inferior plastics), this Garmin tops all of the metal watches I own.

The strap is made of silicone, and has an absurd amount of tightly-spaced adjustment holes, which makes it very easy to adjust to changing circumstances, like a bit of extra slack for when you’re working out. It also has a nice touch in that the second loop has a little peg that slots into an adjustment hole, keeping it in place. Ingenious. Other than that, it’s just a silicone band with the clasp made out of the same sturdy, pleasant “fiber-reinforced polymer” as the case.

The lens over the display is made out of something Garmin calls “Power Glass™”, and I have no idea what that means. It just feels like a watch lens to me – solid, glassy, and… I don’t know, round? The unique aspect of the display glass is, of course, the built-in solar panel. It’s hard for me to tell what kind of impact – if any – the solar panel has on the battery life of the device. What quite obviously does not help is that I live in the Arctic where sun hours come at a bit of a premium, so it’s been impossible for me to stand outside and hold out my arm for a while to see if it had an effect on the charge level. There’s a software widget that shows you the recorded solar intensity, but unsurprisingly for my latitude, it’s always low. It’s only over the last few days we’ve been getting some more consistent sun, and I did notice the widget showed… Something. I feel like it added some charge back to the battery indicator, but it’s hard to tell from such little sun exposure.

But what if you’re a normal person who doesn’t choose to live in a place where humans are not supposed to live? Well, searching through online reports doesn’t give any clear answers, as people’s experiences are all over the place. There’s also little to no proper, scientific data available, so all I can say is… Your mileage will very much vary. The solar panel option isn’t particularly expensive, so I suggest you apply some common sense if you’re interested in a Garmin watch that offers it. Live in California or Sydney or whatever? Probably worth it. Live in a place where the sun doesn’t rise for a week? Probably not worth it. Spend most of your day outside? Probably worth it. Spend most of your day holed up inside at your computer? Probably not worth it. You get the gist.

The display is the star of the show for me. It uses a technology called “transflective memory in pixel”, which basically means that while it’s only monochrome, it also happens to use very little power. It’s excellently visible under any and all conditions, inside or outside, rain or shine, and always-on, and sometimes almost feels more like an e-ink display than an LCD. I think most people prefer a regular colour display on their smartwatch, but ever since Sony started using monochrome OLED displays on its MiniDisc recorders, I love the monochrome aesthetic on a device where I personally don’t really need a full-colour, high refresh rate display.

This display technology is one of the reasons this watch can boast battery life measured in weeks instead of days. On a full charge, the watch will happily keep going for two to three weeks, which is absolutely insane compared to other smartwatches. Of course, you lose the fancy colour OLED display and complex applications from the average Wear OS device or Apple Watch, but everything else a smartwatch is supposed to do – notifications, extensive activity tracking, showing the damn time, and so on – works great on the Garmin. Considering all I used my smartwatches for is notifications and payments, I’m not missing much.

This particular type of Garmin smartwatch does not have a touchscreen, instead relaying on five physical buttons; two on the left side, three on the right. Navigating the user interface with these buttons is definitely not as intuitive as using touch on an Apple Watch or wearOS device, but after a few days to a week you’ll get used to it. If the idea of using physical buttons that change their function based on context bothers you, you should probably opt for one of the touchscreen models.

The software on the Instinct 2S is much more expansive than you’d expect at first glance. Thanks to the extensive array of sensors on the device, you can track a lot of different health metrics, and thanks to its standalone, built-in GPS, you can track detailed location data, too. You can browse through all of this data on the watch itself, and customise almost every pixel of the display to your liking, displaying whatever data you want, from the current weather, to any of the seemingly dozens and dozens of health metrics. All of this data is synced to the accompanying smartphone application, through which you can also install additional applications and watchface options.

While the Instinct 2S is definitely not as elegant or easy to use as a wearOS device or an Apple Watch, it more than makes up for it with its weeks-long battery life and incredibly solid, rugged construction. Not having to charge every day changes the game for smartwatches, and makes it far less likely you slowly end up just not bothering with it anymore, and the solid construction means you won’t have to baby it as you go about your day. Especially if you spend a lot of time doing physical activities – you play a ton of sports, you’re outside a lot, you have a job involving physical labour, and so on – you’re definitely going to appreciate it.

But let’s get to what we’re here for – mobile in-store payments with NFC tap-to-pay without Google or Apple. That’s where Garmin Pay comes in.

Garmin Pay

Garmin Pay is, as the name suggests, Garmin’s alternative to Google Pay and Apple Pay. Google’s and Apple’s payment service have a lock on the market for mobile in-store payments with NFC tap-to-pay, on both phones and smartwatches. On Android, Google Pay’s NFC tap-to-pay functionality is heavily tied to both Google Play Services, and your operating system needs to be certified by Google for it to work. Unsurprisingly, none of the de-Googled Android ROMs are certified by Google, so NFC tap-to-pay simply does not work if you de-Google your Android device.

In fact, devices like the Pixel Watch or Samsung wearOS devices simply do not work on de-Googled Android devices at all. The functionality of wearOS is deeply tied to Google Play Services, so much so that even on GrapheneOS, which sandboxes Google Play Services instead of relying on microG, they will not work. The one-two punch is complete: NFC tap-to-pay won’t work on your phone, and even if it did, you can’t use a wearOS device for tap-to-pay. Aren’t monopolies great?

Luckily for us, though, Garmin set out to create its own payment service, and that’s what we’ll be looking at today. Garmin Pay is effectively a clone of Google Pay or Apple Pay, and it works in pretty much the same way. Add your payment card in the Garmin application on your phone, and you can start paying with NFC tap-to-pay with your Garmin smartwatch. The experience is virtually identical to setting up and using Google Pay or Apple Pay, but does not require any certification or blessing from Google, so it works just fine even on de-Googled devices.

Garmin Pay employs the same security and privacy measures as Google’s and Apple’s alternative, too. Garmin Pay uses watch-specific card numbers and transaction codes for every purchase, your card number is not stored on the device or on Garmin’s servers, and it’s not shared with merchants. You authenticate Garmin Pay through a passcode entered on the device, which you need to re-enter once every 24 hours, and after every time you remove the watch from your wrist. In other words, if someone somehow manages to rip the watch off your wrist, they won’t be able to pay with it unless they also happen to know your passcode.

You might wonder how you’re supposed to enter a passcode on a device with just five physical side buttons and no touchscreen, and you’ll not be surprised to learn it’s a bit a hassle. Here’s the passcode entry screen:

You rotate the number wheel with two buttons on the left, and confirm each individual number, highlighted in the circle, with a button on the right. Especially in the beginning, this is an incredibly finicky process, and while you do get better at it with time, it’s simply not a great experience. At least you only have to enter the code once every 24 hours (assuming you need to use NFC tap-to-pay every 24 hours), so I just internalised entering the code as I walk to the grocery store from my house, or after parking the car if I need to drive somewhere.

After this, the process is self-explanatory: hold the watch near the payment terminal, and the payment goes through. That’s it. In my experience, payment terminals recognise and process Garmin Pay payments considerably faster than Google Pay payments on either my Pixel Watch 2 or Galaxy Watch4 Classic; my pet theory is that this might be because of the plastic casing being more optimal for NFC, but I haven’t done any research into this.

In keeping with the outdoor focus of the Instinct 2S, you don’t actually need your phone with you in order to pay with your watch. In fact, while you need the Garmin Connect smartphone application to do the initial Garmin Pay setup and add your payment card, you’re entirely free to delete the Connect application afterwards, and Garmin Pay on the watch will keep working just fine.

One thing that’s missing – at least for me, with my bank – is a payment history inside the Garmin Connect application or on the watch itself. Garmin Connect says there’s no payment history available, and directs me to my bank statement. My bank’s smartphone application gives me a highly detailed list of my payments, though, so it’s not a huge deal, but I’d still like to have Garmin Pay payment history inside the Connect application, if only for completeness’ sake. My guess is that sharing such payment history is up to the bank, so you could perhaps argue this is a form of privacy protection? I don’t know.

As great as it all sounds until now, none of it will be of any use to you if your bank does not support Garmin Pay. Garmin keeps a detailed list of all banks who participate in Garmin Pay, organised per country. I can only speak for the two countries whose banks I am aware of – The Netherlands, and my current country of residence, Sweden – and it seems the majority of banks in both countries support Garmin Pay. Before you make any purchase decisions, check this list to make sure your bank supports Garmin Pay.

If your bank supports Garmin Pay, and everything is set up on your phone and Garmin smartwatch, you can proceed to use Garmin Pay wherever there’s an NFC tap-to-pay terminal. Here in Sweden every store has those now, and I think the same applies to The Netherlands. As such, I have no need to carry my wallet or – worse yet – cash, which is great. Despite de-Googling my smartphone, I don’t have to miss out on the convenience and safety of modern payment methods.

Conclusion

When I initially wrote about using Garmin Pay to avoid Google Pay, some people wondered if this wasn’t a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, and I’d like to address that here. Reducing your reliance or use of the big technology companies’ products and services isn’t an all-or-nothing approach; you’ll soon find that unless you go full cabin-in-the-woods, avoiding big technology companies is effectively impossible, so whatever you end up doing, you’re always going to be using their products one way or another.

In cases where alternatives are hard to come by, like NFC tap-to-pay, you’ll either have to forgo the feature and convenience entirely, or settle for the least-worst option. In this particular case, I opted for the latter. Le mieux est le mortel ennemi du bien, and while I would definitely prefer a proper open source solution, preferably European in origin, opting for a smaller tech company that, as far as I know, does a pretty good job making sure their products are platform-independent, is good enough for me.

Reducing your reliance on the major technology companies is a long and often frustrating process, where you’re constantly weighing options and alternatives, consider upsides and downsides, evaluate costs, and after all that, you somehow have to draw conclusions and make decisions. It’s often easier to just stick with the Googles and Apples of this world, and I honestly don’t fault anyone for doing so. There’s enough shit in this world for us normal people to deal with, and we all choose our own hills to die on.

I do not use any Apple or Microsoft products, but that’s been the case for a long time now. Getting rid of Google has proven to be a much more complicated and drawn-out task, since there’s a few products and services I just cannot do without. There were three difficult products and services to ditch: Android, Google Photos, and WearOS with NFC tap-to-pay. I use GrapheneOS on my Pixel 8 Pro now, but that’s still Android by Google on a Pixel 8 Pro by Google. I still use Google Photos because none of the alternatives fill me with confidence, but every time I take a photo of our kids and see it sucked up into Google Photos it chafes.

But now I can say that I managed to at least move away from one of them – this Garmin smartwatch with Garmin Pay is an imperfect alternative, for sure, but it’s a huge leap in the right direction while we wait for regulators to wake up and make it possible for (European) open source alternatives to compete.