Garmin - fēnix® 7S Pro – Sapphire Solar Edition

I can use my Garmin Fenix 7s pro technically without my phone or computer but it works better with. However if I never wanted to connect it to anything I would still be able to see my Heart rate, SpO2, listen to music MP3s that I drag and drop into a folder on the watch. IF you don’t use Garmin Express then a drive will pop up on your computer with your Garmin label so in my case the drive would be called Fenix 7. Then I can drag and drop music files or whatever files onto it. So while it is possible to be disconnected in that way.. I don’t recommend it as you wouldn’t get any software updates. You could also take your activity files out of the Garmin Instinct this way and upload to them to another platform such as Strava or Training Peaks (if you wanted to, or if Garmin Connect is offline). However I don’t believe you would get any updates for the watch this way. I’m not sure about Polar watches though but since they connect to computers via a USB plug.. I would assume something similar would pop up.

I tried this one but but it was just too bulky/thick and heavy for my smaller wrist. Super annoying when running. I really really really wanted to like it

You'll find many very differing opinions on this, some love MiP some love Amoled. I've got the Fenix 7s and love the MiP screen, it's slightly dull inside but so bright outside and if anything it's nice to not have another bright in your face screen when we are so glued to our phones/laptops etc nowadays. So yeah, don't rule out MiP entirely

I had an Apple Watch Series 5 and it was good at distance but very patchy at stroke detection (my form isn’t that bad!). Switched to a Garmin 245 4 years ago and it was much better at stroke detection. Distance is fine with the occasional missed lap but that also happened with the AW for me. I now use a Fénix 7S and I like it a lot. I really like the ability to push structured workouts to it. That was not doable with the AW. The system for logging drills is a little cumbersome but you get used to it. The missed laps problem has been reduced for me. Now I find that if I keep swimming it catches up eventually most of the time. (Of course newer AWs may have improved too.) Good luck!

I own a Fenix 7s pro and the Garmin sleep tracking is pretty inaccurate in my experience compared to an AWS8 and a Whoop. I don't care as much about the sleep tracking so I am very happy with the device but I agree that in terms of Oxygen tracking and Sleep the Garmin's are significantly behind.

First, Garmin's primary purpose is GPS/outdoor running/walking/cardio. Everything else is *sort of* secondary in their R&D. That said, you're having a particularly bad experience, and there might be something wrong with your watch. I'm using a Fenix 7s Pro, and most of the issues I've had were user error. It does appear to overestimate my V02 max (has me at 46; I really don't think I'm that fit), but it recognizes most of my strength training exercises and reps, or is at least close enough that I get how it came up with the result it did. Then it's easy enough to update the mistakes in the iconnect app. *Please don't take this as an insult*, but check your form when working out to make sure you're actually doing motions as conventionally expected, and/or allow compensation for exercise variations like different angles, modifications to your movements for injuries or flexibility, etc. Not all, but many wrong guesses by my watch could be traced back to weak form, rushing, or some variation on execution. Make sure your watch settings reflect which wrist you're wearing the watch on - things like tricep kickbacks might look more like curls from the opposite wrist. Garmin is known to be behind the curve on sleep tracking; use Fitbit if sleep is a bigger concern. However, I've found that not setting up your sleep "schedule" correctly, not wearing your watch consistently before going to bed, and dumb things like turning on the battery saver (several ways to mess that up) will wreck your sleep readings. Learned from another user that having your watch on not-the-wrist-you-set-up, and/or placing the watch over tattoos will also mess up your readings. I would assume then that even having hairy forearms or scars could mess up the readings. Having the strap too loose or too tight can mess with the readings as well. Barring all of the above, your watch may need a factory reset, or at least calibration and a cleaning or something. Strength training isn't Garmin's ah... strength, but it shouldn't be *that* bad and all your other readings (especially heart and respiration) shouldn't be consistently bad. ETA: Your watch is not going to be able to figure out leg workouts unless it's bodyweight-based (squats, lunges, etc) because it has no reference for those motions, and it definitely won't be very specific for machine workouts, let alone leg workouts on machines. Leg press? Absolutely not. Cable kickback? Forget about it. Hack or Smith machine squat? Maybe, but it will just say "squats? 🤷‍♂️"

I also switched from an Apple Watch to a Venu 3S and was really happy with it and wished I did the switch earlier! I recently switched to a Fenix 7S Pro because I wanted even more fitness features and less smartwatch features. You said you shifted more towards sports but most of the issues you have are Smartwatch issues. A Garmin watch is a fitness watch and not really a smartwatch compared to an Apple Watch. My Venu 3 was not laggy. I agree you have to get used to the UI in the beginning, but I wouldn‘t say it is „terrible“. So in conclusion: Apple Watch = Smartwatch Garmin = Fitness Watch I think you should give the Venu a few more days to get used to it. Also make sure to run the latest software and try to reboot and see if it fixes the „slowness“ Cheers! :)

I have a fenix 7s and am having the opposite experience from you… maybe you have a dud? My sleep tracking, heart rate, stress is all en pointe. Heart rate is inaccurate for anaerobic exercises though and I would recommend a heart strap for that.

Similar here. Picked up the fenix 8 the other day. Selling both AWU and fenix 7SS. The fenix 8's mic and speaker, and diving functionality actually replaces three of my devices. I have a dive watch, but will hang on to that for redundancy.

Spotify works just fine offline on my Garmin Fenix 7s I download what I want on my watch then go on a walk or run without my phone and listen to it with no problem.

I spent a lot of money (some might say too much money!) and bought the gold/sand one. I think it’s the 7s sapphire pro or something - it’s got a long name. Anyway, imo, it’s pretty

fenix 7s pro, if you can get watch with valid warranty, because of possibility of buttons or altmetar failure.

fenix 7s pro

my mistake , i read title, didn't saw 'budget' added in text

Dunno, using f7s 2 years, my friend also. In my experience built quality is great. Only hr sensor is good on average effort but not very accurate in high effort.

Garmin. Garmin totally blows Apple out of the water for a fitness watch. I have very small wrists and have a Fenix 7s. It looks nice and is not sporty or tactical looking. I wear it daily. I’ve had multiple Garmins. I briefly had an Apple that I immediately returned. Idk how far you run, but battery life is not an issue with Garmin. You don’t have to charge your watch daily or worry about it dying during a marathon.

Love my Fenix 7s sapphire solar. I’ve had a bunch of forerunners too, but I prefer the look and features of the Fenix. It’s less sporty looking so I can wear it casually and professionally. Have you browsed Garmin’s site and done product comparisons?

Have a look at the other Garmin Watches as well. The Venu is more lifestyle oriented but should offer similar swimming performance. I use a Fenix7s as I also do open water swimming

Quite happy with my Fenix7. But difficult to validate. There is no reference in OpenWater, as you never swim in a straight line. So +-20% in distance compared to the perfect line is totally fine with me. With uneasy weather it's easily +50% distance that you actually swim.

I have a Garmin Fenix 7 solar and I've noticed if the rink is really cold it has a hard time recording accurate heart rates. Watches aren't as accurate as you'd like. It also doesn't record my GPS indoor skating for some reason so it doesn't get my telemetry which is a bummer. Haven't done any outdoor skating yet. But that'd probably be more accurate for distance and speed at least.

I am currently using the Garmin Fenix 7 + MyFitnessPal specifically for that purpose. The calories burned throughout the workout are quickly synchronized with the MFP app, through the Garmin integration. As a disclaimer, I only use the Strength workout from the watch, and start/stop the set.

Garmin fenix 7 has been pretty great (upgraded from forerunner 45). My only 3 sad spots - a HIIT workout type doesn’t track runs as part of the WOD. You can make a button that fast switches it to a different workout type (run) and then back (hiit), but that’s moderately annoying. So either you don’t get running metrics, or you play hit the button during the WOD - I do like the watch itself, but grips can hit the button and stop the workout (maybe I’m just being dumb?) - if you have an iPhone not all metrics go into the apple health apps. BUT I really like the garmin connect app so I don’t care very much.

I have all my plans on Fénix 7 and it works quite well for about 80% of exercises regarding rep counts and I love it! Use it to track reps and weight

I don’t think it’s “much more.” It varies from person to person. For me, the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Garmin Fenix 7 are within +/- 1 bpm compared to the Polar H10. However, I do agree with you that a cheap chest strap (connected to an iPhone via Bluetooth) is the most affordable way to measure heart rate accurately during workouts.

This is my answer. I've been using it for 2 years, and the data is excellent. Many people will say the heart rate on a watch is not accurate enough, but I bought a Polar heart monitor to compare, and they're almost always within 1 to 2 BPM across full workouts. ... I also have had problems with grips stopping the clock, but if I wear the grips a little high on my hand, it usually is fine.

I was in the same situation - weightlifting, hiking, climbing, skiing, mountaineering, swimming, cycling, backpacking - and went with the Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar. It's everything I could ever want. Switched from Whoop and Apple Watch, and couldn't be happier.

I was in the same boat and had been considering all the watches starting from fr55 up. I think it took me 6 months to finally get a watch and ended up with fenix 7. Super happy. Glad I did my homework to learn about them first and making an informed decision as the choice is vast. There are some regrets with regards to how much time I wasted before purchase. Had I made the decision earlier it probably would have had been fr255. You will be amazed how much data it collects and ways you can achieve your goals.

It's tedious to set up workouts in the web interface. However, there is a "Free" option when you open the activity that I use every time I lift as a way to watch my heart rate recover and timer to monitor time under tension, and rest time between sets. For big movements where the watch is actually moving in space (squat, deadlift, etc) it can ascertain what you're doing and record it. I've never done anything with that information, but you could go in after the fact and clean it up I guess. For subtler movements, or those that don't involve your arms at all, it can't tell which lifts you're doing. I'd personally just get a small weightlifting notebook from amazon and keep track that way. Or there are approximately 2342309 available apps that do it also if you want to mess with your phone. But overall, the Fenix 7 I have is pretty much limited to just being a mildly accurate rep and rest counter for me.

Garmin user here: Macrofactor for food Garmin for cardio Hevy for weight training Both sync to Strava automatically. Note that garmin's training readiness score has nothing to do with weight training whether you track that in Garmin or not. If you measure accurately, after 6 weeks Garmin & Macrofactor are agreeing on my TDEE which is very satisfying to see.

I've been wearing the Fenix 7 since it came out. Maybe a few years? Personally I focus on my cardio capacity as much as hypertrophy so I really like it. It's helped a lot with sleep, zone 2 training and increasing my VO2 max. Not very useful for weight training but I think it estimates calories burned solely based on your HR well.

Another vote for the Garmin Fenix 7 or 8. You get the surfr app with the 7.

I’ve had some issues with my vivoactive 5 and my Fenix 7 now. Often it’ll track an extra lap or 2, usually if I do 1500m I’ll end up with the watch saying 1525m or 1550m. That said, this week I swam 1500m by my lap count and the watch ended up tracking 1600m. I think it also has to do with the fact that I was in a crowded swimming lane and had to stop/change strokes halfway through laps to avoid running into people.

I love my fenix 7 Sapphire in gold https://preview.redd.it/yh2e2b9pnc1e1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a18406ee7da222dc7c8b2702df48882f9f190a15

For me what is important in sleep tracking is the length and the quality of sleep.   Garmin Fenix 7 always get my fall asleep and wake up times precisely. Quality of the sleep you get from body battery. It even gets my noon naps precisely.  Tracking sleep stages on any watch is useless. While Fitbit and others show better results than Garmin, it is still just guessing. You can't use the data because it is impossible to reliably track it on any watch.

Maybe the old Garmin was mostly for runners and don’t forget golfers back in the day, and I had the 5 the 6 and now the 7. I always use a chest strap, and I have to say, I hike, I bike, I climb walk and run. It’s always measured everything, and the hiking measurements have been great. The need improvement on the right lifting, but it’s been off on the reps a tiny amount, but it’s a pain to try and measure. My watch measures my sleep pretty accurately as I have a sleep number bed, and they are pretty close. The Garmin though starts measuring early. The sleep number knows when you lay down and measures when you actually go to sleep.

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.

The selling point for a Garmin watch for me (Fenix 7) was not that they are somehow the best with data gathering and displaying, but they do everything well enough while also having unique features you hardly find anywhere else in this combination: - absurd long battery life thanks to a passive display - very good GPS support (Multiband & support of different satellite systems) - offline maps and navigation - the watch is a stand alone device when used, no need for the smartphone And for every day use the health tracking is more than good enough, for sports you want to use a chest strap anyway (which flawlessly connects to the watch)

I had a Fitbit charge 2 for about 6 years and loved it until google took over and screwed up the compatibility and syncing. I now have a garmin fenix 7. MASSIVE step up. The battery doesn’t last as long, I use to get a week with 8hrs of tracking, now I’m charging every couple of days but that could be because I have all the bells and whistles turned on which aren’t needed. If you’re a data nerd and want more info than you ever thought was possible, then seriously look at garmin. I just have the free topo maps on it at the moment and pay no subscription. And quality seems good enough to navigate by. I haven’t tried it out in the bush yet, but to be honest i wouldn’t rely on it for navigating and would stick with map and compass or phone app where I can zoom in and out so much easier. It is geared towards running, but hiking, alpine are all options in there as activities. I love that it’s ocean proof too and can even track sailing.

I wear my Garmin Frnix 7 for bouldering and climbing (I had a Vivoactive 4 before) and so far I haven't damaged any watches. If you want to buy a smart watch, look into it very carefully or test it before buying, my previous watch had no functionality for tracking climbing activities and the community made features were severely lacking. My new Fenix 7 is really good at tracking climbing activities but it's anything but intuitive. Chalk, sweat and water don't bother my watch the least bit, I just have to handwash my watchband once a week as I use a velcro textile band. I have a couple of friends that have or had Fitbit devices and they seem to be a bit disappointing and Fitbit is now owned by Google (do with that information what you want).

I wear my Garmin Frnix 7 for bouldering and climbing (I had a Vivoactive 4 before) and so far I haven't damaged any watches. If you want to buy a smart watch, look into it very carefully or test it before buying, my previous watch had no functionality for tracking climbing activities and the community made features were severely lacking. My new Fenix 7 is really good at tracking climbing activities but it's anything but intuitive. Chalk, sweat and water don't bother my watch the least bit, I just have to handwash my watchband once a week as I use a velcro textile band. I have a couple of friends that have or had Fitbit devices and they seem to be a bit disappointing and Fitbit is now owned by Google (do with that information what you want).

Both Garmin and Coros make sport watches that are fine for what you need. I jumped from Garmin to Coros because of the crazy price jump of the Fenix 8, Connect+ subscription service and bad firmware updates for my Fenix 7 that Garmin has not addressed for more than a year now. The trust has been lost.

Go for an old version of Fenix (7 for example). Forerunners are also a good alternative, 265 or 965 if you have a bigger budget. Try to consider a second hand in good condition, a lot of folks have just upgraded to Fenix 8 so you can catch some good deals.

Garmin Fenix 7 something or other. Garmin Edge 530 on the bike with a Varia rear light/camera. I don’t see any value in Strava, I just use Garmin Connect.

Fenix 7 should work great. (Double check for 100hz) I have fenix6s and it works but doesnt show live data and 25hz processor is shit with surfr. Also dowloading times are long. Not that i am slightly bitter with my yesterday 20m jump with 21+sec hangtime. According to surfr ai calculation 9m with 7second hangtime 🥲

I have the Fenix 7 and can tell you I will not buy another watch without maps. Great for when you are in a strange place and familiar areas. I am from South Africa but was able to run through the Norwegian forest on my own because of maps and Garmin Explore. Even at home if I want to run a new 20k, I just go to Garmin Connect, generate an automatic map and have a brand new course. If I am in a foreign city, I can put my hotel as a point in my watch and will always be able to find my way back even if I have no data coverage.

That obviously depends and varies from person to person. Personally I respond really well to data and metrics, so it has motivated me greatly, and I'm in the best shape of my life, mostly due to my Garmin. That being said, I love really diving in to the metrics beyond just heart rate and pace, but also use the stress, sleep, HRV and body battery metrics almost religiously. It has really made me much more aware of my overall well being beyond just training, and it has made me almost stop drinking alcohol completely as I saw how much it affected my sleep and energy levels. For training it has made me realize that doing every run as fast and long as possible wasn't really a good strategy, so I now do much more slow and moderate runs combined with focused interval sessions, and see great improvements in my race times. I use a Fenix 7, but the 255 should have most of the same features, as it's the same generation software and hardware. I run with my phone mainly so that my wife can track my position and my kids can reach me in case of an emergency.

I have a garmin Fenix 7, and I absolutely love it. It tracks gps accurately, and has stats such as stroke rate and distance per stroke, but for super accurate hr, I would connect a chest strap to the watch. Often if I don’t, the watch alone doesn’t track the hr super accurately.

Hi all, Got my OnePlus Watch 3 recently, and I’ve always wondered how it would compare to my Garmin Fenix 7 for fitness tracking — since fitness is a big thing for me. --- Run Summary Distance: 4.39 km (OnePlus) vs 4.40 km (Garmin) Time: 25:59 vs 25:55 Average Pace: 5:55/km vs 5:53/km Best Pace: 4:11/km vs 4:34/km Max Speed: Both 12.3 km/h --- Heart Rate Average HR: 176 bpm (both) Max HR: 187 bpm (OnePlus) vs 192 bpm (Garmin) Min HR: 154 bpm vs 156 bpm --- VO₂ Max OnePlus Estimate: 41 Garmin Estimate: 45 Lab-tested VO₂ Max: 44.5 → Garmin is closest to lab --- Running Dynamics Cadence (avg/max): 168 / 200 spm (both) Stride Length: 1.01 m (both) Vertical Ratio: 8.6% (both) Ground Contact Time: 266 ms (both) --- Power & Respiration Power (Garmin): Avg 332 W, Max 430 W Power (OnePlus): Avg 283 W, Max 460 W Breathing Rate: Avg 42 bpm (both) Min/Max Respiration: 21 / 54 bpm (both) --- Recovery & Training Recovery Time: 46 min (23 min intense) — both Stamina (OnePlus): Start 100%, End 66% Aerobic Effect: 4.1 (OnePlus), 4.4 (Garmin – Threshold) Anaerobic Effect (Garmin only): 1.8 Training Load (Garmin only): 138 --- Conclusion VO₂ Max Accuracy: Garmin is more accurate (closer to lab) Both watches track key stats very well Garmin Fenix 7 leads in training feedback, power data, and clarity OnePlus Watch 3 holds up surprisingly well — especially for a lifestyle-focused smartwatch that also looks better One big con for me: OPW3 doesn’t show training loads (low/high aerobic, anaerobic) — which is huge for me. I split my training into HIIT, Zone 2, sprints, and weight lifting based on those metrics. I’ll use it for another week or so and decide whether to send it back. Honestly feels weird wearing something else after having my Garmin daily for the last 1.5 years.

I am missing the workout functionalities of my garmin.. Training loads, more insights.. However this watch looks better, has better functionalities regarding smart features. Not sure what to do..

I am missing the workout functionalities of my garmin.. Training loads, more insights.. However this watch looks better, has better functionalities regarding smart features. Not sure what to do..

I am missing the workout functionalities of my garmin.. Training loads, more insights.. However this watch looks better, has better functionalities regarding smart features.

I did send the OnePlus watch 3 back. It is good if you are mainly into running and are an average person who doesn't really take working out seriously. Pace is spot on I'd say compared with my Garmin. I just didn't like the app and the metrics it provides, I was missing training loads, acute loads, VO2 max was off by a few points. My lab results tell me that my Garmin was very close though.. You will never get the same what Garmin provides from the OnePlus watch 3, I debated myself for a few days before sending it back. If you just run casually, don't do weight lifting much or don't care about all of that. Get the watch. Also the app is not so good haha. It provides however great basic metrics. I never took my Garmin off in the last 2 years, so it was super difficult for me. Which Garmin do you have?

Personally, I love my Garmin Fenix 7. Yes, it's expensive, but it's super accurate, tracks the data I'm interested in, and it lasts a long time. You can buy a watch with fewer bells and whistles, but your boyfriend will want to upgrade. If you don't want to spend that much, there are a lot of other great running gifts such as nice quality running clothing, a new hydration vest, a race he's been eyeing, etc...

I can only assume you've never ran a competitive race and heard all the Garmins beeping at exactly the same location every km.

I got rid of my months-old Apple Watch Series 6 after I went out for a long winter run and it died because of the cold (only about -4c). Total garbage watch. I was willing to put up with the multitude of fitness tracking issues until then when I completely lost faith in it. Got a Fenix 7 and kicked myself for even buying the AW in the first place. I honestly can’t stress enough how much better Garmin is.

My Garmin Fenix 7 allows me to set run/walk intervals. I start my watch like in going for a run, I just can't do the suggested run or it won't time the intervals. Super happy with it.

I am liking my Garminfenix 7 solar (aolar charges a bit). Way more data than I need, but my main complaint ith the apple watch was NO On the water GPS tracking (even wrote then because location data for walking, running, outdoor swimming but NOT rowing). So I am a garmin gal. Yep I wanna know my spm and can initiate a 5K and it doesnt just guess the distance. :)

I rock the Garmin Fenix 7 for MTB, I only use it for tracking and strava. I come home, and I immediately swap, then put it back on to sleep. I don't know why, personal preference, i suppose, but I always like something on my wrist. I also swim and lift but usually don't wear anything for it.

I'm guessing you aren't a strava whore? I unfortunately am. I have the Garmin Fenix 7. I wear it for 2 reasons, one that I already mentioned. The second, so my wife and buddy can track me in the event of a gnarly MTB fall. I had one last year and was fortunate that my buddy was headed to the mountain and helped me get out.

I forgot to add, I wish I didn't put it on to sleep but can't break the habit. Nothing worse than waking up, feeling great and your watch tells you that you slept like shit and need a rest day. I try to ignore it but it messes with me

I use a garmin Fenix 7 for swimming, cycling, hiking, mountain running, long ultramarathons and its fantastic at all of them!

Fenix 7, I like tracking my HR in the sauna

Other than the Fennix 7, nothing Garmin has compares with the sensor quality Apple has in the latest models. It was around the 8 that Apple surpassed Garmin with fitness tracking accuracy and with the Ultra and 19 or 10 they surpassed it with location accuracy as well. Garmin will still win with battery life and I’ll rather keep my watch for the QOL benefits, for me it’s mainly unlocking my Mac, the odd payment and some other health metrics that I specifically use the watch for. I’ll answer a call if I’m too lazy to walk back to my phone. The eSIM support is handy for me to be able to leave my phone at home without the safety hit of being completely offline. I have tested the fall detection already, obviously not intentionally, not sure if Garmin has something like that, but it would the also require a phone to be of any real use in an emergency. I’ll be upgrading my ultra next year if the rumoured Blood pressure and sugar monitoring come out. I am hypertensive so that would be very useful to track if it gets worse

I love my Garmin. I have a Fenix 7 Sapphire solar, which is more watch than you need if your primary activity is running. I wanted all of the mapping and other utilities because I hike and backpack in places where there is no cell service.

I have a Garmin Fenix 7 solar sapphire and I adore her

I switched from WHOOP to Garmin. Never looked back. And I'm a data freak. But with WHOOP I felt like a slave to my data, while Garmin is more like a feedback source. Biggest difference for me was with heart rate data. Whoop shows you how much you've spent in a certain threshold. Garmin does that and also shows you exactly how your heart rate changed over time. That way you clearly see how you perform in intervals, marathons, sprints and mixed trainings. I got WHOOP hoping to get my stress under control. I haven't been able to track it there. Meanwhile, in Garmin you get alerts if your heart rate spikes out of the blue. And that's exactly what I was looking for.

Fenix Solar Sapphire 7

The Epix is prettier though. OLED screen over MIPS might mean a reduction in battery life, but it'll still do 30 hours of running. And when I say pretty...the screen is gorgeous. Vibrant, colours pop, it's just a different beast. The battery life on the Fenix 7 is outstanding...like crazy good. But the most I tend to do is hundred milers and if they're taking me more.than 30 hours I'm going to have a battery pack for phone anyway. So it meets my needs. Both are cracking watches though.

I have a Pixel phone as well and use a Garmin Fenix 7. I still get my notification buzzes in the pool but unlike an Apple Watch you can't answer calls from the watch. The notifications show up in a little bar above the exercise tracking info and disappear after a few seconds if I ignore them.

I have a Fenix 7 and it's very good at tracking laps. I swim 10k+ yards a week and it only adds a "phantom" extra lap maybe once a month, and it's usually because I did something weird to throw off the rhythm. That said, you have to switch to drill mode for kicking or other armless drills-- it doesn't autodetect that.

I know it's not a FR, but i switched last week from a FR745 to a Fenix 7 Pro Solar for 499€. Very happy with my choice.

There was a recent test and it was found to have almost the most accurate of step counts between multiple smart watches, only slightly behind the Pixel Watch [https://x.com/MKBHD/status/1748490877398372395?s=19](https://x.com/MKBHD/status/1748490877398372395?s=19) I have a Fenix 7 myself and while yeah the GPS accuracy is better and the heart rate wrsit wise is a bit better it's mostly only incremental, so really depends on what you want to do. Id always use a chest based HRM for running and others, and GPS it just depends, I don't live in a city so I don't see a difference but inside cities where GPS gets a bit more intermittent you do. It's also really bad for weight training, the Garmin strength app almost never detects workouts correctly and frequently miscounts reps. I don't honestly think any watch has a perfect strength training app still. The Hevy app seems pretty good though

I'm a Garmin user but for much less money, Coros watches look like like a good option. I cross shopped those before getting a Fenix 7 and they have some great reviews.

You could buy something used. I have a Galaxy watch 6 that came with my phone. It's nearly identical to the galaxy watch 4 and runs the same OS. I sold my old watch 4 on facebook for $45 and it functioned perfectly fine. A new Galaxy watch 6 is over $300... Not worth it imo. I'd still go with a garmin though. I bought a Fenix 7 recently and plan to have that for many years. I hate charging the Samsung every day, the Garmin goes WEEKS on a single charge. You can pick up a fenix 6 or 7 used fairly reasonable.

I have a Garmin Fenix 7 watch that records my runs, walks and rides. They then get uploaded automatically.

Used to do Apple Watch and switched to Garmin, but not for daily tracking. I did it specifically because of the data it gives me for workouts, and the training plans. It’s a training watch. I think all the stuff you mentioned for me I don’t really need a lot of frills around, really. A simple line chart showing me VO2 max over time is fine. My Garmin Fenix shows me my current estimated VO2 max right on the face. I do like how Garmin charts HRV, but neither Apple or Garmin should be considered best for this if you really care. Wrist is just not an ideal location for it, even if Whoop had done well. I use Oura for sleep tracking. Apple and Garmin BOTH are kinda weak here. What Garmin does do well is show me trends of HRV, and from that it can be useful in terms of telling me recovery impact to training. Ultimately I view Garmin as a training device and Apple Watch as a lifestyle device. Both are about the same for daily tracking of activities and Garmin can feed Apple Health. If you like Apple nudging you to “close the rings” you’re maybe more of an Apple Watch candidate than Garmin. If you like Garmin telling you that today you should run intervals or ride a long zone 2 ride then you’re a Garmin candidate. I also hated having notifications and apps and stuff on my wrist. It was cool at first and then it was annoying and distracting. My big motivation away from Apple Watch was this. First I stopped wearing it at all. Since my goal is training data I was doing activity tracking from my phone and it was unwieldy. I looked at trackers like Fitbits and Whoops and stuff and settled on Garmin. Admittedly I kinda needed out on the data and the maps of the Fenix. I do some remote canoeing and hiking and thought the maps would be really useful. I think the only thing I really want from my watch is some ability to control audio from it. Admittedly Garmin isn’t strong here: they do have Spotify but no way to do Apple Music or Audible or anything, and what you can do is limited. So if I want to run or ride with music or a book my phone always comes with me. I remember when Apple Watch first let you do music from the Watch back in like 2016 and it was really cool at first, then I didn’t care and was bringing my phone on runs anyway. Since you asked about badges and motivation and whatnot: as mentioned Apple has really nice stuff, but I view it as more pedestrian oriented. Ultimately I didn’t ever feel motivated by it. Garmin seems to have tried to get into the social game, too, but I don’t know many people that use this and do gamification. They have a great badge system built more around training than anything else. That said… As another poster mentioned, I also use Strava and Strava as a social media platform is far more motivating for me. If you’re into training at all, look into it. Strava tells you about your previous times on a segment, for instance, and whether you’re getting a PR. It does Q/KOM (Queen or King of the Mountain). It can show you routes and segments in your area. It has a great interface for breaking down training data as well. Garmin is better for like overlaying cycling power with heart rate and elevation, but Strava gives you a lot of this data as well. You can feed Strava with either Apple or Garmin. At the end of the day my opinion on why to chose Garmin is if you want the training planning and tracking. If you have a goal like a race then it’s a pretty cool coach. If you have a program you’re already following and just want to track against it then it matters a lot less. The only other winning thing is depending on model you can get Garmins with incredible battery life. My Fenix 7 gets almost a month on a charge. My wife charges her Apple Watch daily. I’d probably go without a smart watch before going back to an Apple Watch because all of the cool features of an Apple Watch are lost on me.

Also, two words with the Fenix 7: Torch watch! Honestly I use the torch way more than I thought i would!

Any of the modern Garmins (Forerunner x55 series, Epix, Fenix 7 or above) - great 24/7 tracking

Love my fenix 7 pro solar and fenix 8 amoled a bit pricey but really works well for me . Maps are always an issue for me ,i do like the smart watch feature of a mic and speaker here and there ,but perfect for exercising in many forms from surfing to hiking and riding motorcycles .... i hear epix is similar but less pricey. Well wishes on your journey

Garmin Fenix 7 sapphire solar gets my vote.

Amazfit T-Rex 2 served me well for quite a long time. Does all you ask and is around 160 quid. It is a great budget option. Reliable GPS, tracks specifics in around 30-40 sports, tracks sleep and has an incredible battery life. It isn’t particularly pretty however and the outer body is plastic so may not survive a big fall off a bike for example. However, can’t really expect much more for such a low price. I upgraded to the Garnin Fenix 7 this year and it IS better, but absolutely not 450 quid better

Garmin Fenix series. The 8 has either just come out or is about to, but it doesn't have a lot of advantages over the 7, so if you want a cheaper alternative, looks for some second hand fenix 7 series. I get a good 2-3 weeks out of a single charge and it has all the running metrics you could want, especially if using the HRM also. The main difference between the 7 and 8 is the screen. The 8 has mostly moved to OLED screen opposed to the MIP screen on the 7 (there is a MIP version of 8 I believe) although I prefer the MIP. MIP is a low power always on screen, but not as clear or bright etc as it relies on reflected light, opposed to being backlight like the OLED which would drain more battery in always on mode. The fenix series is also one of the few designed to handle multi sport types, particularly triathlons etc, but it's ability to swap between any workout type and stich together makes it a really good watch for what you want. Cardio for a warmup, strength for the strength section and then back to cardio for a WOD is my usually go to. I can track reps, sets and weights of the strength moves and then rounds in the WOD all without much input. It also handles obstacle races, but I haven't used it yet as my only one I've done was a tough mudder and didn't really want to spend so much time cleaning after especially as we weren't racing so didn't really need the metrics.

It really depends what you are looking for. Garmin's are widely considered the top fitness trackers but if all you are looking for is monitoring heart rate and steps then most models are absolutely overkill. Garmin has a range of models that have different niches but they are all a fitness watch with few smart watch features. Some are geared more at golf, some swimming etc. I personally own a Fenix 7, which is closer to the top models than the entry models. The one thing no one competes with Garmin on is battery life, but this does also mean the watches tend to be bigger. But mine can easily go a couple weeks without charge. The only thing which lets Garmin down is their app and metrics, although extremely detailed can be incredibly confusing and are not aesthetically pleasing. Top tier models get very pricey. But more entry models like the Vivo 5 are reasonably priced. Venu 3 is a good mid point watch also. Apple and Samsung watches are the opposite way round as they are primarily smart watches with fitness features. The apple watch ultra is still considered good for a fitness watch, but requires a few third party apps from my understanding. They both have pretty poor battery life, so you may find yourself charging daily. FitBits have really fallen through as they just aren't good at anything. They don't do fitness as well as Garmin and they don't do smart watch as well as others. Not to mention the terrible lifespan of their watches and the fact they require a monthly subscription. When you account for the subscription, most Garmin's come out cheaper in just over a year. I used to own a Fitbit and had to replace every 18 months. And from what I've heard quality now is even worse. Battery life started at just over a week but died off to a few days over a year old. Whoop are an interesting one. They operate entirely on a subscription and you are locked into a year to minimum of a year to pay for the band. They are not a watch, but it does record all the same data. They have a unique point in that you can wear it on your bicep opposed to your wrist, which has benefits for people who cannot wear watches for work. Their metrics seem pretty good, but essentially on par with Garmin although the interface is better. The downside is subscription prices are high and they don't drop once your band is paid off. I believe they also have good battery lives, since there is no screen etc. I will note I have never used one myself but know a few people who swear by theirs. Oura are another unique tracker. Instead of a watch, they are a ring. Again, this benefits some people, particularly those who still wish to wear analogue watches. I can't tell you how good their metrics are because I won't touch one as the sports I do are outright dangerous to do while wearing a ring. I'm not sure on battery life either. I have heard good things about the Polar watches, which fill a similar role to Garmin from my understanding.

Compared to the watch 6 classic.. I prefer the ultra.. Also have the Garmin Fenix7 Saphire Solar and Epix Pro gen 2.. it doesn't perform to those last two watches fitnes standards..but at the same time it doesn't miss the mark .. ultra seems solid so far to me

Welcome to the whoop family..... I wear both the fenix 7 sapphire and the whoop band... Whoop tracks your lifestyle and sleep better than Garmin ever will....but Garmin will always be more accurate when it comes to steps and workouts. For some reason Garmin doesn't capture REM sleep accurately..... Hoping they fix soon because their training readiness scores will always be off due to this....

Garmin will add less laps if you stop less or segment your workouts accordingly. Kinda like saying user error? But it’s because the watch is too sensitive? Example: I swim 25 underwater. I get to the wall to stretch for 30 seconds, and then swim back to complete the lap before I do 1500 freestyle. I usually end up with 75 or 100 meters when I complete that first warmup lap. And it’s because it is detecting movement consistent with the movement of pushing off a wall while I’m stretching. If I don’t start my watch until after I stretch and warm up and I just track my main set in one big block it’s spot on. If I am doing intervals it also adds half laps periodically, but for the same reason: it’s detecting change of direction movement. To minimize this I look at a wall clock instead of my watch to know when to blast off again. Solution for garmin: stop moving your watch when you’re not swimming if you told your watch you were swimming. They could probably fix it by making it less sensitive to changes in direction. But for now I can get 100 meters just by putting my goggles on if I want. Watches: forerunner 245 and fenix 7. 25 meter pool. Freestyle only.

I have a fenix Pro, with all phone related things turned off. I will only receive vibration for phone calls (as I keep my phone on silent). Otherwise it’s strictly for fitness/health

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)

How accurate is the GPS, especially when running through woods or on overcast days? I've found Apple watches and even lower end Garmins don't handle position tracking very well in those conditions. Sometimes they'll be as much as a half mile off for a several mile run. That's the only time I can't fault the Fenix series watches, the GPS is nearly flawless. The only thing I've found more accurate is a handheld.

Please don’t use the Fenix watches for swimming. They may be advertised as such, but very unreliable. Very lengthy replacement process also.

If you are using a treadmill I’ve had good results with the HRM-Pro strap combined with my Fenix watch.  

I've used either a Forerunner 9xx or a Fēnix for about 6 years. If you give it about 5 minutes before you swim to leatch onto as many satellites as possible after it says it has a GPS fix it's pretty good. If you dive in as soon as you get the tick, it's crap.

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. 😂