Really disappointing screen Fenix 5 Plus Saphire

Yesterday i received the Fenix 5 Plus Saphire watch, Today i returned it. Unboxing was fun until i started the watch.Garmin advertises that the screen is a "clear, full-colour, transflective Garmin Chroma Display

display with high resolution and the LED screen illumination is readable in all light conditions, even in bright sunlight. The disappointing fact is that the screen is not what you may expect for this huge amount of money. The screen on it's own is not high resolution / full colour. You only get the full colours if you keep it in direct sunlight. This means without the sunlight (for example indoors) you are looking at a screen that reminds of the eighties. Black is not black and red is a pale colour even with brightness on maximum. There is a huge difference in what Garmin advertises versus what Garmin really delivers as shown on the photo's. For this price disappointing and to me unacceptable. ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1390842.jpg ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1390843.jpg ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1390844.jpg

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0 jechallen over 5 years ago

Advertising material is always going to try and show a product in the best possible light (excuse the pun). Hence iphone/apple watch displays will be advertised using pictures of what they potentially look like indoors (rather than in direct sunlight) whereas Garmin advertisements are going to be showing what the display looks like in direct sunlight. Have you ever seen a Big Mac from Maccas look anything like the photos?

There are no screens that work well both indoor and outdoors, being a watch primarily designed for outdoor sporting activities, garmin went with the best current option for purpose. Personally I'm not a fan of the apple watch display. Because it uses so much battery life, it can't stay on, hence it is constantly turning on and off when people move their arm all the time. I personally think the fenix display looks much better on a watch, even indoors, due to it being able to stay on all the time and still get around 5-7 days between charges.

Just did a HM today, almost everyone seemed to be wearing a Garmin watch or something with a similar type display. I didn't see a single AW or Samsung. This would support that for it's intended purpose Garmin have gone with the best technology currently available. I think we all agree that higher resolution and better contrast indoors would be nice, but not at the sacrifice of worse battery life and poorer visibility outdoors.

0 bluelavender over 5 years ago

But I am happy to hear that you are no longer a Garmin user. I assume this means that you will not hang around here, right?

This is the kind of personal attack that is not warranted at all, and the last thing Garmin needs. Yes, you maybe a garmin fanboy, but OP just express his wish as consumer of the watch.
For every single of your opinion, there are same others on the other camp who think Garmin user or any other sport watch user is not very bright for using expensive watch with display of lesser quality.

Be an objective user, not a fanboy. Appreciate different opinion in the forum. Not everyone here is going to worship Garmin head to toe.

Note: i don't own apple watch, though one of the feature from apple watch i wish for garmin to add in future is the ability to have LTE function, then i can get rid of my phone totally for my very long run.

0 AllanOlesen67 over 5 years ago

Yes, you maybe a garmin fanboy

I have never seen anyone make a successful defence against the fanboy accusation, so I will not even try.

The only way we can know for sure whether I am a fanboy or not :
Assume that Garmin succumbs to pressure from certain buyers and start using OLED displays, even if it means that the watch will become unusable in some situations where it was usable before. If at that time I suddenly become a fan of OLED sports watches, then we will know for certain that I am a Garmin fanboy.

0 Artivis over 5 years ago

I am very satisfied with fenix 5 plus screen, the full sunlight visibility is what I expected from an sport/outdoor watch (you don't get it on phone/iwatch screens), the colors, map visibility... it satisfies me.
But on the other hand I do understand that Frank24 is disappointed, maybe he expected something else looking at the advertisment pictures.

I also think that this discussion is going the wrong way, let's keep it decent and helpful!

0 RickCain over 5 years ago

I was pretty disappointed with the display when I first got my 5s+. That was until I went on my first run with it and saw how amazing it is while running. It is nice to not have to tilt your wrist up to see the display.

0 Jano22222 over 5 years ago

Very happy with the screen, but came from VA3 , so i knew already what it would look like

0 1559504 over 3 years ago

I’m with Frank,

0 1559504 over 3 years ago

I’m sorry I’m with Frank here. I watched a few YouTube videos and the screen seemed to look ok. Maybe coming from an Apple Watch owner I thought for $500 the Fenix 5 would be closer in resolution. Seriously the watch is robust and ya there’s no touch screen I get it. The display is very disappointing. Reminds me of a car that needs to be waxed, dull and uninspiring. I did manage to crank the brightness up to 80% which helped somewhat but I felt like I was looking at a display from a Nintendo DS. :) I suppose I was spoiled with the Apple technology in regards to screen clarity and resolution. Not sure what to get now but I will be returning this watch.

0 Narziss over 3 years ago in reply to 1559504

Apple watches have OLED displays, and that is one of the reasons why their battery lasts 1 day, compared to the Fenix, which lasts 10 days.

0 RunR over 3 years ago in reply to 1559504

The fenix is a real outdoor watch, designed for a long battery life and great display outside!

If you want a great indoor display, why didn't you buy a watch with a smartphone like display?