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Fenix 6 display problem fault poor quality

Here we can continue to discuss our experiences with Garmin Fenix 6 which does not seem to be well described/advertised and it caused lot of misunderstanding around the forum. There are some users with displays that got deep colours, especially black colour, and owners of F6 with blue hue, in both cases we are talking about situation when the backlight is on. In daylight both displays look same and very good.

Here is the link to original thread which has been closed by Garmin as, I think, people were arguing and repeating same thing again and again.

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/193760/2-watches-fenix-6-sapphire-with-different-screen-contrast-and-ohr-sensors-both-have-different-look-and-box-on-back-shows-3-hours-gps-anyone-know-what-s-going-on

Stop arguing here. We are only trying to find out where is the problem. This thread is supposed to help people decide if their Fenix 6 got a good display or not. Garmin said it is normal but some people have got better or worse colours, contrast etc. So try to be helpful and dont repeta yourself all the time. As lot of people said you can return it if not happy.

We want to identify which Fenix 6 are affected by blueish backlight and which one are not, and if the situation is going to change in near future. It looks like some of these blueish displays are better, some worse. I had two F6 with blueish blacks and still both looked different, as the contrast in one of them was better than in the other one. 

Thank you

  • Don‘t know if my video is still out there so I‘ll post it again. But first I have to preface it with this: I came from the Fenix 3 to the Fenix 5, switched to a 935, upgraded to a 945 and ultimately came back to the Fenix line with the 6 series. First I tried a 6X Sapphire (S/N 634031...) and immediately noticed the blueish tint. Since I wasn‘t sure about the size anyway and there was no problem returning the watch within 14 days (hurray Eutopean consumer laws) I bought an additional Fenix 6 Sapphire (S/N 63N004...), but noticed the same tint. I settled on the 6 size, but still wanted to see whether there were any black displays out there, seeing as I was used to them already since the Fenix 3 when it came out. So I visited a local retailer and asked them to let me take a look at the sapphire model they had. Once again, blue screen. Before I then sent back the 6X Sapphire and the 6 Sapphire I ordered another 6 Sapphire (S/N 63N052...) from the same retailer, and lo and behold, my new F6 Sapphire had a black screen just like the one I was used to. The attached video compares the two Fenix 6 Sapphire models I had, one with a blue screen (right, S/N 63N004...) and one with a black screen (left, S/N 63N052...).

    NOW, contrary to (as it seems) most of the people in this thread I am not mad at Garmin or anything, I don‘t want their heads on a stick or get mad at them for this. If you think your watch is faulty then return it, either through your retailer or directly through Garmin. And to everybody who says that the blue-ish screen is totally okay for day to day use: just watch my video and see what happens with the contrast once you get to a high viewing angle, that should not okay for an outdoor watch.

    With all that being said, I actually LOVE this thing. I have excellent GPS as far as I am concerned, haven’t experienced the altimeter bug and my battery lasts even longer than advertised in smartwatch mode.

    Click here to play this video

  • You are the reviewer in the video comparison? 

  • No I am not.

    Former Member I have to disagree, it‘s absolutely worth every penny to me. As I said in the post you replied to: I don‘t have any issues whatsoever with my watch, neither with the software (Elevation bug) nor with the hardware (OHR, battery)

  • Thanks for the video, it definitely focus to the difference in quality of the watches screen. It helps a lot understanding what's going on.

  • Will this probem occur only on F6 Sapphire or also on ordinary F6 Pro and F6S Pro?

  • This issue may occur in any watch, for the moment we haven't seen a good 6x watch. All the good screens that we have seen were in Fenix 6 watches. But it's quite a lottery. 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to George_Solari

    My question is...

    Who "officially" determined that a backlight with a blue tint is in fact defective.

    The original thread started out with a user seeing a "difference" in displays between 2 of the same model devices.

    Some how it turned into being a defective display.

    Now you are saying that everyone who has a 6x has a defective display , and only some of the 6's have good displays.

    And who is "we"?

    Is there an official backlight committee now?

    I did a little searching last night, and the only place I could find reference to the fenix 6 line having defective displays are the threads on this forum.

    Garmin says the things are withing spec. Could there be some that are not in spec?... sure, and I'm sure that they could be returned or exchanged.

    Did you send Garmin a picture of your display so they could determine if it was within spec or not?... or did you just let the place that you purchased it from tell them that your display had a blueish tint?

    I have owned a fenix 3, fenix 3 HR, fenix 5, fenix 5X, and now a fenix 6X, and the backlights have looked pretty much the same on all of them. In fact I gave my 5X to my friend after getting the 6X, and was at her house the other night, and compared the backlights between hers and mine, and they both had a slight blueish tint.

    I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but just trying to determine how this has transformed from a "difference" to being a "defect".

    It's just crazy.

  • Hi,

    I didn't say that everyone who has a 6X, has a defective screen.

    What I said is that we haven't yet seen a user of 6X, including me that owns a 6X and having a screen that is as good as some screens with the high contrast ratio on some Fenix 6 models.

    Now regarding your research:

    A thread in reddit with many owners that are dissatisfied with the quality of the screen's backlight.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/GarminFenix/comments/dcslzm/lets_see_your_fenix_6_backlight/

    For your convience I reference a few replies of users:

    • 16 days ago Very dissatisfied

    • 13 days ago Joining the fail train. https://imgur.com/a/SZ62hTE I don't like to complain, but for the price I wouldn't expect this.
    • 8 days ago Same but I’m thinking about an exchange... thankful for REI return policy.
    • 5 days ago Have you seen any new s/ns that don’t have the washed out screen? I assumed the latest units (to keep up with demand) are the faulty ones
    • 4 days ago I don’t. Waiting to hear a good batch is released. If not, I’m returning before 90 days. It’s a great watch, but the backlight without light bleed looks WAY better.

    And many many others if you visit the link.

    Below I am attaching again a video review comparing two Fenix 6 (Sapphire & Gorilla). The Gorilla one is having the backlight issue (Watch the Video from 3:40):

    https://youtu.be/J8XZ_lsGGtI?t=217

    The problem exists regardless seeing it or not.

    Now, you may say that for the amount of money you invested in the watch you are satisfied with the screen of the watch and you don't mind that some watches have far better screens backlighted. This is something I understand and of course it's your opinion.

    I know that you don't try to give me a hard time....We just express our opinions...Even if we disagree we both are customers...We don't have anything to separate.

    Best regards

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to George_Solari

    Yeah I saw the rededit thread, and assumed it was started by someone who saw it on this forum. I also saw that review as well, but he did not refer to it as a defective display. He just said he preferred the other one.

    My 6X has a very slight blueish tint, but only very slightly. When I take a picture of it, the picture comes out way bluer than I actually see. And like I said, I compared it with the fenix 5X that I gave to my friend the other night and the 5X actually looked bluer then the 6X. And all the fenix's I have owned (many), all the backlights have looked similar.

    I will admit that some of the pics that have an extremely blueish tint and are washed out could be out of spec and considered defective, but my main point is if it's within spec, it should not be considered defective, and these threads are giving everyone the impression that if a person has even a slight blueish tint on their back light that their display is defective, and that is simply not true.

    The only time I really use by backlight is if I am doing a workout in the dark and need to glance at it every once in a while to see my stats or if i'm in a dark room and want to see what time it is, so the backlight to me is not a critical part of the device as long as I can see it.

    I just think these threads have gotten way out of control and giving many people a false sense of something that may not be an actual defect.

    I hope your replacement is good enough to make you stay with Garmin, and if you decide to go with Suunto or Polar, you should know that they have way worse problems than a bluish backlight. I have owned many Suunto and Polar devices so I know a lot about them as well.

    Good luck.

  • Thanks for sharing your opinion in this thread...I really wish that on Thursday I will open a watch to keep...

    One thing that really annoyed me is that the official answer that Garmin has given, to the retailer I purchased it from, was that the watch was within specs without taken the time to have a look at a photo of the watch. The retailer told me that he called Garmin reffering the return and the reason and they told him that the watch is within specs. 

    I will keep you posted with the outcome.