Fenix 5 Plus Weight for Running

Hi all. I use my Garmin watches predominantly for running, I run daily - usually 70-90 miles a week. I'm buying a new watch and have narrowed down my choices to either the 645 Music or Fenix 5 Plus. I'm leaning to the Fenix 5 Plus for the battery life and apparent improvements in bluetooth headphone connectivity.

My only concern is its pretty much twice the weight of the 645 Music. How are runners noticing the weight - irrelevant or a drawback? Reminds of the old Forerunner 305s and 320s but they were also much larger. I don't think the weight of those ever bugged me, though I did appreciate the size reduction when I got a 620.

I know the Fenix 5 S Plus is a compromise - advanced features in a smaller size, but you give up alot of battery life with those and I am running alot during every week so it would be nice to not have to recharge as often.

Also have a secondary question - is the premium for the saphire worthwhile? I'm leaning to yes as invariably I got the odd nicks on my 620 and 630, but pretty slight.

Thanks!

0 Peter0004 over 6 years ago

Premium for Sapphire is worth it. If you buy sapphire you will question yourself for a day. If you do not, you will question yourself every day!
Weight is no issue. I cannot see how can a few extra grams make any difference when you are training.
if you do ultra marathon, you need the extra battery power. I have not noticed any deficit running in the mountains with the watch, Even with the steel bracelet.

Go for it!

0 vanhalen26 over 6 years ago

Premium for Sapphire is worth it. If you buy sapphire you will question yourself for a day. If you do not, you will question yourself every day!
Weight is no issue. I cannot see how can a few extra grams make any difference when you are training.
if you do ultra marathon, you need the extra battery power. I have not noticed any deficit running in the mountains with the watch, Even with the steel bracelet.

Go for it!

Wise words - thanks!

PS - I put a 40 gram coin under my 630 and have been wearing it for an hour, and your right - not noticing the difference in weight after a couple minutes.

0 carl.andersson over 6 years ago

The weight isn't noticeable - you get used to it. But some people struggle to get good HR measurements while running because the weight of the watch makes it more prone to bouncing around on your wrist. You may need to wear it tighter than you're used to.
If you're still worried then the titanium models do drop a little bit of extra weight.

Also I don't agree with the comment about the sapphire screen. I've had an F3, an F5 and now a F5 Plus all with mineral glass screens and I've never scratched them. I've taken them on all sorts of adventures including Tough Mudder courses and I wear them all day and I've never scratched the screen. The bezel on the other hand..... Let's just say the silver bezels are better at hiding scratches ????

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I was worried about the weight but chose a Fenix over the 935 as I also want it to look 'smart' for every day too.
5 runs in and from day 1 I've not noticed the weight at all. I have it firmly on my wrist and optical HR working really well too.
Very happy.

I also chose the standard 5 plus since the price is already very high and the silver bezel will not show scratches as well. I plan to get a screen protector for peace of mind, they are cheap and then I have best of all options - lower cost, less visible scratches on the bezel and some peace of mind.

If you have the cash then sapphire sounds good, but the black bezel will still show knocks so it's a compromise either way.

0 esselite over 6 years ago

F5+ has this Garmin Pay functionality which I use a lot and I have noticed that paying in contactless always result in contact of the glass with the terminal. That would be good justification for sapphire.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I'm happily using Pay on my 5+. It's an awesome feature that I wasn't convinced I'd use, but already found it very useful.
The bezel stands proud of the face though so I don't expect any damage from contact.

0 Bernddasbrot2013 over 6 years ago

F5+ has this Garmin Pay functionality which I use a lot and I have noticed that paying in contactless always result in contact of the glass with the terminal. That would be good justification for sapphire.

Then you're doing something wrong! On Youtube there are videos, where you have to hold the clock up to 5cm to the device.

But it's about the weight of the clock!

0 LadoK over 6 years ago

I've already paid twice with garmin pay and there was no need to put the screen somewhere. A couple of centimeters were enaugh.

0 esselite over 6 years ago

Yes this is true, but while paying with sapphire I don't bother if I touch the terminal or not, because I don't worry if it will scratch my glass. That's what I wanted to say. You have less stress.

0 soss3osp over 6 years ago

well, you get used to the weight indeed but if you ever go back and wear your forerunner 735XT (i still need to wear it due to some limitiations and faults of the fenix 5s plus) or a fitbit ionic (especially at night) you just feel again how heavy this watch is. and you will be disappointed by battery life eeven you would assume that this heavyness is the prize for a better battery life.

and by the way: just for the purpose of running there was no advantage changing my 735xt to fenix 5s plus. the opposite is true: the forerunner 735 XT is the better running watch. music is still buggy, garmin pay plays no role for running anyway.

And the whole training status / traing load thing is more throwing questions than giving answers