Garmin Watch

[Ou812]

I’m currently using an Apple Watch but have been looking at Garmin watches. I’m wanting something I don’t have to charge every single day, I forgot to put my watch on the charger again last night and only got about 45 mins out of it before it died on my run today.

For those of you that use them, which one did you go with? There’s so many options and they all start overlapping. I’d be using it mainly for MTB so I’d like it to be able to connect to my bike (Levo) but I’d also use it for my rowing and running. The other problem I have is skinny wrists, most of the ones I’ve seen people wearing look absolutely huge! I don’t want to look like Flava-Flav

 

[Prairie Dog]

I’m currently using an Apple Watch but have been looking at Garmin watches. I’m wanting something I don’t have to charge every single day, I forgot to put my watch on the charger again last night and only got about 45 mins out of it before it died on my run today.

For those of you that use them, which one did you go with? There’s so many options and they all start overlapping. I’d be using it mainly for MTB so I’d like it to be able to connect to my bike (Levo) but I’d also use it for my rowing and running. The other problem I have is skinny wrists, most of the ones I’ve seen people wearing look absolutely huge! I don’t want to look like Flava-Flav

My wife is quite happy with her Garmin Fenix 6S Standard which is specifically made for people with smaller wrists. She intentionally wanted a watch that didn’t look overwhelming and this is coming from a person who had never worn a timepiece her entire life. It monitors her every metric from hydration, HRV, body battery, recovery time and most importantly her sleep patterns. Pairing her phone was easy as is syncing to the Garmin Connect app. She’s worn the Fenix for approx. 2 yrs now and finds that the frequency of charging has dropped slightly from four down to every three days but that's not in battery saver mode. I also believe her watch has an option for e-bike as well as for emtb mode. The only caveat might be the small display of the watch compared to other devices but that is a minor issue that we’ve all learned to accept with age.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/641501/pn/010-02159-01#overview

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Garmin Epix.

Half price here.

Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Black Silicone Strap Smartwatch|H.Samuel

Garmin's smartwatch enhances your lifestyle with 24/7 health monitoring, and smart notifications. Train with built-in sports apps and navigate confidently using enhanced satellite coverage and TopoActive mapping. Its durable design features a fibre-reinforced polymer case with a steel cover...

www.hsamuel.co.uk

 

[Cell4soul]

My wife is quite happy with her Garmin Fenix 6S Standard which is specifically made for people with smaller wrists. She specifically wanted a watch that didn’t look overwhelming and this is coming from a person who had never worn a timepiece her entire life. It monitors her every metric from hydration, HRV, body battery, recovery time and most importantly her sleep patterns. Pairing her phone was easy as is syncing to the Garmin Connect app. She’s worn the Fenix for approx. 2 yrs now and finds that the frequency of charging has dropped slightly from four down to every three days. I also believe her watch has an option for e-bike as well as for emtb mode. The only caveat might be the small display of the watch compared to other devices but that is a minor issue that we’ve all learned to accept with age.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/641501/pn/010-02159-01#overview

Same here. Trailforks and Strava apps work on it. It will use EMTB apps to show elevation, miles, AXS gear, EMTB battery life, etc. Think Garmin 830 in a watch. The battery drains quicker when tracking with GPS, but there is easily enough for long rides.

 

[Ou812]

Garmin Epix.

Half price here.

Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Black Silicone Strap Smartwatch|H.Samuel

Garmin's smartwatch enhances your lifestyle with 24/7 health monitoring, and smart notifications. Train with built-in sports apps and navigate confidently using enhanced satellite coverage and TopoActive mapping. Its durable design features a fibre-reinforced polymer case with a steel cover...

www.hsamuel.co.uk

That thing would look like a dinner plate on my wrist that’s a killer deal though.

 

[aarfeldt]

Let me suggest Venu 3S.
Great battery life, excellent screen, light + small, fully featured.

 

[Haveland]

I love my Epix 2. If it broke tomorrow I'd buy another one.

I said I'd never wear a watch again years ago, and I haven't taken this thing off now in 18 months. I don't run any battery-saving measures and charge it every Thursday.

I still use my Garmin Edge on my bike as my main way to track rides just because I like it. But would I buy the Edge now that I have the Epix It's likely not.

 

[Ark]

Hawei Gt4 is the budget fenix 7/epix2 and only costs £200, 14 days battery life on the manly version, or 7 days on the smaller watch face

I don't know if it will connect with your bike but it can broadcast HR to another device, I've not tested it with my bosch bike yet.

I've got one and really happy with it, no ECG but do most people really want that?

No doubt the Garmin app will be way better though

 

[Ou812]

It looks like the Fenix 6 has that was recommended has been replaced by the 7. I was looking at the Epix 2 but it seems the only difference between the Epix Pro and Fenix Pro is the screen with the Epix having the better screen. I think better life is roughly the same since I’d need the 42mm version.

 

[Ou812]

Hawei Gt4 is the budget fenix 7/epix2 and only costs £200, 14 days battery life on the manly version, or 7 days on the smaller watch face

I don't know if it will connect with your bike but it can broadcast HR to another device, I've not tested it with my bosch bike yet.

I've got one and really happy with it, no ECG but do most people really want that?

No doubt the Garmin app will be way better though

I’ll give this one a look too, thanks.

 

[Shorty4]

Garmin Instinct solar, occasionally when i'm not out side getting rays I have to charge it once a week for an hour or so but it's great for our climate here in Oz.
The solar might not do much in some places that people on this forum inhabit as it always seems to be wet and overcast looking at peoples pics.

 

[Dax]

I really like my Fenix 6, it’s a big watch but wears well and they reduced the thickness and tweaked the lug sizes so it seems less ridiculous than the older models. I get days of battery out of it, it’s great not having to worry about charging every night. Get one with a sapphire screen, they are much tougher.

Sport pursuit quite often has garmins on offer, might be worth a look.

 

[Maxi]

Venu 2 user (wife has the 2S for smaller wrists). It's a very good watch / health tracker and my only 'real' complaint is that Garmin have not released a eMTB mode for tracking.

If I was buying now, either the Venu 3 or Epix.

 

[Swissrider]

Garmin instinct 2. Got it for less than £200 (in Switzerland no less). I didn’t want the models with maps as I can’t read them without glasses and they are too heavy for me to wear when cycling as they bang around on one’s wrist. Battery life is at least five days unless I use gps. If you get the solar version you might never need to charge it. You can get this watch in a smaller size. Easy to read and tons of features. TBH, I prefer my edge for cycling, but I use the watch to broadcast heart rate to the edge. It’s a steep and long learning curve mastering these watches. I have found less is more - I customise each activity (I’ve used it for skiing, ski touring, x country skiing, hiking and SUP) with just the information I need on as few screens as possible. It’s worth backing up your settings. My watch crashed and I had to reset it to factory settings - it took many hours to get it back to how I wanted it

 

[Ou812]

I was able to check out a few watches today, looked at the Fenix 7 and the Epix Pro. I’m leaning towards the Epix Pro as I like the screen better, it’s way more defined than the screen on the Fenix. It doesn’t have solar charging but the sales person said it would last up to 7 days without needing to be charged.

I’m trying to decide on what size to go with now, the 47mm isn’t as horrendously huge as I thought it was going to be. I would want to use the sleep monitoring feature though so not sure how comfy it would be to sleep with.

 

[Ryawesome]

I wear a garmin fenix 6x sapphire. It’s a big watch, no doubt about that. I do love the size of it for the big screen and all the metrics i can see on it while riding or running. I have it set up with my kenevo to show exact battery percentage as well during riding (otherwise it’s just the 10 lines on the display for the comp version of the bike). The sapphire crystal on it is a real premium but for someone who is hard on watches and has smacked it off a few things, the watch still looks like new and not a scratch on the crystal. If you are somewhat serious about being active, trying to improve vo2max, etc, garmin is a fantastic platform between the watch and the app. I also wear it for sleep tracking. Took a while to get used to the cumbersome size but now it doesn’t bother me anymore.

 

[DaveG01]

Recently went from a 5 to a 7 as they were in a sale late last year. Wanted a longer lasting battery. I charged this a week ago and have ridden with it couple of times this week (short and digging). Still wont need a charge for quite a long time

 

[GoJoe]

I have a Forerunner 955 and can't say enough about it. Probably bigger than u want but the functionality and battery life are great!

 

[CrunchBytes]

I wear a garmin fenix 6x sapphire. It’s a big watch, no doubt about that. I do love the size of it for the big screen and all the metrics i can see on it while riding or running. I have it set up with my kenevo to show exact battery percentage as well during riding (otherwise it’s just the 10 lines on the display for the comp version of the bike). The sapphire crystal on it is a real premium but for someone who is hard on watches and has smacked it off a few things, the watch still looks like new and not a scratch on the crystal. If you are somewhat serious about being active, trying to improve vo2max, etc, garmin is a fantastic platform between the watch and the app. I also wear it for sleep tracking. Took a while to get used to the cumbersome size but now it doesn’t bother me anymore.

I also have the Fenix 6 Sapphire for eMTBing and running duties - I have an Orbea Rise and a Levo. The Orbea allows all sorts of metrics to be recorded using the RS Toolbox on the Fenix, but when on the Levo and using the 'eBike Field' plugin from JanCapek, I can't get the watch/Connect IQ to record battery usage over the ride. It shows battery % on the watch (which is useful), but doesn't record it. Any ideas how to get this working?

 

[eightdown]

Another Epix 2 user here. I’ve had a garmin since the fenix 4. Love these watches. They are built so well and have so many metrics. The Apple Watches have a more refined OS but the battery life on the garmin is just so unbeatable.

 

[Arminius]

Venu 2 user (wife has the 2S for smaller wrists). It's a very good watch / health tracker and my only 'real' complaint is that Garmin have not released a eMTB mode for tracking.

If I was buying now, either the Venu 3 or Epix.

Can confirm. Also user of Venue 2 in iOS environment for about 2 years and same „complaint“. Impressive tracking by GPS and HR accuracy on wrist. In std.mode battery life 10-12 days.

Poor battery was reason not to go with Apple watches.

One reason for the Venue was also that it is not so bulky.

 

[db840]

Epix 2 is, by far, the best watch I've ever used for an active life style. Fantastic for MTB.

 

[Chairman]

My forerunner 935 must be 7 years old now and never misses a beat. Pun intended. But is a really impressive piece of kit

 

[Frankyspec]

I also have the Fenix 6 Sapphire for eMTBing and running duties - I have an Orbea Rise and a Levo. The Orbea allows all sorts of metrics to be recorded using the RS Toolbox on the Fenix, but when on the Levo and using the 'eBike Field' plugin from JanCapek, I can't get the watch/Connect IQ to record battery usage over the ride. It shows battery % on the watch (which is useful), but doesn't record it. Any ideas how to get this working?

I have also the Rise and Fenix 6 but I can’t get RS Toolbox running on my watch? Do you know there is a video where you can see step by step how to connect? Thanks already for the help. I also use the Garmin 1030 plus . Off course you can see a lot info on the 1030 plus, but not the % of battery if I‘m not mistaken

 

[CrunchBytes]

I have also the Rise and Fenix 6 but I can’t get RS Toolbox running on my watch? Do you know there is a video where you can see step by step how to connect? Thanks already for the help. I also use the Garmin 1030 plus . Off course you can see a lot info on the 1030 plus, but not the % of battery if I‘m not mistaken

For the RS Toolbox, I followed the Orbea YouTube video (with many pauses and rewinds), but I bought the bike new, so registration wasn’t an issue.
But I’m sure that either the ’Steps EMTB‘ or the ‘ebike field’ apps will show battery % when connected to the Rise. I *think* you have to connect the app on the Garmin within 15s of switching on the bike, though. You can add the % battery (or RS Toolbox if using that) as a data field to an activity, and the eMTB activity is where I’ve added it.

 

[Giff]

I’m currently using an Apple Watch but have been looking at Garmin watches. I’m wanting something I don’t have to charge every single day, I forgot to put my watch on the charger again last night and only got about 45 mins out of it before it died on my run today.

For those of you that use them, which one did you go with? There’s so many options and they all start overlapping. I’d be using it mainly for MTB so I’d like it to be able to connect to my bike (Levo) but I’d also use it for my rowing and running. The other problem I have is skinny wrists, most of the ones I’ve seen people wearing look absolutely huge! I don’t want to look like Flava-Flav

The battery life is the archillies heel of the Apple watch and not a solution but have you tried Settings>Battery>Low power mode. It might help a bit....although the Garmin watches do seem good!

 

[LAWHITEY]

I swear by the Fenix watches, love how with my Shimano motor I can see the actual battery percentage on the watch rather than go off the bars in the display. I had the fenix 5 first, then the 6, now on the 6pro solar for the last 2 years. I did want one of the new ones and bought the Fenix 7 pro, I didn't feel it was an upgrade over what I had and not to mention the screen was really dull in full brightness so I sent it back. Then got the Epix Pro before Christmas, nice watch with the screen (as my eyes are going a bit) but again didn't feel much of an upgrade apart from the screen and didn't feel as solid/robust as my 6pro so sent that back too. I'm going to wait to see what the Fenix 8 brings, personally I'd love an Instinct with a colour screen, if ya listening Garmin.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I had the Fenix 6, Epix Gen 2 and now just ordered the Epix Pro 51mm.

What I want is a better HRM for gym and MTB - it can stop reading my HR on some stuff on MTB as it’s getting knocked around a bit. The new Epix Pro has an upgraded HRM on it.

The Epix has been great so far, battery life around 10 days with frequent GPS usage and screen on raise to wake. 51mm Epix has a bigger battery and very long (31 days?) battery life for the same use case as mine.

As well as the torch - I use my phone torch a ton so hope that having it on my watch will stop me having to use my phone so much.

 

[wenna]

I´m rocking my Fenix 3 from 2012, still going strong. Use if for just about every activity I do (biking, kayaking, paramotoring, swimming, skiing etc)

 

[Giff]

Just one point about the Epix v the Fenix. The Fenix is rated at 50 mts+ so great for snorkelling and even scuba diving. The Epic is surface swimming only which seems a bit of a downgrade for such an expensive watch. I know it won't affect MTB-ers (or shouldn't) but everyone goes on holiday !