Garmin 010-01733-00 Fenix 5X Sapphire - Slate Gray with Black Band

There is really nothing bad I can say about this watch. I do have (and love) the massive G-Shocks, the Suunto Ambit series, and several Garmin products including their Edge I use for Cycling, Approach for golf, and the Tactix model that I have in my rotation of watches that I wear. I purchased the 51mm case size (Im getting older and need a larger screen) with the silicone band. Physically, the watch is a good size with an incredible color screen, and the band is very comfortable. The band is also perfectly long enough even for my very large wrist and it changes out very quickly with Garmins ingenious design. As an aside, really, how long has it taken watch makers to finally invent a way to easily remove and exchange watch bands in just a matter of seconds without making it look cheap and without tools! The customizability of just about all aspects of the software and how you use it on the watch is the most exceptional Ive ever seen. You can move applications or widgets/data fields that you use the most installed right where you can easily access them, instead of having to negotiate though tedious submenus. I really only purchased this watch to include in the rotation of watches that I wear and when I travel and I need to have maps and GPS readily available to me. The one thing Ive noticed is that over the years, the acquisition of the GPS signal has gotten much quicker; this watch gave me a full signal in just a couple of seconds and while I was inside and about 5 feet away from a window in my house. Just to be clear as a reviewer, Im not going to use it for exercise since I just ride my bike and have the Edge model for that data and when I golf, I have the Approach model that I snap on my belt, so my perspective is for just using it as an every day watch. Another fantastic feature is the Garmin Connect IQ store where you can get free apps, widgets, data fields, and watch faces (Ive downloaded and installed quite a few of each). The connectivity feature with your phone and through the Express program on your computer is another feature where I believe Garmin has the upper hand. This watch is very comfortable and the most powerful wearable GPS unit Ive ever used. Im sure youll be equally as impressed.

This incredible new watch from Garmin allows you to leave your phone in your pocket, or even at home. It has the functionality of the Apple & Moto Watches, but also much, much more! Lets start with the least important feature (to me), its attractiveness and comfort. Someone confused mine with a Bell & Ross (think fancy watch). It is substantial in feeling, but still light weight and unobtrusive when you play sports. The band is waterproof, and you can easily find your fit since there are narrowly spaced notches. As for functionality, it has everything you would want in a watch to track your activities. It will track your running (road, trail, track or treadmill), hiking, climbing (of course it tracks your altitude), swimming, cycling, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, rowing (indoor or outdoor), golf, and even stand up paddle boarding! Are there any other sports one would like to track their activity level??? Just leave your bulky, distracting phone at home! Also, it seamlessly connects to your smartphone and provides weather, alerts (messages, important emails, or any other alerts you set), controls your music, and can even find your phone. All those above so you dont have to pick up your phone during that meeting, movie, or any other event that requires all (ok, nothing requires all, most!) of your attention! You can even check what time it is without putting your phone in your hands and giving yourself the temptation to open it and its many treasures inside. Imagine, interacting with friends, business associates, family members as if you are giving them your fullest attention ... little do they know, about your tricky little friend, the Garmin Fenix 5x!

The watch itself exceeds all of my expectations. Everything was going great. Updating my software and realize the maps are for Europe preinstalled when I was expecting topographic maps of America. I contacted OE USA and they gave the following options: 1) they would create a return label and send a replacement watch with the appropriate maps. (I really liked the watch and didnt want to have to wait a couple more days to have the watch again.) 2. They would let me return the watch for a full refund or 3) I would purchase the maps from Garmin ($99.99) and they would refund the price of the maps. I went with the third option and I am loving the watch. Primarily for fitness and multi sport users. I can see some people getting this watch just for the looks also but at $700, you should use the watch the way it was designed to (out in the wild) and use all the bells and whistles on this thing. The watch is unbelievably light. When I saw the watch, my initial thought was, Holy crap thats a gorgeous watch, but this thing is totally going to be heavy.......hey this isnt too bad.... If you have the money and are looking for a very technical watch that will last you MULTIPLE DAYS on a single charge, just do it. Its worth it.

Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire. This is one great looking watch. Used the Garmin Connect IQ App to add the “Crystal” watch face which is awesome. Really easy to see in the daylight, I can check my data in a second while I’m riding and launching the Bike program takes only seconds. Getting used to the button functions takes a few days but it’s mostly intuitive. Adding or editing data on the Garmin Connect App couldn’t be easier. I can’t comment on the accuracy of the HR monitor but it seems to mimic my prior Fitbit Charge 2 , resting rate is the same. Sleep tracking is pretty basic and works for my purposes. The watch automatically connected to the Ant+ signal from my bike headlight but if it can do the same with my cadence counter I don’t know how to do it. Seamless data transfer from Garmin app to MyFitnessPal. So far I’m pleased with battery life, haven’t tracked it but it lasts at least a week and that’s using GPS 4-5x a week for 1.5 hour rides. I’d give it 5 stars if I could figure out how to connect it to more stuff and analyze the data easier. Fitbit’s website is more robust in that area. I’m very happy with my watch and the deal I scored on it on Prime Day.

I switched from Apple Watch to Garmin and I can’t see myself ever going back. I don’t miss the touch screen at all. Navigating this Watch can be a little weird at first but after the first week I could navigate anywhere. The App Store does have some neat apps for the Watch. Biggest pro: Battery Life. After having an Apple Watch and charging it every other day this is a huge plus. Biggest flaw:The size of the Watch This Watch is big. Going from an Apple Watch to this was different. It’s much taller and a lot wider. But after having it on a few days I have gotten used to it although it’s a little more awkward to wear with full length sleeves. Workout tracking is awesome on this. It gives me a real time print out of my heart rate and the heart zone I’m in. After the workout it will tell me how long recovery should be. It breaks down my aerobics vs anaerobic activity. Much more in depth than Apple Watch.

100% love this watch and wear it a my daily watch in addition to, of course, my training. Im not going to get into all of the specifics about the watchs functions and capabilities. Ill just let you know why I like it. Im new to the whole tracking your fitness with your watch game - so I immediately decided to just get the best of the best and go with this one. I love this watch, and how it syncs so seamlessly with the Garmin App. I love being able to have all of my runs and workouts stored in the app so effortlessly. I love having my texts and other notifications pop up on the watch instead of having to grab my phone - I am a wedding videographer full-time so its nice to be able to check texts coming in from my assistant without having to drop what Im doing to reach for my phone. No, you cant respond to notifications from the watch directly, but who cares? It would be silly to try and reply from your watch or TALK to your watch anyways. I leave my phone at home on my runs so I like how I can come home and have all of the data sync up immediately after my runs. GPS works great. HRM works well.. I cant find anything bad to say about this watch, honestly. Satisfied customer - money well spent -

Overall, it is an excellent Garmin Watch. With ANT compatible, with SRAM AXS, probably the real reason I was willing to buy this. Otherwise, I would stay with the other cheaper option of the GPS Garmin Watch. A bit on a heavier side... not that I notice/mind the weight when wearing, just worrying a hard drop on the ground when I am removing the watch. Pro • Fast GPS Signal pickup/connection when starting • Excellent battery life as it claims • A lot of customization views • ANT Compatible with SRAM AXS (Biggest Reason I bought this, and now I am even thinking about PowerMeter ☹️...) Con • Still lack of Current Time/Clock view when in Tracking/GPS Mode • Heartrate is on diff screen when not in tracking/GPS mode (you have to press a button or 2 to view your heartrate • No Heartrate in View as option when in Tracking/GPS Mode • maybe too big/bulky/heavy to wear while sleeping.

This is the second refurbed garmin I have bought. I waited to review until I had enough time to extensively test the features I use the most. The first was only replaced due to the lack of multisport functions and battery life still works today. I am very pleased with this watch, it came in amazon packaging no original box but looked new with no noticeable defects. The battery life is awesome, I have been able to put hours of training into it without any low batt warnings. At the time I picked this watch up it was $120 below retail. It has already payed for itself on multiple occasions by saving my butt with the tracking feature when I have hiked off trail or up dense mountain ranges and needed a way back. It has gone through the ringer with me at the gym, in the pool or with the weights, 115 degree heat and snow. The sapphire glass has held up with no scratches.

This is generally a watch designed for the uber-sports guy/girl, but Im not. I do some open-water swimming and general workouts, but Im no triathalon guy running 20 miles with sensors all over my body. Im pretty much a lazy bum who sits in front of a computer all day. So why the fenix?? Well, my last watch was a pebble steel. This is truly the closest comparison. Ive been through several, most recently the fitbit ionic (which I returned after a week). Here are the priorities: 1. Always On. Sorry apple watch people and ionics, etc... If Ive got a kid on one hip and a bag of groceries in the other, I dont want to be doing some weird flex/gyrate to get my hand in the right position to see the time. I want to glance down at my wrist thats already facing me and see the time. Youd think this isnt a big deal, but next time you look at your watch,bring it up level, close your eyes then roll it towards yourself and open your eyes when its facing you. Its a slight pause but thats what you get with a watch that isnt LCD. Sure, its pretty when its on, but seriously? I want the time or the text, period. 2. Sunlight. The Fenix/Pebble use a color LCD screen. In the sun its even more bright and crisp. At night, its dark, but it has a back light, just like the apple watch or fitbit ionic does, where you have to roll it towards yourself, or pick it up just right (except its much more adjustable). Like most people, however, I dont hang out in the dark all day. When Im out and about, I want to see the time/texts 3. Readability. The Fenix/Pebble let you read the entire text or email. I dont know why, but the ionic didnt let me see anything but the date, part of the subject and who it was from. The fenix lets you see that and then read the rest if you want. (like the pebble). 4. Connectability. The Fenix/Pebble both maintain a solid connection. With the ionic, I had terrible trouble keeping it connected. I had several others that were even worse, but cost less than $100, so I cant compare. 5. Interface. The Fenix/Pebble are button nav. This is a 2 way street, but think carefully about your life here. I happen to swim, meaning my hands are wet and that isnt good for touch screens. I go to cold places where I have gloves on, and that isnt good for touch screens. It took some getting used to, but after a week or so, I could navigate around the Fenix even faster than the pebble. Its very snappy and you can reach various items from more than one direction. Pretty cool. 6. App Store. Both the Fenix and Pebble have custom apps made by both Garmin and independent programmers. Its not nearly as large a selection of programmers, but I think its coming up. Ionic actually uses a javascript/typescript base for its app, so my guess is that their app-store will grow quite faster, but I think the hardware itself has some problems that a software fix isnt going to help. The Fenix has a bunch of cool gadgets that Ill never use, but its cool to have them. If you bike or hike or do things where you need to track your GPS location and altitude and heartbeat.... the Fenix does it all. For me.... meh. Oh.... and just a note again about the #1 issue of always on. Look at the pics I have posted. Its me at work with my hand on a keyboard. If Im coding away like the geek I am, and I get an email, I want to glace at my wrist and see if thats something I can ignore and just move on without even stopping typing. If youre a coder, you know exactly how debilitating it is to take your hands off your keyboard to check something or even switch over from whatever app youre coding in to your email..... even if its just a few keystrokes.... you lose your flow.

Ive had my Fenix 5S Sapphire (black) for a few days now and I LOVE it. I have the worlds narrowest wrists so obviously I was stoked when this smaller watch came out. Of course its still bigger than your average show or work watch, but they packed quite the punch into it. Its actually not very noticeable on my wrist; its light and Im very comfortable sleeping with it. This is my first watch that does anything beyond displaying time and a stop watch, so I was a bit overwhelmed at first with all its app-craft and widgetry. Within a day I nailed down its pertinent features, activities and customization, and theres still so much more to discover. I wanted this watch particularly for its stand alone gps tracking, plus the altimeter/barometer, and compass. It synchs with my iPhone immediately to display more detailed data for me to peruse (I.e. Sleep patterns, courses, average pace records throughout the activity, etc). You can also race your saved activity paces! Its perfect for my kind of activities: run training, trail exploring (has map features and reverse routing assistance), hiking data, and sleeping (yes its an important activity). I didnt think Id care for the smart notification capabilities and I actually turned emails off. I do find myself using it very often when I get texts and it allows me to separate from my phone a bit more at home. Im hoping one day there will be a customizable watch with a la carte capabilities/sensors to shed off the price (I dont golf or swim), but until then, this is the watch to get and wont disappoint for the price.