Garmin - fēnix® 8 – 43 mm, AMOLED, Sapphire
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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:
300
22
"the battery lasts 2 weeks, that's with 5 days worth of tracking runs and day to day use. Incredible."
"16 days battery life on my fenix. ... The other aspect I really appreciate about my fenix is the battery life. 16 days or so. With everything I have to change these days (laptops, mice, keyboards, headphones, watches, phones), I appreciate not having to worry about it too often."
"Oh, and the battery lasts days even when exercising a lot (weeks without excercise)."
40
3
"The flashlight is the best ever on a watch."
"helps me find stuff in the dark (exclusive to models with the flashlight)"
"a torch I couldn’t live without now lol ... Torch is 10/10"
71
0
"it has MORE workout tracking than an Apple watch has. ... This is the watch that could track my Paddle Boarding, Indoor Bouldering (it also said what V-stage I was bouldering!) Golf, Snowboard, Kayak and many more! ... Meaning your EVERY ACTIVITY is tracked so you will not loose your days and FUN. You don't have to stick yourself to ONLY RUNNING or GYM."
"Even doing y3p with navigation running all the time it only used about 60% battery and that was nearly 12 hours."
"it has a lot of additional activity features I like (e.g. tracking outdoor swimming, biking , training plans etc)"
22
3
"this is where Garmin Connect had me hooked as it got me addicted to maintaining or improving my vo2, etc."
"measures total volume (type, sets, reps, weight)"
"My current watch has the latest V5 HR sensor. It's much better in responding to my heart rate increases and doesn't have random drops."
4
1
"This watch is indestructible with the sapphire screen (wiped out once or twice on a mountain bike and smashed it at work) that doesn’t scratch."
"is bullet proof"
"I'm glad I have the more rugged Epix with sapphire glass"
Disliked most:
27
29
"both expensive af"
"I still hate spending the money because it's not cheap and I don't make the kind of money that people who own these types of expenditures have"
"As a GPX1 user I can say that there are equal or better mice for half the price. ... It was a cool mouse in 2020, if you wanted to pay the premium. Nowadays for that price range I guess Razer or Lamzu would be better. There are a few brands that are priced better while being on par feature-wise."
0
11
"During runs and activities, the Garmin watch cannot maintain bluetooth connection to the Airpods, and music starts cutting out. It gets resolved temporarily by pressing play/pause in the Spotify app on the watch, but the connection will cut out again within 5 minutes. I've searched Garmin forums and found that this issue has persisted since the Fenix 6, with no indication that Garmin plans to fix it. The #1 feature I bought a fitness watch for is essentially broken."
"So disappointed with its software. ... Have bose qc earbuds thats a top end product but have constant connectivity issues. ... Spoke to garmin don’t know how many times but they don’t have a solution. ... Not even the controls on the earbuds are working. ... I use this feature quite alot and just because of this I wont recommend this watch."
"when i am listening music from my phone: no interface for watch, no next / skip, or the most important the wheel for volume 😂"
0
4
"I find it frustrating. ... Something as basic as checking my training readiness or sleep score takes too many taps and swipes. ... It looks “pretty,” but it’s not functional. ... That’s why it sits in my drawer unused while the Forerunner is on my wrist 24/7."
"It's a nice looking and feeling watch with the shittiest UI. ... All these crap screens and metrics I don't want - I literally just want my heart rate and sleep and steps like a Fitbit but they make it stupid hard to view."
"I think the app is really not designed well, not intuitive at all. ... it took me ages to find how to do this even knowing it was there."
5
25
"and I'm not getting as good of readings coming out of the optical HRM, leading to a lot of the stuff being off like sleep, stress, HRV, body battery. ... I don't know if the latest HRM hardware is a regression for me or if the chonkiness of the watch on my (tiny) wrist leads to light pollution or what."
"the watch constantly registers my heart rate incorrectly."
"The heart rate sensor (especially for weight training) is terrible"
0
5
"you need your phone nearby to use the device, which makes it kinda useless. ... no 5G/LTE version where you could use it without your phone, pity.. you need your phone nearby to use the device, which makes it kinda useless."
"ultimately I needed (wanted) LTE connectivity for my watch and so I got the Pixel Watch 3 45mm LTE version."
"I also wanted LTE and the OnePlus does not offer that here in the states."
AdAggravating8273 1.0Or Fenix 8, 43mm. Maps are awesome. I had a Fenix 7S but my last one is an Epix Pro 42mm. Fenix battery is far superior but the Epix screen is much easier to see.
Big_Insect_496 1.0Per quanto mi riguarda, io sono un felicissimo possessore di un Garmin Fenix 8 da 43mm con schermo Amoled e vetro zaffiro. Aggancia il segnale GPS in circa 15 secondi, non male direi. Sul fatto della batteria, io ho registrato che la mia in modalità schermo " non always on" ed un attività fisica giornaliera di un'ora circa, dura circa 8 giorni e non me ne lamento. Per quanto concerne il software e tutti gli infiniti sport che è in grado di monitorare, siamo anni luce messi meglio di Apple e competitors in generale (Sunto in primis). Per farla breve è un acquisto che merita. Punto. Non ho mai preso in considerazione il Fenix 7 pro, perchè risulta comunque meno tecnologico. Buona vita a tutti!
Firm-Foundation1662 1.0I would buy the 43 version of the F8. It’s the best of both worlds. I was scared it would look small, even bought the 47 too and returned it. Battery life is 10 days and has same features as the entire lineup. Looks great as a daily wearer
joeballow 1.0I have very small wrists and the 43 has been great. The lugs need to be narrower than your wrist to keep the watch sitting flat. The thickness has never bothered me, and the HR sensor sits down into your wrist a little so doesn't stick up as far as it is thick anyway. No experience with the 47 though, I tried it on once in the store, laughed at how it looked, and went with the 43. 43 epix/fenix with the velcro strap is great for daily wear.
joebigaloe2 1.0Fenix 8 AMOLED 43mm. I am consistently recharging every 7 days. I'll let it get to 10% or so and then charge to 80-85% every 7 days. I use it for around 4 hours tracking strength training, 2-3 hours tracking climbing, and then various 1-2 mile walks throughout the week.
Klutzy_Draw4662 0.3Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED Sapphire. Goes with everything. Even with your protein shake.
Absolutely! I have a Fenix 8 and it's even more motivating having a proper sports watch rather than a smart watch. Plus, battery life is up to 16 days!
stilllovelearning 0.3I have owned Fenix 3, 6X, 7X SS, 8 Amoled Sapphire and never had any issues. Always watch on arm at all activities
Any Garmin Will do. Chose what you like from a looks point of view. If you are keen on practicality, I will suggest you go for one with a flash light. I am a big fan of Fenix range my self
SnooRobots5863 0.31 it's low profile lightweight plastic body. Only 970 fr have flashlight so it's kind of both worlds. I think small fenix models on nylon are also good for running. 2a. I actually like pilates workout animation, do workout and turn off brain. It telling you what to do and for how long. White background is great (mip) black not so much (amoled). 2b dsw training sugestion or running coach are very good. 3.Maps are great when you load gpx route file that tell you what to do, or garmin create route for you on spot. Not so good in free orientation because soc on watch lag and compas lag in change of direction.
KiciiKicii 0.2u/ZakOnTrack: by "non-solar" You mean "i\`m alergeic to solar panels so i don\`t want it in my watch" or just "i\`m using watch in low light conditions"? if 2 - go for enduro (2 or 3) if 1 - amoled fenix 8 (no solar) [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/compare/?compareProduct=1228171&compareProduct=854515&compareProduct=851039](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/compare/?compareProduct=1228171&compareProduct=854515&compareProduct=851039) I had enduro2, now i\`m on enduro3 (well, i\`m gadget person). AMOLED watches looks pretty, are bright and crispy.. so i prefer mips ;)
Piotrteq 0.2I might understand the price for microled but I just don’t understand why they’ve abandoned MIP. I won’t buy any non MIP Fenix unless it has MIP-like battery life. The microled was the hope to compete with MiP battery life but instead it lasts even shorter than Oled
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