Garmin Fenix 8 Review: The Smartwatch for Super Athletes

Garmin Fenix 8

A fashionable smartwatch that ’s great for tracking even the most dynamic of jock .

Pros

Garmin Fenix 8

© Brent Rose

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Garmin Fenix 8 Review: Design

Let ’s start with the hardware . There are a few different models of the Fenix 8 , but all share some basic features . There are three physical button on the left and two on the right , and the button are now full seal and leak - proof , further supporting its new add honkytonk capabilities . A touch screen is upfront , so there are multiple slipway to voyage through screens , menus , and maps ( which is good because touchscreen do n’t work well when wet or underwater ) . On the right side of the watch , there is now a speaker and a microphone , which add to its smart capableness . Up top is an go flashlight , and underneath is Garmin ’s sensor suite , featuring a heart rate monitor , pulse oximeter , thermometer , etc . It can also take ECG readings ( a feature presently only available in the U.S. ) .

See Garmin Fenix 8 at Amazon

Quickly , it might seem like a small thing , but I have to shout out how wonderful the flashlight feature is . The white LED has three intensity levels , and at its brightest , it ’s enough to encounter your way on a lead in sales talk darkness . It also has a red - igniter way , which does n’t crucify your eyeballs , which I establish really helpful when trying to fumble my means to the bathroom in the unfamiliar hotel room I was in last week .

Garmin Fenix 8

© Brent Rose

There are some difference between models ; the most significant is you get to choose between a lustrous , colourful , and sharp AMOLED display and a meditative MIPS showing that not only increase battery liveliness but also has an unified solar panel to boost it even further . There are 43 mm , 47 millimeter , and 51 millimeter version of the AMOLED watch , with the two larger ones utilizing lazuline crystal glass and atomic number 22 bezel ( the smaller version has Gorilla Glass and unstained steel ) . The Solar rendering only fall in the 47 mm and 51 mm sizes and have Solar Sapphire glass and titanium . Aside from that , the watch are efficaciously identical , though the larger versions last longer per charge ( more on that in a second ) .

Garmin Fenix 8 Review: Features and Battery Life

Let ’s have a prompt In Memorium for the Epix line and , to some extent , the Descent . The Epix , which debuted a few years ago , was identical to the Fenix but with an AMOLED cover , so commingle these two makes sense . RIP Epix . rend features from the Descent line — most significantly , adding a deepness standard of measurement — is massive for casual divers . The Fenix 8 has just about all the features a refreshment diver needs from a dive computer , including dive preparation , machine - starting line ( when you plunk past four foot ) , air and nitrox modes , GPS for entering / exit , stock / ascent alerting , safety blockage warnings , no decompression limit ( NDL ) , a scope , dive clock time , profoundness , a compass , and more . It has modes for SCUBA , apnea ( i.e. , freediving ) , and snorkel diving . If you really plunk a ton and want advanced feature article like integrated wireless tank monitoring , then the Descent is probably the lookout you need ; for most folks , the more slight Fenix 8 will mix better into your casual biography .

Speaking of integrating it , I have barely taken this watch off for the calendar month I ’ve been testing it . I opted for the 47 mm AMOLED version , which is the Goldilocks of size and functionality to me . While it does n’t last as long as the solar variation , it gets a whopping 15 twenty-four hour period per commission . If you ’re coming from an Apple or Android Wear smartwatch ( which average about 36 hours per guardianship ) , that ’s huge , especially considering it only take an 60 minutes to reload , and you ’re back at it . Of of course , using more GPS - intensive body process will enfeeble it a bit faster , but it ’s still stellar . I just did four full daytime of snowboarding ( with it using GPS to track every streamlet ) , plus beat oximetry go after at night , and by the remnant of it , I still had two days of battery life left . Of course , if I ’d gone with the 47 mm Solar version , it would start with 21 days of assault and battery ( up to 28 with a hefty dose of sunlight ) , or the 51 mm Solar version for an insane 30 days ( up to 48 with sunlight ) , but two - plus weeks is plenty for me . I ’d rather have the lower - profile vigil and the super crisp AMOLED display for record data point and notifications .

Garmin Fenix 8 Review: Performance

Across all these modality , GPS acquisition was fast and accurate , and the build - in heart rate varan was near lock - step with the chest shoulder strap I was testing it against . It also allow you download medicine from source like Spotify , Amazon , and YouTube Music and play it through paired Bluetooth earbuds . Garmin Pay will enable you to store a credit bill on the ticker for tap requital so you’re able to leave your telephone at home . It also feature atmospheric condition prognosis , sunrise / sunset times , moon phases , barometric pressing , and tides . you’re able to download GPX files from site like AllTrails and set up them on the vigil to come after routes . It restrain track of your vitals 24/7 , from heart rate , heart pace variance ( HRV ) , peel temporary worker , pulse oximetry , steps , flights climbed , sleep , and more . you may also manually check your ECG for atrial fibrillation ( AFib ) signs . However , that ’s currently only uncommitted in the U.S. It ’s hard to fancy a more ended sport sentinel .

On the smartwatch side , I would say it ’s as just as it gets … for a sports lookout . But if you ’re hoping for the same deep consolidation you get with an Apple Watch + iPhone or aPixel Watch+ Android phone , you ’ll be frustrated , even more so if you ’re on the Apple side . The watch does a nice job of displaying incoming notice for iPhones and Androids , and the text is very well-to-do to translate on the AMOLED display ( I ’ve read full electronic mail on this scout ) . It ’s also easy to pick and choose which apps can / can’t show notifications on your picket , so you do n’t get distracted by unimportant things .

The Fenix 8 now features a sort of very simple offline vocalisation supporter . Long - weight-lift the upper - rightfield push button activate the mike , and you could give it some very canonic commands . matter like “ set out a run , ” “ Start pool swim , ” “ Set alarm for 7:30 am , ” “ Show me the weather , ” and “ place a timer for 15 minutes ” unremarkably work without a limp , and that can be preferred to scrolling through long menu . That allege , anything more forward-looking than that is meet with silence . For example , “ Change my alarm time to 8 am ” does not calculate like on an Apple Watch or Pixel Watch . you could agitate a push button in the quick card to babble to your phone ’s digital helper ( e.g. , Siri or Assistant ) , but if you ’re expect it a question , you ’ll get the response on your earpiece ’s display and/or speaker system , not the loudspeaker or expose on your watch , which seems like a huge miss . I do n’t cognise if that ’s an API egress , but fix it would make this watch a whole pile chic .

Garmin Fenix 8

© Brent Rose

respond to messages is also a bit vexing . Apple does n’t countenance Garmin to get at the genus Apis need for sending messages , so if you ’ve got an iPhone , you ca n’t answer to incoming message unless you convince your Friend to set out a Garmin Messenger score , which will be a hard sell . Android is better in this section , as you’re able to reply to texts and emails with some preset , brusk , quick response ( which you’re able to custom-make in the app ) , and this is surely better than nothing . Still , this watch has a microphone and is capable of delivery recognition , so not being able to verbalise a reply feels like a missed chance .

The build up - in mic and speaker let you answer and take phone telephone call on the ticker ( leave your phone is nearby ) , but the sound quality is n’t swell , so you would n’t want to have a long call on it . That said , when I was in the exhibitioner and happened to get an authoritative call , I was really glad to have this feature . This highlights another skip : There ’s no option for cellular radio , so you ca n’t add it to your carrier plan and go really telephone set - free . That ’s moderately surprising for a watch of this calibre and with this story of mundaneness , and it ’s something I ’d wish to see , specially as the smart features pop to evolve .

Garmin Fenix 8 Review: Verdict

Of naturally , there ’s the price . These picket are $ 1,000 for the 43 mm variation , $ 1,100 for the 47 mm version , and $ 1,200 for the 51 mm interlingual rendition , which mean they are dead premium variation watches . The Fenix 8 is the most expensive model in the Fenix strain . That articulate , it ’s much loud than the Descent , so if diving is a big deal to you , this gets you most of those features at a significant deduction .

Ultimately , despite my complaint on the smartwatch side of things , this is my favorite watch I ’ve ever tested . To put that in context of use , the last watch I tested was a Pixel 3 with LTE , which was very smart and connect indeed , but once I started using the Fenix 8 , I really did n’t have any impulse to reach for the Pixel again . It ’s so good at cover so many thing ; I find it to have the most intuitive interface and user experience of any sports watch , with the most features and the highest level of customization . I can fag out it for two weeks true , and it appear good whether I wear out running shorts or a suit . Once its smarts get smarter , it will be mi in front of the competition ( which it can track in enceinte detail ) .

Garmin Fenix

Garmin Fenix 8