I ordered and quickly received the F5 Sapphire grey/metal from REI. Thought I wanted that size. Nice looking watch, but didn't care for 22mm band after being used to 26mm on my F3, and the whole watch just seemed to small for my 6 3/4"-7" wrist. Didn't even take the plastic off the metal band or fully off the watch face. Strapped it on with rubber band. But did connect it to my iPhone 7+. Noted the BT connectivity was unreliable even walking 10-15 feet away. That's a nonstarter for me. Returned it to REI store for refund and suggested they return it as defective due to BT disconnects.
Next day ordered the F5X grey/metal from REI and it shipped next day. Arriving today. It's one of 12 available at the time I'm told, and salesperson thought they had just fulfilled backorders, so my timing on the last remaining units was good. A couple days later the F5X Grey/metal was removed from REI site, so I called them and was told they were all gone, and if they don't have at least a backorder ship date they pull it from site. Salesperson said they sell out immediately. I'm hoping the units are selling well and so they get Garmin's attention for a long time.
Also ordered an amp yellow quick fit 26 band from bhphotovideo, which is also arriving today. Also ordered a tempe sensor from Amazon along with a new amp yellow band for my Scosche, both free next day shipping on Prime, arriving today. I'll be stylin'.
Just updated my F3 to 8.3 today. Glad to see updates still coming for it. Looking forward to wrist based OHR for resting, but plan to continue using my Scosche for runs and weight training. Hoping for a fully functional unit that actually went through QC, and I'm aware of the Fenix line's potential GPS performance, instant pacing, etc.
Somehow feels like anticipating that G.I. Joe with Kung Fu grip....