Garmin - fēnix 8 – 47 mm, AMOLED

Hello everyone, Since many online reviews don't reflect the needs of regular people, I’d like to share my personal experience with the new Vivoactive 6. Garmin’s recent development strategies have sparked a lot of negative reactions. In particular, their pricing strategy has faced heavy criticism. Many of the available models seem absurdly expensive, yet a lot of people are still willing to pay those high prices. Shortly after its release, I bought a Fenix 8 (47mm AMOLED) because I was looking for a new sports watch and got influenced by Garmin’s upselling strategy. In the end, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with it and sold it again two months ago. I quickly realized that although the watch could basically do everything, as a casual athlete I simply wasn’t the target audience. It’s nice to know you can dive 40 meters with it, track all sorts of niche sports, and be prepared for a nuclear war, but in my everyday life I noticed that, as an ordinary person who enjoys jogging, biking, swimming in summer, and doing short hikes, I never used 90% of the features. I’m just not a pro athlete. On top of that, the software often felt unfinished, the operating system was sluggish even by Garmin standards, and given the size and weight of the watch, the battery life wasn’t as impressive as I had expected. I eventually sold it and went without a smartwatch for a few weeks. For those who need it, the Fenix 8 is certainly an excellent watch, but for me, it just felt too overloaded and not right. After a few weeks without a smartwatch, I started missing it. So I decided to look for a watch that truly matched my needs. When the Vivoactive 6 was released, I immediately thought it might be just right for a regular person like me. Many reviews criticize that the watch doesn’t have the latest Gen 5 heart rate sensor, lacks an altimeter, and doesn’t support dual-band GPS. On paper, that doesn’t sound great, but I didn’t want to fall into the trap again of chasing better GPS, then a better heart rate sensor, then maps—only to end up back at €1000 (I live in Germany). So I ignored the spec sheet and ordered it anyway. It turned out to be the right decision. Even though it costs only about a third of what I paid for the Fenix 8, I’m far more satisfied with it. Let me walk through all the key points step by step: Feel/Build Quality: Unlike the Fenix 8, the Vivoactive 6 feels wonderfully minimalist. I was blown away by how light and comfortable it is. You hardly notice it on your wrist, which to me is worth more than all the advantages of a large watch. It also looks very elegant and high-end thanks to the aluminum bezel. It’s the kind of watch you actually want to wear in everyday life and that never gets in the way. Operating System: The OS is much more intuitive and less cluttered than on a Fenix. For someone who trains professionally, that might be a downside, but for a casual athlete like me, it’s a big plus because I can access the things I need much more quickly. The UI is also more in line with what you'd expect from a typical smartwatch, which I personally really like. Navigation is much smoother than on the Fenix 8, and combined with the better clarity, it makes me use the watch a lot more frequently. Features: Everything I used on the Fenix 8 in daily life, I can also use on the Vivoactive 6. Even for an entry-level watch, the data coverage is immense compared to other brands. While running, hiking, or cycling, I can view all relevant metrics—even running efficiency data. PacePro is included as well. I never used the features that are missing compared to the Fenix 8 anyway, often because I didn’t even fully understand them or just didn’t need them. Elevation is still tracked via GPS, which compensates for the missing altimeter just fine for me. Maybe the altitude data isn’t quite as accurate, but as a rough indicator, it’s good enough. In terms of health tracking, the watch records almost everything the Fenix 8 did—except for ECG. But since I have a healthy heart, I only used the ECG feature twice on the Fenix anyway. The smart features, aside from anything involving the microphone or speaker, are also nearly identical. You can find your phone, reply to notifications with a keyboard, make payments, listen to music, and more. On the Fenix 8, I only ever used route navigation in daily life, and I would create the routes on my phone beforehand. Everything else was too complicated. The Vivoactive 6 doesn’t have maps, but it has breadcrumb navigation, which has always been enough for me so far. Of course, maps would be nicer, but the current system works absolutely fine. As technically impressive as the navigation features on the Fenix 8 are, most people will probably use their smartphones for that stuff anyway. One feature worth mentioning is the smart alarm, which is one of the coolest and most useful features for everyday use. It’s actually something new that adds real value, and I use it every day. Accuracy: I never noticed that the heart rate sensor is older or that it lacks dual-band GPS. The data always seemed plausible to me. Maybe there are minor differences in direct comparison or during very intense activities, but for 90% of people, it probably doesn’t matter if the heart rate is off by three beats during a workout. On routes I had also run with the Fenix 8, the measured distances were identical—no noticeable deviations. Display: The display is very nice and really bright. I can’t tell any difference in quality compared to the one used in the Fenix 8. Battery Life: The battery life is impressive for the size and weight. Without the always-on display, I get around 8 to 10 days with regular workouts and blood oxygen tracking during sleep. The Fenix 8 had about 30% more battery life, but that doesn’t really justify the extra bulk and weight. When you wear such a large watch, you expect a breathtaking battery life, but with such a slim watch, 8 to 10 days is very satisfying. Most people will find time to charge it within that window. Summary: I think many people, like me, tend to buy things they don’t actually need. I can only recommend really thinking about what you actually want in a smartwatch before buying one. With a €1000 watch, disappointment hits harder because every flaw feels unforgivable. The much lower price of the Vivoactive 6 made me appreciate it all the more, as most things work just as well in daily life. It feels like a very polished product—no software bugs at all—and it fits perfectly into my life while offering many features that other smartwatches don’t have. It’s a great balance between price and functionality, and you still feel well-equipped for every situation. The price-performance ratio is especially impressive. For €300, you get a watch that does far more than you need. If you pay €200 more for an Instinct 3, you’re more likely to be annoyed by the lack of maps or the older sensor (even if it hardly matters in daily life, it feels outrageous at that price). But for €300, it’s totally fine. The low weight, smoother operation, and more streamlined OS mean that I’d honestly prefer wearing the Vivoactive 6—even if the Fenix 8 cost the same.

With no gps activity and stock watch face I get 20-22 days on my fenix 8 47 mm AMOLED. Always on display is off. With 2h gps activity every day I get about 7-9 days

I went from Apple Watch to Garmin fenix 8 few months ago. Honestly Garmin motivates me more to be active, over all Garmin is better, it looks like a watch, you can use it as a watch only and battery holds for long time.

I swapped from Apple Watch to fenix 8 bit over a month ago. If you were using Apple Watch Ultra like me fenix 8 47mm is only 9 grams heavier, and honestly I did not notice this difference. But all is personal preference. If you really need the diving option then take fenix, but if you can live without it then go for FR. Garmin watches are million times better than Apple so whatever you decide for sure you will be happy.

I had the same upgrade decision, though because of an injury, I can no longer run (though I am very active with other activities both watches track). I think it really boils down to subjectivity. What do you think will look better? I bought the F8 47 Amoled during the recent sale so there was almost no $ difference. Did so because of the better build and look (at least to my eyes). Either one will be a huge upgrade from the Venu 2, which happens to be a great watch.

I have fénix 8 amoled 47 and my wife has Apple Watch 10. Mine says 16d but I get around 11-12 days with 4 activities last week between 45 min and 3-4h. The Apple Watch does not last more than 2 days. However, if Apple gets more battery life for their next releases, lets say 5-7days, because their products are integrated with iPhone etc, a lot of people might go back to Apple. I love my fénix 8.

I purchased the fenix 8 (47 mm) this week, upgrading from a fenix 5 (51 mm). The fenix 8 is remarkably light, with a gorgeous AMOLED display. I’m loving the touchscreen and the incredibly long battery life. My fenix 5 lasted a solid eight years—and could probably go longer—but it’s now down to about a five-day charge. I can’t imagine using an Apple Watch and having to charge it every day. I’d say go with the 47 mm and save a few dollars.

What size Fenix 8 did you go with? I had the Forerunner 970 first and then made the switch to the Fenix 8 47mm and while it is slightly heavier, I barely notice it and overall much prefer the watches aesthetics and premium feel.

I mean the Garmin FR970 is the same price as the Ultra 3 so you’re not really saving any money. My Fenix 8 is actually about $500 (CAD) more expensive than the Ultra 3 as well. Prior to switching to the Fenix 8 about 3 months ago I had the Ultra 2 since launch and I generally prefer the Fenix 8 as a fitness tracker over the Ultra. Firstly, I get nearly 2 weeks of battery life with my AMOLED display Fenix 8 compared to approx. 2 days with my Ultra. As someone who does multi-day hikes etc. this was a huge feature for me. I also love the more in depth fitness & running metrics I get from the garmin. Another big plus is as someone who has sleeve tattoos I’ve never once had the Garmin auto-pause during a workout or a run whereas that was a regular occurrence with the Ultra no matter what band I used and despite trying the epoxy sticker “fix”. Another bonus is the built in flashlight on the Fenix 8, I never imagined how useful this would be and wasn’t a consideration when initially purchasing the watch. I also much prefer the circle watch face as opposed to the large bulky square that is the Ultra. Of course there are things I miss from the Ultra, the display was much nicer and the watch was buttery smooth as opposed to the Garmin. The smart features were far superior on the Ultra but the bottom line was I rarely used them which is why the Garmin was ultimately the better choice for me personally.

I believe you can get about 20hr of (multiband/all systems) tracking with the 970 so 2 full days might be possible but it also... on the edge. Unless you hike 5hrs a day of course. For the fenix8 47mm this would be up to 35hrs (or 28hrs with always on) Also, using maps will increase battery usage. But can't you just bring a small powerbank with you? That way you can simply charge when needed and the battery in the 970 is so small that you can bring a very compact one. But yeah, battery wise the fenix8 is the winner, easily. In the same pickle here, the 970 is on the lower side battery wise for me even though I really prefer the looks and weight. At the moment it's too expensive for me, don't want to spend 750 euros on it, so waiting for a nice deal anyway but with a 100k in mind a 20hr battery life max IS enough but still... would like more.

Garmin had a bug on eOS, where it couldn't fully start the app normally, but that was fixed recently. It works just as good as on a normal Android phone. And my Fenix 8 51mm gets 21+ days of battery life, while exercising every day for at least 30mins. I am no longer using a Fairphone or e/OS, but my partner is and it works fine with his Fenix 8 47mm.

Did you really find the 47mm Fenix heavy? I barely notice it, it’s that bloody light, surreptitious, and comfortable!

Screen is the same size on both, I went with the 47 because it’s lighter and slimmer, fit under big jacket sleeve easier. 51 will have its use case if long battery life is a must and want that amoled, but I think 8ish days on my 47 is good enough