Should I, shouldn't I?

A lot of people are unhappy after updating to version 16.22. On my watch, I turned off the auto update and everything works as expected.

However, the moment will come that you will have to do an update for the sensors. Will Garmin then fix its bugs?

i am very happy with the watch and I do not recognize the issues posted. firmware 16.22

I am using a Descent Mk3I which is similar to the epix and before had used a fenix 6 for a couple of years. Would say it depends on what you expect and how you are gonna use it.

There are issues but you can deal with it. The touch screen is quite sensitive and during a run or walk in the rain a rain drop can stop your activity, means switch touch off. Can be done with short cuts. There is an option to only have touch on maps. Following a course works well. I did several long distance walks without any issues. Planned with Komoot. Rerouting on the watch when you diverge from your planned track doesn't work, but you see on the map the planned and actual route.

Battery drain which you will find a lot in this forum was never an issue. The descent lasts 3 weeks with one charge and a few gym activities or 3 days with hiking and GPS.

Heart rate measuring is another big discussion. You shouldn't expect too much. I think it depends how tight you wear it. It is not always reliable. During hikes it was. In the gym I wear a chest strap to monitor my hr on the screen from the treadmill and the watch uses it as external source for recording.

Others complain about pace accuracy. I don't use it. It will largely depend on GPS and whether you are in the woods or gras land, etc.

The descent is also a dive computer, but I will have a backup with me (my old dive computer)

I love the watch. I can't compare to another brand like Samsung or Apple. It is expensive. Don't expect it is 100% accurate wIth its tons of data.

Don't read too many reviews.

Auto Rerouting when off course works IF you creat the route on watch ( instead a preloaded gpx route) 

In map mode, pick a location on map, select GOTO LOCATION. It will creat a route. If you go off the initial route, it will auto rerout off current location. I use this every week in random 30km long runs

Good to know. I manage routes with Komoot and synchronize them with Garmin connect. Currently I test the Komoot app on the watch for hiking but I think I will return to the Garmin one. It is not custamizable as the Garmin is.

@OP you see these watches have a lot of options and you need to find what works best for you

This sounds like the bad reviews are from the new mobile app, and not the watch itself.  Two very different things. 

Are a "lot" of people unhappy though? Or is it just a tiny fraction of users! No issues here and I use every beta and only get the odd issue. A soft reset usually resolved most issues. 

It is an absolutely amazing device, it is just the HR sometimes shows 80 instead of 140 for 20 minutes, but np, because after that it figures it out and goes up to the real value.

And I almost forgot that during activities the display dims so much so you cannot really use the watch outside in any activities where you cannot get back the display with a hand gesture.

But again, during activities you don't need somewhat believable HR data and why would you want to see anything on the display, right?

I have a Fenix 3HR, 5X+, 6X Pro Solar and Epix 2 Pro 51mm (also a Polar  V800). The Epix is far and away the best of them.

I've had mine for a year and the worst criticism I can make about mine is the, rather trivial, false nap detection. I run indoors and out, walk, hike, do yoga and bike. I always wear a chest strap for activities. With my use case I am unaffected by any faults reported by others (except false naps). I do not participate in the beta program for the Epix as a result of my disappointing experience with the 6X beta firmware releases, which were mostly abysmal.

I have no regrets about my Epix purchase. 

Does it really matter if you've never experienced the old version of the app?  The new version is fine. Is it a master class example of UI design? Probably not, but GC never was.