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

I went from a Galaxy watch to this watch and at first I hated the lack of smartness to it. But in reality, I like it more now because I dont get bugged by constant alerts about my life on my wrist. I got it as a training watch but I wear it every day and all night. I love that it tracks sleep, it lasts at least a week unless you work out hours a day, it is integrated with the Connect environment, and is really one of the best adventure watches you could ask for. I wanted it for hiking, but it turned out being a big factor in me getting back into fairly decent running shape and it became my cycling computer. It works so well, that it convinced me to upgrade my Edge 800 to the 830 for the advanced metrics the new devices give and I am every trying to convince myself to get the 6X. It is huge, but I am 61 and it fits well on my wrist. It doesnt play music and music control for your phone isnt great... but the 6X has it haha. The GPS isnt all that great for serious running and the barometric altimeter has a pretty serious drift too large for reliable data in flat terrain. I live at sea level and in flat terrain and the drift is 100 ft or so throughout a bike ride or longer run. Sure, it is within the GPS accuracy but I demand a lot from my altimeter. For hiking, the altimeter can work like a charm if you properly calibrate it and such. Sometimes it was a few hundred ft off and when I pay attention to calibration it was within 50ft - closest you will really get. Overall... I love this watch and it hurts my wallet to say that I dont see getting a watch outside of the Fenix line until some other company targets this line specifically. I know there is Suunto... but they are similar enough for me to stick with the Connect ecosystem since I do multiple sports that are in the Garmin environment.

What can this watch not do?! I bought it as a gift for my husband (who was appalled at the expense, to be honest) for our major anniversary. He has taken to working out again and I wanted to support that with a superb heart rate device that also had a rowing and running option. When I saw the GPS feature I knew it would make a superb option for those emergency situations...I also was looking for a HR device that had a metal band since the silicone ones give him a rash. Add on the tough sapphire option and I was sold. Yes, its BIG. I tried like hell to understand the different options of Garmins but it was just ridiculous. Could I put the metal band on a less expensive model? Dunno. Does this fancy one come in a smaller case? Dunno. So I defaulted for the option that had all the features and the band and called it a day. He LOVES it. Loves the data it kicks out, loves the battery length, loves the band options. And, if sent to Hurricane Harvey, will love the GPS option to aid in getting around an unknown area without a lot of street signs left. Is the watch worth the price? If it wasnt for the anniv date pending I would have waited a year to see if the price dropped. Is the warranty really brief for such an expensive item? Hell, yes. Ridiculously so. That is my only negative. Will I try to get an add-on warranty if I can? Yep. This is NOT the item for someone who just goofs around with working out and heart rate info. Any manufacturer will meet that intro-level need. But if you are looking for detailed data as well as SHTF compass. alt. gps data this is the one.

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.

I purchased the Fenix 5S Sapphire - Champagne. The watch is solid and well built. Setup if you take a little time and read the instructions is easy. I spent about 15 min with the instructions and had it all set up on WiFi, connected to Garmin Connect and Note5 phone. That also included the Screen protector, and most of the screen setups. My technical level is above average but setup is easy if you follow the instructions. Battery life is good. With GPS used about 4-6hrs/week and wearing it 24/7 battery will last about 1 week. I have found that I can charge it a couple days a week while driving to and from work (~30min each way) will keep it charged or about 2hrs once a week. A typically 2hr long run with GPS will drain battery about 10%. Typically day without GPS 3-4%. Data from watch is great. Especially if you have the HRM to pair with it. I have used it for Running, Treadmill Running, Biking, and Pool Swimming. Running tracks the same as my Garmin 310XT did but with a lot more data., Treadmill Running after 6mi was .09mi off of treadmill. I had to run 6.09mi on treadmill to reach 6mi. on watch. Biking is same as 310XT. Pool swimming is nice as you tell it what length of pool you are swimming in and it will keep track of how many laps you do and how far you swim. Automatically connects with WiFi when I come in to range of home network and same with Bluetooth for phone. Watch bands swap easily and stay firmly attached. I like the metal band for dress and silicone band for work and exercise. Both very comfortable to wear. For smaller wrists the 5S fits very nicely and is slightly larger than my Citizen watch and lighter. Counting Steps is not always very accurate. If exercise app is running it seems very accurate, however, if you are just walking around depending on if you are pushing something, swinging your arms, carrying something or standing and moving your arms then may or may not be very accurate. One area I have noticed accuracy to be low is in the shower. Typical shower will yield about 400 steps that I do not take. I have not measured how many extra or missed steps with other activities yet. It does seem to track similar to most other step counting devices like fitbit, Jawbone, and other smart watches. The more you use it the more it starts to give better information on VO2, Lactate Threshold, Training Effect, and Training status. Some of them require the chest strap HRV Stress does require Chest Strap as does Lactate Threshold. Step goal adjusts based on how many steps a day you take. It will adjust it up or down accordingly. Bottom line if you are looking for a sports watch that you can also wear as a smart watch and have it look like a nice watch then this is for you. Yes it is expensive, and it does lack some smart functionality that Apple and Samsung have but for sports it is top notch. I believe that garmin will add more functionality to smart notifications over time. This watch is a sports watch first and smart watch second. Hands down it is the best sports watch on the market and paired with the HRM it will give you more than enough data to help you improve in just about any sport.

I love the Fenix range they have amazing build, ease of use and long battery life. I especially love the multi sport options. For some reason the heart rate monitor falls short of recording actuals by about 20% so I use a strap on heart rate monitor. Perfect sports watch.

I’ve owned this watch for about a month - the 42mm 5s with sapphire crystal. I’ve owned a couple Garmin GPS watches over the years. This was the first time I wanted to look specifically for a watch that could be a “do everything” watch - constant HR monitoring, GPS enabled for running/hiking/biking, but also small and subtle enough that it could be worn with my daily office attire (suit + tie most days). I thought this smaller Fenix, marketed primarily toward women, would be perfect. Functionally speaking, the watch mostly lived up to expectations. I was initially disappointed by the inaccuracy of the wrist-based HRM during activities. My first activity was a short, high intensity gym workout that left me gasping on the floor afterward, but the Fenix HRM clocked my max heart rate for the workout as about 119 bpm. Uh, what? Afterward I paired the watch with a HRM strap from one of my old Garmin watches. This immediately improved the watch’s HR tracking accuracy during activities. I guess some part of me had hoped the watch could be a stand-alone HRM device for both daily use and activity-specific use, but it appears the wrist-based HRM is not up to the task for that. Bummer. Otherwise, functionality has been very good. This watch syncs to GPS much faster than my previous Garmin watches. Steps counted seems much more accurate than with other fitness trackers I have used, which always seemed to overestimate pretty badly (e.g. telling me I’d walked several hundred steps overnight when in reality I may have gotten up and gone across the hall to use the bathroom once). The ability to customize watch faces is pretty cool - I customized two different faces that I like to switch between, including a simple, negative display analog face for business hours and an easy-to-read, positive digital display for the rest of the time. My main disappointment with the Fenix 5s, which is fairly specific to my own intended use of the watch, is that despite being marketed as a “small” women’s watch, it is neither small nor sleek enough for me to wear with a suit. The steel case makes the watch heavy. The lugs are very long and very straight, presumably to accommodate the design of the quickfit straps. And the watch is fairly thick and blocky in profile. I knew the watch wasn’t going to serve the purpose I wanted because it was too chunky to slide under my shirt cuff and felt bulky and awkward to wear during the day. Don’t get me wrong - it is still on the small side compared to many fitness trackers. But if you think this is the fitness tracker that you can pass off as an ordinary wristwatch, think again. Plus, while the quickfit strap is interesting, the number of straps available for this watch is pretty limited. I contacted Garmin to find they do not sell the buckles separately - so if I wanted to use one of Garmin’s available spare straps, I would either have to use a silver buckle with my all-black watch, or else install the black buckle that came with my black strap onto any other strap I might want to use. Kind of defeats the purpose of the “easy” quickfit system. Limited strap selection is not an issue with other Garmin watches that don’t use the new quickfit system, like the Forerunner 645, that can accept any generic 20mm watch strap with any generic buckle. I ended up going to my local REI to try on alternatives and found that the Forerunner 645 actually served my purposes better. Despite having a wider diameter on paper (42.5mm vs the 42mm Fenix), the 645 is significantly thinner, significantly lighter, has much shorter lugs, and has a softer, domed bezel design, which all allow the watch to slide easily under my sleeve cuff while I’m at work. Functionally they are more or less the same watch. The Fenix has a few more features but they are mostly things I don’t use anyway.

I have been using Garmin for several years now to track my running (road and Trail), cycling (road and mtb) and swimming (pool and open water). I debated long and hard about going to the Fenix 5x and compared to the latest comparable Suunto products and other Garmin products (935), but in the end decided to stay with Garmin and the Fenix. I’ve had the forerunner 310 and 920 and found them solid and reliable. The only real issues I’ve had were operator created issues...if Garmin could just read my mind that would be great so tracking could start when I forget. 1 week into using the Fenix and I really am impressed with the Fenix. I’ve had it outside running, on the treadmill, in the pool and tracking my indoor bike training sessions...there has been a slight learning curve, but I have been able to jump right in and use the Fenix and it has performed flawlessly. One of the benefits of getting the Fenix 5x a year after its launch is that many of the bugs and issues I saw others report seem to be worked out. GPS picks up incredibly fast and tracking has been accurate. It is heavier than my 920 which I’m adapting to. I was also worried about the screen resolution, but so far I have found it clear and easy to read. I have used some screen faces and custom fields that were too small for me to see comfortably, but I just switch to something more friendly to my eye sight. I will likely provide another update after using the Fenix 5x for the next few months of a busy race (run and Tri) season.

My previous watch was a Suunto. I really like Suunto, but their Spartan Sport HR doesn’t stack up to the Garmin Fenix 5. Pros: Accurate wrist heart rate (For me, Suunto’s Wrist HR wasn’t accurate on runs. Not even close) Quick and accurate GPS Water resistant down to Puerto Rican trench depths, not quite : ) but deep enough. Vivid display - especially outdoors Long batter life Good application and widget library, e.g., control your music from phone via watch. Comfortable, not too bulky or heavy Garmin Connect software is excellent and features a plethora of stats Plenty of customizable display menus during training for each sport mode Easily swap wrist bands Software on watch and Garmin Connect has been very stable. Cons: Pricey Casing is part stainless steel and fiber reinforced polymer. Should be metal in lieu of polymer. I’ve heard it’s durable nonetheless. Glass on watch is not sapphire. Wise to purchase additional protection. This isn’t too bad since the glass covers are inexpensive and fit very nicely and unrecognizable on face.

A really great device, very simple to use with the app and is so much easier to make use of than my older ABC watch. Of note, the battery lasts forever! It will capture my text messaging, weather, and the now normally expected data points. The ABC portion of the watch is excellent and clearly visible and more importantly, usable. There are some good watch faces available. I would definitely buy it again. Grips: 1. Watch face is tough to see inside. Its clearly visible in direct sunshine and the back light works well in the dark. But inside or under the shade of forest cover, its really not that easy see. I suspect this was simply a trade off for battery time, in which case it was worth the power/display balance. 2. App store is okay but certainly not in the league of the iTunes app store (but really who is). When they finally put a better screen on the device, it will be an easy 5/5 rating. Even so, Im very happy that I purchased this over an apple watch, which my daughter has for comparison.

I have been using the 5S sapphire for 3 months now and I have to say that I am super impressed! First off, Size: I have small to medium wrists. Reading that the s version is for women, I was initially worried if it would be too small. However, the size is perfect! I called Garmin and they said that the S version is for male and females with small / medium wrists. Build: I am happy that I went with the Sapphire edition. Knowing that I dont have to worry about scratches gives me the peace of mind to use the watch as I please. The quality of the the build is premium and it feels great on my wrist while also looking great! Functions: Very impressed with the excellent functionality of the watch. Everything is accurate including sleep tracking ( compared it to Fitbit Charge 3 on the other wrist). Love the variety of exercise tracking options. Garmin Connect IQ: I am impressed with how quickly the watch syncs with the app (8 secs or less). Love the design of the app and the wealth of information provided. Battery: Consistently lasts 7 days in regular non-gps watch mode! This is exactly why I bought this watch over any Wear OS watch. Did not want to bother with having to charge every night. The only negative I can think of is that I wish there were more watch face options available. But this is a minor issue given that the selection that exists is not bad at all! Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in buying!