I think it will be good to have one central place to have the latest news people here about the updated release date. DCR said it looks like early March. The garmin site says 5-8 weeks but thats the default time on all new products. Everywhere I read it says "By end of Q1" which is the end of March. Rei still doesnt have it listed yet either. Has anyone heard anything more specific?
I preordered a Fenix 5s black sapphire from Amazon really early on, and Amazon still lists it as "Product has not yet been released" .. when obviously that is not true.
I preordered an F5S Sapphire Champagne with Metal Band from them myself. I prefer a metal band for my watches for everyday use and will switch to the other for outdoor activities. Only reason I went with Amazon over any of the other US retailers mentioned in this thread is because I had some gift cards from Christmas. Given the hefty price tag, every little bit helps.
I just hope it ships sooner rather than later. The device I'm replacing decided to finally bite the dust over the weekend and I feel naked without a watch.
I think it's really bizarre that Garmin chose to produce the white 5s first. They're really all in on trying to promote this watch to women, despite it being a normal size men's watch.
I think it's really bizarre that Garmin chose to produce the white 5s first. They're really all in on trying to promote this watch to women, despite it being a normal size men's watch.
Agreed. I wouldn't even necessarily call it a normal size men's watch though. With the buttons and the lugs, it's still a rather large watch. I measured my wrist last night and was surprised to find it to be 7". Considering the numbers I've seen thrown around in these threads I don't know who they're selling the larger versions to as I considered the 5S to be on the hairy edge of too big. I have a skeleton watch that is almost the exact same dimensions as the 5S. The difference is the lugs are angled downward so they start wrapping around your wrist and are part of the band more than they are part of the watch body. I understand you can only get so small and still be able to cram all the hardware in there, but there are some design options I don't feel like they considered. I can't imagine an average size woman wearing one of these.
I'll say it again and again... the 5S is 42mm and has oversized lugs bringing its total length to 52mm. 42mm is classically a LARGE mens size and the standard large size for the Rolex GMT, Submariner etc. If you include the lugs the 5S is even larger than the Rolexs. The LARGE Apple Watch is 42mm long, 35mm wide and has NO lugs so it is tiny compared to the 5S and you see men wearing it everywhere.
The 47 mm F5 or 51 mm F5X are fantastic sports watches and they look great but their size will always put them out of the norm for men's watches and make it obvious you are wearing a smartwatch/sportswatch. That's more than ok if you like it, personal preference means everything, but I personally want a watch that when I wear it outside of my workouts looks like a classic men's watch and that is the 5S.
Why are Garmin marketing the 5S towards women? Because they know the 51mm F3 looked like a small tank on most womens arms and since they now have something smaller, even if still very large, it makes sense they try to encourage women to try the Fenix line again now that they have something more reasonable.
I just received my F5 Black Sapphire an hour ago, looking great, playing with settings, moving from F3, looks much more quicker and more customisable. Can't wait to take it out tomorrow for a run and bike :-).
I live in Romania, got it from a serious sport shop here, SportGuru, I was told by the CS guy that I was to first to be called after they got them today. I also have a 5X on order but they will arrive here in April, but I have a feeling that I will stay with F5 for good - I do not need maps but I liked the (large to some) size of F3 and also the extra RAM memory of 5X, thought that on the long run maybe Garmin will enable more feature on 5X due to this... So will see, currently I am very happy with F5!
Picked up my Sapphire 5 Black/Black from REI yesterday (Ordered on the 17th). I have to say coming from the original Fenix 3 this feels like a feather on my wrist. Band is much more comfortable.
