Garmin Fenix 7x Pro Sapphire Solar - Titanium - Gray/Orange Band

Great: - Garmin virtual coach work very well for me, trained for half marathon on a different model before, currently training for 5k. - High quality build and aesthetic design. Well sized for my 18cm wrist. A bit think though to wear while sleeping in my opinion. - Water resistant, good for for tracking swimming excercises. - All necessary running features like heart zone alerts. Convenient button navigation while exercising. - Fantastic battery life - There is a flashlight with a red light mode! So-so: - No phone music controls on the watch face, need to press a button to get be able to see song title and skip tracks. Requires 3 (!) button presses to change volume. - Couldn't find any configuration for calendars. I use google calendar for work a lot and have many ... MoreGreat: - Garmin virtual coach work very well for me, trained for half marathon on a different model before, currently training for 5k. - High quality build and aesthetic design. Well sized for my 18cm wrist. A bit think though to wear while sleeping in my opinion. - Water resistant, good for for tracking swimming excercises. - All necessary running features like heart zone alerts. Convenient button navigation while exercising. - Fantastic battery life - There is a flashlight with a red light mode! So-so: - No phone music controls on the watch face, need to press a button to get be able to see song title and skip tracks. Requires 3 (!) button presses to change volume. - Couldn't find any configuration for calendars. I use google calendar for work a lot and have many shared calendar in my account, would really like to stop showing events from some of them. Would be nice to see next event directly on the watch face. - Screen backlight turn on gesture not very sensitive and has a high latency, takes about a second for backlight to turn on after a wrist movement. - Automatic backlight brightness only has 3 levels in configuration with the highest level is not bright enough in my opinion. - Maps are very slow to load and lagging when zooming. Lacking - No ability to answer calls from the watch due to lack of microphone. Was very convenient with apple watch when cycling for example. I read that it got introduced in Fenix 8.

F7XP SSE Delivers

Originally bought the 47mm version, watch face too small for all the data-rich features Garmin packs into this device. Traded it for the 51mm version and I am much happier.The watch covers the gamut of uses from outdoor adventure to swimming, biking, walking, HIIT, treadmill, etc...menu preselections from Garmin need to be modified to your uses. Order of data/features easily adjustable to your needs. The extra battery time from the 51mm is big bonus on the device, great to minimize the 'power-up time' anxiety. I got the full time out of it that Garmin specs. That said, I have not, as yet, used it with nav or maps or tracking running so I will be looking to see how the power diminishes when I use it for a lengthy hike (days in the back-country) and paired with my ... MoreOriginally bought the 47mm version, watch face too small for all the data-rich features Garmin packs into this device. Traded it for the 51mm version and I am much happier.The watch covers the gamut of uses from outdoor adventure to swimming, biking, walking, HIIT, treadmill, etc...menu preselections from Garmin need to be modified to your uses. Order of data/features easily adjustable to your needs. The extra battery time from the 51mm is big bonus on the device, great to minimize the 'power-up time' anxiety. I got the full time out of it that Garmin specs. That said, I have not, as yet, used it with nav or maps or tracking running so I will be looking to see how the power diminishes when I use it for a lengthy hike (days in the back-country) and paired with my InReach device for full integration of way-points and messaging/explorer app.I also use to keep track of heart-rate as I do heart-rate training when cycling and when firefighting to see how my exertion levels are. Great to track that.The sleep mode is pretty nice though when set, it is hard to get out of it to have the watch functioning fully during the time you set sleep mode for. The morning report is also a nice feature, not sure how accurate it is on sleep measurements; restfulness, etc...Overall, very satisfied with the watch. It is not a daily for me as I mainly use it during activities.I do recommend the 51mm for easier viewing of data, especially at a distance.

Feature rich watch with poor quality/durability

I got this as an upgrade to my Fenix 5. It's a signigicat upgrade and Garmin has recently been pushing out lot of software updates. It's a great multisport watch and handles a lot from outdoor activintes (running, cylcing, hiking, etc) to lots of gym workouts. The battery life is amazing on this watch. I do wish Garmin would have more customaiziablity to weight routines instead of a limited number of preset excersies that don't match up with lots of gym equipement.My main issue is that the watch lineup isn't durable. My Fenix 5 died in a year and had to get replaced under warranty (witha refurb unit) I didn't mind because it was almost a year. Plus I did a lot with that watch in a year, though it would have been nice to get a replacement that didn't have signs of ... MoreI got this as an upgrade to my Fenix 5. It's a signigicat upgrade and Garmin has recently been pushing out lot of software updates. It's a great multisport watch and handles a lot from outdoor activintes (running, cylcing, hiking, etc) to lots of gym workouts. The battery life is amazing on this watch. I do wish Garmin would have more customaiziablity to weight routines instead of a limited number of preset excersies that don't match up with lots of gym equipement.My main issue is that the watch lineup isn't durable. My Fenix 5 died in a year and had to get replaced under warranty (witha refurb unit) I didn't mind because it was almost a year. Plus I did a lot with that watch in a year, though it would have been nice to get a replacement that didn't have signs of wear. The replacement however had worse battery life than the unit I returned.I expect this new watch to be better built, howeve, this Fenix 7x pro Solar Sapphire that I picked up on August 14, 2023 stopped working on Dec 16 2023. That means it lasted only 4 months. The buttons, particulary the top left button, become intermittently non-respsonive the day before. Finally when trying to turn on the flash light, the watch woudl just turn the brightens on and off and just shut off. It will not turn on.For the price ($1000) a 4 month lifespan is pretty poor for a watch that wasn't heavily used. That this has happened twice with new Garmin watches is not a great sign of quality on Garmin's part. Having to probably live with refurb unit after a few months isn't ideal, I'm hoping the replacement is up to part with this one and has as good battery life and close to the looking as good. I'm not sure I would recommened to anyone to spend this much on a Garmin watch.

From the 6X Sapphire To This, I Like It

I've been a Fenix user since the 3, so have a plenty-long history with this general series. If you're a Fenix 6x user then the improvements are modest but real -- specifically, you gain EKG, a more-accurate (actually useful for other than altitude acclimation) SpO2 sensor, an LED flashlight in the front of the bezel and a few other minor differences. If you're coming from prior-to-refresh on the "6" (or anything earlier) then you also are getting music storage on-device which is great if you don't want to take your phone with you, HRV and a bunch of other stuff -- and the argument is FAR more compelling.Sapphire (which is now bundled with solar rather than being separate) is IMHO worth the additional cost; my "3" took some material damage to the crystal being ... MoreI've been a Fenix user since the 3, so have a plenty-long history with this general series. If you're a Fenix 6x user then the improvements are modest but real -- specifically, you gain EKG, a more-accurate (actually useful for other than altitude acclimation) SpO2 sensor, an LED flashlight in the front of the bezel and a few other minor differences. If you're coming from prior-to-refresh on the "6" (or anything earlier) then you also are getting music storage on-device which is great if you don't want to take your phone with you, HRV and a bunch of other stuff -- and the argument is FAR more compelling.Sapphire (which is now bundled with solar rather than being separate) is IMHO worth the additional cost; my "3" took some material damage to the crystal being mineral over a couple of years time and yet none of the later Fenix series, all sapphire, have had so much as a single crystal scratch over years of use and I never take it off even when working on a car or other "high risk" activity for same. Pony up if you wear it outdoors (gee, who doesn't for a watch of this sort, right?); its worth it. The 7x also has made some sort of change to the MIP display and is more-clear behind the sapphire crystal than the 6x. I'm not sure what they did but its quite-noticeable.One complaint - the auto backlight functionality needs more bias range in settings; at night its simply not bright enough for me when enabled even with the bias turned all the way up. That's easily fixed in software and I hope Garmin does. Otherwise the auto intensity is a nice touch and can trivially lever knowledge of ambient light level off the solar collector.Credit where due to Garmin in general -- the 7 Pro series is a nice step forward from the Fenix 6x, although not quite the slam-dunk on new features one might think. For anything made before the Fenix 6 its a much-easier comparison, albeit with a significant increase in price. Worth it? I think so and am keeping it.

Good and bad

Music control is miserable and currently there's no alternative, which is ridiculous. You'd think with 5 buttons you could easily fill them up with music control features in a way that you never need to actually look at the watch while using the controls; I shouldn't need to stop my car or bicycle just to go back a track or change the volume (I'm not risking it by staring at my watch while doing that). Only three buttons do anything, play/pause, other (usually skip to next track) and a menu button. The menu you go up/down on and then select the thing you want like volume and then you finally can adjust the volume.Also a huge negative is that the watch often doesn't show the time; for example within in music control, it only shows the timestamp for the song, but ... MoreMusic control is miserable and currently there's no alternative, which is ridiculous. You'd think with 5 buttons you could easily fill them up with music control features in a way that you never need to actually look at the watch while using the controls; I shouldn't need to stop my car or bicycle just to go back a track or change the volume (I'm not risking it by staring at my watch while doing that). Only three buttons do anything, play/pause, other (usually skip to next track) and a menu button. The menu you go up/down on and then select the thing you want like volume and then you finally can adjust the volume.Also a huge negative is that the watch often doesn't show the time; for example within in music control, it only shows the timestamp for the song, but not the actual time. It's a watch, it's number 1 purpose should be to tell me what is the time, without having to exit whatever else I'm doing. There's plenty of screen space, you can absolutely stick a small time indicator somewhere there, especially in the mostly empty music control screen. At least give me the option, if it's "too cluttered".I really like the idea of having hot-key shortcuts, holding down specific buttons and combos for specific things and being able to choose what each thing opens and this could also be something the music control could benefit from. However the choices you are given are quite limited, most of the time I get an idea for a shortcut, I'm disappointed.I like the customizable watch faces that are available by default, I can choose what I see on the info thingys.The workouts seem like a nice feature, but it was hard to find the moves I actually want to do and I'm pretty sure there's several basic movements missing and it just took so long to make even a basic workout routine.The watch is mostly comfortable to wear, most nights I can sleep with it on, however sometimes the sensor bulge just is too much for me during sleep.There's plenty to love in this, like the battery life, as long as I don't break this, this will have a usable battery 10 years from now. The amount of features is honestly great.In conclusion:It just really hurts to have the issues I mentioned with the music control, if Garmin fixes those, it would be very easy to recommend this watch to anybody

Great watch

I vought this as an upgrade for a Fenix 3 hr and let me tell you, this watches are built like a tank, they pretty much eternal if you take reasonable care of them, my Fenix 3hr lasted around 8 years and still functions pretty well.Now as for the 7x Sapphire Solar, there aren’t enough words, battery capacity is amazing, so far without being out in the sun a lot and with pulseoximeter fuction active 24/7 I get between 15 and 19 days on one charge.About the functions and sensors they are accurate and serve a lot of purposes, for example for tracking sleep cycles and several body functions references.I like hiking on mountains and trail running, the gps and location functions are amazing when you get to an unknown location.For the gym I love that the watch ... MoreI vought this as an upgrade for a Fenix 3 hr and let me tell you, this watches are built like a tank, they pretty much eternal if you take reasonable care of them, my Fenix 3hr lasted around 8 years and still functions pretty well.Now as for the 7x Sapphire Solar, there aren’t enough words, battery capacity is amazing, so far without being out in the sun a lot and with pulseoximeter fuction active 24/7 I get between 15 and 19 days on one charge.About the functions and sensors they are accurate and serve a lot of purposes, for example for tracking sleep cycles and several body functions references.I like hiking on mountains and trail running, the gps and location functions are amazing when you get to an unknown location.For the gym I love that the watch tracks my reps, sets and resting intervals. As well as for the training sessions for running. Being a person that has fought with weight and heart problems the heart rate monitor, pulseoximeter and other functions let me train effectively and with confidence not to over exceed my limits.Some people may think that the watch is overly big and not stylish and granted it isn’t a Rolex or a Omega, but with the right bands you can make work in some not so formal and casual occasions. The quick detach features of the bands makes it really easy and quick to change bands.Overall I could be happier, it is a great watch for everyone wanting the best capabilities from a smarth watch and a sport watch in one unit. It is big, but not heavy.

Love This Watch!!!

I bought this watch a few weeks ago and I have to say I am impressed. I was wearing an AW Ultra 2, which is nice. I got tired of "chasing the rings," and wanted more towards fitness after just retiring. I do functional lifting, KB's, DB, HIIT, etc. 3 times per week, rucking and Mtb on the other days. White the AW does a good job, this does so much better!!! I'm on day 14 on the same charge and with little solar charging due to the weather here lately (Rain and clouds). 3 workouts per week have been using GPS so that eats the battery and as of right now, my Fenix is showing 10 days left of battery. I did have the Fenix 7 when it first came out, but I couldn't read it outside. They did a great job with the screen on the 7pro and it's substantially much better! I have ... MoreI bought this watch a few weeks ago and I have to say I am impressed. I was wearing an AW Ultra 2, which is nice. I got tired of "chasing the rings," and wanted more towards fitness after just retiring. I do functional lifting, KB's, DB, HIIT, etc. 3 times per week, rucking and Mtb on the other days. White the AW does a good job, this does so much better!!! I'm on day 14 on the same charge and with little solar charging due to the weather here lately (Rain and clouds). 3 workouts per week have been using GPS so that eats the battery and as of right now, my Fenix is showing 10 days left of battery. I did have the Fenix 7 when it first came out, but I couldn't read it outside. They did a great job with the screen on the 7pro and it's substantially much better! I have created workouts both using the Garmin Connect app and the website app. It's really easy to do. And as far as biometrics, it is surprisingly accurate. It has helped with my workouts and overall health. And talking about accurate, on days where I don't sleep well and feel awful, the sleep and body battery in the app reflect it.I did my fair share of research for a few weeks before making my decision and it was well worth it. I was debating between the Enduro 2 (Which was $200 off at the time) and still went with the Fenix Pro due to the screen readability. DcRainmaker has a great YouTube review showing the screens side by side if you'd like to see a comparison. One recommendation he made, which I agree with is the backlight setting. I increased it to 40 or 50% and turned off the automatic setting and turned on wrist gesture. Going back to battery life, I have all of the sensors on, 24/7 to give me accurate readings and sleep with it also for those of you wondering about that.Connectivity works just great with my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I have it set to notify me with texts, phone calls and my security cameras and it's surprising how far I have been away from my phone when getting notifications. I have not had one issue since day one of receiving this watch. For those of you having an issue with notifications, you need to go to Settings, Notifications, pick which app you want notifications from, open it, choose allow notifications and scroll down to Show Preview and choose either When Unlocked or Always, to make it notify you on your watch.I do love the outdoors and grew up that way. I also ride an adv bike, but haven't ridden for a long while due to medical issues for the time being. When I do get back out, I will update this review for that feature. I haven't taken it on any major hikes, but the on my local hikes, the GPS is accurate. What I really like about this watch regarding mapping is you don't have to have your phone with you.All in all, I have no regrets buying this watch. I will update later with pictures in various lighting conditions. I definitely recommend this watch for those who are active, into fitness and enjoy the outdoors. Great job Garmin!

Not bad, not great

Coming from an Apple Watch Ultra, which is a miserable excuse for a outdoors smart watch, the fenix 7 Pro is a huge upgrade. It has a lot of the data that Apple somehow chooses to ignore. Overall, it's a great watch. But I'm still weighing whether I'll keep it based on the following:1. The battery life is nowhere near as advertised. Is it worlds better than Apple? Yes. However, with what I feel is regular use (an activity or two recorded per day, pulse ox off, etc) I am coming to expect about ~7 days before it needs a charge. Still good, but I feel this is egregiously misrepresented by Garmin. For the record, the solar charging does absolutely nothing.2. Bluetooth connectivity is quite poor. I realized it's a small device so you can't have some big antenna in ... MoreComing from an Apple Watch Ultra, which is a miserable excuse for a outdoors smart watch, the fenix 7 Pro is a huge upgrade. It has a lot of the data that Apple somehow chooses to ignore. Overall, it's a great watch. But I'm still weighing whether I'll keep it based on the following:1. The battery life is nowhere near as advertised. Is it worlds better than Apple? Yes. However, with what I feel is regular use (an activity or two recorded per day, pulse ox off, etc) I am coming to expect about ~7 days before it needs a charge. Still good, but I feel this is egregiously misrepresented by Garmin. For the record, the solar charging does absolutely nothing.2. Bluetooth connectivity is quite poor. I realized it's a small device so you can't have some big antenna in there, but I cannot be more than 10-15 feet from my phone (without any obstructions in-between) without the tether disconnecting. For data this doesn't matter, but notifications drop off.3. I realized Garmin and Apple hate one another, but not having the ability to set app-specific notification preferences for my iPhone is absurd. You can do it on an Android device.4. Customization options on the watch face are overly complicated, clunky, very limited, and the results highly vary. I tried to make a custom watch face with the options available and it was a disaster. And because of my battery issues I will not be adding a custom watch face from the IQ store, as I'm aware that those can contribute to battery drain.

Overall excellent. A worthy upgrade from Instinct

Overall excellent. A worthy upgrade from my Garmin Instinct 2s. The color screen is much better, the heart rate monitor is a little better and works more quickly. The larger fonts is nice too Some of the new metrics like stamina and working better with my emtb is nice. The battery is about half that of the Instinct. It is a little heavier than the Instinct. The flashlight is actually super great, I use it nightly (mainly the red light). I do like the touch screen. The maps are nice but they are a little small on the 42mm screen but still better than the Instinct that had no maps. I feel like the price is a bit high, especially since it doesn't have LTE or speaker or microphone. I actually prefer the MIP screen vs AMOLED. I think the Fenix 8's are coming out shortly ... MoreOverall excellent. A worthy upgrade from my Garmin Instinct 2s. The color screen is much better, the heart rate monitor is a little better and works more quickly. The larger fonts is nice too Some of the new metrics like stamina and working better with my emtb is nice. The battery is about half that of the Instinct. It is a little heavier than the Instinct. The flashlight is actually super great, I use it nightly (mainly the red light). I do like the touch screen. The maps are nice but they are a little small on the 42mm screen but still better than the Instinct that had no maps. I feel like the price is a bit high, especially since it doesn't have LTE or speaker or microphone. I actually prefer the MIP screen vs AMOLED. I think the Fenix 8's are coming out shortly but don't think the screen is an upgrade for my use as the battery life will be less. The band is always in between sizes for me and I go back and forth between the holes while riding to keep it snug enough. I did get a velcro nylon band as well (from Garmin) and overall it works far better as it has some stretch and stays tight enough while mountain biking. Their Garmin Connect app on the phone is a total mess, no proper search function, everything is in random order and is NOT intuitive at all. That being said it has all the info I want and more. HRV is nice, barometric pressure, VO2, body battery and connecting to my Google Calander is nice. Overall, it's a 5 star. However, the price, weight, battery life, band and app knock it down a star. If you are serious about training it's great, if you are just looking for a smart watch it's not the right tool for you. I don't know if the solar actually charges it much either.

Quality not what I expected, metrics not accurate

This watch has not met my expectations for the price point and the alleged features. First thing worth mentioning, is that the watch died six weeks after I purchased it. It had 1 day left of battery on it - I plugged it in, and it went black and never turned on again. I went to REI (where I purchased the watch to begin with) and had it replaced... with the intent of giving this watch another try. And honestly, the watch and the Garmin Connect interface misses the mark on a few things that really mattered to me. First, the actual road GPS is "off" and under-tracks mileage my .10 of a mile for each mile. Which doesn't matter on hikes, but it does matter when running road races for time. Second, the VO2 max is wildly wrong, after going to a facility and taking a proper ... MoreThis watch has not met my expectations for the price point and the alleged features. First thing worth mentioning, is that the watch died six weeks after I purchased it. It had 1 day left of battery on it - I plugged it in, and it went black and never turned on again. I went to REI (where I purchased the watch to begin with) and had it replaced... with the intent of giving this watch another try. And honestly, the watch and the Garmin Connect interface misses the mark on a few things that really mattered to me. First, the actual road GPS is "off" and under-tracks mileage my .10 of a mile for each mile. Which doesn't matter on hikes, but it does matter when running road races for time. Second, the VO2 max is wildly wrong, after going to a facility and taking a proper VO2 max reading from a professional. This watch came in at 6 points OVER the true real measurement. Third, the sleep data is wrong. This watch has constantly wrong with what time I woke up and what time I went to bed and every single morning I have to manually make the changes. My apple watch was so much more accurate here, that it is mind boggling Garmin is this wrong. Fourth, this watch along with the Garmin Connect interface is so annoying and needs so much improvement. Every notification has the exact same vibration on it (vs. apple watch, texts feel differently then emails so I know what I need to look down for and what I can ignore) and there's no simplified way to turn some notifications off. It just mirrors your phone and that's that, which is not helpful. I should be able to control which notifications go to my watch and which go to my phone. There's no training program for a marathon, which is BONKERS.Overall, trying to switch to Garmin has been a super frustrating experience, and between the watch dying and the data being wrong in multiple areas of use, it's not a watch I want to keep using. I don't have faith in it, or the brand, which is so disappointing. I really wanted to be over the moon with this watch, but other than the long battery life (which it broke and died anyway), I don't have much to compliment it on.