First impressions

Former Member over 8 years ago

These are some first impressions after playing with it for a little while. I'm only posting this now because it's charging, if not I'd probably be playing with it some more, haha.

The maps and everything to do with the maps is much quicker than I imagined.
It's absurd a charger wasn't included in the box. I don't care for the reasons, that's just being mean.
The new charging cable is much, much better in my opinion and it's perfect for taking on long hikes.
The heart rate monitor is considerably more accurate than I imagined.
The heart rate bump can be felt if you run your finger over it but it is certainly not noticeable while wearing and I'm glad, because it was my concern with previous models.
I don't seem to notice the extra 2mm thickness in the body nor the weight.
There's far more shortcuts and little refinements that're quite nice.
Wi-Fi range is about the same.
It might be my imagination but I think it's possible the strap is a different material to previous models. I avoided the previous strap and used my own, however, this doesn't come with any screwdrivers so I'm stuck with the stock strap for now.
The buttons are easier to press but they're not too easy. I think they're about right but again it's subjective.
There's more storage than advertised, mine says 14.4gb.
It comes with some BirdsEye stuff that's advertised with the Epix but I didn't see it advertised on the Fenix 5x.

I'm impressed so far, and I'm pleased I bought this model and not the other.

0 Subtleguru over 8 years ago

Is there a way to disable the maps?

Basically. I'm thinking if I disable during a long trail race, with a clearly marked course...I won't need maps...and I can hopefully get few more hours of battery life.

Unless you are actually displaying the mapping or at navigating a course then I don't think you are incurring extra battery draw. I suspect that the extra hardware on the 5x may mean that it will still not match the 5 even when mapping is not used.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Yes, I think it must be the Sapphire glass as it does seen darker than my non-sapphire fenix 3. It was a shock switching it on but happier now with the adjustment.

I can't notice a difference between my previous sapphire watch, and I currently have mine on 5%. If I was you, I'd try double check with another device on the off chance yours is faulty. I've never seen a non sapphire watch, so I can't help any further unfortunately. I'm surprised if you need it at 70%.

Is there a way to disable the maps?

Basically. I'm thinking if I disable during a long trail race, with a clearly marked course...I won't need maps...and I can hopefully get few more hours of battery life.

Yeah you can disable them, change the detail of them, enable multiple maps, etc. You can also have the map app show a different level of detail to your general system setting, so you may want to set everything low except a specific app, that might help battery life.

Faster CPUs can mean they draw more current under full load but sometimes they're better at idle. Given that I've seen no useful information in regards to the processor or the mAh of the battery, I can't say whether you can mimic the battery life of the other models but you can definitely improve the battery life. You might also want to consider disabling the wrist heart rate monitor for long races, that way you can use a chest strap and you'll probably improve the battery life considerably.

0 gasteropod over 8 years ago

It does not seem to have the extra CIQ memory shown in the simulator which is a big disappointment and seems limited to the same 64kB as the f3. My f5x app which works in the simulator runs out of memory as a result.

Looks like this is a bug that the connect IQ team have re-produced and moved my post into the bugs forum. I think the 5x is supposed to have more than 64kB of memory.

0 SCIS30 over 8 years ago

Studio puskesmas

. You might also want to consider disabling the wrist heart rate monitor for long races, that way you can use a chest strap and you'll probably improve the battery life considerably.

This is an interesting bit of info. I would absolutely disable the wrist HR during s race but I wasn't aware that a chest HR uses LESS battery than the wrist HR. Thank you!

0 gasteropod over 8 years ago

Hopefully the watch is smart enough to automatically disable the optical HR when the chest strap is being used!

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

Hopefully the watch is smart enough to automatically disable the optical HR when the chest strap is being used!

That's the case with other Garmin watches that have WHR. if there's a paired HRM connected the OHRM turns off when you record data. You can also broadcast the WHR data (Ant+) so you can pair the watch with something like an Edge or Oregon, and record the HR data on a activity there.

0 meste7 over 8 years ago

Looks like this is a bug that the connect IQ team have re-produced and moved my post into the bugs forum. I think the 5x is supposed to have more than 64kB of memory.

Any idea of F5 will have the same memory capabilities with F5X from this point of view?

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

The f5/f5s has the same usable memory for widgets as other 2.x watches (the vahr and 735) - 58k

0 meste7 over 8 years ago

The f5/f5s has the same usable memory for widgets as other 2.x watches (the vahr and 735) - 58k

As compared to F5X which you says it should have more than 64Kb, but how much more?

I am trying to base my decision to buy F5 or F5X based on this, probably...

0 gasteropod over 8 years ago

The 5X has a separate extra memory chip and should have close to 1MB memory. The simulator shows 1018KB.