Garmin - epix (Gen 2) Standard Edition

I have Epix pro gen 2 47mm ss, it is great, got it for 50% off. Don't pay 800, look for discounts, also don't go for newest models, Instinct 2 solar or 2x is great, also Foreruner 955... Find some store and go try them and seek youtube for further info- chase the summit, desi fit...

I have Epix 2 (non pro), for gym, strength particular, I find it amazing. I know there are a lot of haters for Garmin strength workouts, but I program a series of workouts on connect and simply turn up to the gym and execute, the watch logs my reps, yes sometime I need to correct, but you get time to do so. Also weights are also adjustable. All in all it works a treat.

His watch is a 51mm mip so as similar as you can get to the Enduro. Garmin doesn’t make a solar amoled watch. I would expect longer battery from the Enduro but something sounds wrong with his Fenix. Heck, I was getting almost 3 weeks out of my 6x pro and get about the same as he is getting with my 47mm Epix so something must be wrong.

I've been trying to figure out exactly this right now.... Here's some info which may help. I have an Apple Ultra 2 and that is my everyday smartwatch. It works OK for run run tracking and there's a pretty good app for surf tracking. I just recently tried it with swim and it's OK. The auto sets feature (e.g. recognizing 4 laps as a 100) is pretty reliable, but I don't think that the automatic split times are especially accurate. HR is somewhat accurate. I've tried both the built-in workouts app as well as the [swim.com](http://swim.com) app and although the latter is generally better for "real" swimming it doesn't really fit with my training workflow which involves transferring workouts to Training Peaks. I also wear prescription goggles (-3.0) and find the display very difficult to read in certain scenarios, especially when the screen dims. Some of the data fields are ridiculously small and there is no way to change them. I also have a couple of Garmin devices (Forerunner 955 and Epix gen 2) and for the sake of this discussion both are the same with the exception of the screen technology. The Epix is AMOLED and objectively "better" but the 955 is so much easier to read at the pool. Garmin's auto rest feature (automatic lap/set vs rest feature) is almost good. The issue is that the motion detection is way too sensitive so if I move my arm at all during rest it thinks I'm still swimming. The algorithm also has trouble with rests shorter than 20s so it's common to see workout sets recorded as one big swim blob with some periods of no movement sprinkled in. HR accuracy is similar to apple... at least it was similar for the few times that I wore both to compare. I think that I've settled on wearing the 955 for swimming in the manual mode where I have to press the lap button at the start end end of each rest period. This gives me the most accurate representation of what I did for that session along with pace and HR data that makes sense within the context of the workout. The display is super-easy to read and gives me the information that I need in the pool. The transfer to Training Peaks is seamless and everything appears to be working well at this point. At some point I'm sure I'll stop caring about the exact structure of the workout that I did and just use the watch to record the whole thing. It is possible to pre-build workouts in both platforms and there are virtual coaching products that work with both. I never investigated what's available as I have a human coach who takes care of dictating my daily torture. I will say that having the watch execute the workout isn't all it's cracked up to be. Neither platform is especially good about providing visibility into what is coming up and in some cases barely conveys what you're supposed to be doing right now. If the watch messes up with counting laps then it could put you into a rest period at the wrong time and generally get you out of place in your workout. In some cases it's extremely difficult to go back and repeat a section of a workout. I've gone back to the post-it note stuck to my water bottle as the high-tech way of bringing my workout to the pool. With the workout transcribed in pencil and a rubber band as a safety it's pretty much fool proof.

I tried the Coros Apex 2 a while ago and I couldn’t figure out how to change the fields on the run screens to display exactly what I wanted to see on one screen; I like having total elevation gain on the main run screen and couldn’t add it. Great watch, not that great for some things including customization. Plus the font was really tiny and I’m getting old 😒 I have a garmin epix 2 and it’s the best multi sport watch I’ve ever owned (and my 5th). Highly recommend. I charge it once every 6/7 days. Wear it 24/7 and use it for exercise 8-10 hrs/wk. The map on it is much better than the Fēnix I had before this.

garmin epix/fenix no complaints

garmin epix + edge 130 on extended display mode. cheap cadence meters on most of the bikes, road bike has a power meter. also cheap HR strap from aliexpress wouldve jumped on garmin earlier if i knew how awesome it is - was on amazfit before because they were cheap everything goes to strava [https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/06/garmins-triathlon-extended.html](https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/06/garmins-triathlon-extended.html)

Short answer ; none Long answer ; Garmin is not an optimised at all for bodybuilding (I am nodybuil for the last 20 years and have Garmin for the last 10). So just get the one that is in your price range. Any Garmin will do hiking. One thing though, with bodybuilding the watch can and will suffer from repeated contact with the bars and gear. For that I only take Sapphire models. So Fenix or EPIX.

Seconded, Fenix or Epix are great. I have an Epix but tbh a Fenix suits my needs better

I agree, Garmin Epix 2 and Whoop owner here. Garmin is pretty shitty at sleep… I’ll be awake for an hour in the middle of the night and it will tell me I had continuous sleep all night. Whoop captures all those wake-ups, even the little ones to roll over. Whoop is convenient because it auto detects activities. It just thinks my heart rate is way higher than it is. No, Whoop, I’m not in Zone 4 playing pickleball. Garmin with its 6 lasers (to Whoop’s 2) is more spot-on (like within 5-10% of wearing my Polar chest strap), but you have to remember to start your activity manually if you want to look at graphs and stats. Garmin is a good watch, with flashlights and altitimeters and compasses and other useful things. There are a lot of customizable watch faces, so you can make it as useful as you like. Whoop is just simple and easy. So far I can’t get myself to get rid of one!

Garmin Fenix and Epix Series are far better than this. https://preview.redd.it/cpxhwtjkuuje1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d50186d95b15e90086bfa4491d354424f3c0bd I am glad. Haha

My Garmin (Epix Gen 2) measures total volume (type, sets, reps, weight) or else lets you correct anything not automatically detected and then gives you an overall recovery metric that takes into account sleep, calories (of syncing with MyFitnessPal), and stress. It's not perfect and has some annoying constraints (you either lock into a Strength or cardio event when you start working out, so if you go strength you lose some cardio granularity, and if you go cardio, you lose the weights stuff entirely), but it's the best I've experienced so far coming from many years of Fitbits.

I'd take advantage of a sale on the Epix 2 or Fenix 7. Garmin's last, and think of it more as an investment and not a purchase. I'm not sure what your long-term fitness goals are, but a Forerunner or Fenix/Epix model will be able to cover anything you throw at them long-term. The biggest thing I've been telling my friends is, if you ever have dreams of doing a triathlon, get a Forerunner 255/265 and above since that's when the multi-sport/triathlon mode starts.

I have the Epix which is equivalent to the Fenix 7 and I'm on my 8th warranty watch. Water keeps infiltrating the bottom right button and even now my bottom right button is disabled and keeps re-enabling when I'm in the water (which sometimes disables my woo/surfr apps).

> I do not want 1000$ Garmin tbh that's not the competition to the race s, but really the epix 2 (cheapest amoled with maps) which you can get for $300-400 i think it's fair to say that the race s has ok HR accuracy, but not best in class. i personally didn't have issues with the HR tracking but i did have a bunch of other issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/Suunto/comments/1itwkov/suunto_race_s_review_and_why_i_am_forced_back_to/ > I'm a little weary about the Race S, as I have a 7 inch (177.8 mm) wrist and this may be on the smaller side? i'm not quite sure whether you're referring to your wrist or the watch being small, but i have 160mm wrists and it was about the right size. wouldn't want it any bigger, but the larger strap balances it out.

I use the Apple Watch Ultra but I also have a Garmin Epix 2, both of them work fine: * Garmin: * Health and fitness metrics: Garmin will give you a lot of metrics (maybe too many if you are not training a lot) (Body battery, HRV, stress levels...) * Physical buttons: works better with sweat and rain than a tactile screen. * Haptics: very useful for running series. * Battery: 10x the battery of an Apple Watch * Android: if you do not have an iphone this the one to go * Apple: * Apple Ecosystem: works great with your Iphone, Airpods, Apple Pay etc * Health and fitness metrics: with the new update it gives you some metrics that will determine how tired you are, how was your sleep etc (for me these are more than enough)

Fenix has always been dead on accurate for me. But I’m using an Epix now. Basically the same but my old Fenix didn’t do HR

I use a Garmin Epix 2 to track my runs. You can set up custom runs and intervals. But I also use the Interval timer app on my phone. I like the app better for a few reasons. It keeps me from obsessively looking at my watch. It is louder, especially when I run with friends. It makes the post run data easier to interpret as it doesn't show 100 different stages. The cons of the app for me are that I sometimes lose track of if I am on walk or run. Since I run with my phone in a run belt, it takes some fumbling to get it out to check. For the same reason, it makes it harder to adjust on the fly.

I use a Garmin Epix 2 to track my runs. You can set up custom runs and intervals. But I also use the Interval timer app on my phone. I like the app better for a few reasons. It keeps me from obsessively looking at my watch. It is louder, especially when I run with friends. It makes the post run data easier to interpret as it doesn't show 100 different stages. The cons of the app for me are that I sometimes lose track of if I am on walk or run. Since I run with my phone in a run belt, it takes some fumbling to get it out to check. For the same reason, it makes it harder to adjust on the fly.

Bro, it's literally a fitness tracker first, then 2 miles of data sheets from all that tracking...then all the "smart" gibberish as a barely visible dot on the horizon. At least Enduro/fenix/Tactix/Epix line are like that.

I second epix 2. It's a fairly sturdy watch too. Personally, I don't do much about setting up the strength workout. I just start the strength workout and make sure I log sets and rest periods properly. Garmin also let's you make all the edits after the workout in the app, including changing the exercises.

I never have had any issues with swimming with the Venu 2 & Epix 2. The distance is almost always correct. Sometimes it's 1 lap off but that's quite rare. That said, I've been swimming all my life and am quite quick with 1:30/100m over long distances (2k-4k). So maybe I am more predictable and easier to track than a less experienced slower swimmer

You can use a garmin watch for just about any activity possible. There is so much you can do with them. As someone who switched from apple to garmin, i absolutely love my watch. There is a wide range of watches and price ranges. You often can find deals on amazon as well. I have an epix 2. Their big line of watches is the fenix. Battery life is wild too. I probably charge mine once every 10 days or so and i wear it day and night.

I'd suggest a Polar arm band to wear, which can pair by Bluetooth with the watch of your choice. I use a Garmin Epix 2 and I run an MMA program, but the watch is in my bag and the armband up under my sleeve. The Polar arm band is great. I'd used a Garmin chest strap before and found it buggy and uncomfortable. Definitely would NOT want to be grappling with a ring or a watch on myself or a partner.

They changed it! At least for the Forerunner 265, Epic Gen 2, and the Fenix 8. You can now download YouTube music on the watch. All my playlists are on there.

i think most people will recommend the garmin line up for non apple users, i use the epix after ditching the whoop and although i miss some whoop creature comforts (mostly being able to trend what affects my sleep) it does what the whoop does at an upfront price - will say that garmin has a subscription service now but it's mostly their ai stuff and additional features, nothing i had before has been taken away

Big fan of my Garmin epic gen 2. Not cheap but the battery is incredible. Just don't expect it to be a smart watch in the Apple watch sense. It's not, it's a fitness tracker with notifications. My epic lasts 14 to 16 days with no gps running constantly. If I'm hiking with gos on, I can easily get 4 to 7 days depending on settings.

I've already purchased a Garmin epix gen 2 but don't use it much until my inspire 3 breaks. I really like it's long battery and small form but when it does die, I'm off!!

It's small, amazing battery and you can forget you are wearing it. Don't get me wrong I've already purchased a Garmin Epix gen 2 as a replacement for when it breaks but, I love the form factor of the Inspire 3 and I will definitely miss it. Perhaps get a second hand one from eBay or Vinted just to try. I really do love mine.

Swim functions of Fenix 8 seem to be more of less the same as most somewhat more recent models, even with Swim 2 (honestly, it is fine for swimming. I swam with it for sure a while, but other functions are somewhat lacking). Fenix 8 supports diving but unless you dive, or otherwise do activities not supported by somewhat older models, I am not sure if it would be worth the extra money compared to older models because the swim functions seem to be essentially the same as the likes of Epix or earlier Fenix, more recent swim-compatible Forerunner etc. You should be able to pick up previous models somewhat cheaply, whereas Fenix 8 is quite expensive. I would have bought Fenix 8 if it was much better at swim tracking but it's not, so I did not spend the money to upgrade from Epix Gen 2 (which is annoyingly less accurate compared to Finnis goggles and Apple Watch but I digress)

You might have been unlucky with your watch. If it was under warranty, or not that long out of warranty, do contact Garmin. There are stories of people having them replaced for things that should not have happened. I am on my third Garmin - first one was Vivoactive 4s. It was totally fine with swimming until I smashed it really hard and broken the glass. It still lived for another 2 weeks of daily extended swimming until it finally died. Subsequent replacement, Swim 2, is still very much alive but I wanted other functions so bought Epix Gen 2 when it was heavily discounted. That is what I am using now and it has been totally fine with swimming. If you can, avoid pressing a button while the watch is under water, unless it is a dive watch. I do it from time to time and it copes OK but supposedly not a good thing to do too often (makes the waterproof seal more vulnerable).

I am a dual user of Garmin Epix Gen 2 and Apple Watch Ultra (original version), plus Finis Smart Goggles. Generally speaking, for me, Garmin is worse than AW for accuracy of auto sets - about 20% of my laps are undercounted, and it keeps running up the time well after I stop for a rest - this can even be up to 10 seconds after I stop. AW instead have the habit of not starting the timer until a couple of seconds after I start swimming after a break but the degree of inaccuracy is a bit less than Garmin. For instance, for one of my laps, the time registered on Finis Smart Goggles was 13.3 s. It was 24.3 on Garmin. Finis is definitely the correct one as I can see the timer starting as soon as I push off the wall, and how many seconds it came to when I stopped. Finis has also been validated with manual timing by my coach. I can see that the timer keeps running for a while on Garmin after I stop. Apple watch has a tendency to underestimate the time of took to swim a lap by a small margin. I suspect it starts the timer a bit slowly. So, in terms of accuracy, in my case at least, Apple Watch is a bit more accurate than Garmin, but Apple Watch often underestimates the time it took me to swim a lap, whereas Garmin almost invariably overestimates it.

Finis smart goggles + Apple Watch Ultra/Garmin Epix Gen 2. AW and Garmin are inaccurate for sprints timing (they often start the count late or stop the count late...), Finis is much more accurate but does not do HR. AW does not have a rest counter on display, whereas Garmin does. Not really a setup needed for normal fitness swimming though.

The Instinct 3 is perfect for you if you don’t need maps on the watch. It can load a breadcrumb trail but doesn’t have topo maps overlays. Otherwise look for the previous generation of the Fenix’s, ie. Pro or non- Pro 7’s or Epix. The other option is to check out one of the Forerunner series that has maps. Again previous versions are cheaper than the latest. The features gap between current versions of Garmins and previous versions aren’t that great in its core functionality.

100% agree with your review The problem with Garmin is simple, it is as so many say a pro sport watch and bc of that you should live with all the bugs and shitty ui, messed up settings menu bc must are a hard core athlete. At the same time any more advanced athlete just smile seeing garmin watch bc from a training perspective most of garmin metrics are just toys with some very basic failures like z3 is endurance when zones are set by maxhr but all of a sudden when you set zones by lthr your endurance zone is correctly z2, no recovery weeks scheduled pushing people to fatigue themselves to disaster, no way of editing hrv which combined with very shitty sleep tracker makes some days where your garmin forgot to track your sleep destroy whole training readiness calculation without any possibility to edit that one day etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm an Epix user but it is my first and last Garmin product and I will move to AWU next month or so (waiting for AWU 3 and IP16). Garmin is great as a simple activity tracker and if you need one just any old fr955 is enough to track everything you need. With Fenixes you jsut pay extra 600$ just for looks which some like and some not that much. PS. For me Garmin loses bc of a shitty strategy of keeping the simple stuff like new watchfaces only for new models where with any other IT product like a phone, awu, brands have learned to support fully for 5 years or so. (I know I can download new watch faces but they drain more battery and works shittier than the building ones /like no touch gestures etc.) ps. this forum is full of Garmin fanboys so your post will probably will be downvoted to oblivion, bc only positive posts are welcome here. (which is stupid bc it makes people at Garmin think their products is so amazing that they can ask 1100$ for that without solving at least some basic problems). ps2 besides watch faces (this part is for garmin fanboys) major problem was when my watch decided to burn down my house ;;) If any of you use ant+ lights or actually any sensors like a trainer, hr strap etc., your should already know that if you enter a glance menu or any settings menu for some stupid reason your watch connects to your sensors. With lights it works the same way but for some stupid reason Garmin likes to turn them on for a sec, but not always remembers to turn them off. So I was outside my house in the evening ready to start my run just to see through the window that my watch decided to Strat my light, I wanted to let it be but eventually returned home jsut to see my lights on the desk being charged and a smoke coming from desk bc it is not enough to turn on your with without any reasons (like I want to run not ride) but it sets the light on the highest strength (1300 lumen). So yeah I love Garmin and their watches 😀

I mean 400-500$ garmin watch like epix2/fenix7 is a good deal nowadays. I love the mapping, activity menus are ok, just in reality most of the metrics are a bit of BS lifted by a good marketing. Again 400$ is a good price for a tracker but asking 1100$ for a nicer UI menus (which are here only bc owners of FRs got them sooner and it would be hard to sell a much more expensive f8 with shitty menus) and a very low quality speaker and mic is a really brave strategy. I know Apple is not that amazing but it is ok for running, for cycling I use my Wahoo (apple added power meter support and thats something), I keep my music on my MacBook so it will be much easier to sync both (garmin does not support lossless format so I gave up on music bc I hate converting it every time) listening to podcasts is really troublesome with garmin etc. Maybe it is just me and my expectation for Epix I own were much higher. Overall I like it but I think it could be so much nicer with some very small tweaks (like you really need a phd to learn how the garmin energy settings works and when they overrule AOD setting and when not etc.) The thing about awU for me is that I bought Garmin to use my phone less but instead due to lack of or troublesome ui I always take my phone with me anyways just for music and messages. I hope with AWU and some basic apps like notes, reminders etc. I would have easier time leaving my phone at home. Hopefully ps. I love enduro3 and I would strongly consider it as an expedition watch (without any music etc.) jsut as a watch I take on a trip instead of AWU with good mapping etc. But that would make all the metrics obsolete and paying for that 899$ again is just not wise. (now when I think about it, I will probably switch to AWU and buy a used enduro2 just for longer trips and use it alongside my future aWU)

I will make it simple for you ;) If you want a device where you run often and you want something which is a very nice smartwatch and let's you leave your phone at home bc your podcasts and music and notes and reminders are all there with you, just buy AWU (if you use an iphone and remindrs etc. it will be amazing). If you run often but you need some kind of training support and want a feeling that you are doing more then a casual runner but music, notifications etc. will be so cumbersome that you will take your phone with you anyways and you are ok with that, just buy enduro. It's like a lack of comfort due to daily charging (which you can do during a shower) vs a lack of comfort due to crazy amount of bugs, very low quality software and milllion of funcions where half does not work, bu the battery is like crazy good. for me garmin is less usefull bc I read a lot about training and can easily set my owna training plan and I found out that what really makes my run much easier is that I can in seconds sync my book I'm listening too and go out for a run with my watch. With garmin it is just too complicated. if you add all the software bugs in garmin on top of that, yeah it is just not a watch for me PS. any even cheapest personal trainer will be better then garmins automated one and probably much much cheaper. So for me AWU plus eventualy a personal trainer is a best bet bc metrics from garmin like body battery etc are mostly just gimmicks. this guy explains t well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEmN6JiDGF0&t=646s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEmN6JiDGF0&t=646s)

I've had Apple, Garmin and Samsung smart watches but only got "joy spark" from the Garmin Fenix/Epix. The Garmin Fenix/Epix have an intangible attraction that doesn't equate to any feature or activity. One aspect of wearing a Fenix/Epix that I have to admit is attractive to me is that it signifies that I'm a performance athlete.

Garmin ecosystem is chocked full of goodness. Since I run and cycle, it’s great for multi sport. A lot of folks who only run seem to love Coros watches and their environment. I think either of those (with Strava integration) would be an improvement over your Apple Watch.

People have to stop comparing these. These are for two different people. I would never wear an Apple Watch based on battery life alone. I specifically got the Garmin for a wrist based gps and mapping tool to track and orient myself. You buy an Apple Watch to use smart features and be connected to your phone. Garmin has never been in that market. It’s a whole company based on gps systems for outdoor activities . You buy an Apple Watch to have Apple ecosystem. you can’t use half the feature of the fenix on an iPhone bc they only want you to use their watch… Garmin are all specifically made for their audience even down the the model . Apple watches are just to keep you plugged into your phone and have no bearing on actual outdoor activities despite calling it ultra. The Millitary has been orienteering with Garmin wrist based gps systems forever. You’d never catch an Apple Watch on patrol in Afghanistan. 😂