Recommendation for the best alternative to Garmin Epix pro 51mm

I am very disappointed with the latest updates from Garmin, the biggest problem is the heart rate monitor, with frequent crashes and inaccurate heart rate readings, battery drain.....which makes none of the metrics they do make sense. I'm honestly thinking what would be the best alternative to the Garmin Epix pro 51mm.

Any Suunto Race users and what are their experiences?

Has anyone thought about this, and what would be your recommendation? 

  • Personally, at this point I keep staying in garmin ecosystem for the following reasons:

    - the watch provides important metrics that seems to be reliable and consistent to evaluate my training load (and hence to plan upcoming plans), these are the RHR and nightly HRV score, plus the graph of the daily stress
    - it acts as a backup for navigation if anything happens with my edge (google map, strava, etc are really not a replacement in long tours)

    Basically that's all, but I cannot find any other platforms that'd able provide these.

    I solved the non-functional WHR issue simply by not relying on that, and I use chest strap or an arm OHR sensor depending on the activity.

    Should anyone would have a suggestion based on my points, I'd happily consider to switch immediately.

  • Why don‘t you ask that in a Suunto forum?

  • Has anyone thought about this, and what would be your recommendation? 

    tactix 7 AMOLED - best Garmin watch I've ever had.

  • Dating back to 2014 I've had and still have Polar V800, Fenix 3HR, Fenix 5X+, Fenix 6X Pro Solar and now Epix Pro Gen 2 51mm.

    The Epix is without doubt the best watch I've owned to date. I am not affected by any of the bugs typically discussed other than false nap detection. In fact that is my only complaint and, really, it is a trivial issue. Otherwise, accuracy is entirely satisfactory, battery life is excellent, functionality is superb and the screen is fantastic. 

    I really can't comment on other players in the market. I have no interest in them. That also includes the latest Garmin Fenix 8 lineup. The Epix suits me perfectly. And let's not forget the long training history I've built up in the Garmin ecosystem. 

    FWIW I run indoors and out, ride indoors and out, walk/hike and do yoga and assorted gym classes.

    And sure, Garmin can really screw up their software/firmware at times, but I've learned from my Fenix 6 experience not to let beta firmware anywhere near my Epix. I also try not to be too quick to update with production releases as well, trying to hold off at least a few days after release in case there is a major SNAFU.