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Short Review: Expedition & Athlete

As I had both watches, for a brief time, I thought I’d mention a few things about them.

Also, the first watch (Expedition) was almost certainly used in retrospect. It’s not just the band damage but it was also half charged, unlike the Athlete which came in cold.

Anyways, here goes.

The buttons are too big on the Athlete. It’s hard to get a tactile sense of fullness because my finger has to dig into the skin to get around it. The Expedition, more similar to the F5+ was much more comfortable and it never got caught in my hair.
The magic button press for stats is, mostly, useless in both watches. Don’t pick the Athlete because of those stats. All it does is predict race times.
The band on the Expedition will get dirty and not last, even if it’s comfortable. I like it, want it, but having seen a used one, no thanks!
I find the Silicone band, interesting. It locks really tight, is borderline uncomfortable, but it holds the watch in place much better than the F5+. It’s a step up.
Both watches look good.
The bezel on both of them doesn’t really matter. VO2 goes up a point and I’ll barely be able to tell. It’s just there for looks.
The watch is a lot faster and I think they improved the UI in positive ways.
The default watch face on the Expedition is nicer in my opinion, however, I didn’t like the big hour dashes on it. The Athlete is too busy.
Need to be able to customize data fields on both watches. It would be hard on the Expedition, but the Athlete could handle it. IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN!
Pairing / set up took a few tries but it works.
I don’t like the new charging cable. Harder to line up than the older one.
I just did a quick GPS test on a walk, and it was terrible. Off 20 to 30 feet everywhere, had me walking through buildings all the way, and stopped me with a weird loop about 50 feet early. Other than the starting point, and about 50 yards from there, it wasn’t close on anything. Just checked the setting and it was normal (GPS only). I’ll play with it for a run tonight.

If not for the $400 cost, I’d lose my discount, I’d get an Expedition just because of the button size and looks, which is what I tried to do.

Despite that, I’m fine with this watch. If, you were questioning the money in some way, however, I’d say stick with a Forerunner or a F6 when it comes around . I don’t see anything that warrants this kind of money from a practical sense.

0 rkrichter2 over 5 years ago

I'll bite. I have been wearing my Athlete for just over a week now.

1. I don't have this problem at all. That being said, I have small wrists and fingers.
2. Agree. I forget I even have this function because I have no reason to use it.
3. N/A
4. I don't find the band uncomfortable at all, even when running 10Ks. I'll be golfing in it for the first time tomorrow. Let's see how that goes. But as I said, I do have small wrists.
5. Can only speak for Athlete, but it does look good. I visited a friend in Pittsburgh this weekend and he immediately noticed it (of course he had just bought a new watch too, not a smartwatch though) and it just felt right to be wearing on my wrist for a night out in the city, but also dressing down at work, or even in my athletic wear while running. It's just a nice looking watch for every occasion. I typically like a big watch face, so I wasn't sure at first about the size difference from my Fenix 5X, but it's growing on me (pun intended).
6. Agree. Especially since I don't like the default watch face. It's absolutely pointless with a third party watch face. It does look good though, I guess.
7. Definitely flows better. Overall some little positive UI changes. Still wish they would have upped the resolution though.
8. Kind of touched on this above I guess
9. If they were to allow this then I may consider the default Athlete watch face. Right now, I just don't care about my total miles for the week or my current heart rate.
10. I personally didn't experience this issue. Everything seemed to work right away.
11. I'm kind of whatever on the cable, however on my Fenix 5X sometimes just barely bumping my laptop would cause my watch to disconnect from Garmin Express. I have not experienced that yet with this cable.
12. Haven't really tested this yet honestly. I've just gone on a handful of runs and a handful of walks but haven't paid much attention to this detail except that it seems to be not all that different then when I would run with my Fenix 5X. I do the same runs a lot and it feels like it's been the same distance/time on both watches.

I was definitely torn between the Athlete and Expedition. In the end I figured I do a lot more running than hiking, but as noted, I'm not sure the Athlete gives you a whole lot more that makes it worth it if you really like the Expedition better. I typically like black watches, so that was the ultimate decision for me. I like the little bit of stainless steel look to mix in with the black. It's a change for me at least and I like it. The gold look on the one button is a nice touch as well.

I also agree with the money sentiment. I have the money to throw around like that, not in a "I've got tons of money" way, but in a "I'm single with no kids" kind of way so I'll spend money on what I want haha. But honestly, I would have expected a bit more on the software side. I know the MARQ series is all about the materials used, but for the price, I just feel like it could have brought more to the table on the technology side.

One final note, my bluetooth connection is way shorter in distance than my Fenix 5X. I have a spot where I charge my phone and I used to be able to stay connected to my watch anywhere in my cabin (not a big cabin, but still), and now with the Athlete I feel like once I leave that room that it's charging in I am no longer connected.

0 DontGetTheSwiss over 5 years ago in reply to rkrichter2

For me, the Start/Stop button sits right on the wrist bone. If I twist the watch a bit it's not bad. Mostly, it's just awkward to use and the smaller buttons weren't. It might be a band problem, and not a size problem, as the band is more angled on this watch. It's not a $250+ argument though. I'll get used to it.

I did a quick run last night and other than the start, which put me in the middle of a very wide 4 lane road, the rest of the track was really good, better than the 5+. Used GPS + Gallileo. I'll go to my regular run tonight then do my "serious" run on Saturday and see what it does.