Garmin - fēnix 6 - Pro Solar Edition
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 25, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
655
73
"especially because of the battery life. ... The mouse I had right before this was the steelseries super light one, that was an every other day charge at minimum. Whereas this one is like once a week at most - and I work from home and game all night."
"offers significantly better battery life ... insane battery life"
"Oh, and the battery lasts days even when exercising a lot (weeks without excercise)."
320
84
"I've used them for 1500 miles of multi-day hiking with no issues!"
"I forgot I had my fenix on and did a mud run. Didn’t even phase my watch. Literally dragged it through the mud and it just kept going."
"rugged outsole has held up amazingly well (just replacing them after >600 hard miles)"
18
1
"it has the flashlight, probably the most useful tool I’ve ever had in my life. You’ll use it daily and it’s so helpful in the most random times."
"Flashlight on my Fenix is worth A LOT of money to me. ... Having had it, I could not go back. ... I would happily pay 200 extra for it I use it so much. ... Having a flashlight on your wrist is incredibly handy."
"On my fenix 7, I love the flash light...totally unexpected top 3 feature. :)"
32
5
"Full watch-based navigation and mapping features—found particularly on the Forerunner 970 and Fenix series—include offline maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and visual guidance. ... For everyday runs on familiar routes, they matter less, but for trail running or hiking where orientation is crucial, they’re invaluable. ... Maps offer extra value for safety, route planning, and are also popular among cyclists and those exploring new routes"
"Download your maps ... Send a gpx file to your watch ... Send an AllTrails gpx file to your watch ... Navigate with a loaded gpx ... Use the TrackBack feature ... Use the Navigate Back to Start feature"
"I was using maps. Parts of the course were unmarked, overgrown, and under several inches or more of water. Without that watch I’d still be out there today."
39
16
"But both fenix and forerunners trully have real running metrics. ... I cant believe the venu 4 does not even have daily suggestions based on pac and only has them based on heart rate. A big no no for a runner targetting an specific distance and time."
"There's a "Climb Indoor" activity that I use for both indoor/outdoor roped climbing and there's a bouldering activity for bouldering."
"2 miles of data sheets from all that tracking"
Disliked most:
36
109
"sleep is a disaster ... I was watching TV and I was already asleep ... when I go to the bathroom in the evening, the venu didn't even notice that I was sleeping, or didn't even recognize that I went to the bathroom."
"Sleep tracking is great if you are an amazing sleeper who doesn’t have interrupted sleep or gets up in the night. I get up to pray and when I go back it doesn’t pick up that sleep again. It is an issue because sleep tracking was a major reason for me buying a fitness tracker."
"I also found the sleep tracking on the GW6 to be much more reliable. ... I have small kids so I wake up every now and then during the night and on the Garmin - it's so frustrating to be told in the morning that I had a great night of sleep with only 10 mins of time awake when I spent 40 mins trying to get my 2yo to fall back asleep."
25
76
"wtf no time settings in a watch?"
"google's software features and fit-and-finish is lacking for their watch ... there is no option on a pixel watch to just automatically turn on the screen when a notification comes in to view the notification; you have to manually interact with it by either tapping the screen within a few seconds or lift-to-wake the watch, which is very unreliable ... that actually was a dealbreaker for me"
"it does not show new notifications as they come in without some sort of manual action ... unless you tap the screen or lift your wrist when you get the vibration, you don't get to see anything ... 75% of the time my pw2 wouldn't recognize a wrist-raise gesture, so I'd miss whatever the new notification was"
20
47
"I used to find that wrist HR sucked for rowing"
"the hr reading is incorrect. ... 20 dollars band from Samsung does a better job"
"The discrepancy is much higher for HR than running dynamics. ... I think it is straight up irresponsible to rely on wrist-based HR is you’re using HR as a part of training"
10
60
"chunky edges on my 4.5 inch wrist which is tiny"
"So much lighter and low profile than my Epix."
"dancing with a fenix 8 will look & feel ridiculous."
1
8
"I found the weightlifting module unusable"
"I'm very disappointed in my Fenix for gym (and it sounds like the same fault applies to all garmins) because of the logging of reps. ... When I do a workout it will assume I used the weights I specified, but then it seems to either auto-log reps, which is a disaster for things that don't involve hand movements, and require me to correct them, or assume I did zero and require me to enter the whole lot. ... If I'm doing 60 sets I honestly don't have the patience to manually enter the rep number, so I use a phone ap instead. ... The thing that really annoys me though is that it would be so easy for Garmin to make a tiny programing change and start with the assumption that you hit your target."
"strength training profile is bonked"
PowerfulRaisin 1.0For anyone coming to this thread later (looks like OP made decision already): I've found that the fenix 6 pro solar does an inferior job with gps accuracy while running on roads and has a track mode that is notably less precise than my forerunner 245. Very disappointing. Fenix has been good for navigating trail runs and not needing to rely on 3rd party apps for winter sports, OWS, and triathlon modes, but the difference in utility and performanc between the two is lacking in many respects.
RealBikePhotoBen 1.0Ironman who’s just right of center… still use both. I’ve heard it described this way: the AWU2 is a great watch with some health features while the Garmin (Fenix 6pro Solar) is an exercise watch that tells time. I’ve not used the AWU2 in IM training but the only concern is event battery life. I wasn’t a fast finisher, just under the time cut. I fear the AWU2 may not have gone the distance for me. Even now when I ride or run outside, I switch to the Fenix due to the metrics. AWU2 just isn’t as detailed. Also for some weird reason neither connect reliably to my Horizon treadmill for longer than 2 miles. The Garmin does connect well to my Wahoo Kickr. Just my 2 cents..
DifficultShoe8254 0.3You should first think about what you need from the watch, then choose between the models that offers that specs. Without knowing your use case, the Suunto race S is difficult to beat. I use a Fenix 6 pro myself. I like the maps to be customizable, but when it dies I will change brand. Prices in new Garmin releases are too high in comparison with other brands offerings.
Joe85739 0.3I have an F6 Pro with the MIP screen, and with apx 1ht exercise per day with GPS etc (at the very least) it’ll hold a full charge - even now - of about 7-10 days. Garmin appear to be dipping their toe in the subscription models (Connect+) and likewise for some of their more enhanced mapping (Maps+) and their InReach subscriptions. All this for a £1100-£1730 device that’s likely to stop receiving feature updates as soon as the next model comes out 12-18 months later. (It’s not like the watchOS updates). Oh yeah, but you’ll get maybe 6-10 days battery for that. It’s difficult for me as I’m deeply into the Garmin ecosystem, and I enjoy the level of metrics and data, but I’m finding it really difficult to see past Garmins increasing weaknesses - and prices.
Aggravating_Buy8957 0.2Garmin is better for cycling. More accurate gps (get a speed sensor to connect to it also), get a hr strap to connect to it, it is def better for elevation as well. Garmin can also be connected to a power meter eventually, if you want to go there. Battery life will be much better. Mine lasts 15 days of no gps, or several days with an hour or so of running each day. It is a Phoenix 6 solar, so other models won’t last as long, but I’d wager you don’t have to charge them everyday like an Apple Watch.
Finnva 0.2I have (and love) a Garmin Fenix 6 Solar. It does all of the requested tasks and has held up brilliantly after 4+ yrs of heavy use unlike prior Apple Watches. For truly accurate HR tracking, you really need to pair with a chest strap. This is the case with virtually all wrist-based trackers. Garmin offers a variety of smart watch options but I can only speak to the older Fenix 6 I own. That said, I’d look at their product line to see which specs best match your goals then shop for sales since they are pricey but, in my view, worth it.
Sonoranpawn 0.2I have the fenix solar 6 the battery is great I use it to track my walks, hikes etc. I find the yardages are off at a lot of the courses I play though.
SpecialtyCoffee-Geek 0.2I've never used any Coros model.\ Ive been using Garmin since December 2015.\ I started w/ Forerunner 235 back than before I upgraded to a Fenix 6 Solar in April 2022.\ Next upgrade (to a hopefully more accurate Garmin model) in December.
Garmin\ Coros\ Suunto\ etc Personally I've been using Garmin watches (Forerunner 265 and Fenix 6 Solar since 2016)
UnderDeSea 0.2See if you can find a refurbished Fenix 6 solar! It was my second Garmin and I liked it much better than the Vivoactive. I wore it for 5 years and usually got about 14 days of battery life, but I didn't use it as a smart watch and had all notifications turned off.
a5hl3yk 0.1Garmin Fenix 6 and 7 are having some hot deals right now. Go Sapphire for the extra protection. But if you only need the bare minimum, Forerunner 2xx
why not both? if you get like a Fenix 6 used then you can also get a Garmin 130 Plus for the bike. I use my watch for the overall measurement, but the 130 allows me to have a screen in front of me (I don't sync the bike computer to my workouts).
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