Garmin - Epix Series

I am also using an AMOLED (epix pro gen 2), which replaced a fr245.  I had a tough time in some scenarios with the MIPS display, such as on shaded trails and around subset (both common in my users). In these cases I am happier with the AMOLED. 

I’m not saying i dont look at the map during a run, I’m saying i dont “pan the map” while i am actually running. I usually stop for a moment if i need to pan and look around at the surroundings if i need to. The default map tracking (and tbt) is fast enough for me when i am coming up on an jntersection. Im also using an epix2. I havent noticed the frustrations you mention, maybe i’m not as sensitive or am used to it.

I have the Epix, and am very happy with it. Flashlight gets used every day. It’s just so bloody useful. Battery life is around 2 weeks, and I’m running 5 times a week. Can’t speak for the other device, but slimness would be nice! It’s a thick watch and my wrists aren’t huge, but it can make getting shirts on and off a little annoying. That would be my only real gripe to be honest. It is otherwise comfortable. My only other Garmin comparison is the forerunner 235. That was slim, but had a VERY annoying protrusion where the sensor was. This is not a problem on the Epix. Another pro is the sturdy construction/rugged look; I’ve had it for a good year at least. Watch is near spotless, and I don’t baby it. https://preview.redd.it/fp2lahkizeuf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d0c40704bee6cc9825605051bf4495f57e728d78 Given it’s Amoled it isn’t always on to save batteries. I thought this would get annoying, but the tilt sensor if anything errs on the side of over sensitive, so 99% of the time it comes on when I need it to. The only time it struggles is when I’m on the bike, but then just resort to button pressing.

I use an Epix pro gen 2 for the activities you list.

Hey there. Using my Epix Gen 2 for day hikes - built-in map is quite nice. But for "more advanced research" and to keep a bit more autonomy from the phone, the old Garmin GPSMap 64s with Topo Map is still here. It gives over 24 hours non-stop with a pair of AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and a set of other 4 pre-charged AA accus give me solid 3 days non-stop - but if we count the sleep time in, I am more in the direction of 5-6 days autonomy. Yes, the device does not look sexy, and the screen is nothing to compare with modern phones (however, quite a bit better in the sunlight!), but it survived blizzard many times, falling onto the rocks, into the river, being in snow, etc. >10 years old as of now. For maximum autonomy, I'd rather look into direction of solar versions of modern Garmin handhelds. Watch is nice, but as soon as you have to answer a question "man, I am standing here and the road is closed - can I cut it through the valley nearby" the screen size starts to play the role.

But incredible watch I had the Epix pro gen 2 before I don't regret it

Since you don't seem to be doing any crazy sports or have any races I'd go for the pixel! I think it should be equally as capable as the Garmin especially if you're not doing sports. Personally got a Garmin Epix instead of an apple watch (back when I was still on an iPhone). Took it on a Spartan race, swims in the lake, skiing, half marathon and couple shorter races.

I would recommend either Epix Gen2 or Enduro 2. For hiking, especially if you're going to do multi-day hikes, bigger battery in 51mm options could be handy.

I'm also in Germany. I got Epix Pro 51mm Sapphire on Kleianzeigen for 450€, a few weeks ago. With a few months of warranty remaining even.

I've been trying to figure out exactly this right now.... Here's some info which may help. I have an Apple Ultra 2 and that is my everyday smartwatch. It works OK for run run tracking and there's a pretty good app for surf tracking. I just recently tried it with swim and it's OK. The auto sets feature (e.g. recognizing 4 laps as a 100) is pretty reliable, but I don't think that the automatic split times are especially accurate. HR is somewhat accurate. I've tried both the built-in workouts app as well as the [swim.com](http://swim.com) app and although the latter is generally better for "real" swimming it doesn't really fit with my training workflow which involves transferring workouts to Training Peaks. I also wear prescription goggles (-3.0) and find the display very difficult to read in certain scenarios, especially when the screen dims. Some of the data fields are ridiculously small and there is no way to change them. I also have a couple of Garmin devices (Forerunner 955 and Epix gen 2) and for the sake of this discussion both are the same with the exception of the screen technology. The Epix is AMOLED and objectively "better" but the 955 is so much easier to read at the pool. Garmin's auto rest feature (automatic lap/set vs rest feature) is almost good. The issue is that the motion detection is way too sensitive so if I move my arm at all during rest it thinks I'm still swimming. The algorithm also has trouble with rests shorter than 20s so it's common to see workout sets recorded as one big swim blob with some periods of no movement sprinkled in. HR accuracy is similar to apple... at least it was similar for the few times that I wore both to compare. I think that I've settled on wearing the 955 for swimming in the manual mode where I have to press the lap button at the start end end of each rest period. This gives me the most accurate representation of what I did for that session along with pace and HR data that makes sense within the context of the workout. The display is super-easy to read and gives me the information that I need in the pool. The transfer to Training Peaks is seamless and everything appears to be working well at this point. At some point I'm sure I'll stop caring about the exact structure of the workout that I did and just use the watch to record the whole thing. It is possible to pre-build workouts in both platforms and there are virtual coaching products that work with both. I never investigated what's available as I have a human coach who takes care of dictating my daily torture. I will say that having the watch execute the workout isn't all it's cracked up to be. Neither platform is especially good about providing visibility into what is coming up and in some cases barely conveys what you're supposed to be doing right now. If the watch messes up with counting laps then it could put you into a rest period at the wrong time and generally get you out of place in your workout. In some cases it's extremely difficult to go back and repeat a section of a workout. I've gone back to the post-it note stuck to my water bottle as the high-tech way of bringing my workout to the pool. With the workout transcribed in pencil and a rubber band as a safety it's pretty much fool proof.

And it *still is* the current watch, just without diving and a speaker/mic. The chips and sensors and everything are identical, there's no reason the Epix Pro hardware can't support the newer features, other than Garmin just doesn't want it to.

I went from garmin epix 2 to amazfit helio. Purely because sleeping with the garmin was painful for me whereas with the amazfit can’t feel it. That was the bottom line for me

Hi! UK also, possibly not “lowest levels” but worth a look for the money, H Samuel on the high street have the epix pro gen 2 for around £360 on a sale at the mo. Gives you 90% of a fenix 8 for loads less money. Will cover everything you listed in your post and more. Source - I bought one last week and coming from Apple Watch Ultra 2, for my needs the Garmin dominates!

Battery life is great, I’ve had mine since last Friday, charged to 100%, have worked out 2hrs per day every day since, only take it off to shower and currently sat at 43%. You can put music on it but as it’s not LTE (my only real fault with it so far) I have to take my phone with me anyway so just use that for music. I believe you can use Spotify, deezer, YouTube music but like I said I haven’t bothered so don’t know how much of a pain it is to do! I had to watch a fair few YouTube videos as it’s my first Garmin too but am getting the hang of it now. Would definitely recommend

Basically, microphone & speaker for calls from your wrist, 40m dive capability, slightly longer battery life, more modern interface (epix has amoled still) more waterproof buttons. That's about it. None of those mattered to me so the epix was a clear win for the money.

Same, I came from AW2 with cellular and was really worried that it not having connectivity was going to be a deal breaker, esp as I like to leave my phone at home when out running. I bought a flip belt and now the phones with me anyway. Everything I need comes with the phone. I turned all notifications on the watch off, and you know what, after 10+ years of AW I don’t miss notifications on my wrist at all. It’s been really nice to be more disconnected if I’m honest. My original plan was to keep my AWU2 and either use both or go back to it when I couldn’t get on with the Garmin. Am a week in now and I’m resetting the AW and it’s going up for sale tomorrow. I love apple stuff and am deep in the the eco system but I’m more than happy with the Epix and it suits my training way more. To answer your question I’ve been for a pool swim with mine and it’s fine so rain / 1 metre is no issue

Yep right model, I think it just means you can accept the call by pressing the button on your watch. You still need to have your phone and AirPods in for it to work tho.

Yeah everything still works , you’ll just sync when back to your phone.

Switched end of July from Apple Watch Ultra 2 to epix pro gen 2, been on Apple Watch since series 0 and fully immersed / self confessed apple fan boy. Haven’t missed it one tiny little bit. It’s been a great experience that I wish I’d done years ago!

I have a epix pro and battery life is over 2 weeks. The built in flashlight can be a drain if used a lot. Battery life was a huge step up. I like my awu, but felt like I was charging it everyday for my use case.

Not sure model, but strength training should be much improved with the Fenix 8 on. I have the epix pro and wish strength was better, but i just manually track now.

I have it for the Epix Pro Gen 2 as well.

Finally Venu 4 release, but also finally I can just confidently keep my Epix Gen 2.

[The Garmin Epix Gen 2 is on sale at slightly above your budget.](https://www.basspro.com/p/garmin-epix-gen-2-gps-smartwatch?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CHunting%7CHunting%7CNAud%7CGoogle%7CNMT&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19856022628&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0erBBhDTARIsAKO8iqS3tLPdLpBQmqWoGh7iR9yHF81EXJ-3xG5we8_2vS-FHr91E8VraeoaAmgsEALw_wcB) This is an $800 watch that's on sale for a hair under $450. I got mine on sale at Cabelas and have no regrets.

I wish I could get those buttons on my Epix Gen 2. Went swimming recently and my down button broke. Inductive buttons would be a worthwhile trade-off for a watch that's marketed as being made for swimming if it won't break in under 2 years.

Thanks for this, I am on the fence about dumping my Epix Pro 2 and going AWU3. I'm stuck on the daily suggested workouts feature that I love, and how the watch is simply a source of training/recovery data on my arm as opposed to a mini iPhone.I use the LED flashlight daily so I would miss that for sure. However, being able to run completely phone-free is a BIG plus, as well as modern-day music/audiobook accesss (literally loading an audiobook on my Garmin as I type this and it's SOOO 2003). The always connected while working out is going to become more important to me in a few months as my wife and I are having our first child. I also have a Tesla and being able to leave my phone at home and use my watch as a key for my car is definitely another perk. Are you planning on using RunGap or similar to keep dumping info into Connect? You surely have a lot of data in the Garmin world

I’m thinking about going the opposite direction… Epix Pro 2 -> AWU3. I’m tired of how buggy my Epix has been for my entire 2 years of ownership and I’m looking for some increased functionality from my watch. Garmin’s “geek stats” are cool, but for most fit people, myself included, once you get used to your normal ranges of those stats, you can pretty much go off of how your body feels. I think it’s useful to think of the Apple Watch as more of a platform than a fitness or smartwatch device. It’s got great sensors and there are more apps that you can get to take advantage of the sensors and help bridge the gap between what the AW offers and Garmin in terms of health metrics

Get a chest strap for triathlons, one that works in water. The 965/Fenix/Epix are the same or minimal difference. The latest are the Fenix 8 nad forerunner 970. Get what looks good to you, because features are 99.9% the same. Also Fenix is a big bigger

Fenix/Epix are the same, Forerunner 9xx has 99% same functions but a bit lighter and not as tall, but only available in one size

I have been using both the AWU and Garmin Epix Pro for a few years now. With the latest updates to Bevel, I put my Garmin in the night stand.

I throw it on the charger every other day while I shower. If I golf I have to do it every day.

For me battery life, durability and for anything sweaty, wet, dirty etc...touchscreen sucks. I have it disabled on my Garmin Epix Pro 2. Think about your *use* case and decide from there.

I hope you enjoy it and become a running monster!!!! Have a question. Would you please turn the metronome during a running session and let me know about it? Is it audible?? I have an Enduro 2 and an Epix Pro 2 51mm and both of them are quitet to the point I have to place attention and raise the wrist to be closer to the ear... I'm considering selling both...

You can set it to vibration, sound and both. Personally, I don't like the vibration, and I'm not sure if it may drain battery in ultras

if you have the epix pro 2, that watch was released about 2 and a half years ago. the normal epix pro was released before that. that said, Garmin can do better with updating their watches. I think with the new menu system with the fenix 8, it will be better. This is also the reason I wouldnt recommend getting an older watch, unless your needs are basic and the deal is good

I got the Epix gen 2, originally I got it because it supported MTB and ski maps but I started golfing with it and love it. I just use the built in apps on it for courses and handicap, so I can't speak to other apps, but it does what I need. The screen is nice and bright too so you can see it any time, even bright sun.

I’m deep in the Apple iPhone / iPad world, but wouldn’t consider an Apple Watch. I don’t need that level of distraction on my wrist. I have been considering an Edge for my bike for ages, but 2 years ago I setup my Epix G2 on the handlebar mount with the Speed / Cadence / HRM sensors and it’s great. Saves me having to buy another device.

If budget is a big consideration, then look for a hot price on Epix or Fenix 7. Garmin will often run the older models at 40-50% off and you’re not missing out on much.

Many of us have been here. Just get the best Garmin you can afford and you’ll never look back. I bought the EPIX 2, and love it, but the Forerunner 9xx series are probably the best bang for buck if you’re into fitness training.

garmin epix/fenix no complaints

garmin epix + edge 130 on extended display mode. cheap cadence meters on most of the bikes, road bike has a power meter. also cheap HR strap from aliexpress wouldve jumped on garmin earlier if i knew how awesome it is - was on amazfit before because they were cheap everything goes to strava [https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/06/garmins-triathlon-extended.html](https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/06/garmins-triathlon-extended.html)

garmin epix here - stroke detection is pretty meh but intervals and distance is 99.5% perfect once you turn off auto rest - i manually lap each set

I have owned two Garmin watches, including currently an Epix Pro. If I had to do it over again I would have saved my money and gotten a Coros Pace Pro.

Epix is amoled version of Fenix (MIP) prior to version 8 of the latter. Now Fenix 8 comes in MIP and Amoled options, and Epix is gone. And Epix always had the same exact case as Fenix. You’re mixing things up a little.

Short answer ; none Long answer ; Garmin is not an optimised at all for bodybuilding (I am nodybuil for the last 20 years and have Garmin for the last 10). So just get the one that is in your price range. Any Garmin will do hiking. One thing though, with bodybuilding the watch can and will suffer from repeated contact with the bars and gear. For that I only take Sapphire models. So Fenix or EPIX.

Garmin Epix Gen 2 can be had for $350 or so and it does the things you need. No need to splurge on Fenix or late edition watches.

I ditched a Garmin Epix Pro 2 for my Omega Seamaster Pro and Whoop. Couldn’t be happier . I use Runkeeper for tracking run stats and audible updates that aren’t available on whoop yet.

I’ve worn a lot of watches and trackers. For a beginning runner I would get a Garmin Forerunner. I’ve owned the entry level and the Epix Pro ($1100). Garmin is the most consistent running tool I’ve owned

I just switched from Garmin Epix 2 to a whoop. If you’re a serious runner, the whoop won’t cut it but the Garmin does a good job with the health insights. I’m running less, so I wanted better health insights, which is why I switched to whoop. They aren’t really comparable because they solve for two different goals.

Appreciate your write up. I’m thinking of getting it from my epix pro 2 but I love this thing. The flashlight is amazing. I am just not using it to its full potential such as thru hikes or ultramarathons. You didn’t mention battery life in either pros or cons. Is it not a big factor for you? What battery life are you getting?

I love my Epix Pro Gen 2; it has almost all the features of a Fenix 8 Pro and is much cheaper than the Fenix 8 Pro. If you choose the Epix Pro Gen 2, ensure all the apps you use are compatible.

Seconded, Fenix or Epix are great. I have an Epix but tbh a Fenix suits my needs better

A 2nd hand fenix 7 would be my choice. I have an epix gen 2 which is basically the same thing except with an OLED screen (and a much shorter battery life as a result).

A good thread on someone going from the 7pro to the 955 [https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-955-series/338556/just-downgraded-from-fenix-7-pro-sapphire-to-955-solar](https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-955-series/338556/just-downgraded-from-fenix-7-pro-sapphire-to-955-solar) I've had the 965, Epix 2 Pro, and F7XSS and kept the 965. The others felt too bulky for me. It recently died and I tried on the F7 again and just bought another 965 and put a tpu film screen protector on it and am pretty happy with my choice both times around

agree. dancing with a fenix 8 will look & feel ridiculous. Slim wrist here, had the fenix 6 pro, epix 2, and fr965. Fenix & epix felt really chunky in comparison to the forerunner, especially running with them.

I have an Android phone and Garmin watch.   I refuse to wear my watch to sleep so can't vouch for the sleep tracker (people do complain a lot about it on the subreddit.) I'm also not sure if all models support sleep tracking, so may want to double check.  Battery varies depending on model/size, my current watch gets about 2 weeks without the display always on, with it on I get about 4 days.  This is an AMOLED screen. My prior watch was MIP and could go much longer before needing a charge.  I've had issues with my prior watches heart rate not picking up quick enough and randomly dropping. These watches used the V3 HR sensor. 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. IMO the step tracking works fine. I don't really have anything to compare it too.  Different models have different sizes.  Most models have a smaller version but the battery life will likely be shorter.  I have an Epix Gen 2 Pro 42mm and while I was worried about the size, having it now I don't find it too bulky and barely notice it's there.  All in all, Garmin is easy to use, accurate enough for me and for what I do. Out of all watches I have seen, IMO Garmin looks the best and dresses up nice, especially depending on watch model.  With so many models, there's a niche watch for just about everyone.  My current annoyances with Garmin is it seems they backed off on different color varieties, more of a move to AMOLED (tho tbh, I did fall in love with my AMOLED watch), starting to paywall features (tho they do claim it's for extra features and that features advertised with the watch won't be paywalled but who knows), and price increases for new models that aren't much of an upgrade. Hopefully my current watch lasts me a while but if for whatever reason I had to buy a new watch tomorrow, I would still go with Garmin over the rest. Atm not enough cons outweigh the pros. 

There is nothing wrong with going with an Apple Watch. I prefer garmin mainly because of battery life, being able to not charge for 2 weeks when I travel. I also prefer the round classic watch look versus a rectangle. My Epix throws a ton of data, which is great but I also don’t know what to do with it most of the time other than having alcohol is bad for my sleep and body battery and doing some light exercise before bed makes me sleep with less stress. So, don’t fret your choice and if you get tired of AW, Garmin is always available

Fenix 8 if budget isn’t a factor, epix pro gen 2 best bang for buck if budget is a factor

Super practical! I was a newbie runner and the coaching has helped me run 4x a week and increased my pace, distance, and v02 max! I’m so glad I dumped my AW for Garmin though for the epix pro. The battery life cannot be understated

I second this. Exact same use case run 3x/week and weight train 3-4x/week. I found the epix pro gen 2 sapphire to be best utility and bang for buck. I tried the FR but was too run focused and I preferred the more tactical look. The fenix 8 was nice but at double the price with same sensor technology it didn’t felt worth it. You do forgo the mic and voice features but I didn’t need it and didn’t want a true smart watch but prioritized a fitness forward watch. 3 months in and I love my Epix pro gen 2 47mm

How often do you charge it? If it is more than once per week with daily GPS use for running, no thank you.

My Epix pro battery will last at least 10 days with daily GPS use (say average of an hour a day). I actually have to remind myself to charge it's such a non-issue. This is huge for me as my constant battle to keep my phone charged drives me nuts. Plus the flashlight is super handy Oh, and all my iPhone texts and other alerts work just fine with Garmin, so I have no "ecosystem" worries.

Garmin - They have a lot of watches at different price points. There is built-in GPS and the battery lasts for several days, unlike a smart watch that you typically need to charge every night. The Garmin app easily syncs with other fitness apps, if that's important to you. If you have a smaller wrist, go for the "S" models that will look and fit better.

I agree, Garmin Epix 2 and Whoop owner here. Garmin is pretty shitty at sleep… I’ll be awake for an hour in the middle of the night and it will tell me I had continuous sleep all night. Whoop captures all those wake-ups, even the little ones to roll over. Whoop is convenient because it auto detects activities. It just thinks my heart rate is way higher than it is. No, Whoop, I’m not in Zone 4 playing pickleball. Garmin with its 6 lasers (to Whoop’s 2) is more spot-on (like within 5-10% of wearing my Polar chest strap), but you have to remember to start your activity manually if you want to look at graphs and stats. Garmin is a good watch, with flashlights and altitimeters and compasses and other useful things. There are a lot of customizable watch faces, so you can make it as useful as you like. Whoop is just simple and easy. So far I can’t get myself to get rid of one!

Garmin Fenix and Epix Series are far better than this. https://preview.redd.it/cpxhwtjkuuje1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4d50186d95b15e90086bfa4491d354424f3c0bd I am glad. Haha

Garmin forerunner, epix pro gen 2 ,fenix 7 pro, fenix 8,enduro 2 . Mine is a Garmin epix pro gen 2 51mm sapphire, I open water swim long distances, run 4 days a week, this watch is amazingly accurate. It's the best investment, watches regarding. My opinion.

Garmin epix pro gen 2 51mm sapphire and hrm pro plus chest strap

I use garmin epix pro gen 2 and the HRM-Pro Plus ( garmin)

I use a Garmin Epix Pro AND up to today an AWU2. Last week I had a long run in the rain and I can tell you the AW was super frustrating because of rain on the screen and trying to interact with it. Garmin physical buttons, no problem. Today just finished a 50k race wearing both. For the second time this year the AW activity froze and then crashed/ended many miles in. If I wasn’t also running the Garmin I would be furious. Also apropo of nothing the AW started at 100 percent and ended at 9 percent. Also the AW did not have always on screen and trying to see the screen on wrist raises — the delay to wake up the screen was irritatingly long by comparison to Garmin. I’m not continuing the experiment and just not using the AW for fitness anime

I use the 4.0 and a Garmin Epix Pro. The 4.0 HR during exercise is trash. Since they didn’t fix the sensor, I will not be upgrading.

This is my take. I used to work as engineer at "A"-company often mentioned here that make smartwatches. However, I worked on phones and tablets, not smartwatch. Apple is smartwatch. Cram as much tech into the device as possible. And good value (money spend for tech and features) delivered to consumer. But one big issue is the battery life. Garmin uses old tech. Prices for the devices are a bit outrageous for fitness watch. However, many users who just want fitness watch and don't care for smartwatch features; also don't think about price per tech. I personally buy Garmin only on discount. As for HR accuracy, I suspect the minor difference can be due to power management. It is possible Garmin try to save battery power and sensors are not fully powered. This can result in lower accuracy. Of course this is just speculation. I personally have have had major issue with HR on Epix (Gen 2). This issue tend to occur when another bluetooth device is connected. I can toggle the HR accuracy to be correct (bluetooth device off) and inaccurate (bluetooth device on). At first, I thought it was firmware bug. I have report this to Garmin. And many on Garmin forum also has similar issue. However, it is now 1.5 years and not fixed. So it seems like it is not a bug. So I suspect (but no data to support this) is how Garmin try to reduce power consumption for battery savings.

I agree with all the positives stated here and one more that's important to me. I hate square, rectangular watches. I love the way the Fenix, Epix or most of the round smart/fitness watches look.

I have an epic pro but definitely would have got the gen 3 for everyday at work if they put the new sensor in it. Crazy to me they didn’t.

Functionality-wise the Fenix and Forerunner are pretty similar, especially considering the new Forerunner 970. The Fenix has diving, but other than that, not much beyond the 970. The other big difference between Fenix and forerunner is styling as well as sapphire glass, for a small amount more weight. My gut is that sapphire is nice but not essential unless you're doing lots of mountaineering backpacking. I got an Epix, which was essential the Fenix 8 of a few versions ago, but at that time there wasn't a Forerunner 970/965. I'm glad I have the more rugged Epix with sapphire glass, but I doubt I would have had any issues. Given what little you've shared, I'd probably look at the Forerunner 965. it's the most budget friendly, and I don't imagine many need the microphone/speaker of the 970 (though the flashlight is cool) and that the Fenix is probably overkill. No wrong choice here though!

My Garmin (Epix Gen 2) measures total volume (type, sets, reps, weight) or else lets you correct anything not automatically detected and then gives you an overall recovery metric that takes into account sleep, calories (of syncing with MyFitnessPal), and stress. It's not perfect and has some annoying constraints (you either lock into a Strength or cardio event when you start working out, so if you go strength you lose some cardio granularity, and if you go cardio, you lose the weights stuff entirely), but it's the best I've experienced so far coming from many years of Fitbits.

epix 2 standard can be had for $350-400. does everything. quite pleased w mine

I’m on an epix pro 2 and just got the AWU3. I already miss the flashlight, who knew that simple feature would be such a highlight (literally). I was planning on giving my Garmin to my son, but I’m still holding off. I’m still trying to get used to Apple’s health app to find the most meaningful metrics after my rides, this is where Garmin Connect had me hooked as it got me addicted to maintaining or improving my vo2, etc.

Did you consider getting a Garmin edge computer for the bike and keeping the AW? I have an Edge 1040 and Epix Pro, I’m considering the AWU3 and maybe able to charge it every other day (don’t know yet if that would be the case). I kind of miss a lot of the smart watch functions I had when I was using an AW6 before I got the Epix. Would miss the all week battery on the Epix though, and the awesome flashlight.

I prefer the look of my Epix over the AW. The "smartwatch" look of the AW is a big turn-off. Plus I'm a Android phone user so... It's not just a Garmin thing though, I'll possibly move to Coros when I eventually replace my Epix.

I would suggest the Garmin in that case. It's not perfect when you are articulating your wrists during workouts (eg - lifting) but it's still very good. Excellent during running or cycling workouts. Check out "Fit Gear Hunter" on Youtube. He is a CrossFit enthusiast who does FIT-file comparisons for the accuracy of Wrist HR on various watches vs. Chest Strap (considered the high-bar standard); the Garmin watches consistently perform well during his workouts based on wrist data. I loved my Suunto for style and the user interface, but when I purchased a Baro9 and it failed to read my resting HR metrics (sleep, recovery, etc.) and my workouts (including running), I was basically stuck with a watch that worked as well as my old Suunto Spartan. It was super disappointing and drove my switch to an Epix Gen 2 Pro. I really enjoy it.

Did a 26km hike on my Epix 2. Course tracking for the whole thing. Battery went from 10d to 8d. The thing I’m concerned is just the stupid thing that Garmin charges for watch faces. But battery life, Garmin is king

Garmin. Love my Epix 2 Sapphire. The Sapphire versions have very scratch resistant glass, and the big bonus of including the TOPO maps

Does an Epix Pro Gen 2 do the same as the Approach watch? I have one for fitness (running, triathlon) and golf, it pairs with CT10 sensors, does virtual caddy and Plays Like.

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. 😂

I went from Epix Pro to AWU. Didn’t wear Garmin 24/7 to care about body battery metrics . Happy with AWU , battery life is okay . Apple way is better than Garmin pay .. I use Athlytic with AWU .

I own or have owned several of both lines. Both will satisfy any kind of activity tracking you could possibly want based on what you listed. I prefer to train and race with a Forerunner. It's lighter, and has a slimmer profile. You almost don't even notice you're wearing it. That said, it looks and feels like a toy. I prefer to wear a Fenix/Epix for most other situations. It's the more versatile watch because it can be "dressed up" easily and has a much more premium look over the Forerunners. That said, it's much more substantial and heavy. If I could only have one watch, I would personally go with the Fenix series primarily because of that versatility. You do pay for that "extra" though. I most recently did that with the Forerunner 965 and the Epix Pro 51. Loved both for the previously mentioned reason, but ultimately decided I didn't want to keep switching watches throughout the day. Sold the 965 to a friend, and kept the Epix Pro which I wear 24/7 outside of the very occasional charge.

I tried to switch from Garmin to AWU, and while I love everything the watch can do, I found that I didn’t care about most of the features and apps that my phone and MacBook are much better at doing. Also the Achilles heel of the AWU is the battery life. I couldn’t stand charging it every day and taking portable battery chargers on camping trips, etc. I went back to Garmin and got the epic pro gen 2. I get like 3 to 4 weeks of battery life out of it, along with a flashlight, which for some reason I’ve found insanely useful. It is more fitness focused, but the battery life is a huge factor in a triathlon/ultra marathon watch. The new fenix series coming in the next few months are rumored to have 5g and possibly some additional features. Everything they’ve paywalled I don’t use anyway.

I did whoop for a few years with the bicep band. I got tired of it telling me I was going to die any day. I went back to the Garmin Ecosystem. I have an epix 2 pro. I pair that with a polar bicep optical HR sensor. It tracks my stats well and allows me to track the other hobbies I have like weights and cycling. For clarity, I pair the HR monitor and toss my watch in my bag on the side of the mat. It’s never lost connection.

I think it depends what Garmin you have. I’ve got an epix pro 2 and it feels premium. The app doesn’t look the best, but it’s full of useful information. It may not be pretty but at least the data is all in one place. Apple seems to have everything spread in multiple places

Sensor hr 5, flash, sapphire? Maybe. Having epix pro gen 2 but love 955

Epix 2 pro gen is fantastic

Having epix and it is really good, but will sell it due to bad start button after only 9 months from buying it. If you get one- just dont swim with it

Epix is awesome, yoy can find sales, bought pro gen 2 with 50perc off

Epix fenix are bulkier, heavier, silkier 965... go try them if can... fenix 7 or pro are amazing, no need for 8, except diving...

Epix is a better watch, however it is heavier and chunkier. For what it's worth my wife would never wear a fenix/epix due to the size. Ive always worn a fenix.

Yea. Worth checking the specs of both. The Epix is a rugged watch that will have more rugged/heavy build

My Epix Gen. 2 is now three years old: if the battery lasts three days, it's only because I haven't done any exercise.

dude garmin still stuck on archaic OS design and clunky controls. touch screen and usability/apps is whats making apple win over garmin. I have an epix pro and am ready to switch. this year isnt full switch year but they are getting damn close.

It’s a great watch if you aren’t bent on a screen that’s not monochrome. I have a version one I wear for work, probably 6 years old. I do have an Epix I wear to the gym because of a few improved metric and onboard music

Calories are never accurate. Get the Epic Pro Gen 2. The screen is essential for maps and navigation IMO.

I was 15 years of garmin owner and recent model was epix pro 2. Garmin watches very professional and real deal however i switched to awu2 8 months ago im very happy. Cuz of AW benefits my Main reason was apple music. Im a guy who doesnt carry phone since 2018 while running etc and garmin was full of issues to use music app or load some tracks offline listening as i dont get my phone with me. But.. apple wartch brought all my apple music library and ease of use , and addition to it i have now e-sim cellular online i can receive or make calls without phone while doing exercise in early hours. So garmin has very advanced fitness tracking and better battery life . These two only better over apple watch anyrhing else as smart watch apple watxy better , 72hrs battery live i learnt to live with ut and im not pro sportman i dont need that much data for my fitness

Epix pro gen 2 sapphire 51mm, amoled display, less battery than the fénix but it still good and it’s cheaper since you can grab it in discount.

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.

I have an Epix Pro, aka the AMOLED version of the Fenix 7 Pro. It is not a perfect watch, but it is good. However, there are some long lasting bugs in the firmware and the last major version has been release by Garmin despite multiple beta testers reporting bugs. That is something that kills the experience. I had a Fenix 6S Pro and a Vivoactive 4 before. Both good watches with their strengths and flaws, but never that buggy. So, unless you want diving, I wouldn't go with the Fenix 8. Get a used/refurbished Fenix 7 Pro or an Epix Pro and have almost the same watch and features for a lot less money.

I had moved from Garmin epix to pw2 to Garmin epix pro gen 2 and then to a pw3, now I currently have nothing and am trailing no smart watch but think I will go back . I do occasionally hiking and wild camping which is what drew me to the garmins but realistically they are just too expensive for what they offer. I found them lacking "smart" features. Sleep tracking was also terrible. HR and maps were awesome and the battery life is the best. Also found the light very useful. Pixel had the smart features I wanted, health tracking was generally as good if not better than Garmin. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was durability (very easy to mark) and battery life. Its personal preference. Personally I am looking at pw4 but waiting for reviews on the battery life. Or the yet to be announced amazfit t rex pro 3 as a "cheap" Garmin. Hoping as it's more of a smart watch it might have the features I wanted but the health tracking is probably worse (not sure if that bothers me too much )

I had moved from Garmin epix to pw2 to Garmin epix pro gen 2 and then to a pw3, now I currently have nothing and am trailing no smart watch but think I will go back . I do occasionally hiking and wild camping which is what drew me to the garmins but realistically they are just too expensive for what they offer. I found them lacking "smart" features. Sleep tracking was also terrible. HR and maps were awesome and the battery life is the best. Also found the light very useful. Pixel had the smart features I wanted, health tracking was generally as good if not better than Garmin. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was durability (very easy to mark) and battery life. Its personal preference. Personally I am looking at pw4 but waiting for reviews on the battery life. Or the yet to be announced amazfit t rex pro 3 as a "cheap" Garmin. Hoping as it's more of a smart watch it might have the features I wanted but the health tracking is probably worse (not sure if that bothers me too much )

I moved from Garmin epix pro Gen 2 to pw3. Other than the battery life and hiking tracking there isn't really much else I miss. Especially when the pw3 was half the price Pw3 has miles better sleep tracking, heart rate and smart features. It has its own version of body battery but doesn't do vo2 max, but like you my Garmin gave me a good score when I'm definitely not, so never trusted it anyway .

No one has said it yet, but I’m loving my Epix Gen 2

I had my Fenix 3 HR for 7 years before I got my Epix 2 for an amazing deal on Amazon Prime day two years ago. Both are great in the water. I believe Garmin has a specific chest HR for swimming.

I have the form goggles and a Garmin epix. The form goggles are always more accurate. Especially if I’m following a routine. Good thing with the goggles is you can see when it thinks you’ve started swimming.

I use refsix with an Garmin EPIX 2 and it works well without a connection. I usually cut the Bluetooth connection completely between the watch and the phone during games. This is so that I don’t get disturbed by incoming text messages. I think the 255 needs to stay connected. I got my Epix 2 in a sale at just $100 more than I was planning on getting a 255, so if you have time to wait for deals good to keep an eye on those.

I have the Epix which is equivalent to the Fenix 7 and I'm on my 8th warranty watch. Water keeps infiltrating the bottom right button and even now my bottom right button is disabled and keeps re-enabling when I'm in the water (which sometimes disables my woo/surfr apps).

Parallel, I said goodbye to epix pro gen 2, hello to venu 4

1) venu 4 doesn't have maps. 2) I hate using maps on any watch, they are just too small. Which is why I switched from an epix gen 2 pro to my venu 4.

Garmin does a function called Extended display that enables you to transfer your watch data screens on to your head unit if you happen to own both. Prior to owning my epix pro 2, I was just using my Edge 130 plus (with power meter + hrm). I didn’t really enjoy using the watch on its own while riding because of having to lift my hand of the bars to check my numbers. However the processing power and health data are more advanced on the watch than the little Edge head unit. These days I usually record activities on my watch with display set to ‘off’ and use extended display on the 130 to check out my power/hr/speed etc. If I’m following a route I also use the extended display to view my normal riding data but tap the watch to wake up the screen and browse the map to make sure I’m headed in the right direction. It works really well for me

My watch (Epix Pro) seems to track the sleep phases quite accurately. This is why I decided to go for the Index Sleep armband to make use of the smart alarm functionality. The damned thing hasn't woken me a single time during any "shallow sleep" phase, it always sets off on the exact time! If this doesn't get fixed by a firmware update, it was a total waste of money.

Nah, you're right on that. I have an Epix, serious overkill, but it's a fun watch and I really wanted maps on it without 3rd parry apps screwing around. My previous watch was a Venu 1, who did the job good enough for me.

My Epix goes on for 16 days... the biggest version for a month. Let's be honest here, do you really make such long runs that takes 16 days or longer?

I can't speak for MIP screens, but I can for OLED. It is good readable in direct sunlight. In the dark it switches to dark mode, so the entire forest won't change to daylight due to brightness of the screen lol. I the condition your described, the OLED screen would be perfectly readable. My current watch is an Epix Pro, the previous a Venu 1, the Venu 1 did had difficulties in bright sunlight, but not so much in the scene your described. I've looked at MIP screens to when looking for an upgrade to my dying V1, in my personal opinion, MIP screens are overrated, the benefits are also minimal. Battery for instance, your watch could go on a few more hours... not more days. My epix for instance can go on for 16 days.. I can't imagine a scenario where I run 16 days in a row without any sort of charging solution. Aside from maybe the 0,5% of all (elite) runners. The major advantage of readability also went gone with the latest generation of OLED's.

I had Fenix6x and Epix2, and both times I sold them with feeling “Stop eating this cactus”. I like body of Garmin, buttons, battery, features, but Garmin OS and interfaface are so… professionals only and non-friendly

> I do not want 1000$ Garmin tbh that's not the competition to the race s, but really the epix 2 (cheapest amoled with maps) which you can get for $300-400 i think it's fair to say that the race s has ok HR accuracy, but not best in class. i personally didn't have issues with the HR tracking but i did have a bunch of other issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/Suunto/comments/1itwkov/suunto_race_s_review_and_why_i_am_forced_back_to/ > I'm a little weary about the Race S, as I have a 7 inch (177.8 mm) wrist and this may be on the smaller side? i'm not quite sure whether you're referring to your wrist or the watch being small, but i have 160mm wrists and it was about the right size. wouldn't want it any bigger, but the larger strap balances it out.

i did a 'review' of the race s (which is functionally close to the race 2): [https://www.reddit.com/r/Suunto/comments/1itwkov/suunto\_race\_s\_review\_and\_why\_i\_am\_forced\_back\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Suunto/comments/1itwkov/suunto_race_s_review_and_why_i_am_forced_back_to/) for me it was an easy decision to go back to garmin now i'm back on garmin (epix pro - functionally similar to fr970) i have been pleasantly surprised by how useful the smart features and mapping is on modern garmins, amongst all the the basic stuff that just...works. i would encourage you to buy and try both (check their returns policies but at least in the uk i was able to return my suunto before 30 days of use).

I faced the same issue a couple of months after buying my Epix Gen2 (not Pro). Seller, Garmin support on Garmin forums and the official Garmin service in my city answered "Sorry, return only. There is no possibility to fix". Have sent it back, waiting for a verdict... By the way, I haven't come across mentioning of this issue in other models (Fenix, Forerunner etc.). In Epix Gen2 only. Maybe it's a flawed model.

I have AWU2 and Epix. I love Garmin’s physical buttons and battery life. Everything else is kind of a wash for me. As a runner, I can make either work. I wouldn’t ditch an AWU for Garmin unless you have a specific need that is unmet by AWU2. Or, maybe you just want to try something different.

I have gone back and forth several times between Garmin and Apple. Garmin definitely wins on battery and buttons. Accuracy a wash in my experience. Currently have AWU2 and Epix, but have only worn the AWU2 the last four months. You can probably make either work for you unless you really need the battery or buttons for your specific use-case.

I just had this argument. 255 was reduced to £200, bargain, the 265 wasn’t worth the price increase to £320. But I wanted the 255M so no need for a phone when running, that’s £240. My friend then introduced me to the offer of the Epix Pro Gen 2, reduced to £370 from £740. It has maps, music, all the 255-265 and Fénix options, whilst looking beautiful and more watch like. Had it for a few days now and so glad I did. Everything the 255-265-955 and Fénix can do, at a fantastic price point, with the luxury feel of a £900 watch

Second the Fenix. There’s also some good deals on last gen Epix out (which is basically Fenix with a brighter display) for OP’s budget.

I have an Epix and just started using it with the Garmin Golf and Garmin Connect and I like it. I sometimes forget to enter the club after a shot, so I think it would work better if get the CT10 sensors for the clubs. I'd like to hear other's input on the CT10. Has anyone else gone full blown and added the range finder too?

255. Right for your running and cycling. Good batt and price. Epic too.heavy. HR can be less accurate if excessive bounce from running or excessive bounce on bike from uneven roads.

I would go for either the Instinct 3 or Vivoactive 6. Both new watches are great, no issues. Vivoactive 6 is just in your budget range but isn't very 'rugged', which is the perfect desciption of the instinct 3 (which is a bit more pricey). You can go for the black and white screen of the Instinct E ($299), but the tech is a bit more dated, and if you are coming from an apple watch, im guessing you like the bright screens. Another option is the Epix 2 (refurbished) from amazon for $349 (what I would go for). This is their top of the line watch from a few years ago, but still very advanced with most of the new features. [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/) [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/) [https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL](https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL)

I've been using my Epix 2 Pro to do multi-day Hikes. The issue with Garmin for multiday hikes is their software is very limiting on the watch and on garmin connect. During multi days, if I get to my destination and want to stop the watch for the days stats, I press resume later. This caches the data and will pop the activity back up the next day, but it COMPLETELY DISABLES sleep and other metrics like body battery. So I am unable to effectively track multi days of sleep in the backcountry, a metric I am interested in The other issue is that if you save the activity, you cannot restart that activity... even if you accidently save it. Meaning my miles and activities would be inaccurate Then on top of that, Garmin won't let you stitch multiple single activities into a larger multiday activity on connect... needing random 3rd party sites to do this then reimport Basic software features making this watch not as reliable or user friendly in the Backcountry. I also charge my watch every other day in the field (I bring solar and battery bank) due to using all systems on GPS or the watch gets super weird when in the forest or summiting mountains on steep terrain Other than those simple to fix issues, this watch does everything and anything I need. It has exquisite mapping and one of my most used items in the backcountry If anyone has any fixes to these issues, or has another watch brand that has better software. Let me know

Yes, but I used to do this with the Epix as well. The inconvenience would be to take it off to charge when I don’t need to, not when I would have had it off anyway. If the watch lasts 5-7 days on a full charge with the daily shower top ups I am more than happy. And for long hikes/events, I assume using a chest strap would save a bit of battery as the watch wouldn’t use its optical sensor.

I moved from a Garmin Epix Pro to the Ultra, except I got it last Friday. My treadmill runs over the weekend and Monday were all under 1 hour and consumed between 3-4% battery each, although with a HRM600 chest strap, so no optical sensor. I charged the watch using my phone as a power bank while showering and managed to squeeze 4 days from 80% since I put it on until 10% when I decided to give it a proper top up. Very pleased with the battery, although it’s not the 14 days I got with my Epix. That being said, I love the smart features, the confort (feels very light), the screen, the sensor accuracy, the rings and Workout Buddy. I thought I will miss the morning report and body battery, but am doing just fine without. There’s a free app called Body State which offers some insights, although subscription based ones like Athlytic and Bevel probably have way more. I haven’t tried any of them yet. Sleep tracking seems on point, although I notice a drop in my deep sleep compared to Garmin’s tracking, but nothing major. Things I don’t like: -HR zones and how it calculates them (220-age, and automatic refreshes every month). I don’t know how you can do Z2 runs with it. -HRV sampling seems to happen every two hours. HR sampling is every few minutes when not moving. -No smart coach - but plenty apps in the store - Runna being good. Edit to add more things I don’t like: it overestimates active calories (compared to Garmin) All in all, if they keep improving on it, I don’t think I’m coming back.

I never had it going down, only up. I was actually reading about this over the weekend, and apparently you lose 1-1.5bpm per year, but Garmin never downgraded me.

To be fair the Epix should be also a contestant here. In case OP prefers an AMOLED screen. The epix 2 pro sapphire 51mm offers up to 30 days of battery. I have the 42mm, record at least 2 hours of activity daily and still have battery for 5 days. If OP has the wrist for it, he should go for the larger models, regardless of the screen he chooses.

I have Epix 2 (non pro), for gym, strength particular, I find it amazing. I know there are a lot of haters for Garmin strength workouts, but I program a series of workouts on connect and simply turn up to the gym and execute, the watch logs my reps, yes sometime I need to correct, but you get time to do so. Also weights are also adjustable. All in all it works a treat.

I have a Epix 2 prior to that and Fenix 5, used both for strength training, still use my Epix for that purpose. It’s fantastic, you can program multiple workouts on Garmin connect, set the weight, reps, set and rest time and load several workouts onto the watch. I just turn up and select my workout: upper A, lower, upper B, arms and back etc After each set you can manually update the reps (rep counter is ok, mostly accurate) and or weights so as your progressing you can update on the fly your weights and reps. Post workout it gives me enough data to see progress or gaps in training.

Epix pro is correct, also Venu 3(+s). However I heard the Elevate V4 wasn't horrible either. 

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)

I swam for triathlon training and for a sprint tri last summer. Garmin Epix Pro 2 and then an Apple Watch Ultra. Both were accurate in the pool. AWU was very accurate during the race (open water in a lake.)

Wait. Are you me? I feel like I could have written this. I bounce between iPhone & Galaxy phones. Currently using the Z Fold 7. I have 2 Apple Watch Ultras (1 & 2), Galaxy Watch Ultra & 8 Classic and Garmin Epix Pro 2 Sapphire 47MM. I do short triathlon (and the respective training), obstacle course racing, hiking, F45 functional training, golf and pickleball. The Garmin is the best fitness watch, especially when training for something. The Apple Watch Ultra is the best of both worlds. It's the absolute best smartwatch available and with the usage of 3rd party apps it reaches software feature parity with Garmin. But I FAR prefer my Galaxy phones to iPhone. Even so, I'm hard pressed to think of anything the Galaxy Watch does that I would consider better than Apple Watch. As you mention, perhaps Audible, Spotify and YouTube Music? Due to Apple's restrictions and wanting you to use Apple Music? Both the Apple and Galaxy Watches are FAR superior all-around SMART watches than the Garmin. Generally though, when I am using Android, I wear the Garmin. I'll wear the 8 Classic (6 Classic prior) if I'm someplace nice or dressed up. I almost never wear the Galaxy Ultra though. If I have the Classic watch for non-fitness activities, there's nothing it does better than Garmin.

For me, anything the native Apple application doesn’t provide (and there are more than a few), I can get with 3rd party apps. Athlytic or Bevel for training load and more advanced statistics. Training Peaks for workout plans and daily coaching. Zones for detailed HR data. Gentler Streaks for daily positive feedback. Yes, most if not all of those require a subscription but given the cost difference between the AWU and my Garmin (Epix Pro 2), I’ve got a few years to cover the price gap! Then throw in all the smart watch features AWU has that Garmin does not- it’s AWU for me. I went back to it after using Garmin for months.

I've been fooling around for more than a year, using multiple smart watches, trying to find my "Goldilocks" device. I juggle between Garmin Epix Pro 2, Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra. Like you, I'm more than just a casual athlete (pickleball, golf, lifting, obstacle course racing and triathlon training are my go-tos.) But I'm not seeking the podium in the races. With the exception of pickleball, I'm largely participating in these activities not necessarily competing. I have a full time job and I'm a full time dad. If I were an athlete FIRST, I'd stick with my Epix Pro 2, full stop. (No phone call functionality there, by the way.) It's the superior fitness companion. It's great for pickleball (GPS outdoors too), fantastic for golf and best in class for endurance training. Also, in my experience, the Garmin's true advantage is being able to navigate the watch interface entirely with the hardware buttons. No water lock required. Invaluable for swims, rain or sweaty summer runs. But I'm not an athlete first. I like the smarter features that I get with the Samsung and Apple fitness watches. The features that fit my lifestyle outside of fitness. Like scanning my movie tickets when entering the theater, for example. And podcast and audiobook apps on my watch. I've not used the One Plus, but the Samsung and Apple Ultra watches offer enough battery life where I don't worry about them dying throughout my activities. I could do a 70.3 triathlon. I've played 36 holes of golf. So while it's nice to not have to charge the Garmin as often, it's a luxury I can forgo in order to get a more well rounded wrist-based companion.

I compare my Garmin Epix Pro 2 51 to a medical grade device and its pretty accurate

I went from an Apple Watch to the Garmin Epix 2 Pro, and now rock the Fenix 8 51mm. No regrets whatsoever. **Battery life alone is worth the switch.** I charge it *once a month* with regular tracking—MTB, hikes, runs, walks. Apple Watch had me charging daily, especially with GPS use. **Build quality?** Fenix is a beast—titanium bezel, sapphire lens.. **Customization and compatibility?** Garmin lets you tailor everything and works with both Android and iOS. Do it!

Whoa, that is without the AOD. And that assumes you won't turn the screen on all that often. With AOD on and a few hours of GPS activities per day, the OLEDS need charging almost as much as an Apple Watch! I know I've tried an EPIX 2 and they are crap compared to MIP Battery life.

That's what I do with my Epix Pro Gen 2. It's basically a glorified very expensive flashlight for me 😅. No regrets, it's a beautiful, amazing watch and I love it!

GWU should have a week of battery life at least its bulky as the garmin less tough than garmin and the battery at the best is 3 days with compromises if not 36/40 hours ,i.owned the gwu and recently sold and kept my epix pro gen 2 51mm and garmin was more linear for example the garmin doesn't miss if u fall asleep or when u wake up and how long you slept the gwu barely recorded 2 hours of sleep out of 6 hour in bed and with big chunk of hours blank like didn't wear the watch . To me garmin atm doing better and samsung getting quite obnoxious like apple is from years.

Garmin is where I ended up after trying multiple other watches - there's just nothing else that comes close to overall stability and quality (I had practically zero bugs on my Epix 2) and battery life (6-10 days, depending on AoD). It also has quality offline-first maps for sports and still keeps most of smart functionality.

I have the Garmin Approach S62 and the Epix Pro Gen2. Both are excellent. The Epix is better but the Approach is lighter. I prefer warring the Approach when I play

You state you already have a Fenix, but don't state which one? For hiking I'd probably need a really good reason to upgrade a Fenix such as the Fenix not holding enough charge for 1-2 days of hiking or not having maps (although that's not necessarily a huge requirement depending on the trail). Battery life will be better on the watches you suggested, but you're almost certainly going to be bringing a battery pack and charging a watch barely makes a dent in the capacity of a 10-20,000mah battery. I'd personally lean towards a Fenix 7s Pro or 43mm Epix 2 Pro if you have small wrists. Almost all of the features you'd use in the models you listed, but generally available for cheaper.

Make sure you also consider the prices of the Epix 2 (and maybe the Epix 2 Pro?) in your decision. Epix 2 has essentially the same feature set as the 955, but with an OLED screen but with better build quality. It can often be found for < $400 in the states new and less than $300 used. The only thing to be aware of is the non-Sapphire version lacks dual-band GPS. To me the big difference between the watches in your OP is maps. Depending on what you do this may be a non-issue or a huge feature. I basically don't touch maps when I'm on roads, but for trail stuff like hikes and trail running I find maps to be an absolute necessity. It's great being able to load a route/GPX file in your watch and follow that on your watch without touching your phone.

Discrepo en que el Garmin está mejor construido, cuando probé el Epix 2 Pro no me podía creer que ese reloj costara 800$, el ultra tiene mucha mejor construcción y durabilidad.

Corro carreras de 10-15km y actualmente estoy a punto de correr mi primera media maratón, estuve con el Apple Watch ultra 1 desde el lanzamiento, entre medias he probado un Garmin Epix, y si, tiene funciones quizá que no tiene Apple y mas batería, pero como reloj en general se sienten relojes baratos en comparación con los de Apple (el Garmin era alta gama de 900$), volví al Ultra por la versatilidad de smartwatch + sportwatch, actualmente tengo el Ultra 3 en negro, y no me planteo salir ya de la gama Ultra. Como puntos extra, recomiendo apps como Bevel donde te muestra % de sueño, recuperación y esfuerzo, está comprobado que son precisos, incluso tienes una IA personalizada para tí. Respecto a la batería para mi no es problema. Lo cargo cada 2,5 días y lo hace muy rápido. Uso 5G , dejando el teléfono en casa para irme a entrenar solamente con mis Airpods y el Watch, rastreo del sueño, no me quito el reloj para absolutamente nada. Definitivamente me quedo en apple, (lo digo con conocimiento suficiente tras haber probado Garmin).

Wish I could say the same recently for my epix pro gen 2 recent update drains the battery over 20% while I sleep with nothing changed in setting I’m getting max 3 days without a charge now 😢

I used a Samsung watch and before that a old suunto. I have now have an epix 2 and it seems pretty accurate, tracks very closely to my hr straps and my sleep tracking seems fine too. It is not perfect but overall, its the best watch ive used

Fenix or Epix and yes they integrate with iPhones. Some fitness apps will connect to Garmin. If you want a slimmer watch you can also go for the new forerunner.

The Fenix 8 is objectively the best of those watches, but by far the most expensive. The Enduro 3, Fenix 7 Pro or Epix 2 Pro (if you want OLED, which is honestly a must for me now) have a very similar set of features but will be significantly cheaper. I personally wouldn't buy a watch for its solar charging - not only do some models of the Fenix series have that too, but all of those have great battery life to easily last multiple days, and in most cases, you will have the ability to charge your watch in some capacity at the end of the day. I can't say a lot about Coros, pretty sure they're fine too, but Garmin works great for me so I have no reason to switch

I have the epix and really like it. Has all the golf features I need but I can use it for hiking/running and gym stuff also. Battery life is fantastic

Easy, turn off AOD (always on display) and instead use something like raise to wake. Doing that on my Epix 2 pro 51mm gives 32 days instead of about 13-14. Its longer on the Fenix 7 and earlier because the MIP display consumes less power than the AMOLED display. Edit and also turn off pulse-OX during sleep if you don't need to keep track of your sleeping oxygen levels (most people don't need to)

43 is tiny , even the standard 47 does more than that

even the 47mm should be getting like 8-10 with aod ON.

I use the Apple Watch Ultra but I also have a Garmin Epix 2, both of them work fine: * Garmin: * Health and fitness metrics: Garmin will give you a lot of metrics (maybe too many if you are not training a lot) (Body battery, HRV, stress levels...) * Physical buttons: works better with sweat and rain than a tactile screen. * Haptics: very useful for running series. * Battery: 10x the battery of an Apple Watch * Android: if you do not have an iphone this the one to go * Apple: * Apple Ecosystem: works great with your Iphone, Airpods, Apple Pay etc * Health and fitness metrics: with the new update it gives you some metrics that will determine how tired you are, how was your sleep etc (for me these are more than enough)

Garmin isn't the best imo okay let me rephrase I have the epix pro and venu 3, I prefer venu 3 just because it's a little more lighter and hugs my wrist better

I have both a garmin Epix Pro and Samsung Watch 6. Body battery is very accurate. Sometimes I wear both watches to bed and for a hike or run to compare. The Garmin is more accurate and has a way better battery life. But it is also heavier and 5x the cost. After a beer and wings night or a late night hockey game you can see the effect on your body battery, and it matches how I feel the next day. Basically it's good for telling you when you need to give your body (and mind) a rest. I also like that Garmin has a website to review Data, but do prefer the look and layout of the Samsung Health App. long story short, if you got the 1k, the Garmin is the better choice.

I have an epix and watch ultra 2. If you like the fitness info etc of connect then that’s all much better than the native apple answer, if you want to connect to other sensors, bike etc, Apple can’t do that either, and if you just find yourself in the middle of nowhere list with no signal, Apple Watch not much good for that either. However, if you want to leave your phone at home and still communicate, stream music, check the news, that sort of stuff, then Apple Watch is the one you want. Apple Watch also much better integrated with iPhone and AirPods. Other than both being expensive smart watches they’re not really competitors feature wise. Oh and Garmin feels more comfortable to wear and will go a week on a battery. My use split is 95% Garmin, 5% Apple

I had a fenix 5 for many years and recently replaced it with an Epix. I love my Epix, it looks great, does everything I need it to and is bullet proof (and would cover all your bases). The catch is, it's insanely expensive (I got mine in a big sale). Wife has a forerunner 255 and it is fantastic too - smaller, lighter but has all the real world capability my Epix has. I would absolutely buy a Forerunner (probably 265) if my Epix broke tomorrow. Forerunner 265 will have a great screen, mega battery, great HR / sleep tracking etc, all the activity recording you could ever dream of etc. The Epix does have mapping on the watch - personally I have never really used that because I have OS on my phone and have paper maps. I also disabled the touchscreen because the buttons are just as functional and neither are worth the extra several hundred quid IMO. Personally I don't like the look of the instinct but that's just me!

So I had the Apple Watch one ended up switching to the Epix Pro because I do a lot of indoor cycling and I needed to be able to manually adjust the mileage after the workout. Does the Apple Watch three allow you to adjust the mileage in the workouts app after the workout?

Garmin Epix Pro, HR strap (I use a Polar one) & an Oura for Sleep & Recovery has been my trio that has worked the best to get me through training.But do yourself a favor and never look @ your scores for sleep and recovery race day!

I sold the ultra 2 and bough epix pro. but Garmin made it obsolete so soon with no new UI updated and then not rolling on features which are there now on newer watches. It feels like cheated that my 1 and half year old watch is now obsolete. Although Garmin has good health matrix but I do not think it justifies the price tag. I will move back to ultra 3

It's already outdated (but still do more than 165). That why you can buy it at that price so don't expect anymore new update (same as 165,265,955, 965, Epic Pro etc) but the good thing is it's more stable/less bugs.

At that price 255 if you can live without touch screen. BTW Epix Pro at 370 is a steal but if you don't need map, climbing features, rugged &heavy case, 255 is more than enough.

IDK. 955 is maybe Garmin's most bang for your buck. However, look-wise it isn't much different from 255 why pay another 120 more if you don't need map, music, touch screen and climbing features. On the contrary, Epix Pro (Gen 2) looks much nicer but that's another more 80.

Don’t forget to check out Suunto they make comparable watches that are cheaper in price. Went from a Garmin epix pro gen 2 to a Suunto Race 2 and it’s honestly slimmer and has a lot of the same features

Lots of good advice above so probably a case of picking which one you like the look of the most from all those. The only thing I want to add is that they are all quite large and can be uncomfortable to sleep in, so if you really want to do sleep tracking you may want to budget for the new armband Garmin released. I’m sure some people sleep fine with their watch on but I find it too bulky (I have Epix Pro 2 but they are all similarly chunky)

I went from an Apple Watch SE to the Epix Gen 2 AMOLED screen and I can say it’s the best decision I’ve made. 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. The battery life is incredible, and it gave me motivation to start running. Couldn’t say better things about garmin watches (the app gets a lot of hate but I think the app is fantastic as well)

Im happy with my epix pro 2

Instinct battery life is great, but it doesn't have maps. You can put a course on it and it will buzz when you need to turn, but the 955/965 enduro/epix/fenix lines all have built in maps where you can see roads, topolograpic lines, and other points of interest.

On my epix gen 2, the entire screen might as well be an IR beacon under nods.

Expanding this.. the Fenix line (and the epix gen 2/pro which rolled into the Fenix 8) drastically drop in price if you buy say two years ago model. I don't need scuba or a flashlight so I replaced my Fenix 5 after 6 years with an epic gen 2 for $350. At that point it is stupid good value for money.

I can't speak for swimming, but I am deep in the Apple ecosystem. I have had almost all series of watch including both Ultras. I have had my Epix Pro Gen 2 51mm for about 3 months now, it took getting used to, but I love it. I love that I don't feel like I'm wearing my phone on my wrist anymore (most notifications are turned off) and the watch looks bad ass. It also holds up to everything. I wrestle with my pit everyday and his teeth cracked many of my apple watches. This one has had no issues if he gets it. I know that's not sport or swim related, but speaks to the quality. Hope this helps.

Epix all the way

965 has golf. But the face isn’t recessed so it’s gets scraped more than a fenix or epix

I switched from an Apple Watch Series 7 to epix gen 2 pro sapphire. Love it for running. The coach and daily workout suggestions are amazing. The best part has been the audible customizable alerts during workouts while listening to music. It lets you know when you are in your desired pace, heart rate zone etc. I hadn’t been able to ever do that with the Apple Watch. I use it for cycling as well but only broadcast heart rate to the bike computer which works great

My Epix 2 runs 25 days between charges, no problem.

I've decided not to decide. Neither does 100% of what I want. Until one clear winner is declared, I'll use both. The AW doesn't have the screen size not customization for navigation when backpacking, the battery to make it through more than a day hike and the display, while pretty is a little too foo-foo for me... The Garmin doesn't have cellular, can't control my Smart Home and doesn't sync as cleanly as the AW. I use the AW (Ultra2) as my EDC and the Garmins (Epix G2 and 965) when I do anything more than go for a walk. Backwoods backpacking navigation, Fat Bike Bikepacking primarily.

I personally ditched the fenix and went for the epix because of the display. The fenix has almost nothing extra that is meaningful to me. The lower cost is definitely a perk of the epix as well!

Having had the Epix Pro the last couple of years - the flashlight has become a feature I can't live without. As much as I like 5 buttons, I would be hard pressed to choose against the flashlight if its an option!

I have a Garmin Epix Pro 2 and like it (I have small wrists and wanted an AMOLED screen so I went for it) but it’s definitely overkill for CrossFit and I’d only go for that or a Fenix if you want maps or tracking for weird outdoor things.  I used the strength mode during heavy lifting but for WODs I found it too much of a hassle to do anything but set it to cardio and let it go. You’d have to basically fill out a spreadsheet afterwards to effectively track anything but heart rate. I do like the sturdier metal shell on some of the nicer ones because I never worried I’d damage the watch, but any heart rate fitness watch would do what I’m using my $800 Garmin for in a WOD

Garmin epix pro. Little to no problem with default swimming function. Sometimes I use ‘Drill logs’ for super accurate tracking (distance wise).

As mentioned already, disabling the auto-interval feature is, in my opinion, essential for accurate swim tracking. I’ve swum with the Garmin Forerunner 245, then the Swim 2, switched to the Apple Watch, and now I’m back to the Garmin Epix Pro. All of them seem to struggle a bit with auto-interval detection, but aside from that, I’ve never had any major issues with tracking swim styles, laps, distance, or heart rate. Occasionally they might miss a lap or two, but nothing worth stressing over. Also, as far as I know, most indoor swim trackers rely on the push-off from the wall to mark the end and start of a lap (outdoor swims use GPS). So it’s possible your push-off isn’t strong or consistent enough to register properly.

I have the Epix Pro G2 - thrilled with it. Maybe this will help with your choice: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/da2c0a28-5f9d-435b-a1c7-13bccc057a3a#0

Garmin watches have outstanding battery life. I have the Fenix Pro 7 and my wife has the Epix Gen 2. Both are great watches for golf and everyday use!

Sooo I'll start in general... Garmin is a great option for you except for weight training if you use your watch for more than just basic hr recording during an activity. I use Hevy (paid subscription) while I workout but start a strength training activity on my Garmin to get hr data. Depending on your budget and the Instinct 3 is a good option, however not having maps will not be great for hikes. If you are looking to do hikes i suggest the Fenix 7 or Epix gen 2 ( there are pro versions of those watches which include newer hr sensors and an ecg sensor) Getting certified refurbished items from eBay is a great option.

If they are not solar, they don't. There are no MIP watches without solar who have a longer standard battery life than the 51mm Fenix8 (29days) & Epix 2(pro)(31days). Only the Instinct 2 45mm comes close with 28 days, but has less then half of the activity tracking time then the Fenix and Epix. The newer and bigger MIP watches with solar do beat the Epix2 and Fenix8. Enduro2 & 3, Instinct 2x & 3 mips 51mm have the better battery life. Also without using the solar.

Fenix 8 51mm oled Or Epix 2 (pro) 51mm. Fenix 8 has 29 days of battery time, Epix2 pro 31 days. The Fenix 8 can do 84 hours of gps tracking, the Epic 82 Besides that the MIP display Instinct 2 gives you also 28 days, but only 30 gps hours.

I've owned several Fenix watches. I currently use the Epix Pro and Venu 3. No issues whatsoever. Sounds like the Fenix 8 has issues. I hope Garmin gets their quality control back to normal. Watches at this price point should be flawless.

I'd get the Epix Gen 2 for half the price with 98% of the features

I am fortunate to own the Epix, Enduro 3 and X1. They are all fabulous watches. I haven't worn my Epix Gen 2 in a bit and recently put it back in. The screen is exceptional and the fitness metrics are spot on. No need to spend extra cash on the Fenix 8 unless you're a dedicated diver and want a mic to speak into.

I am fortunate to own the Epix, Enduro 3 and X1. They are all fabulous watches. I haven't worn my Epix Gen 2 in a bit and recently put it back in. The screen is exceptional and the fitness metrics are spot on. No need to spend extra cash on the Fenix 8 unless you're a dedicated diver and want a mic to speak into.

His watch is a 51mm mip so as similar as you can get to the Enduro. Garmin doesn’t make a solar amoled watch. I would expect longer battery from the Enduro but something sounds wrong with his Fenix. Heck, I was getting almost 3 weeks out of my 6x pro and get about the same as he is getting with my 47mm Epix so something must be wrong.

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.

I just got a refurbished from Ebay for $350 with 2 years Square Trade warranty and dont regret it. i also just do walking, Picke Ball. i like the sleep tracking and battery life ( used to own an apple watch that i needed to charge daily vs 15+ days\_)

mine came in an official Garmin Refurshied box. pristine condition . (if cant do this let me know, Seller for me was BuyDig)

That’s the one I got. It is not the pro version. It does all I need.

Epix Pro and don't think twice... I wish there was a 45mm...

I’ll get downvoted for this but Apple Watch Ultra has better GPS and heart rate sensor. However I like using my Epix 2 for running and my AWU2 for gym, swim, and everyday stuff. I also use the cellular function a lot.

I haven’t been swimming for months now but I am using a Garmin Epix Gen 2. I was using this and a Fenix 3 before that.

I use a Garmin Epix 2 to track my runs. You can set up custom runs and intervals. But I also use the Interval timer app on my phone. I like the app better for a few reasons. It keeps me from obsessively looking at my watch. It is louder, especially when I run with friends. It makes the post run data easier to interpret as it doesn't show 100 different stages. The cons of the app for me are that I sometimes lose track of if I am on walk or run. Since I run with my phone in a run belt, it takes some fumbling to get it out to check. For the same reason, it makes it harder to adjust on the fly.

I use a Garmin Epix 2 to track my runs. You can set up custom runs and intervals. But I also use the Interval timer app on my phone. I like the app better for a few reasons. It keeps me from obsessively looking at my watch. It is louder, especially when I run with friends. It makes the post run data easier to interpret as it doesn't show 100 different stages. The cons of the app for me are that I sometimes lose track of if I am on walk or run. Since I run with my phone in a run belt, it takes some fumbling to get it out to check. For the same reason, it makes it harder to adjust on the fly.

Bro, it's literally a fitness tracker first, then 2 miles of data sheets from all that tracking...then all the "smart" gibberish as a barely visible dot on the horizon. At least Enduro/fenix/Tactix/Epix line are like that.

I have owned a Galaxy Watch Ultra. I currently own a Watch 8, a Garmin Epix Pro 2 51mm, and an Apple Watch Ultra. I run about 20-40 miles per week depending on if I am preparing for a race or not. I have an iPhone and a Samsung phone (currently zFold 7 and an iPhone 13 mini) because I use one for work. I have LTE on the watches. I really like the Epix. It looks good. It is the best of all of the watches for fitness tracking (I do think it is harsh on sleep tracking though). I love the long battery, and the flashlight on it really does come in handy. However, when I wear it I always miss the smart features of the actual Smart Watches. Probably the watch that works the best for ease of use (easy to manage notifications, reply to texts from the watch) is the Apple Watch Ultra. But I like the screen better on Watch 8 and GW Ultra. For some reason I think playing music/podcasts on Spotify and audiobooks on Audible work better on the Samsung Watches. The Epix is fine with Spotify playlists I have downloaded, but with no LTE I cannot just play whatever. If I run with the Epix I either take a phone with me or wear one of the LTE connected smart watches in case I want to change up what I am listening to or one of the few contacts I don't have suppressed during workouts needs me (wife, kids, my admins). IMO the Apple Watch Ultra comes the closest to replacing all of these watches with one watch. My problem is that I prefer the Android phones available over iPhone right now. Maybe that changes if Apple comes out with a good folding phone next year. But if you can afford it, I don't see a problem with keeping the Fenix (very similar to the Epix I have but newer of course) and the 8 Classic. They each have their use cases. I haven't owned the 8 Classic, but I would guess it performs somewhere in between the 8 and Ultra. Like I said, keep them both if you can afford it. They each do some things better than the other, and you can have them both connected to your phone and switch back and forth easily enough.

I have an Epix Gen 2 Pro 51mm and an AWU. I use Runna for my running plans. I like it better than the Garmin running coach. Runna works with both Garmin and Apple Watches. I have worn both on many runs from a few miles to a marathon. They are actually really close in measuring my runs - distance, time, pace, etc. But Apple does not have a native running coach. Workout Buddy is a new feature added to WatchOS 26, but it isn't a running coach. I really, really like Runna. I like the workouts better than the Garmin Running Coach workouts. I have tried to use my Garmin as my every day watch, but I prefer a "smarter" watch and keep going back to the Ultra. It comes down to personal preference. They are both great phones.

I second epix 2. It's a fairly sturdy watch too. Personally, I don't do much about setting up the strength workout. I just start the strength workout and make sure I log sets and rest periods properly. Garmin also let's you make all the edits after the workout in the app, including changing the exercises.

Better UI and day to day use for me. What drove me to switch back to Apple was the improvement of figment metrics and Garmin pretty much stop support for new features 2 years after I got the Epix gen 2. With Apple I can get the new OS for at least 5-6 years and cheaper.

Solid breakdown! I'd second the Epix 2 rec - got one refurb from Amazon and it's been bulletproof for over a year. The screen quality is chef's kiss compared to the Instinct series and battery still lasts like 10+ days even with GPS workouts Just make sure it's sold by Amazon directly and not some random seller if you go that route

honestly the AW screen-based flashlight gets CRAZY bright. probably not as good as the one on the Epix but it surprised me.

I used to have an Epix 2. I started to have issues with arrhythmia and Garmin kept dragging their feet getting their ECG approved in Europe so about a year ago I switched to an Ultra 2 and I have already been able to record a couple of afibs with and show the ECGs to my doctor. I kind of miss the whole Garmin ecosystem on fitness side (I have a Garmin bike computer), but on the other hand as a smart watch the Ultra is leaps and bounds better especially in the Apple ecosystem. I do have to charge my Ultra every 2-3 days, but in regular everyday life that’s not that much of an inconvenience compared to the Epix’s once a week. If I was coming from a Fenix or something like that, I might miss the battery life more. I read somewhere that Garmin finally got the approval for ECG in Europe, but at the moment my priority is to upgrade this old phone of mine so I’m not really into paying for another expensive watch.

I have AWU1 that I like for wearing to gym due to connection with Gymkit enabled cardio stuff and for using Gymaholic to track lifting workouts. I also double wrist it with AWU on right wrist for music and LTE on outdoor runs. I’m really a Garmin guy and wear F8 (at the moment) or my Epix 2 or Epix Pro 51 for 24/7, sleep, all my favorite stuff on the watch face, etc. I use RunGap to get AW workouts over to Garmin Connect. I do like the AWU for its smart features like unlocking Mac, Siri, etc, but my older eyes prefer the larger F8 51 screen and general Garmin platform including web interface. I also can’t stand battery anxiety, which I never have with my Garmins.

I have AWU1 that I like for wearing to gym due to connection with Gymkit enabled cardio stuff and for using Gymaholic to track lifting workouts. I also double wrist it with AWU on right wrist for music and LTE on outdoor runs. I’m really a Garmin guy and wear F8 (at the moment) or my Epix 2 or Epix Pro 51 for 24/7, sleep, all my favorite stuff on the watch face, etc. I use RunGap to get AW workouts over to Garmin Connect. I do like the AWU for its smart features like unlocking Mac, Siri, etc, but my older eyes prefer the larger F8 51 screen and general Garmin platform including web interface. I also can’t stand battery anxiety, which I never have with my Garmins.

I never have had any issues with swimming with the Venu 2 & Epix 2. The distance is almost always correct. Sometimes it's 1 lap off but that's quite rare. That said, I've been swimming all my life and am quite quick with 1:30/100m over long distances (2k-4k). So maybe I am more predictable and easier to track than a less experienced slower swimmer

You can use a garmin watch for just about any activity possible. There is so much you can do with them. As someone who switched from apple to garmin, i absolutely love my watch. There is a wide range of watches and price ranges. You often can find deals on amazon as well. I have an epix 2. Their big line of watches is the fenix. Battery life is wild too. I probably charge mine once every 10 days or so and i wear it day and night.

Lightweight and more budget friendly is the 955 and 965 (mip and amoled), then you have the same as you are used to, the Fenix 7 will have the training readiness and DSW with mip display, or Epix/Fenix 8 (cheaper/expensive) for amoled. It will all depend on budget. The coros and suunto are not so strong options for the maps. But your Fenix 6 should have daily suggested workout, except the option to see weekly suggested workouts I think.

Valid point. Counterpoint, my Epix Pro became part of my arm after about 12 hours, but it's certainly personal preference/something to consider.

I use the Epix Gen 2 as my everyday fitness watch. It has also been the best golf watch I’ve owned. Even more accurate than some of the golf specific Garmin models I owned.

I currently have an AWU. I've had a Fenix 6S which I sold to fund the AWU. I picked up an Epix Gen 2 on the Amazon sale last week. There are definite pros and cons to each. The AWU is better at notifications that you can interact with as well as providing more detail and pictures that can be very helpful, and if you have an iPhone the integration is superior in pretty much every way. Garmin is IMO better as a multi-sport/fitness watch and with a battery that can last anywhere from a week to a month, it's the watch you take if your going on long trips, hikes, etc. Now that I have both I actually will keep both and rotate them along with my 'real' watches. If funds aren't a driving point to be able to afford the switch consider keeping the AW. It does have it's use. Ideally if you could easily sync health data between both into a single app so it didn't matter which you were wearing and your info/stats were updated centrally that would really be the win.

I hated smartsatches, especially those AW or Samsung, because battery life was useless. Then I got an Instinct Solar, 23 days of charge and all the health and sport capabilities were as good or better than AW but I missed the colour screen so I got a Epix Pro and it have it all, 6 to 7 days of battery life with always on display, 15 days without it. Oled screen, sapphire cristal, and everything I need. Never come back to other regular brand.

Thanks Garmin.  Meanwhile Apple watches are nearly all getting feature updates while Garmin leaves the top end model from 6-9 months ago in the corner to starve while dangling expensive stale AI crumbs. -hungry Epix Pro user

This. Recently got Epix pro gen 2, wanted MIPs but there was 160€ difference between F7 pro and the Epix, I've no regrets moving to AMOLED.  Enduro 3 is probably the best but 51mm is way too big for me.

Venu 3 or epix pro (from secondhand) -screen is amoled. -ui is best as it gets (apart fenix 8 ofc) -elevate 5, as in best sensor there is.( This should be most important thing to keep in mind choosing garmin) -venu has voice assistant if you are in to that kind of thing, venu is slimmer and smaller more formal sort of -epix is a tank, it looks like you can destroy a brick wall with it.

Both my Garmin 945 (which I use as a dedicated swim watch after retiring from daily use), and my Garmin Epix Pro gen 2 seem to have believable heart rate data during swims as long as I wear the watch snug. I remember comparing it to an old HRM-Tri when they first enabled optical heart rate during swims and it seemed pretty close, which was good enough for me. If you want absolute accuracy, you’ll have to get a Garmin watch and an HRM-Swim. You won’t have to pour over an excel file, it will sync the HRM-Swim data with the Garmin watch swim activity.

It’s very good for both swimming laps in a pool as well as open water swimming. You can set pool length size, create pool swim workouts, do auto rest to detect when you’ve stopped and when you’ve started an interval. It detects what stroke your swimming, has good optical wrist heart rate, and some advanced swimming metrics like SWOLF. I actually use an older Garmin 945 as my dedicated swim watch, as it’s smaller than my Epix Pro Gen 2 which is my daily/running/hiking/other sports watch. The main downside I’ve experienced is it will occasionally miss a 25 yard lap if I’m doing sprint sets of 50s in a 25 yard pool. I’m decently fast for an older guy (multiple 50s at low 27 from a push is no problem) so it’s either the speed or my form breaks down and it didn’t detect my flip turn properly. One other downside I thought of, but is actually a benefit to me is it doesn’t detect drills or kicking. I’ve seen the Apple Watch supports kick detection. I don’t mind and actually like to put the watch in drill mode, then at the end of each interval you tell it how many yards/meters you’ve done.

Switched 5 years ago. Echoing the comment here: this is **not** a smartwatch, but a **sports/adventure watch.**  You won’t be reading your emails, getting texts, or calling a Uber, and the screen is nowhere near as responsive as the AW. If you’re looking for a phone one your wrist, Garmin is not for you. But if you’re training for a sports race, anything from a 5k to an ultramarathon, or even just trying to stay generally fit, the load tracking and suggested workout feature alone is worth it. The battery of data signals you get to tailor and improve your training is worth the switch alone, to a Foretunner or Epix or Fenix. Not even getting started on navigation in the mountains, which is really good — if you hike, camp, trail run, cycle, or generally enjoy being out, you will love your Epic or Fenix.

Previous Samsung below the new Watch 7/7 Ultra are below Garmin and Apple in terms of health data accuracy and GPS, meanwhile the newest Samsungs are on pair with Garmin and Apple. The downside is battery beacause WearOS is a crappy OS that use a LOT of battery for everything, so they need to charge it every 2-5 days. Garmin are more suitable if you are looking for a smartwatch with longer battery life and if you don't care about having a smartphone on a wrist. For example i have switched from a Watch 5 Pro to a Epix 2 mainly beacause i don't use the extra functions of WearOS (calling, using Whatsapp on the watch, Google Assistant, Bixby, ecc...) and i prioritize a longer battery life while having health sensors. But the Garmin Venu can make call and send SMS while having a 10+ days battery if they need call and SMS on the watch.

I had the AWU1, then I bought an Epix Pro 2 about a year ago. Today I ordered an AWU3. I miss the tight integration with my phone and the user interface. I will miss the battery life and the morning report.

I can get a month out of my Epix pro 51mm in smart watch setting and the screen set to p

I've got a Garmin Epix 2. It's brilliant for reasons you won't care about, and I love it for things that'll add nothing to your life. It, or one of the cheaper ones, would probably do all you need and more. But. In your shoes I'd get the Form goggles. I've heard really good things about them and it sounds like you can take or leave most of the features. And you accept goggles in your life...you might as well have a pair that do the tracking you want too.

Ahh. I'm debating switching from my Garmin Epix Pro to AWU3. I feel like I already have Garmin HRM and a bike spd/cd sensor so I'm in the Garmin system already. But I'm pretty bummed about how the new updates for Garmin doesn't get trickled down to the Epix.

Used to have Suunto until 2019 and switched to Garmin. Was happy with both. Garmin has a few more features. Still using Epix Pro Gen 2. Suunto Race 2 looks promising and is half as much as the next gen Garmin Fenix watches. Had hoped AWU could at least get to a week of battery in normal use and maybe 24 hours in GPS use but looks like we have to wait a few more years.

Is there a way to sync Apple running stats with the Garmin connect stats? I am getting a AWU3 but consider keeping my Epix Pro 2 for longer endeavors

Two months in review - you mean you almost need to charge it a second time?! 🙂 I always wanted one, before the amoled era. I don’t know why I stuck with Fenix and then switched to Epix… As a fellow of the mid-40s club (who also exercises some), I concur it’s overkill. It’s also part of the reason that keeps me going. So to add a famous quote: “No ragrets”. 🫡

I have an Epix Gen 2, can pick up for about £320 ish when on offer. I've had mine just over 12 months now, love it.

I feel exactly the same way and I'm also a decade plus garmin watch user. I bought both the Epix and AWU1 at the same time with the intention to return one of them after I tried them both out - kept them both. Epix is my workout watch and AWU is my day to day. AWU couldn't ever replace it as my workout watch, mainly because of battery life and how annoying it is to me to deal with touch screens when you're all sweaty during a workout. I could function with just the Epix, but the deep inegration of the AWU with my iphone is phenomenal. I also just reactivated the lte on my AWU (6.50 per month with a phone plan on US Mobile - who is awesome) and started wearing both on runs since it's so nice to be able to stream music and leave the phone behind.

Garmin forerunner, Fenix, epix, Enduro. And nothing else matters

I switched the the Garmin Epix Pro 2, and it is waaay better than the apple watch IMO. You cant respins to texts/emails via the watch but I rarely did that with my apple watch anyway. You still get all notifications, and the biggest thing is the battery life. I legit get 14-15 days between charges. I went on a week long vaca and didnt even bring the charging cable. Game changer!

I've had the fenix 7s pro and the epix pro gen2. I believe they are both the smaller form factor (42mm). I love the topo map feature for hiking and I've done similar amount of hiking as you (I'm also female) and also use it for running, biking, walking strength training, and paddle boarding. I think they are phasing out the epix in favor of the fenix8. So that either means you might be able to get an epix at a discount, or if you like the latest and greatest, might be reasons for the fenix8, which I think they make with solar (no solar on epix). Solar on the 7s pro was basically not functional, even if you spend 8 hours in the sun. Hope that helps.

The difference between the HR sensors is negligible in my opinion. Went from Epix Pro to 965 and so far it’s on point with the HRM pro plus. You get a few additional features with the Elevate 5, but they are rather gimmicky as far as accuracy is concerned.

I'd suggest a Polar arm band to wear, which can pair by Bluetooth with the watch of your choice. I use a Garmin Epix 2 and I run an MMA program, but the watch is in my bag and the armband up under my sleeve. The Polar arm band is great. I'd used a Garmin chest strap before and found it buggy and uncomfortable. Definitely would NOT want to be grappling with a ring or a watch on myself or a partner.

They changed it! At least for the Forerunner 265, Epic Gen 2, and the Fenix 8. You can now download YouTube music on the watch. All my playlists are on there.

I switched from AW to an Epix 2 pro (25 day battery life! Woo hoo! nb it is shorter if you're using GPS but still waaaay longer than AW) and I only miss a few very small things about AW. I liked being able to say "Hey siri, set timer for 5 min" or whatever while my hands were all messy. I liked occasionally answering the phone until I could GET to my phone and I occasionally enjoyed replying to messages. More cards available for apple pay than garmin pay, which I use the heck out of. Huge plus for me - the activity tracking smokes apple. I can pair a real HRM, my power meter etc. to my watch if necessary for riding. I'd suggest going somewhere like REI where you can see a bunch of them and get a feel for how they'll fit on your wrist. I definitely enjoy having a watch that look like a watch on my wrist though.

I use both. My Garmin Epix Pro is my training watch and my Ultra is my everyday smartwatch. I had been a long time Garmin user from before the days of the Apple Watch even existing and I prefer their platform for training. Plus there are just some things that the Apple Watch does not yet do well, at least not with the default apps, for example swim workouts. However, for everyday use it’s hard to beat the Apple Watch’s integration with iOS. For me though the feature that really convinced me was cellular and the way it can mirror the phone. When out on bike rides I was carrying my phone with me in case of a breakdown I couldn’t field repair and being able to leave the bulky phone at home was a big factor. I actually do double wrist and wear both for some workouts. For runs I have the Garmin on one wrist to track the workout and prompt me if I’m running intervals, as well as evaluate the workout at the end. The Apple Watch is on the other wrist and is for Apple Music playback, to be an emergency phone if needed, and for things like opening my garage door via HomeKit when I get home. For bike workouts I usually just wear the Apple Watch since I use my Garmin Edge bike computer (paired to a chest strap HRM) to record the workout. For swimming I just wear the Garmin since it does swimming workouts better and I don’t need the Apple Watch for anything there. The nice thing is once everything is synched to Garmin Connect it also writes to Apple Health which does update my rings, even for workouts where I wasn’t wearing the Apple Watch.

If you’re in the UK, hsamuel have a great deal on the epix pro gen2

In what way? 6 days AOD 14 without…

I did it about 6 months ago, AWU to Epix pro. Let me know if you’ve got any questions. So far, I won’t be heading back!

I run and Hike (a long hike early in the year that killed my Apple Watch battery got me looking). After looking, I realised that I don’t actually use any “smart” features that are only on Apple. I track workouts (walks,runs, hikes, gym etc), listen to music well I do, get some notifications and then want health metrics. For all of that garmin either matches or beats Apple. But, with way better battery life, nicer watches as I prefer round and a torch I couldn’t live without now lol

Iv come from PW to Garmin they are 2 different devices. The only reason Garmin last for a number of days is because they dial back the feature. As for 24HR Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) does this.

Vivoactive and Venu (non X1, that thing should have had a name of its own) don't have the advanced running metrics. So it's Forerunner , then check whether the features you want are in Instinct, Fenix, Enduro or Epix if you like one of those better.

Lmao the Epix Pro treatment is brutal. Garmin really said "here's your $900 watch, enjoy these exact same features forever while we put everything new on the next model" Meanwhile my buddy's 5 year old Apple Watch just got handed features that would require me buying a whole new Garmin. The update game is night and day between these companies

UI-wise I find 965 way better than the epix. I 've been using epix fore more than 9 months and my friends FR 265's UI is even better than mine.

I second this. Bought the same watch for same price or even less than the Approach S70 and have no regrets. Better screen than the Fenix, but has the exercise features I need

Recently sold my Epix 2 for an AWU2. Yeah the battery definitely sucks, and that’s coming from an Epix 2 already which still sucks by Garmin standards. However, I don’t ever see myself going back to Garmin. I use my phone for work a lot, and being able to use Siri to call/text, use ChatGPT, and see & interact with all notifications keeps me off my phone a lot. In that sense, I’m way more productive as I never miss any important notifications and don’t have to open my phone. It’s sort of become a dumb phone in a sense that still keeps me on top of my work. So with that, it really just boils down to your lifestyle & what you need. This isn’t necessarily a “no brainer” thing. Case in point—my father switched from a Galaxy Watch to a Fenix 8, and he loves it so much more since it encourages him to exercise more which is what he needs at his age (plus the great battery which is one less thing for him to think of). So yeah, to each his own; let’s just be happy we all have different types of devices for different people.

I switched from an Apple Watch Ultra to an Epix Pro about 6months ago. Recently I was helping a family member with their Apple Watch and started missing mine so I put it back on and it lasted 3 days before I put it back in the drawer and put my Epix back on

My epix pro 2 only last like 6 days :(

Just be careful of button pushing. There’s usually a caveat in the manual about that. I think the Descent and Fenix 8 have inductive buttons with haptic feedback (?) for this reason. That said I shower with my Epix and push the buttons occasionally in/around water and haven’t had any issues.

Exactly this. Went from awu2 to epix pro gen 2. Battery life alone was worth the switch, but for trail riding and exercise I absolutely love it. The data and insights are great!

Epix Pro Gen 2. Have had a Fenix 8 and Tactix 8. Sticking with the Epix. Plus they are crazy cheap right now.

i think most people will recommend the garmin line up for non apple users, i use the epix after ditching the whoop and although i miss some whoop creature comforts (mostly being able to trend what affects my sleep) it does what the whoop does at an upfront price - will say that garmin has a subscription service now but it's mostly their ai stuff and additional features, nothing i had before has been taken away

Big fan of my Garmin epic gen 2. Not cheap but the battery is incredible. Just don't expect it to be a smart watch in the Apple watch sense. It's not, it's a fitness tracker with notifications. My epic lasts 14 to 16 days with no gps running constantly. If I'm hiking with gos on, I can easily get 4 to 7 days depending on settings.

I am an all Apple guy and i've had several iterations of Apple Watch. I just got a 970 on launch and couldn't be happier. The larger, much more readable screen during runs. The battery life. the physical buttons during runs. The metrics that are actually evidence based, not something like you'd get from Bevel. It's just a much better tool. I previously had an Epix and while i did like it the UI was so old and slow i grew to hate the watch. the 970 is the best of both worlds. The UI is much better (can be a little slow at times, but i'm ok with it). I do wish the stupid bezel didn't scratch so easily! I went through each app and disabled notifications i don't want. I was getting too many.

Honestly even the older Epix Gen 2 has 15-16 days battery life already, which is great. Always on display is not a must, the gesture works well and responsive, so I keep that off. If doing like 3-4x 30-60 minute GPS tracks, it might go down to 6-8 days but its still great. I don't feel the MIP is \*that\* much better for battery nowadays, as long as you take out always on display.

The 51 is just a beast. I ran a full marathon with max accuracy gps and livetrack enabled and it barely drained anything. Could probably have kept going for a 100k ultra without any problems.

Garmin Epix pro 2 has worked beautifully for me.

I would agree with you on that. I had Garmin fenixes for years, Garmin Epix pro, Apple Watch Ultra, amazfit trex 3 (current watch) and just got a whoop. Imo for weightlifting nothing beats the Apple Watch (ultra or not doesn’t matter) due to all the different apps available. I was using Hevy and the ability to do a live workout between the watch and the phone at the same time was dope: want to change exercice or do more complex changes during your sessions, you simply edit the workout on the phone. But if you want to do just a 5lbs increment on your lift, you can do it from the watch directly live. Only thing I am eager to test with whoop, which is a important part my decision to do the free trial for a month, is to see muscle strain and how it work in tandem with the cardio based strain. Whoop is the only wearable to do that ( but it seems you can do it with Bevel now)

The Epix pro Gen 2 is an absolute bargain at the moment. I would pick it instantly if you don't need the extra battery life of the Enduro 3.

Swapped my Epix 2 for the 165. It was just too big and full of nonsense features… jump master and anchor drift… 🤣. Best Garmin ever the 165

>if you have the epix pro 2, that watch was released about 2 and a half years ago. the normal epix pro was released before that. It stopped receiving new features like a year and three months after release. Yet, Garmin is still selling it.

Not a lot cheaper. Although, you can find it a lot cheaper from other sellers. The point is, Garmin will sell a $1000 device that is already outdated and they won't keep it current. https://preview.redd.it/isvq3zoyukof1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0958e7329be9f829e636854fabeeb27f2b8edff

The Epix Pro. t's a no-brainer. The only reason to get the 570 if you prefer the look or want a lighter watch. The Epix Pro is superior.

Before my most recent watch I had an Epix Pro gen 2 51mm and got near a month of battery life with these settings. Not sure why yours would be different?

Garmin Epix Gen 2. Not very budget friendly though.

Can't recommend my epix 2 enough, you can get it for half your budget and have most of a fenix 8 on your wrist. I wear it every day and use it for running, I don't specifically track my weight lifting but it seems to pick up on it as intensity/ active calories. I wear it all day everyday, the battery is amazing and I have purchased a metal strap for it so it even looks like a snazzy watch. It's the epix 2 pro 51mm I have

I went from Samsung watches to Garmin Epix 2 and I'm so happy. No need to charge every day, the biometrics are much better and accurate (of course now I'm comparing to Samsung). Also I like the Garmin app more how it shows the data. Sometimes I feel like I would like to wear my Samsung for work, but I also track actively my steps so I can't switch all the time

Well, most smartwatches have that issue with battery life. Garmin has more battery life, but it's less smart, it's kind of a trade off you have to make. My Garmin Epix Pro last for 7 days and the smart features are everything I need (had a Galaxy Watch 6 before) but if you use alot of the smart features of the galaxy watch, you'll miss out on some of those (No LTE for example). But you can find models with calling, notifications, music etc. (and ofc all the fitness feature are some of the best in the market)

I’m on the verge of making the same move to AWU2 for the LTE & Apple Pay, everything else being fairly well equal with my 2.5yr old Epix Pro. I know I’ll lose some data, and integration with the Edge 1040, but the reality is I’m a reasonable club level runner/cyclist/swimmer and not a pro athlete.

Last gen forerunner you can find discounted often and they are great. If the budget stretches, and you want it for lifestyle too, the Epix Pro 2 is discounted a lot also and is great.

You are not missing anything. Garmin is overpriced and is selling because it is well eatablished brand, not because their watches are worth it.  If you do not need specific advanced metrics, other brands will provide you with same key data for much less money. Garmin procides user with more features and data, but some that data is unreliable and some of those features are half-baked.  I believe Garmin watches have accurate sensors, but due to bad quality assurance in produ tion or whatever reason, many HR sensors started exhibiting issues with accuracy later after months of usage. Garmin acknolwedged HR issues last year but still did nothing to fix it which leada me to believe it is hardware issue as well (they just go quiet in those cases). Also, Garmin hardware quality is not always the best, just look at button failures on their Garmin Fenix 7 and Epix watches - still ongoing issue with those watches sold today at very high prices. Not to mention bad mic amd speaker on Fenix 8 or bad BT module in almost all newer Garmin watches which leads to connectivoty drop outs and issues. It is the best that you do research as you did.

Suunto is also serious competitor. Many Garmin users know about some features not working as advertised. That surprise is not specific for one brand only. It is funny how you skip what I wrote and dance around it. What I said stands - there are other brands that offer beter quality and more features for the money.  You cherry pick one feature that does not work reliably on Amazfit and think that Garmin is better because of it. I never said all features work great on any watch (This OP was about Garmin, not other watches). I said that there are some half-baked features on Garmin watches that work unreliably, which should not happen for such expensive watches.  Finally, DC rainmaker is good but leans heavily toward Garmin. For example, he never mentioned thar Instinct 2 is painfully slow in everyday operations, especially in saving activity and loading a route, and only admitted that fact when he was confronted by several negatively surprised commenters. He never mentioned washed out disolay of Instinct 2. Then in T-rex 3 review he said thst Amazfit does not support its watches for long-time as Garmin does while completely disregarding the fact that Garmin silently stopped feature updates for Fenix 7 and Epix watches it was still selling at high prices, which is much worse than what any other brand did. And so on.

Obviously a Fenix 8 Micro LED. For real though, Fenix/Epix watches will give you full golf functionality minus a feature or two which are reserved for the golf specific watches. If you are budget conscious I would look for a Fenix 7/epix 2 series watch. If you have money to spend, a Fenix 8 will be great for everything you can imagine. Forerunner watches do have some golf features but they are dumbed down a bit to basic distance to green and score keeping.

this is the main point of buying Amazfit products! had my trex 3 for 3 months now, and like it so much more than my garmin epix pro, and, like someone said, even if it burns out, I can buy 2 replacements or more, and still save money over the overpriced garmin stuff

Same. I daily drive the epix gen 2 and it works great for golf and everything else. Though, my last round it didn’t record my shots. I hit a personal best 315 yard drive and it may as well have not even happened. Really a heartbreaker.

I have the FR 265 which is fine but I love my Epix Pro 2.

the fenix/epix (mainly pros) options are go-to options as all rounders. I also had Instinct if you want a casio/military like watch with 25+ battery autonomy Currently I've been wearing fenix 7 pro and I am very happy about it

The Instinct 3 is perfect for you if you don’t need maps on the watch. It can load a breadcrumb trail but doesn’t have topo maps overlays. Otherwise look for the previous generation of the Fenix’s, ie. Pro or non- Pro 7’s or Epix. The other option is to check out one of the Forerunner series that has maps. Again previous versions are cheaper than the latest. The features gap between current versions of Garmins and previous versions aren’t that great in its core functionality.

Hard to beat the Garmin Fenix / Epix / Enduro line in terms of battery life. Note: leaving a watch on the map screen drains a lot of power regardless of watch brand. The Instinct is a good second choice if you only need a breadcrumb track to follow; no maps. Maps , on the watch, gives you more information on terrain but shouldn’t be a deal breaker. You could always refer to your phone. Look at previous versions of the watch to fit your budget.

I've already purchased a Garmin epix gen 2 but don't use it much until my inspire 3 breaks. I really like it's long battery and small form but when it does die, I'm off!!

It's small, amazing battery and you can forget you are wearing it. Don't get me wrong I've already purchased a Garmin Epix gen 2 as a replacement for when it breaks but, I love the form factor of the Inspire 3 and I will definitely miss it. Perhaps get a second hand one from eBay or Vinted just to try. I really do love mine.

I've got an inspire 3 and a Xiaomi smart band 10 with no GPS and a Garmin Epix Gen 2 with GPS. Personally the onboard GPS is not an issue, if you use it it batters the watches battery so I use my phone, it's always with me and the battery is huge.

I've got Runna on annual sub and genuinely do not use it at all. Garmin Coach / Daily Suggestions is also pretty basic IME. What I would do is get a Garmin 55 for £117 (Going via one of the discount links like HealthServiceDiscounts) and then either use TrainAsOne (free version for a few months - after premium free trial - and then if you like it buy the annual sub for £75 on Black Friday), OR, buy a Stryd for £139 with the £8.99 monthly membership for 6 months. If you don't like the Stryd you'll be able to sell it for about £100. I've had a 955 and currently have an Epix 2 and tbh it's only the maps that I really use that I think I would miss in a more basic watch. Some of the stats are sort of fun to look at, but you can get more meaningful and arguably more accurate stats using Runalyze (for free). Oh and get a chest heart rate monitor - a cheap Coospro one will be fine. Edit - actually, you know what, I reckon (check) you could just stick with the Apple Watch and use TrainAsOne and/or Stryd. TrainAsOne will soon be integrating with Stryd AIUI.

Swim functions of Fenix 8 seem to be more of less the same as most somewhat more recent models, even with Swim 2 (honestly, it is fine for swimming. I swam with it for sure a while, but other functions are somewhat lacking). Fenix 8 supports diving but unless you dive, or otherwise do activities not supported by somewhat older models, I am not sure if it would be worth the extra money compared to older models because the swim functions seem to be essentially the same as the likes of Epix or earlier Fenix, more recent swim-compatible Forerunner etc. You should be able to pick up previous models somewhat cheaply, whereas Fenix 8 is quite expensive. I would have bought Fenix 8 if it was much better at swim tracking but it's not, so I did not spend the money to upgrade from Epix Gen 2 (which is annoyingly less accurate compared to Finnis goggles and Apple Watch but I digress)

You might have been unlucky with your watch. If it was under warranty, or not that long out of warranty, do contact Garmin. There are stories of people having them replaced for things that should not have happened. I am on my third Garmin - first one was Vivoactive 4s. It was totally fine with swimming until I smashed it really hard and broken the glass. It still lived for another 2 weeks of daily extended swimming until it finally died. Subsequent replacement, Swim 2, is still very much alive but I wanted other functions so bought Epix Gen 2 when it was heavily discounted. That is what I am using now and it has been totally fine with swimming. If you can, avoid pressing a button while the watch is under water, unless it is a dive watch. I do it from time to time and it copes OK but supposedly not a good thing to do too often (makes the waterproof seal more vulnerable).

I am a dual user of Garmin Epix Gen 2 and Apple Watch Ultra (original version), plus Finis Smart Goggles. Generally speaking, for me, Garmin is worse than AW for accuracy of auto sets - about 20% of my laps are undercounted, and it keeps running up the time well after I stop for a rest - this can even be up to 10 seconds after I stop. AW instead have the habit of not starting the timer until a couple of seconds after I start swimming after a break but the degree of inaccuracy is a bit less than Garmin. For instance, for one of my laps, the time registered on Finis Smart Goggles was 13.3 s. It was 24.3 on Garmin. Finis is definitely the correct one as I can see the timer starting as soon as I push off the wall, and how many seconds it came to when I stopped. Finis has also been validated with manual timing by my coach. I can see that the timer keeps running for a while on Garmin after I stop. Apple watch has a tendency to underestimate the time of took to swim a lap by a small margin. I suspect it starts the timer a bit slowly. So, in terms of accuracy, in my case at least, Apple Watch is a bit more accurate than Garmin, but Apple Watch often underestimates the time it took me to swim a lap, whereas Garmin almost invariably overestimates it.

Finis smart goggles + Apple Watch Ultra/Garmin Epix Gen 2. AW and Garmin are inaccurate for sprints timing (they often start the count late or stop the count late...), Finis is much more accurate but does not do HR. AW does not have a rest counter on display, whereas Garmin does. Not really a setup needed for normal fitness swimming though.

Vivoactive is pretty good! I swam with it (4s) for quite some time. I only changed to Epix Gen 2 because I killed it doing backstroke without flags and smacked it on the corner of the wall at pretty high speed and smashed the glass (nothing dropped into the pool - but the glass stayed together in bits). It still survived for two weeks after that despite the water getting in it.

Your story has definitely convinced me not to trade my epix Pro 51mm for an AWU3. Like many others, I'm fed up with the general direction Garmin is taking — in my opinion, they’re riding the wave of profit-at-all-costs a bit too hard. It frustrates me to have a premium watch on my wrist that Garmin has already pretty much shoved into oblivion. That said, I’m also not convinced that having a mini iPhone on my wrist is what I’m looking for as an athlete who primarily wants a tool built for that purpose. So I’ll keep using my epix Pro 51mm until a serious alternative comes along from the competition. Or maybe I’ll be weak and end up giving in to a Fenix 9... or even an 8 if I'm very weak:-)

Yep, buttons all the way. I switched last month from AWU to Epix Pro. Unfortunately, Garmin has no clue when I fall asleep and that skews all data like body battery and other metrics like training readiness. The battery life and the buttons make up for it :).

The AW was nailing pretty well when I was falling asleep. It has a good accelerometer algorithm that detects when you fall asleep. Your respiration rate goes down, your heart rate goes down, you have little to no wrist/body movement, and it marks that moment as the sleep start time. On my Epix Pro, even if I put the watch myself to sleep mode, it says that I went to sleep 3-4 hours after that moment. So, I basically put it into sleep mode at 10pm and next morning it says I fell asleep at 3am in the morning and that I only had 3 hours of sleep. This leads to a poor readiness score and a crappy body battery. As the data analysts say "garbage in, garbage out". I stopped placing too much thought into these numbers. I only focus on my HRV and how I feel that morning to determine if I should go train or not.

I made the transition from AWU to Garmin Epix Pro last year. Major things that made me switch: 1. Buttons. You can do everything on the watch with the button. There's no need for touch input which is one thing I hated on the AW, especially when my fingers were sweaty after a workout. 2. Battery life. I get 11 days with always on display. On AWU I was lucky to get into the next day with my workout routine. 3. Ability to fully customize data screens. This is essential for my workouts. 4. Keep in mind it's a sport watch, not a smart watch. I don't care about notifications and I disabled most, but you may find this as a downside. Garmin as a developer doesn't have the same level of access to internal APIs to control notifications. You can read them and clear them but that's about it. Cons: 1. Sleep tracking algorithm is shit on Garmin compared to AW. 2. The app design feels outdated. For me, Garmin is the best choice despite the shitty sleep tracking. I had the Garmin Fenix 5 for 3 years before trying out the Apple Watch. After having AW7 and AWU for about 2 years, I decides to go back.

Switched from Apple Watch Ultra to epix pro :)

I’ve made the switch. I’ve been using Apple Watch since series 0 (2015). On October 2024 I switched to an Epix Pro 51mm. Just the battery alone is a huge win. Having a watch with AOD that can last for more than 10 days is amazing. Don’t forget about the buttons. Those physical buttons do make a difference especially when running under the rain. You can feel and use the watch without even looking at it. Also Garmin tracks your heart rate and HRV 24/7 continuously. It is very accurate in tracking my health when I got sick 2 weeks ago. I can see my ever increasing “stress” value and declining body battery during that time.

The instinct series might interest you as well, as they are more rugged with very long lasting battery. I have owned one in the past, then jumped to Forerunner 955 for the maps, then to Epix - for the flashlight and AMOLED screen, and now to Fenix 8 for the voice commands, taking phone calls from the watch. The new instinct 3 series have the flashlight too, and the 2X might have it as well (don't quote me on that) Best of luck, they're all great watches!

I’d go Garmin. I’ve tried Polar, Amazfit, Samsung, Fitbit, and finally Garmin, and Garmin is still the most integrated and polished of the bunch. Not perfect, but definitely the least flawed. Also check the used/refurbished market. I picked up an Epix Pro for about 50% off retail, barely used.

I use it for workouts and it's pretty good at tracking the reps and sets. Sometimes I have to manually adjust the lift type after the face but it's pretty decent. I also use an external HR chest strap since the watch is not great at capturing bursts in HR. I have an Epix 2.

I have a Garmin Epix. Will likely never Change back. If u are into Sport Go get a Garmin. ITS more a Sport watch with smart functions then a SmartWatch, remember that. The new Fenix 8 or Venus 3 is more and more SmartWatch PS: Battery life is awesome my epix gen 2 Last 17 day with around 15 hours of gps Tracking during that time. I can read incoming Messages(writing back ist tricky but possible)and listen to music over Bluetooth earphone directly from the watch. And even Control spotify on my Smartphone. For me this is all i need fron my "SmartWatch"

For sports, always Garmin. No one else comes close for multisport watches, and I don't need a bunch of useless "smart watch" features that just waste battery.