Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Sapphire - Black Titanium

Epic watch, with everything you need, plus a little more. I went from an Apple watch to a Garmin, and couldn't be happier. The screen quality is great, the watch has most of the same features on the Fenix7, and the battery life is more than enough for your day to day needs. Highly recommend.

I did a lot of research prior to purchase, so there was no surprises in what this does or doesn't do. Getting used to the UI took a little while, and as someone who came from a few years as an Apple Watch wearer - maybe took more getting used to. Coming to this as your first device would be much simpler.In comparison, the Apple Watch is a great watch that has some fitness features - This device is a fitness device that also is a watch. There are many things I miss about the Apple Watch such as easier and more useful calendar and some other features, but I have gained more data and specialisation with this one. Both are good devices, just have different primary purposes. I even considered wearing both (but .. so far haven't :) ) As an aside, the Apple Watch lets ... MoreI did a lot of research prior to purchase, so there was no surprises in what this does or doesn't do. Getting used to the UI took a little while, and as someone who came from a few years as an Apple Watch wearer - maybe took more getting used to. Coming to this as your first device would be much simpler.In comparison, the Apple Watch is a great watch that has some fitness features - This device is a fitness device that also is a watch. There are many things I miss about the Apple Watch such as easier and more useful calendar and some other features, but I have gained more data and specialisation with this one. Both are good devices, just have different primary purposes. I even considered wearing both (but .. so far haven't :) ) As an aside, the Apple Watch lets you set up a lot of stuff on the phone and it appears like that in the Watch. This requires some level of configuration on the watch itself which is a bit fiddly - but once it is done, you really set and forget. Battery life measured in days (or weeks if you turn a few things off) is a bonus. In fairness, if you turn all the things on like an Apple Watch always has on - the battery life is likely close to parity - but the point is, this device gives you more options there to maximise battery if that is your thing.As an item of fashion - the device is not an elegant dress watch, but it doesn't look like I am wearing a massive chunky ugly fitness device on my arm - it looks like a slightly large casual watch. Perfectly fine for most things short of greeting Her Majesty at the Opera. Other Garmin devices have options for a slightly smaller or slightly larger face as well - this seems like 'just the right size' for me. If you have a dainty wrist, you might want to look at a smaller device. If you have Andre the Giant arms, then maybe the larger one would look just fine. It feels very rugged and is waterproof to some level I will never be swimming to anyway - the sapphire screen has so far resisted everything I've thrown at it, but at the same time the watch is light enough that you don't feel like you are dragging it around.As for the service from Rebel, I knew what I wanted - but was glad that they had stock in a store I could go look at because my only question was how 'chunky' it looked - most places said "we will have to order it in .. if you already decided you want it". The sales person who helped me was VERY knowledgeable, and didn't try and steer me towards something else or spin a story about features or capability and offered to open a box and let me try it on (they didn't yet have the dummy non-functioning display model yet). He was able to relate his own experiences with a different device and asked me the sort of questions that made sure he was talking to my needs and not some generic sales pitch.

The new Garmin Epix has exceeded my expectations. I am loving the clear and bright screen and the watch's functionality and user interface. So far I am really impressed with the Training productivity assessment, highlighting appropriate recovery time, and the sleep score. Very smart and relevant information. I have even ditched my cycling computer and use my watch instead, using the optional bike mount.