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The Epix vs Fenix debate is rather comical

Former Member
Former Member over 3 years ago

There seems to two very distinct crowds. You are either all in on the Epix or Fenix, with no rational balance.

Precursor: Both are great watches, can't go wrong with either.

With that said, why are so many users convincing themselves they need the battery life of the Fenix? Unless you live out in the middle of nowhere in a "Ted shed" I do not see the issue. Is 6 days not enough? Is 16 days not enough if you do so wish to turn off AOD and use gestures as a compromise? 

If you do find yourself spending a week in the woods, is there an issue with packing a small power pack? Or a small hiking solar panel that many multi-day hikers often invest in?

There is some off infatuation with needing the "extreme" of either end. For Fenix users they seem to be the "if the apocalypse hit which would last the longest?" group.

If you take your watch off when you shower, this shouldn't even be a deciding factor as you realistically could spot chare it daily for ~10-15 min

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Actually I take the watch with me in the shower as that is when I wash it Joy

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Former Member

    The screen size vs resolution thing depends also on your eye-sight. When you are 50+, the 200 vs 300+ ppi resolution difference may be nothing without glasses, but having a bigger screen helps. :wink (I'm a Fenix 5+ owner planning to keep using that watch for a couple of years still, so I'm not overly biased.)

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    As a Garmin owner for a decade, and who meticulously measures battery drain in the first few months of a new watch to squeeze as much juice out as possible, I’ve just come to the “charge while showering” realisation. Those 15min each day will give my Fenix 6 Sapphire almost unlimited battery life, and I’m pretty excited about that! Not sure why it took me so long to figure this out!

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to darrencroton

    I thought charging a battery to always keep it topped up reduced its overall life span ?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Maruzko

    For lithium-ion batteries, the sweet spot would be to keep the charge in the 30%-70% range. With my Fenix 5+, I typically charge it during showering to around 70-85 %, unless I know I'm going to need a lot of charge (going hiking, etc.).

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Love my Epix but I will say that some of the standard watch faces on the Fenix are nicer than their equivalents on the Epix. The higher resolution makes them seem (oddly) not as nice than on the Fenix

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Personally, i like the AOD screens of Venu series(and hopefully of the Epix too). I can see everything that i want with the AOD and i keep even the gesture off to avoid unwanted "awakenings".

    The MIP display is not an "always on" for me as i can't see anything in the dark(good amount of the day when not exercising) without activating the backlight.

    No battery or sizes issue for me...just the AOD stuff.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to ericgottlieb

    Please don't apologize for the "long" response, I loved it. I now own a Fenix 5 Sapphire and I am in this forum and the Fenix 7 forum to help me decide which watch I might want to upgrade too. I appreciate how you identified your personal preferences and rationally connect them to your experience, which is different yet relevant for each of our choices.

    For me, I have no problem charging my watch weekly or even after each run, so the solar is not of particular value to me. The X is definitely too large for my wrist and hand. I am not sure that I need a really bright device on my wrist to compete with my phone, but I haven't been able to experience the Epix on my wrist. I have only been able to see written and video reviews.

    Finally, I am not too keen on a silver or even non-black watch. I want to wear one watch for every occasion and event, black seems to fit the bill. For some reason, Garmin has not used black watches in any of the base models, which I would be happy with based on features. Do I pay an extra $100 or $300 just to get black and take the extra features with it? Not yet sure. To get black, I need to go for the Fenix 7 or 7S Solar or the Epix Sapphire - Black Titanium. $699 for Silver will provide all that I need but $799 for a Black Fenix 7 or $999 for Black Epix. 

    Reading of experiences like yours I hope will help me to decide.

  • 0 over 3 years ago
    Is 6 days not enough? Is 16 days not enough if you do so wish to turn off AOD and use gestures as a compromise? 

    It's not that 6 days / 16 days isn't enough.

    It's that 15 hours / 20 hours of multiband GNSS isn't enough. For me, anyways.

    It's totally fine for people who only ever do single-day activities. But when I'm out backpacking, I want to be able to use all the features of the watch, including multiband GNSS and frequent map viewing, without any concern about the battery dying after the first or second day.

    So that's why I opted not to go with Epix, personally. But I do realize the battery is probably fine for most people.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to GT1977
    GT1977 said:
    I will say that some of the standard watch faces on the Fenix are nicer than their equivalents on the Epix.

    I don't use a standard watch face on my F6S Pro and don't expect to on my Epix either when it arrives. I'm hoping third-party ones will be better without compromising battery life.