DCRainmaker's hands-on states that the quick-release straps are backwards compatible to F3/F3HR. I believe the F3 are 26mm bands, so you'd likely want to buy 26mm quick-release bands that go with the 5X, instead of the 22/24mm ones for the 5/5S.
Also confirmed by checking accessories for 5x as you said. F3 and f3hr ar indeed compatible with the 26mm quick strap bands. Now they just need to make some nice ones..
Why would it not? I can't think of any reason that the new flagship watch wouldn't support the latest IQ version. The only, stated, reason that the F3 isn't getting IQ 2 is because of the processing power and the F5 series certainly has a stronger chip in it. I don't have time right now to look it up but I'm pretty sure that there was a passing mention of it in DCRaimkers hands on post.
It's actually RAM, not processing power, that is the limitation for the F3, and the F5 has the same RAM for apps, widgets and data fields as the 735XT does, which supports CIQ2.
Training Effect has been surprisingly useful. I'm interested to see the next iteration where it's broken out in terms of aerobic vs anaerobic.
Interesting that this thread was moved from the F3 to the F5s forum as the F5X is the obvious choice for me. I hike, backpack, ski, sometimes climb. Topo maps will be fantastic. I also ride on forest roads, which are a maze here. I love the idea of being able to get turn-by-turns without having to jump through a dozen hoops.
It's my great hope that the F5X will be much faster and more responsive than the F3. It takes forever to save an activity.
While Garmin's specs appear to indicate the Fenix 3HR and 5X are the same physical size, from the early looks it appears that the 3 HR is really the same as the 5, and the 5X is significantly larger and heavier than even the 3 HR.
The difference is 16 grams! That's only significant if we're talking about illicit substances. :p
The weight really depends on the reference. It might "only" be 0.5oz but it's ~15% heavier than a 3 HR, 150% heavier than a 735XT, and only ~30% lighter than a Etrex 30X including batteries or an iPhone7, so for only 1.5oz more you can strap an Etrex or smartphone to your wrist.
How annoying that extra size/weight is depends on the person and the activity. Hiking, climbing, or kayaking I wouldn't mind it, but running or biking it would be annoying the bigger/heavier the thing is strapped to your wrist the more it get smacked on stuff and either flops around, or you have to tighten the strap uncomfortably tight. Cycling you can use a bar mount, but for me at least biking with a large/heavy watche always ends up getting pinched between my wrist/arm.
I just preordered the Fenix 5, though I'm curious as to Garmin's pricing.
Fenix 5x - $699 USD Fenix 5 Sapphire - $699 USD
Why are the 5x and Sapphire 5 the same price? They both have sapphire glass, wifi, etc, but the 5x has mapping and the better hardware to go along with the mapping. I would think the 5x would be more money.
The only reason I didn't opt for the 5x is because of the size. It's just way too big for my scrawny wrists. Also, the 5 sapphire is only available in black, unless you want to jump up to the stainless steel band for an extra $150.
I'm going to wait to see what the size difference are like in real life. I'm leaning towards the 5S (I'm 6 foot and not slight of build) because I'd prefer something smaller then the F3.
I know the 5S has the same number of pixels as the F3, but does anyone know if the 5S screen has more colors then the F3?
9 times out of 10 my sync occurs over bluetooth, but every now and then it takes too long, or fails outright. If I'm in my home I'll just trigger a wifi sync instead and that usually takes care of it. If I'm traveling then I'm basically out of luck until I can fix the bluetooth connection. Wifi on Garmin devices needs to be pre-configured to a known wifi access point through Garmin Express, so for some it has limited appeal since you can't just configure it for any wifi router on the device itself. If that ever changes then I think it might have more appeal.
I have setup my iPhone Personal Hotspot so i can use wifi sync everytime. Bluetooth takes an absolute age (for some reason), so i always wifi sync.
