Moving away from Apple Watch to Fenix 5 Plus

I had a Garmin 620, then got AW3 to track all my activities incl high altitude running, gym, road racing. Sold it and got 5xplus, so pleased with it, AW3 just couldn’t compete for any serious athlete.

I have both an AW3 (cellular) and a 5 plus. It's a bit crazy and an indulgence, but this technology is a hobby for me. Each as its advantages. As pointed out by others, the AW is a better smartwatch and the 5 plus generally better for fitness and athletics. I definitely wear the AW when I want to be reachable given that it has cellular connectivity. I also like listening to podcasts while I run, which is one of the reasons I upgraded my 5x to the 5 plus. For me currently, managing podcasts is easier with the 5 plus than the AW. That will change with Watch OS 5, which will support native AW podcast updating and syncing. If I had to limit myself to one, I would stick with the 5 plus, but giving up the cellular option would be tough for me at this point. I know; I'm spoiled. In the end, it depends on your predominant use cases.

P.S., I forgot to mention that I use RunGap to keep things in sync. Works very well.

I think this is my first post so, yolo!
any way, I just did this so I decided to post. Short story, AW2 broke, was a previous AW0 owner. decided to wait on AW4 rather than buy a 3.
got antsy, picked up a fenix 5+.
things I love:
the look, aesthetic I know, but I hated the square aw
the always on screen
gps/maps
the garmin Connect app is great
its tougher, sapphire, titanium (or steel) and has a bezel that actually protects.
like that the plus has parity features in garmin pay and ability to play music.
ant+ integration
built in temp/alto/barometer
BATTERY LIFE!! Which leads to sleep tracking because I’m not having to charge nightly.

things I don’t like
not able to respond to incoming texts, not even canned response. I understand android users can but not iOS.
Social aspect, I had lots of friends in the Apple walled garden and we shared our activity. Ability to close activity rings is gone without having an Apple Watch. Garmin social is much less. I guess there’s always Strava but for me, hiking, steps and swimming, Strava doesn’t match with my circle of friends.
No optical heart rate monitor while swimming. Garmins decision to turn it off and I understand why. But their competitors do it so it’s frustrating.

Of the negatives, I’d say I miss the ability to close my activity rings the most. If I could do that, there’d be no regrets. I can live with the other 2, ordered an HRM swim to take care of HR while swimming.

In past 3 years, I’ve gone from Apple Watch, Fenix 3HR, Apple Watch, Fenix 5, Apple Watch, and now Fenix 5 plus! I run and cycle. Last time I went back to Apple Watch was to listen to audio without needing to carry my phone. Now that the 5+ can do this, I’m happy. The Apple Watch is good, but other then then the fact that Garmin can measure my running and biking better (and connect to sensors), it always bothered me that everyone has an Apple Watch. Plus I feel that round watches just look better. I got the Titanium DLC version and it looks great.

It depends. If you are casual athlete and not competing for win, apple watch will suit you better. It is solid, has no problematic bug (same cannot be said of Garmin). Eveyrthing just works. Plus, if you go for apple watch 3, you get LTE connection. Its sleep analysis is top notch.

However, if you are competing for podium win in your road race, garmin might work better. But if i'm casual athlete and want watch that can perform all, apple watch win by miles.

Notes: i have friends who have ditched garmin and other sport watch for apple watch and haven't looked back since. I myself am now evaluating suunto, my last sport watch. If this fail to satisfy my requirement, i'll move to AW or Samsung watch.

I owned and used daily the AW (series 2). I loved it as a smart watch and how it was communicating with my Iphone.

Features I loved with AW:

• Reading emails/sms
  
• Displaying my calendar (meetings, location, etc.)
  
• Quick replies to SMS,
  
• Wireless music without the iphone
  
• App store (so many options)
  

With the exception of item 3, Fenix 5 plus do all of them. Maybe not as sexy, but still...

Things I did not like with the AW and/or prefer/love with the Fenix 5 plus:

• The look. Fenix watches looks way more masculine IMO.
  
• Touch screen. Unresponsive or too many Hit&miss. Especially during activities and in cold environment, physical buttons are way better.
  
• Piss poor battery life (People complaining about the 5+/5s+ should try the AW... :) )
  
• Most apps were watered down and buggy version of the IOS app, and needed a connection with the phone to work. In the end I only used one app called Strong .
  
• Sensors for bicycling and running. (Btw OHR is a joke on ALL watches.)
  
• Only google or apple maps for navigation, which is useless for Hiking and MTB'ing. There are some 3rd party apps for this but they do not work very well IMO. Currently no one comes near the Fenix 5x and 5 plus series when it comes to map navigation.
  

Maps, navigation, post activity analysis are the reasons I bought the fenix 5x and now 5+. After I started using it, the AW just ended up on the shelf collecting dust. Sold it.
I do not miss the AW for a second… my 2 cents

The main thing I miss from AW is Siri and being able to reply to texts from the phone but I can live without that as the Fenix 5x plus is far superior for what I want. The data availability on AW is limited compared to Garmin and if your a data lover like me then AW just won’t cut it. I brought the 3 and sold it within 3 mths which i would not normally do.

Will be interesting to see if Apple are willing to invest in AW to get it to a comparable level over next few yrs.

Thanks guys, didn't expect so many responses so quickly. Certainly looks like we have a number of fenix 5+ fans here (to be expected). I am currently thinking of getting the Fenix 5+ in the new fortnight - can't justify the 5x+, way too much money, the 5+ is bad enough in the UK!

I will either give my AW2 to my brother or try and get a little money for it. I have loved it but unlike PapaRappa I only had two friends with AW's that I'd connect with. I know from my Vivoactive days I had more Garmin connections so I'll hopefully increase connections to keep it interesting! The other thought I had was to see if the AW4 will be round and to get that as well! Indulgent for sure but you only live once!

I train a minimum of 6 days out of 7 - currently injured - and although it's mostly indoors I do want to expand my training to outdoors too so the Fenix would definitely suit. I'm not that bothered with closing the rings on the AW - infact once you reach 200+ days of closing you feel tied to doing it! I'd rather be a nerd and check out the more comprehensive details on Garmin Connect.

Thanks for all the replies. Very much appreciated - I knew there was a reason why I liked the Garmin community!