New owner - a few concerns & questions

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi,

So I've had my Fenix 5 Plus for just under two weeks now. I really love the functionality of the product but I have a few concerns which have led to some questions.

1: The first thing that I've noticed is that how easy the silver bezel around the watch face seems to mark. After two weeks use and not having any obvious scrapes/knocks of the watch, there are already a few minor blemishes. This is quite frustrating, but of course I suppose it will never stay perfect forever. I can almost compare the feeling to that of when you wash your car and find scratches that weren't there before! Has anybody else noticed this problem? I know there isn't really a fix beyond "suck it up" and I'm hoping I can look past these blemishes and enjoy the watch.

2: Optical HR - My weekly workout routine includes a circuits class. I give everything in class and tend not to hold back. Most of these classes include short sprints followed by bodyweight/light weighted exercises. My HR did not show to go over 140 in today's class. Either I'm really in shape, or something is wrong. However, strangely, when running a steady 5k - my HR stays within the 150-170 range, whilst I'm not overly exerting myself.

3: Navigation data fields - So it looks like there's two different settings to configure for Navigate and Navigation. However, I can't seem to get the data fields to show in the order I want with the fields I want. On one of the settings, I can only turn the screens "On/Off". On the other section of the settings, I can edit the data fields similarly to how you edit the run/other activity settings - which is ideal. My problem is that the actual data fields shown when using the Navigate to not match that of the ones in the settings. Mainly, I can't seem to get rid of the generic time/date screen and I am unable to remaining screens viewable when pressing up/down.

4: Battery life degradation - I understand the battery use is going to be worse during the initial period of configuring the watch, testing out all of the features etc. My concern is that, in 1/2/3 years time, will the battery still hold up to what I'm getting out of it now? My last fitness device was a Fitbit Surge - great device - but after 2 years, the battery wouldn't last 4 days without even using GPS. Fitbit would only offer me a discount on a new product and provided no other support.

So to conclude, I'm debating with myself on whether to return the watch as Amazon have stated they will provide a full refund if I wish. However, part of my debate is the question to myself - is it really worth the £560 I paid for it? Part of me misses the simplicity of just using my phone on an arm strap and not pondering too much about my heart rate / setting up data fields.

I would appreciate any insight!

Kind regards,

Ash

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi, Ash! Great questions. The only topic I can speak about is the HR monitor. Short answer, any watch with a optical HR monitor isn't accurate anytime your wrist flexes during an activity. The solution to this is to buy a chest HR monitor. If HIIT training is the only activity you do, I believe the Fenix series is a overkill for your needs. My opinion, the best bang for your buck is the Garmin 735XT or the 935. The 935 is the basically a lighter version of the Fenix watches.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I have a YouTube channel where I post lots of informative & entertaining videos that talk about running, swimming, and cycling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3hwFB8-ZuQ&t=226s

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Matt,

Thanks for the reply.

I have considered the Fenix may be overkill for my needs - however, it has been an excuse for me to begin running more frequently and to take it more seriously, which is of course a positive.

One of the options to me would be to return the watch and hold out for the Fenix 6 - after initial readings on the web, people are suggesting that the Fenix 6 will use an upgraded HR monitoring system.

I did have a look at the Forerunner range, having purchased one of the older models recently as a gift. The reason I decided against buying one for myself is that I prefer the aesthetics of the Fenix - it looks more subtle when I wear it in a work environment.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

Can’t speak for the first point. Clearly you’ve caught it on something as these blemishes don’t just happen.
Optical HR is unlikely to be anything other than hit and miss for active activities. It’s an inherent limitation in the technology.
Spend a little more time exploring the menus and the manual. No guarantee you’ll find a solution, but you might.
Never seen an issue with battery life. But then I tend to charge mine overnight two or three times a week.

Basically, if you’re unhappy now, then you’ll likely remain unhappy. No guarantees the F6 when it eventually appears will be any different.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I also found some marks on my bezel after taking extreme care not to scrape it anywhere, but somehow 2 marks appeared.
What worked for me was using a rubber gum (one of those with red and blue side) and some patience to polish out the marks.
Note that the bezel seems to have some "structure" on the surface, so I used the blue side of the rubber and gently rubbed in the direction of the structure.
I also taped the area around the bezel so as not to scratch the glass or plastic body of the watch.

It took me only 3-5 minutes to almost complete get rid of the scratches, now I can only "guess" where they were when closely looking at the bezel in bright light and the right angle.

0 crutlefish over 6 years ago

1: Suck it up, or see the scratches as part of the texture of the device's use. I'd much rather send it hard on the activities I do than worry about a scratch. The first scratch always is the worst.

2: If you want reliable heart rate, get a HR strap. I use the HRM-Tri and use the Cardio profile on the watch for circuit training. I leave the watch in a bag because when doing anything remotely involving plank/press ups/etc I don't want to bend my wrist into the watch. If you swim, get the HRM-Tri/Swim bundle.

3: All of what you want to do is doable, including getting rid of the clock screen. Different screens only show for configuration when you've started a navigation within an activity. As philipshambrook said, sit down and have dig through the menus. It took me several attempts to configure the different activities I rotate round to my taste.

4: Battery wise, who knows in one, two, or even three years time, however, with the latest production firmware, 5.10, I've found the battery life to be excellent, with charging every three-four days, where I'm doing about one-two hours of exercise each of those days, with music for some, GPS for most, all the bells and whistles turned on.

Whether it is the right device? I've no idea, but certainly for me, it's better than the Apple Watch offerings, and GCM and the device, work much better than the Suunto stuff I was using before I picked up the 5+.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Many thanks for the replies.

I'm leaning more towards keeping the watch as it would be a shame to send it back after finally figuring it out (for the most part!)

Could somebody please provide some insight on to the different modes of GPS?

Currently, I've got everything set to "GPS" besides hike which I've set to "Ultratrac" - which I understand to be used to enhance battery life.

I've noticed the settings GPS + GALILEO / GLONASS. When should I use these different settings over standard gps?

Cheers!

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

Regarding OHR:
I have experienced that the OHR is accurate for high HR, but only if I ramp my HR steadily. If I do more "explosive" stuff where my HR increases quickly, the OHR will fail to catch up.

My guess is that the watch has an error suppression algorithm which rejects HR measurements if they change too fast. But it is only a guess.

0 wigsajumper over 6 years ago

If I recall correctly GPS uses US GPS Satellites. GPS + GALILEO/GLONASS uses US GPS Sats + one of the other systems. Which means if you are hiking and say in a canyon there is a higher chance that the GPS system will be able to see more Satellites in the sky which equals hopefully better accuracies.

Wrist worn optical HR sensors will always be limited during weight lifting/cross fit style exercises due to the technology. When the muscles in the arm flex they can throw off the optics. Chest worn HR sensors read the electrical signals of the heart so are less error prone when weight lifting

Many thanks for the replies.

I'm leaning more towards keeping the watch as it would be a shame to send it back after finally figuring it out (for the most part!)

Could somebody please provide some insight on to the different modes of GPS?

Currently, I've got everything set to "GPS" besides hike which I've set to "Ultratrac" - which I understand to be used to enhance battery life.

I've noticed the settings GPS + GALILEO / GLONASS. When should I use these different settings over standard gps?

Cheers!

0 HeliosJim over 6 years ago

I don't like chest straps, so I use a SCOSCHE heart rate monitor. I wear it on my forearm, just below my elbow, and I have found that it works very well. My F5 works okay, but as others have said, it moves a bunch. If I wear it higher on my arm it works better but the strap is too short for that and it makes it inconvenient to see and press the buttons.

On the bezel scratch issue, I have had my F5 since it was released and it looks as new as the day I first opened it. I take it running, biking, sailing and wear it daily.

I'm very interested in what you said about the F6. Where did you see that? I'm currently considering upgrading the a 5 plus but if there is credible speculation the F6 (or whatever the next model is) is due out after CES I
'll probably wait.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

HeliosJim,

The comment regarding the F6 HR tech was based on information I found in a speculative article. From memory, there were assumptions that the Fenix 6 could possibly integrate ECG technology. Again, I must repeat that it is speculative and I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

Thanks for the info on the chest straps. I'll have a look around.

Ash