Hi, not really... HR in fenix 5x is not really useful, it works ok only not in the activity: 70% out of the reality in both running and cycling, does not work at all while swimming. So I have to user an additional HRM anyway while doing sport. Round display looks very nice but makes the digits smaller during the activity, it is just more difficult to put it on screen in an optimal way Touch screen was useful for a calc on my epix. Charging port is placed in an odd way. There are other unclear oddities in fenix 5x as well (that is the reason I visited this forum, to find the answers)
It has its benefits as well, fenix is better as an everyday watch (besides being heavier), turn-by turn routing finally works on maps, it has very nice watchfaces and nice new widgets. As a sport watch, I miss my epix.
I have replaced epix by three reasons: Baro/temp sensors stopped working, battery time went down significantly and I received a good price on 5X. Otherwise there is no sense to change. Epix is better as both sport watch and outdoor watch,
As a longtime epix user I was also checking advantages to switch. Normally I load courses from Garmin Basecamp by USB cable, but I was recently giving a try building gpx tracks on my android phone with a program such as My RouteMap, and then opening the exported gpx track with Garmin Connect, which loads it as a course an then I thought I would be able to sync it to the epix , however it starts syncing and never finishes, seemingly no going past 50% on the epix, the transfer only goes through after syncing on the computer via garmin express. Using the IQMapReceiver app with the epix its seems to work only with waypoint sending. Should the fenix 5x make life easier for sending courses wirelessly with any of these 2 methods? I would still not be very eager to give up the touchscreen...
Hi, not really... HR in fenix 5x is not really useful, it works ok only not in the activity: 70% out of the reality in both running and cycling, does not work at all while swimming. So I have to user an additional HRM anyway while doing sport. Round display looks very nice but makes the digits smaller during the activity, it is just more difficult to put it on screen in an optimal way Touch screen was useful for a calc on my epix. Charging port is placed in an odd way. There are other unclear oddities in fenix 5x as well (that is the reason I visited this forum, to find the answers)
It has its benefits as well, fenix is better as an everyday watch (besides being heavier), turn-by turn routing finally works on maps, it has very nice watchfaces and nice new widgets. As a sport watch, I miss my epix.
I have replaced epix by three reasons: Baro/temp sensors stopped working, battery time went down significantly and I received a good price on 5X. Otherwise there is no sense to change. Epix is better as both sport watch and outdoor watch,
The onboard optical HR I find is useful for all day metrics....resting HR, stress etc. (I've used it with the 935 as well as fenix 5). But you're right, for activities it's best to wear a separate dedicated HR strap (I use a Scosche and Garmin swim).
The size of the fenix 3 didn't bother me too much....until I switched to the fenix 5, then I realised the fenix 3 (and 5x) are BIG watches. My 5x arrives tomorrow, so time will tell if the extra size makes it worth having onboard mapping.
I owned the Epix for a little while until I had to return it. The lag was unusable, also bugs like the altimeter were just a turnoff. I got the 5x on launch day and I couldn't be happier. I have loaded Garmin 24k maps on and OSM (which I use mostly). I dont have any lag really at all. I primarily use mine for hiking. Day hikes, Overnight hikes and multi day trips. I am in the Northeast US where the terrain isnt flat and the altimeter works great also. Overall its a great device and I am happy Garmin took another chance on a device with maps on the wrist.
I've just come from Epix - used it for approx 18 months. In the end, I lost patience with the Epix because it frequently crashed and rebooted. Per se this is not so bad, but it would then reset the time which would generally reset my step count. Lately it has had trouble syncing via bluetooth, which was the last straw. I would have been happy to keep using it indefinitely, but I need it to, y'know, work.
I was anxious about losing the touch screen, and still miss it, but it's not been too bad. The map is still laggy but IMO better than Epix. More importantly, the 64 colour (I think it's 64?) display is far, far better for maps than Epix's 16.
Another plus for me has been using Komoot's native app. I always used Komoot to plan courses, but then had to export to GPX and import via cable. Now, the Komoot app downloads it for me. There's a Strava routes app, too. And then of course there's on board wifi, which means my activities instantly sync when I get home.
Bottom line from me: it's more attractive, feels much faster and slicker, better display, oh and the altimeter actually works (yay!)
