fēnix 5S Plus

5S Plus is part of the same generation. I had one before and they are just as good other than weaker battery life due to the smaller case. S models used to be 42mm bezel, no letter was 47mm and X models are 51mm but huge - too big for me to wear comfortably.

Something like a 5 Plus (maps and MP3), maybe a 5X for battery. I wouldn’t write off the Forerunners, Vivoactive or Venu watches. 5 series aren’t getting updates I believe but they work and pretty solid. Have you considered normal smartwatches, Galaxy Watch 5 Pro can be had under £50 now and top build quality.

Something like a 5 Plus (maps and MP3), maybe a 5X for battery. I wouldn’t write off the Forerunners, Vivoactive or Venu watches. 5 series aren’t getting updates I believe but they work and pretty solid. Have you considered normal smartwatches, Galaxy Watch 5 Pro can be had under £50 now and top build quality.

I’ve had my Garmin Fenix 5s for about 7 years and the battery life is still brilliant. Great watch for running.

My first Garmin was the Forerunner 10 back when I first started running and before “smartwatches” were a thing! From there, I had the Forerunner 230, Fenix 5s (was way overkill for what I needed and it was confusing to use), Vivoactive 4s, Venu 2SQ and I currently have the Venu 3s. I upgrade every couple of years and buy them directly from Garmin’s website. They have a side by side comparison tool which is very helpful when you are trying to decide between watches.

For years I wore a Fenix 5s and then 6s in rose gold. I have an Epix Pro Gen2 now which has a nice amoled display like the current Fenix 8 series. The Epix 42mm (same size as the Fenix s series) came in soft gold which is also attractive for women. I almost got that but I wanted a little more battery life so I went with a 47mm this time around. But the 42mm would been just fine and if I had a job where I have to dress more professionally I would have gone with that one. The Epix pro gen2 is the last generation and while not cheap, is an excellent deal since it does almost everything the current Fenix series does (certainly everything your wife wants) including the current gen HR sensor and has an amoled display. The Venu watches are okay but are more lifestyle and not true sports watches. I briefly had one and it wasn’t near as durable as the Fenix/Epix. All of these had sapphire glass because I’m not the most girly girl and am tough on my watches.

Still on my Fenix 5s

You're gonna love Garmin. But I would add the Fenix to the list. It's the best quality. I've had my Fenix 5s for 8 years and it still works as it did out of the box. Tons of data and metrics over the years, still has a ton of battery life and charges quickly. Best of luck in your search

I think it depends on how often you run with your phone. I've had a Garmin Fenix 5+ and now a Forerunner 955, both with maps. The offline mapping is cool, but personally I use it like 2-3x/year (even breadcrumb). Most of the trails I run on are pretty straight forward and that handful of times I've gotten lost, I just use my offline Google Maps to point me in the right direction. Usually it's just long 15-20+ mile runs in unfamiliar places while car camping that I might create a course, assuming I don't do a simple out-and-back. The Garmin app allows for me to create courses right there and push it to my watch with ease. I think Coros and Polar are similar (Maybe Suunto too?). Obviously with multi-day backpacking, mapping becomes more important on-device due to battery life concerns.