Anyone upgraded from a Vivoactive to a Fenix 5S?

Not quite what you're asking, but I have a va, a va-hr, and a f5. (I use the va and va-hr for testing, so still using them)

I like the display on the f5 over the others - no doubt about it. I think in general, the standard fonts on the f5 also really help with the look of the screen.

And many more native functions on the f5 than the va/va-hr. Also, the f5 has the CIQ 2.x VM (as does the va-hr), but the va is on 1.x, limiting what can be done with CIQ apps on the watch.

The f5 is a bigger than the va/va-hr, and the weight is different, but the only time I notice that is when I switch to one of the others for testing. Day to day, not an issue.

See if you can find a local place with the f5s if you want to check it against the va.

Thanks for the reply, I remember the username from the VA forums.

Unfortunately I'm fairly remote where I am and nowhere stocks more specialist devices like the Fenix, just some of the basic Forerunners and Edges. My concern is that I have a small wrist and the VA tends to rest on the wrist bone which looks like it may be uncomfortable in that position with the larger buttons and the HR monitor may not work properly.

The Fenix 5s is gorgeous. My old vahr is an ugly, clumsy monstrosity in comparison. The display is better by a lot. I was always frustrated with the things that the VAHR could not do.

John,

I recently (last week) replaced my original 2-year old Vivoactive with the medium-sized Fenix 5 model, which I've been wearing 24/7 since. In that time my usage has also included a number of activities, including treadmill sessions, cycling, and trail running. While the Fenix is much larger and bulkier than the Vivoactive, I find it quite comfortable and surprisingly unobtrusive on the wrist. Because it is round, it appears more "watch like" than the Vivoactive and doesn't have corners that subtly dig into my arm or catch on things. I have thin wrists and was originally planning to purchase the 5S, but after trying on the plain, larger 5 opted for it.

Regarding your question about the display: the resolution (and color) of the Fenix display seems noticeably better than the Vivoactive's. I agree with you that analog watch faces never looked good on the Vivoactive, but I think they look fine on the Fenix. I used only digital watch faces on the Vivoactive, but am using one of the analog faces on the Fenix. The contrast and brightness are about the same between the two.

Chris

John,

I recently (last week) replaced my original 2-year old Vivoactive with the medium-sized Fenix 5 model, which I've been wearing 24/7 since. In that time my usage has also included a number of activities, including treadmill sessions, cycling, and trail running. While the Fenix is much larger and bulkier than the Vivoactive, I find it quite comfortable and surprisingly unobtrusive on the wrist. Because it is round, it appears more "watch like" than the Vivoactive and doesn't have corners that subtly dig into my arm or catch on things. I have thin wrists and was originally planning to purchase the 5S, but after trying on the plain, larger 5 opted for it.

Regarding your question about the display: the resolution (and color) of the Fenix display seems noticeably better than the Vivoactive's. I agree with you that analog watch faces never looked good on the Vivoactive, but I think they look fine on the Fenix. I used only digital watch faces on the Vivoactive, but am using one of the analog faces on the Fenix. The contrast and brightness are about the same between the two.

Chris

I originally brought the 5S thinking it would be better for running, but exchanged it for a normal size 5 which has a much longer and wider strap, which provides better support during running. The normal size 5 is actually similar in size to the 5S if you include the length of the lugs.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, I took Jim's advice and checked Tisos which I have a 10% discount for and they had a single 5S in black which was clearly there for me :) Tried it on, seemed good and took it home. I did have a brief moment of wondering why on earth I'd just spent so much money on a watch but I'm surprised at how much better the display is just as was said here, it seems much sharper and clearer so I've got a detailed analogue face which is easily readable. The HR monitor is working well so far and I'm impressed with the move IQ which has correctly guessed when I've been walking and cycling without the GPS.

Agree with the others here. I upgraded from a VAHR to Fenix 5. The watch looks much better and no issues with the weight or size. The readability is much better. The only small(ish) issue I have with it is that when i'm doing mobility work warming up, my wrist sometimes hits the 'start/stop' or 'lap' buttons. Since the VAHR has the buttons on the top and not the sides, I never ran into that issue. But nonetheless, i'm very happy with this upgrade.