Reasons NOT to buy an APAC (Asia-Pacific) version of Fenix 5?

I'm sure i'm not alone here but I couldn't resist the Amazon pricing I was seeing on the Fenix 5 Sapphire edition and bit the bullet. It arrived today. The first clue I had that something may not be right is that there was no extra (yellow) silicone band in the box. I had read that that was supposed to be included. I called Garmin and explained the issue. He ran the SN and —BAM— I was sent an APAC version. Nowhere does it say this on the Amazon listing.

So, now the question becomes, do I return this and pay $100 more for a North American version or just keep it? So, what are the downsides of having an APAC version F5. I understand that firmware updates may be slower to roll out. Anything else? Will the FW versions I'm seeing at the top of the forum here even load?

Thanks in advance.

—Disappointed

0 TheLan over 7 years ago

Hi,

I used fenix5 APAC version for a year. Only backward that i can see is the slow firmware roll out. Including i cannot install beta firmware version for trying. For the other thing, i think it is the same as another version.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

In china, APAC version cost more than $100+ than global version

APAC version have Chinese font/language support
APAC version have BeiDou Navigation Satellite System support ( like GPS and GLONASS?

It have the same feature as global version.

in fact, I'm also using a global english version in China, not a APAC version (as the global english version price is lower).

0 BeneGi over 7 years ago

APAC Versions do lack some features because they are way behind for firmware roll outs.

0 kidzen over 7 years ago

We in APAC region have no choice but to use APAC version for official warranty support in our own countries. The only down side is the slower roll out of latest firmware while the product is the latest model. The delay can range from 1 week - 4 weeks. Also you can't install beta firmware.

Other older APAC Garmin products I own eventually have the same firmware roll out dates when the product becomes older i.e towards getting replaced with a newer model (~2-3 years). But I'm not sure if this is going to be the case for the Fenix 5 APAC version.

Other than that it is exactly the same product. I don't know if it is worth the extra $100 to just get the latest firmware for a product that is more than 1 year in its product life cycle.