Garmin - Fenix 7 Series

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

Thank you for your review. It was really a pleasant read. Before the release of the Fenix 8, I was strongly considering it, mainly due to its diving features. However, when it finally launched, I found the feature set underwhelming and decided it wasn’t worth the price for such a limited offering. Instead, I shifted my focus to the Enduro 3, but due to delivery issues with the local representative, I ended up purchasing the 7X Pro. To my surprise, around the time of purchase, Garmin rolled out firmware version 18.xx, which became notorious for its battery drain issues. Despite widespread reports, Garmin neither acknowledged nor resolved the problem. Instead, they seemed to prioritize releasing new features and updates, many of which introduced additional issues. Frustrated, I reverted to using my trusty 6X Sapphire as my primary watch. Although I occasionally give the 7X Pro another chance, my trust in it has eroded. I simply can’t rely on it for races or long adventures because I don’t know how it will perform or if it might fail unexpectedly.

You can try and grab a Garmin Fenix / EpiX line...comes with a price but this developer made a 'cross-training' app and its pretty cool that I use for the workouts. Obviously that's not the number one selling point but if you also hike/bike/run/bike etc...the Fenix line and Epix line are far superior than the Apple Watch.

Get a garmin Fenix, doesnt really matter which model as long as it’s not ancient, off eBay

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

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

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

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

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

Apple watch is a great fitness watch with some modifications. I had a Garmin Fenix for 4 years and its a great watch, certainly better looking than an AW (imo). But it fell short in a few areas Sleep tracking - its heavy and I would remove it in the middle of the night. Sports where you can’t have something on your wrist. For me, this was Climbing and Jiu-jitsu. So I had to get polar verity sense to track those sports. And polar didnt sync with Garmin Connect that well. Music - needed your phone near by. So still running with a phone. Enter the AW… Lightweight makes it forgettable. Bicep band accessories convert it into a HR tracker off your wrist super fast. Music, even without cellular I can download playlists and podcasts from my phone to the watch. To make it a great fitness watch: Create a focus mode to not receive calls/texts while working out ( personal preference) Buy HealthFit $6, like Apple health on steroids, syncs all your activities into a single app and gives you rest, recovery, training effort based on your workouts and sleep. Honestly the only app that I would say is required, but the next ones are super nice. Buy Autosleep $5, terrible UI but great tracker and more stats than you’ll ever need. Buy WorkOutdoors $5, another steroid app that makes the Workout app seem like a Fischer-price toy. So for the price of the watch and <$20 for one time purchases, you have a powerhouse fitness platform.

I am using Garmin Fenix 7 pro watch. It count reps. My whole trening plan is in this watch crested through Garming app. DM me if you have any questions regarding this watch.

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

Same here, though I would argue it's not that pretty.

You can't go wrong. There are features that the newest Fenix (or Epic pro) have that the others don't. So if you care about ecg monitoring that might change the model you are looking at.

I’m a firm fenix fan, as I also use to mtb where it is much more useful

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

This is my perspective as someone who uses Whoop and wears an SMP or a Speedy that I rotate according to how I feel. Also, I've tried Oura, and liked it, but it wasn't for me. And I have an AW Ultra that I use when running and hiking, and this is after a few years of using a Garmin Fenix. Most people think of Whoop as simply a fitness tracker, which it is, but it is much more. What seperates Whoop from other things is how it shows you the impact of your behaviors. Yes, I think Whoop was less than honest about their upgrade policy with the new 5.0 and MG release, but I still can't find anything like it. The "magic" of Whoop is that it allows you to pre-select certain behaviors that will appear in a daily journal. Each morning you take 30 seconds to check yes or no on these items, e.g. Did you consume added sugar yesterday? Did you eat a late meal? There are endless options. As times goes on, Whoop continues to show you how these behaviors are impacting your sleep so that you discover how far before bed you should stop eating, or what's the latest time of the day you can drink caffeine without it impacting your sleep (even though you may think it doesn't because you fall asleep quickly). I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement for Whoop, but I think most people evaluate Whoop without knowing what it really does. So when I run or hike I use my Ultra for reasons that don't overlap with Whoop. But the rest of the day, when wearing my SMP or Speedy, or when I sleep, I wear Whoop because it is providing overall health insights that I find valuable and have led to lifestyle changes that I may not have made otherwise--even as a person in great shape who works out six days a week.

You could try an Apple watch but personally, I wouldn't touch that thing with a 10 foot pole as a fitness watch. Garmin real strength is its capabilities for tracking running, hiking etc. I know what you mean with the weight lifting but I still find it very valuable. After my set, with several button taps, I've corrected the rep count if it's off. After my work out, I take 5 minutes to edit it in the connect app to the correct exercises. People spend more time scribbling workout notes, sets/reps in a note book. I've used my garmin for weight training for 5 years now and couldn't imagine not using it now. Not to mention its capabilities for gps tracked activities. But if you want a smart watch with some weight lifting track, how with Apple. If you want a fitness tracker, stick with your Fenix.

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

Coming from a Galaxy Watch I was kinda of disappointed with the weightlifting tracking of my Fenix. It's great on everything else but I felt like it's not as friendly to the non cardio active crowd.

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

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

i own fenix 7pro solar. Best watch ever(literally), will not replace it at least 5 more years. I do hiking/climbing/road cycling except for running tho. I do actually train for a marathon in April rn, Forerunner 245 is you best choice if you don't need mountain oriented features and other stuff. What's so great about garmin watch. I track quite accurate my surfing activities, skiing, have always great navigation out in the wild, satellite messaging features, great battery capacity, great water pressure resistance(up to 100m). What else do i need, i ask myself. But in reality, only for running you don't need much. You basically need only HR tracker and gps device to track the pace and distance. So any watch is fine

garmin epix/fenix no complaints

garmin fenix...but it doesnt analyse the stroke as such but just be able to count and then divide so gives you SPM, stroke length and SWOLF i have had xiaomi and amazfits before the garmin they were ok but garmins are jsut miles better

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

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

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

I use Garmin. Watch battery lasts a week at a time workout charging and the watch itself is nice. If I'd gotten a less fancy version than the fenix, my watch battery would last even longer

Garmin. It does everything other brands do just better. I switched to a Fenix after many-many years of being a dedicated Polar fan and never looked back. Apple Watches are great but to me those are lifestyle watches with a hint of fitness features. As many said also, the forerunner series is really good. You can probably also find second hand Fenix. You wrote you’re obsessed with data. The running by dynamics metrics Garmin provides (vertical oscillation, ground time, left/right foot balance, etc) with the pro series heart rate straps are amazing. Just make sure the watch supports it (not all do). Also - since you mentioned you train in the gym too - if you can, opt for the sapphire screen. Internet reviews claim it’s a gimmick and only makes the screen darker (which is somewhat true) but it would annoy me more to look at a heavily scratched screen. I have had the screen hit, scratched with various metals in the gym and there’s zero marks on it.

This is what I do. I have a Garmin Fenix as my sports watch and switch to the Vivosmart when I am wearing my Speedy.

As an ultra runner with both a Garmin Fenix and AW, Garmin is by far superior for fitness and running metrics, but it’s the only time I wear it. For the rest of the day, I’m wearing my Apple Watch. I think for casual athletes, Apple is fine, but all the hardcore mountain & trail athletes, serious runners, and triathletes I know are all using Garmins or Coros.

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

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

That battery life is wild. I have a Fenix 7x SS and ran a 30hr 100 mile race last weekend with navigation. I finished with 45% battery left.

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

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

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

I have the Fenix 7X SS and I haven't had any of the issues OP had. For weight training I frequently need to adjust reps for lower body workouts, but for upper body it's actually pretty decent I think....especially since it's using the accelerometer to determine everything.

The 7x pro does a pretty good job. I just set it to open though and track time, heart rate

Garmin ecosystem is chocked full of goodness. Since I run and cycle, it’s great for multi sport. A lot of folks who only run seem to love Coros watches and their environment. I think either of those (with Strava integration) would be an improvement over your Apple Watch.

People have to stop comparing these. These are for two different people. I would never wear an Apple Watch based on battery life alone. I specifically got the Garmin for a wrist based gps and mapping tool to track and orient myself. You buy an Apple Watch to use smart features and be connected to your phone. Garmin has never been in that market. It’s a whole company based on gps systems for outdoor activities . You buy an Apple Watch to have Apple ecosystem. you can’t use half the feature of the fenix on an iPhone bc they only want you to use their watch… Garmin are all specifically made for their audience even down the the model . Apple watches are just to keep you plugged into your phone and have no bearing on actual outdoor activities despite calling it ultra. The Millitary has been orienteering with Garmin wrist based gps systems forever. You’d never catch an Apple Watch on patrol in Afghanistan. 😂

I was looking at the Fenix! It's pricey but it did seem to have the most functionality that would be useful for him. I don't know that he would mind losing the running specific data as part of his WOD but then again I think he's the type that would like to know his pace/HR to target. As long as there is a process to program the switch from hiit to run and then back to HIIT I would guess he would suffer the moderate annoyance if he wants to mine that data. And we are not an apple house lol and I agree, Garmin connect is pretty slick. I've found their race predictions to be hilarious but other than that their metrics are pretty spot on!

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

I just bought a Apple Watch 10. As a runner I always used Garmin ( fenix 7x Pro latest ). I just found them to bulky lately and the smart-watch functions are not that good. Apple watch works so nice together with my iPhone and the Health app etc. It just works BETTER. Love my Apple Watch. It's just more fun to use.

This. According to my Garmin my sleep always sucks! :-D

I've been using as a daily driver a Garmin Fenix 7x Pro which i bought last year when my previous Galaxy Watch died out on me. I decided to buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra since i missed the LTE capability and the BMI calculator and Heart Rate measurement. (Allegedly Garmin has these functions available but only in North America) Don't consider myself like a very active/sporty person yet i do go to the gym 3 times per week. I like to track my activities and the Garmin watch even detects the sets and tracks (shows timer) between sets to know how long is the break. Watch Ultra is ultra s**t when it comes to tracking gym activities. If i want to track something with it, i need to start an activity and that's it...you leave it like that until you finish your gym/fitness session. Problem is that there's more to training than just starting the timer on the watch and stopping it when you're done. I've come to realize how important it is to be able to know how long you've been in a break between sets (which is done by default on the Fenix). It's not a difficult function to implement yet Samsung overlooked it completely. This put together with the fact that the Watch Ultra gets at best ~60h if AOD is activated and ~74h with AOD disabled while the Fenix easily passes 28 days with a full charge and is always on + solar charging (yes i know... different displays and one is a power monger) Should i also mention the joke of a lantern the Watch Ultra has compared to the Fenix? In conclusion: While i'm willing to accept/understand its shortcomings in the battery department, the Watch Ultra could have been so much more with just a few quality of life improvements in the fitness tracking department.

It actually does, especially the traditional gym activities it detects them fairly well. At the end, the Garmin Connect app even gives you the option to check and edit the types of activities it detected. It counts the number of reps you did per activity and so on...

It's good, you can track entirely on the watch. You can have plans and follow them (even skip parts and do them later). You can enter weight and reps on the watch (if you follow a plan it will suggest the weight from the plan), it will try to count reps and you can adjust if they are incorrect. It will even try to detect your exercise if you don't follow a plan. You can later select multiple sets on the phone and enter the correct exercise. No phone needed for tracking. You can see your pause countdown, there is an annoying bug, if you follow a planned training it will always guide you to the page of the training overview after each step, so if you want to see the countdown manual input is needed every time. Not a problem in free mode. Only thing you won't get from Garmin is a good evaluation of your progress like [strenghtlevel.com](http://strenghtlevel.com)

I uses a Fenix 7x and should I buy a watch today I would go for the Enduro 3 as battery time is important to me. Else the fenix 8 with its amoled screen seems sweet

If you could do like $50 more, I'd get a used Garmin Enduro 2 or maybe a Fenix 7X if you get a really good deal. Battery life is ridiculous (infinite on solar and battery saving mode, or can run GPS for weeks straight too), they're tanks, and they have tons of functionality for the outdoors. Great flashlight too which has saved my butt a few times when I didn't have a headlamp or it died.

Return the Apple watch get a fenix

Garmin fenix 7 pro and I’d get sapphire and solar. You get the best hr sensor, maps for hiking and overall great metrics and data for gym etc. I use mine for mountaineering/hiking, climbing(indoor and outdoor), cycling, rowing, gym and it’s great. The fr965/955 is also great but you lose the better hr sensor there

Guess it depends. I went from the fr255 to a fenix 7 pro and the difference was night and day. During certain workouts the fr255 just wasn’t accurate and when I now compare the elevate 5 to my chest strap they’re pretty damn close

Most of them are decent at hr without a strap but you’d want something with the elevate v5 sensor for the best data and unfortunately that’s fenix only. The 255 or 955 would be the best bet here but the 255 doesn’t have maps. Also the 965 is great if you want oled instead of MIP

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.

They are all "good enough" without a HR strap tbh. If you don't care *that* much about HR data... you'll get by with wrist as long as it's tight. It's usually pretty accurate for consistent based efforts. It's the intervals/gym sessions a wrist really struggles. Since you mention mapping... look into the Forerunner 965 or 955. Difference is the 965 has an AMOLED display, 955 is what we call MIP. MIP = longer battery life. Both are on sale, 955 is on sale tremendously if that's a route you wanted to go. If you can afford/find a deal on a Fenix 7 Pro that has the most up-to-date wrist-based optical HR sensor which is more accurate than the Forerunner 965 or 955 HRM. Lots of options there, but I've been recommending some friends to get the 955 lately, as I think I've seen $350 for the regular and $400 for solar model prices out there. I think that's an amazing bargain.

I take my Garmin Fenix with me everywhere. Boulders (slopers not included) and sometimes trad. The outer ring is kinda scuffed but it's held up really well. There's also the Coros HRM that looks interesting and is near the shoulder for wear.

I’ve been wearing my garmin fenix in it for over a year. No issues

I swapped my Omega for a Garmin Fenix and haven't looked back. I'm a cyclist in the garmin infrastructure so it makes sense. Its one of the best sports watches, comes in a range of sizes to fit different wrists and I think it looks stylish as well compared to the square apple watch.

Fenix 7pro is on sale with the release of the 8, it’s an awesome watch & I would highly recommend it to anyone that’s looking for a fitness / health / sleep tracker. I love mine.

thanks for review, i choose to go for fitbit charge as per reviews from https://www.youtube.com/@TheQuantifiedScientist/videos. I also had opportunity to user GARMIN Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar and it was amazing if you live quite a acitve lifestyle and have access to outdoor activities.

I did bench the other day and it would count my reps well, but I would have to hit a button between sets. It allows you to change weight each time, if you want to record that

Mine does fine enough for weight lifting. I have the 7x. The good thing is you can manually adjust the reps and if you assign the correct workout then it's awesome to look back and see what you did. Leg workouts of course are limited since it is mounting on your wrist and tries to guess the best it can.

Garmin Fenix, used Garmin for years, battery measured in days not hours

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

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

i have a fénix and i won't bring it. You can get miles and ascent trivially from FarOut. just tap on a point behind or ahead of you. For me the fenix is a training tool, it's not for the main event. your stats will be: * Steps: Many * HR: Light/moderate aerobic * Sleep: Shit * HRV: Shit * Status: Overreaching * GPS: The same damn trail as everyone else. Also the power saver mode GPS is pretty bad and [can remarkably *over*estimate distances. ](https://www.tendigitgrid.com/d/159-garmin-ultratrac-review-and-data-accuracy) Number Go Up is fun but not worth it. Track for the folks at home with the Inreach on 1hr tracking. Your watch won't broadcast to your family like the Inreach will, it's redundant and less functional for long distance location tracking. I have ONCE briefly, used a pre-loaded Course on my Inreach for snow navigation on Wonderland Trail. Probably it would be nicer on the Fénix but not enough to bring it. Ill probably stick some Sierra courses on the Inreach ahead of time though.

But nobody say what garmin works with messages better of do it APW with same iPhone. I switched APW to Fenix namely this reason. I dont miss any whats app call or telegram call or messages from it with fenix. But AWU at all is very very good thing, especially if calls and messages from all messengers not matter for you (I apologize in advance for my English)

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

whoop, using the bicep strap so my wrists are free during workouts. i prefer the no screen no distraction myself, especially when working out. also have a garmin fenix as well as a daily watch.

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

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

In my opinion, yes, though it depends on how much you value battery life and what activities you do IMHO. I have a garmin fenix and have been switching back & forth before watchOS 11 for several reasons, particularly missing training readiness, body battery, etc. Apple Watch is still innacurate in some places as well, particularly badminton (there is no way I burned 1.4k calories in one workout apple? My Garmin suggests under half that, which feels far more likely) But with the training load & vitals updates I feel it's a far closer pair and more often than not I keep on the Apple Watch, even for hikes & whatnot. The UI/UX on the Apple Watch, build quality, external app functionality, music player, etc. are heads and shoulders above the Garmin IMHO. And this is all comparing a top of the line Fenix amoled (~800$) to a watch that is 1/3rd the price. Though of course, there are cheaper Garmin options that all offer different featuresets, so it's not a fair comparison.

If you do find a similar app, please do let me know. Only reason I switch back to my Garmin from time to time.

Nothing beats pen and paper. I've got a fenix 7x and I don't bother with trying to track cause it's just off.

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

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

Yes, I carry a Garmin Fenix and record each day’s hike as an activity. You absolutely do not need a smart watch to hike but it a lot of fun and convenient to have. I love all the stats for each day’s hike. HR. elevation gain and loss. Pace. It’s also convenient to have all the information the watch provides right on your wrist. How many miles you’ve gone. Elevation. (On a nasty up hill I’ll just know the elevation I need to get to and can glance st my wrist for progress without overthinking the distance.) Sunrise and sunset times. Day length. I set a notification to go off 1.5 hours before sunset. That’s my dummy check reminder I need to be looking for a campsite. I also set a lap notification for 1.0 miles. That way I can mentally keep track of how far I’ve gone. The newish elevation acclimation widget has been interesting. Most of these functions/information is as lap available on a cell phone. But it’s nice in watch form. The battery needs of a smart watch are negligible. I did need to recharge it daily.

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

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)

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

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

I wouldn’t really call the fenix 7 pro a budget garmin tho

Fenix is so sick get that one

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

I use it for weights tracking. It’s not great but I don’t think you’ll find anything better. It’s not hard to be diligent enough to track the mistakes and adjust it accordingly mid workout.

Fenix 7 pro sapphire solar. No hesitation

For those activities the Garmin Instinct line will work fine. It’s not the most expensive line, but honestly I prefer it more than the expensive ones. I have a Fenix 7x Pro and prefer my Instinct 2x over it. Only thing the Fenix has over the Instinct is built in map navigation, but to be honest trying to plot a course on your watch is not a good experience, I’d much prefer to plot a course on my phone and just send it to my watch for step by step navigation, and in that aspect the two watches work the same. The screen on the instinct, though less advanced than the Fenix, is easier to read and more clear than the Fenix. The battery life on the Instinct 2x is one of the best Garmin has to offer, with potential unlimited battery life if you are in a lot of sun, on my Fenix I got about 3 weeks with solar helping it along the way. Lastly I like the band/case material and how the watch feels on the wrist more with my Instinct than Fenix 7x pro. I’ve damaged walls, scratch my car, etc with the metal bezel on the Fenix, but that does not happen with the Instinct. The instinct also has a raised bezel so it protects the screen more, and you won’t get the metal on metal grinding feeling when working out. I will be selling my Fenix since I got the Instinct. That is how much more I like it.

Apple Watch will do fine for a long time - only got a Garmin last year. However once you go to only having to charge your watch once every two weeks you just can’t go back to Apple. I have a Garmin Fenix (on the $$ side) but I wear it every day as my normal watch too and have had zero issues making the switch. However there’s heaps in the range, I love accuracy, maps, long battery and lots and lots of data so I can overthink every run - so Fenix it is! The forerunners are great and the vivoactives are a good mid range model. There’s other brands like Suunto, Polar etc. For true accuracy on any wrist watch you may need a chest monitor. But if you really like your Apple Watch I found it pretty good unless you’re somewhere with not much reception

This is not clear. Which activities can't you wear a sorts watch? Do you mean like work or formal dinner where sports watch might not match your outfit? If that is the case, you should consider the garmin fenix. More premium build and you can get different watch straps that can be changed quickly if you need to dress to impress.

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

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

I used the fenix for weight lifting. You can configure your training plan on the website connect.garmin.com. Its delicious. The heart rate sensor has its issues during weight liftin. But thats for watches in general. If you combine it with sleep tracking its a good choice for you I could recommend

It not not super great and many things depend on how you use it. I created workout plans for my trainings and use them to follow and log what I do. Here you can find more details: https://gelberhut.com/strength-training-with-a-garmin-in-a-gym/

I tried the Watch Ultra and I'm sad to say I didn't like it as much as my Garmin Fenix 7x sapphire. So I'm selling the Ultra and sticking with Garmin. 1. Battery life 2. Quality/durability of the watch 3. Accuracy 4. Flashlight 5. Overall feel on my wrist

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

Garmin Fenix, I bought a second hand one on ebay and I absolutely love it and the best bit is the charge lasts for over a week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've had 4 different smartwatches before Garmin and my current Fenix is the most "motivating" watch I've ever had. I can justify the price as long as it helps me stay active, which improves my performance and health, which becomes more and more important as I hit 46 this year.

THIS. I bought this watch last August and it’s great. Recently I also added the HRM Pro plus for activities where I can’t wear the watch like martial arts. You will be pleasantly satisfied and it should last you for a few years of support.

Excellent write-up! Although I have the Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar (47mm), this is helpful from a troubleshooting standpoint if I feel something weird is happening with my watch. Since owning this device since early August, I’ve noticed software and battery draining issues that I hope Garmin fixes (just updated to 19.38 this morning). On the other hand, I complete multiple workouts a week with the use of the HRM Pro+, and I average about two weeks of battery life before I have to recharge. I believe with the smart features on, the reported battery life is 18 days. Hopefully, improvements are continued to be made on Garmin’s end so you can enjoy this watch at its fullest possible potential @alycks.

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

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

Most people coming from apple go vivo active or venue. Venue being closest to a smart watch. Personally, I'm a instinct guy. Although I'm wearing a Fenix today since I didn't charge my Instinct for 2 weeks and it died before bed. I've swam tens of thousands of meters (more like hundreds but..) in pool, open and salt water with my Garmins. Done free diving (only to about 40ft, I'm not very good) and press the buttons regularly sub surface. I've also done cliff jumping with every watch, and haven't lost a garmin to water intrusion. I would definitely select a 100m rated model for water sports. Any watch can fail but I've had 6 garmins and none have. I also had a bunch of Casio and Timex over the years and not one failure.

Man, I charge both my old Fenix and my Instinct once a week. And I do about 10-15 hours of logged activities a week (at least 10 with GPS) the other 5 are gym and pool. It's still half full (or close) when I charge it. At worst it's got a day or two of life left. I charge either each Thursday or Friday. If garmin really screwed up the 8 that bad that you need to charge it each night, than it's bad news for garmin. Also, if the Fenix is lighter it's a good thing. I prefer my Instinct to the Fenix now. Initially I thought the heft was nice but now I realize for sports a lighter watch is better. Granted I don't notice it most of the time, the mass is annoying at times.

It's the case. Premium case but it hurts reception. My Instinct has never dropped Bluetooth but my Fenix does. Also sat reception is better on the Instinct.

This is my experience with 3 Fenix and 2 instincts. Great example. I'm standing still on a hike (maybe a viewpoint, water break, shoe laces, etc). Instinct doesn't add hundredths of a mile continuously like all my Fenix have. Haven't had an issue with the Fenix while moving fast but anything slow (like mountaineering) it's wildly inaccurate.

I play tennis a couple of times per week, run, do yoga and life. I have a Fenix 7 Pro SS but I think that there are a bunch of their watches that will do everything that you want to. It depends on what you want specifically, like screen, size, case material, etc.

Not really. I have the Fenix 7 Pro Solar Sapphire. I don't that much about the other watches outside of the software and sensors being the same. The Epix Pro line was similar, the main difference being the kind of screen. Some other lines have plastic cases instead of metal so they are lighter but less durable. You might try a YouTube channel like DC Rainmaker as he does detailed reviews of the watches. I kind of hear about some of the other lines but I don't know them in a detailed way outside of going on Garmin's website and comparing watches side-by-side.

I switched from Apple to Fenix 7 Pro SS and have no regrets. I primarily use my watch for fitness tracking, I’m not interested in notifications so I’ve turned all of them off on my Garmin. I also live near the Peak District in the UK and was out hiking last weekend. First time I’ve properly used the GPS for navigation and it worked great. I had originally plotted the route in Komoot then downloaded it onto the watch, all very easy to do. As I don’t have Komoot premium, i needed to open the route within Garmin maps on the watch, no issues at all. Route was spot on and very accurate. Best of all, the battery still had plenty left. By comparison my AW got to the point of barely making it a day and would require a boost charge. The battery on the Fenix Pro SS states 18 days and I’ve found that to be true, but you need to tweak some settings (turning off notifications for 1). Edit: typo

Garmin 265 (switching to Fenix 7 pro soon), Garmin Edge 540, Garmin HRM Pro

Yes they are pretty rubbish for swimming. I just switched to a Garmin Fenix which hopefully will be better. The Apple Watch managed lap counting ok for me but open water was a disaster and the rest of its counting (calories etc) was also well off by the looks of it. Your does sound even more broken than just being rubbish though. It should be able to count laps fairly accurately, I think most of them can do that ok.

I don’t like AMOLED I don’t like scroll wheels I’d get the 255 or add some for a fenix (for the maps )

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

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

Fenix 7x solar wear it all the time no issues

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

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

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

I've had Apple, Garmin and Samsung smart watches but only got "joy spark" from the Garmin Fenix/Epix. The Garmin Fenix/Epix have an intangible attraction that doesn't equate to any feature or activity. One aspect of wearing a Fenix/Epix that I have to admit is attractive to me is that it signifies that I'm a performance athlete.

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

Same here. Literally the same story. Apple Watch shat the bed, bought a Fenix 7X and it’s been a life changing upgrade. 8 months in, dropped about 12/13kg, ran a few half marathons, gym 5/6 days a week. Good stuff!!

There should be, but it isn’t. I have 255 and it’s great, capable, light watch, but it has weak display and no touch, changing straps is a hassle. So I waited long for 975, but I’ll go the Fenix way very, very soon :) Maps are definitely better on the 965 than on 255, navigation there is really rather basic.

Agree, although I use a Garmin Fenix and heart rate strap to record cardio/respiratory data and log rounds and times. To monitor training load, I use the Session/RPE method. Essentially, it's time in the exercise multiplied by the Rate of Perceived Effort on a 1-10 scale to estimate your training load for the session. In a CrossFit class, I separate the weightlifting/strength piece from the HIIT WOD. (I add the warm up separately, even though it's minimal load. If I do any significant yard work, I add that in, too, because that's a workload that will sneak up on you over the hours.) I add up each day to get the week's training/work load, then divide it by a rolling 3-week average of training load to get my load ratio. Anyway, here's a link to a scholarly article on the Session/RPE method and its reliability in monitoring load: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5673663/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5673663/)

Fenix has always been dead on accurate for me. But I’m using an Epix now. Basically the same but my old Fenix didn’t do HR

Personally I turned off most of the “smart” features of my Apple Watch last year. I found 95% of it was just some garbage spam notification from a social platform or some other app vying for my attention, like having a 2 year old with me everywhere I go grabbing at my wrist. Once I disabled them all, at that point my watch just became a health tracker with the ability to pay for things (and occasionally tell me the time). Garmin watches are superior to apple in that regard, so it made sense to switch. Also, and this is purely subjective, I think the garmin epix and Fenix line look infinitely better than apple stuff. The chunky bezels and circular shape make it look like an actually fashionable watch instead of a toy screen on my wrist

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 would say for your price point the 255 Music is the best option out there. If you see the 265 Music with a good deal go with that (8GB instead of 4GB storage, OLED). The weight and size is still great. The 955, 965 are great as well (16Gb storage I think) but in my opinion to bulky. Forerunner 165 is nice but lacks some features. Fenix and such models are too heavy (my opinion ;)

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

I’d also recommend the Garmin Fenix. I have a glass screen protector on mine and put a plastic case on it when I climb which I would definitely recommend. I’ve cracked screen protectors but the watch itself is totally fine.

To add to everyone else’s comments - mines have lasted very well. My first Forerunner works after a decade, I just replaced it with a Fenix a few years back. After four years it’s never had any issues. Yes they aren’t the cheapest but it is worth the investment.

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

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

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

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

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

I got a garmin fenix - expensive but does all you ask!

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

I’ve used a Garmin Fenix, Garmin Swim 2, and Apple Watch for swimming and by far the garmins were superior. My Apple Watch would die after about half an hour in open water, regardless of water temp, and was always inaccurate with my laps and interval times in the pool. The swim 2 and fenix work much better.

Fenix 7, I like tracking my HR in the sauna

I personally love my Fenix, and yes, most Garmin things revolve around running—but I do HIIT, strength training, and backpacking, and the recovery seems quite accurate. My overall fitness suffers when I don't listen to the readiness score and overdo it.

i hated my garmin fenix chunky edges on my 4.5 inch wrist which is tiny for my first one i went for the cheap apple watch 6 decided i liked it and went to a series 9 never looked back and also im in the apple ecosystem partley so this has been a great help

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

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

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

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

Fenix Solar Sapphire 7

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

As with food tracking apps, the "best" is one you use consistently. Wrist-based trackers range from mildly inaccurate to wildly inaccurate as far as calorie burn estimates are concerned; there's no "best" device in terms of accuracy. Most of them are somewhat okay at estimating calories burned during steady state cardio (i.e., walking, running, cycling), but get wonky in a hurry with other activities (i.e., lifting, yoga, Pilates). I've seen some absolutely nonsense numbers from Apple Watch users in particular; but some folks swear by them. I found my old Fitbit was hilariously optimistic with some of its estimates; my Garmins seem to be better. I switched from Fitbit to the Garmin ecosystem several years ago with a Venu Sq. That took me from couch potato to running several times per week; I love the activity badges. I upgraded a few years ago to the Forerunner 265s. I also took up cycling last year (more badges!), also picking up a chest strap HRM, power meter clip less pedals, and a Tacx indoor trainer. I developed an overuse injury from running, so running is no longer an option for me. I can hike, though, and I live in a region with a lot of mountains, so I recently picked up a Fenix 7 Pro (solar sapphire) especially for the hike features, including maps. I'm an active person, now; I don't really think of the stuff I do as "exercise". The Garmin(s) I have go well with the life I live.

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

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

In all honesty, if you are serious about Triathlon tracking for training and competitions... I value my tracker GREATLY. It is a tool I rely on, almost bordering on necessity (for me at least). Garmin Forerunner is a tired and true line - if I didn't have my Fenix, I'd be rocking a Forerunner! And for a specialized discipline, I'd use specialized trackers (Garmin, Coros, Suunto). I also have seen people using the Instinct line as a more budget friendly option. \[not sure if anyone here can expand on their experience with the Garmin Instinct\] I've had FitBit and they don't last. After a years and multiple issues, I switched to Garmin and have been headache free! Costs a little more, but saved me money in 15 months time. Highly recommend saving up for it.

I'm very disappointed in my Fenix for gym (and it sounds like the same fault applies to all garmins) because of the logging of reps. When I do a workout it will assume I used the weights I specified, but then it seems to either auto-log reps, which is a disaster for things that don't involve hand movements, and require me to correct them, or assume I did zero and require me to enter the whole lot. If I'm doing 60 sets I honestly don't have the patience to manually enter the rep number, so I use a phone ap instead. The thing that really annoys me though is that it would be so easy for Garmin to make a tiny programing change and start with the assumption that you hit your target. Surely for most people who have a reasonably well-made workout this would mean they only need to change a small fraction of their reps. I have suggested they make that tiny change, as have others, but so-far it has fallen on deaf ears. Hopefully more people will suggest it, until eventually they do it. But for now I'd say stick with the apple watch.

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

For me it helps a lot to have insight into your performance and your progress. It also really motivates me to continue running because every run generates more data and your insight gets better and better. But whether it also motivates you is of course impossible for us to estimate. I started with an FR55 and because of all the insights I switched to the FR255 and then a Fenix ​​7 Pro. I can guarantee you that the FR255 is a very good watch that you will absolutely not regret.

Garmin Fenix. I will always be team Garmin. Apple is a smart watch with fitness features while Garmin is a fitness watch with smart features. There are certain garmins that have more fitness functions and features than others - even among the new models. Some are more “lifestyle” watches (like venu). So just be aware of that when choosing. When I went from my venu2+ to my Fenix, a host of new features opened up for me that I now could not do without. Check out the r/garmin sub for sure if you think you might go that route

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

I am an AWU → Garmin Fenix convert and have done pretty extensive testing with both, and against dedicated sensors. I have found for basically all metrics where the watch sensors are the source, the Apple Watch is more accurate when compared against the Garmin watch, although dedicated sensors are more accurate than both. I haven’t tried the Garmin chest strap or dynamics pod, but I have compared to a Polar H10 for HR and a Stryd pod for running dynamics. It’s always H10/Stryd > Apple Watch > Garmin. The discrepancy is much higher for HR than running dynamics. I think it is straight up irresponsible to rely on wrist-based HR is you’re using HR as a part of training, but the running dynamics from both watches are more than good enough for most people.

Just buy a fenix and turn notifications etc off. Calls it the only thing that I have on but that also can be turned off.

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

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

After the first week of using Race S I did a full factory reset of the watch and was ready to return it back to the store, but at the end couldn't force myself to do that because there were some elements of experience that I really liked. At the end I decided to sacrifice some features of Garmin for the simplicity and comfort of Race S and haven't used my Garmin Fenix 7X even once in the last 3 months. I am more of a trail ultrarunner so I don't really do structured workouts. But I use map and navigation a lot. I provided the same feedback with regards to turn notifications on the Suunto Forum. They heard it, at least the beta testers who have a direct channel to the Suunto team, so hopefully a change is coming. I provided tons of other feedback and a few minor bug reports as well. The main problem with Garmin is that I simply no longer trust reliability. Garmin may have a lot of software engineers but their software engineering culture is crap - they don't make nearly enough effort to ensure quality and bizzare bugs and crashes make it to public releases on every software update. Every single update may fix a few issues but introduces a bunch of new bugs. Even when serious bugs are reported in their beta forums, they tend to ignore that and release updates with those bugs regardless. They simply don't respect their users, and I no longer want to pay my money for that. I was fairly active on Garmin Forums and with their customer support and reported a lot of issues. In almost 5 years they addressed only one software issue of many issues that I had reported. The Suunto software development team isn't agile for sure, but at least they do a much better job ensuring the quality. I think that despite preferring Suunto I'll probably move to Coros in the future. I do prefer the design of Suunto but Coros is simply more agile in terms of new features and software updates. They sponsor a lot of prominent trail ultrarunners, including Kilian Jornet, and seem to understand this user segment.

If you have the bucks Garmin Felix 7X is your ticket. But costs a lot. Similarly, Garmin Quatix 7 , which is better for OTW. Polar Vantage M2, would be my choice. But it doesn’t count stroke rate.

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

Nothing if you compare fr965 to fenix 7pro or fenix 8 or enduro 3.

fenix 7s pro

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

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

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

Honestly, there's a TON of overlap between Whoop and any other tracker you need. It'll have your HR and HRV, recovery scores, and target strain. The ability to broadcast HR to your phone should let you cover runs and bike rides in strava. Look into various Garmin options if you want something that can record multisport events, I think Coros can do those too. But if you just want something for easy workout tracking that records swim laps and ride/run HR + GPS route, a cheap Fitbit would do the trick as well. Personally, I use a Whoop plus a Garmin Fenix. The whoop is overkill, honestly, since Garmin has a "body battery" recovery metric and can tell you how hard to go with the training on any given day. I use the Whoop because I deal with behaviors very similar to exercise bulimia and I need something that literally tells me, "you've worked hard enough today, it is time to stop." If I didn't need that, a Garmin would absolutely be sufficient on its own.

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

I have a Garmin Fenix which supports both pool and open water swimming. It’s expensive but you can buy a slightly older model or wait for a sale to make it more affordable (or find one 2nd hand on eBay)

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

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

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

I like my Garmin Fenix. Someone here pointed out that grips stop the workout and that’s true. Straps and grips and a certain angle can hit that button and it sucks. Other than that it does its job really really well. I hate whoop though. It being maybe 3% more accurate with some metrics isn’t enough for me to have to wear the whoop and watch (smart or otherwise). Couple that with the subscription cost. It’s just not worth it for your everyday/local comp person. They’re all trash if you have tattoos on your wrist though. The internal HR monitor struggles there. I use a chest strap or just rotate the watch to the inner part of my wrist.

It's OK at counting reps. It's mid-at-best for determining the exercise. The calorie estimation based on HR during weights is pretty bad.

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

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

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

Can't go wrong with Garmin imho. I've had a fenix and a couple of forerunners, and they've all worked great.

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

I have a fenix 7 pro and also switched from a galaxy watch. With headphones in you can answer calls and listen to music. For calls you do need to have your headphones connected to your phone itself and then you can click to answer with your watch. You can also control the music playing from your phone with the watch. Otherwise if you don't bring your phone with you can listen to music directly off the watch and you can download playlists from Spotify when you're home.

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

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)

Garmin fenix works fine in sauna

Garmin Fenix 7 sapphire solar gets my vote.

You can make workout plans and start/end sets on the fenix. You can even edit I think but it is complicated. I think there is even a automatic rep counting but I do not use it since it was mediocre on another watch and I hate to edit it if it goes wrong. The building of workout plans with the connect app is ok but not great. Same goes for the workout on the watch, it is ok but it could be way better from a usability perspective. Now the bad part for real strength training: No graphs of your progress, no real inclusion of metrics into the overall trainings load. It only measures times (of the sets/the workout) and heartrate. No high heartrate - no real inclusion in the training load. No graphs of your weight progress. It is just not the focus of the fenix. Still a great watch but if your main focus is strength training you might better use a dedicated app.

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

Another happy Fenix user here. I bought it for the battery life, as I do ultras on occasion and prior watches would not last for 50+ mile races. So far, the only initial downside was the weight, but I'm used to it by now and hardly notice anymore. Otherwise, the battery life if phenomenal and has never failed me in a race (or for days afterward).

Get a Fenix 7 pro. You can find them at only slightly higher price levels than the FR 965

Possibly, but the price difference is negligible (might depend on where you live).

My Fénix 7 pro has a 28 day battery life when fully charged. Now it may be a few days less in reality but at least 3 weeks. That, to me, is gold. None of this charging daily business. I think the threshold or usefulness is 1 week for battery life. That way, you can pick one time slot when you are going to say be in a 2 hour meeting and get the watch charged. It’s what I do - the watch is on my wrist 23 hours and 45 min a day. Only comes off when I take a shower.

That's what I did, I had a Forerunner and when it was time to upgrade, went ahead and upgraded to Fenix.

Quantified scientist use the Dreem 2 head band for a reference device when testing sleep stage accuracy. The problem is tho; a recently large study shows the Dreem 2 band is only 52%-80% accurate. So if the reference device is not accurate how is his conclusions accurate ? Garmins HR sensor is not great on Rob but the Venu 3 is excellent on his girlfriend Theresa (98-99%) accurate .. So, its highly individual how accurate the sensor will be on you There are MANY testers out there like Desfit, DCrainmaker, Chase the Summit that thinks the new sensor is as good as apples. I feel Quantified scientist is becoming more and more biased as he has discount deals with both Apple and Oura.. Check out fit gear hunters videos on the new sensor - he does the same Correlation value thing ad quantified scientist and his conclusions after 16 workouts its 98,4% accurate compared to a chest strap. Fenix 7 pro is the best WHR ive ever had - and i came from Apple ultra. I like to run with a chest strap and compare the two results because im a nerd - and 95% of the time its spot on, and when its off its only by 1-3 beats. 3 beats off is rare and dosent happen every run.

Ive had the 945lte, Fenix 7x and now the Fenix 8 and i have NEVER had any bugs or problems. I might be lucky or the people complaining might be unlucky... Just remember this: if you enjoy a product and it just works flawlessly you would maybe recommend the product to 1-2 people. But if you had a really bad experience people tell 10+ about it and complain on forums.. If i could do one thing over i would go for the Fenix 8 Solar and not amoled. If you love long battery life go for Fenix 8 Solar or enduro 2 or 3. Especially if you plan to log long activities like hiking.

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

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

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

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

Garmin Fenix is the best for snow sports

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