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Really questioning my $1250 purchase!

Former Member
Former Member over 5 years ago

So I bought the Fenix 6 Pro Solar. Cost me $1000. Then I had to buy a metal band. That's another $250. So already I have $1250 invested, plus tax. Since day one I've had nothing but issues.

First, the watch came with a 2 ft proprietary charging cord and no outlet hub/box. So right off the bat, if I don't have a laptop or desktop computer with an open USB port, I can't charge my phone. Even if I went out and spent the extra money to get a outlet hub/box, the 2 ft cord wouldn't reach any desk or nightstand. So I would have to charge my $1250 watch on the floor. I'm not sure about most people, but me; I am not partial to throwing my hard earned money on the floor.... Maybe I'm weird like that. Tried calling support, for their selling feature of no outlet box or long cord, and they responded with we don't have any long cords and we don't want to send out another outlet box/hub because so many other companies already have them...... Seriously? Then why don't you STOP MAKING PROPRIETARY EQUIPMENT!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. My laptop is on the fritz and I can't charge at work. So how else am I supposed to charge my watch? On the floor, that's how. Thank you Garmin!

Second. My sensors can't seem to make up there mind. First my elevation is at 21 feet, after a GPS calibration,  then it jumps to 60 ft, now it's 91 ft. I'm pretty sure driving back and forth to work in the last week of having this watch hasn't caused the entire state to rise by 70 feet from the time i calibrated the sensor to today...... So, how does your sensor screw up that bad? For $1250, you may want to fix that. I'm seriously ready to send this watch back and get a Samsung watch for about a third the price, maybe less features, but I'm sure less headache too.

Third. Weather app isn't working. Read through the forum thread and they apparently fixed it 2 months ago with an update. Yeah, I guess I just one of the lucky ones. The temperature has been stuck at one temp for a week now. All my apps are updated according to Garmin Connect and Garmin IQ. 

Last, but not least. The solar feature. I have a Citizen Eco-Drive watch. I've had it for 6 years and counting. Great watch. It charges with the sun. I've never had to worry about my battery. It just charges. I spent all day outside with this Fenix watch and I didn't even charge up a couple of hours towards my battery life. I have the battery data showing and it never moved. So I'm wonder, what solar feature is Garmin talking about? Is it really worth the extra $300, give or take, from the Fenix 6x Pro Sapphire series? 

In conclusion. Is this watch really worth the price? No. It's not. In 5 years the watch's value will be about half, or less (most likely way less), then it is now. You are basically paying for a name.

With that being said, they have some good activity tracker apps. So if you are always active, IE: running, jogging, golfing (my favorite app and feature) etc etc etc then go with the Fenix 5 or 4 and save yourself a butt-load of money. Wait a year or two and this watch will be cheaper. Because it's new, it has flaws. Just not worth it. I will most likely return mine. 

I hope this see other well. I know not every watch is the same. I'm probably just the lucky (or very unlucky) one that gets to experience all the flaws of the watch.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    I have a 6X Pro Solar. Everything is working fine. Awoke with 82% battery this am, spent 2 hrs in the sun. Now it's 2015 and I still have 82% battery. Very happy with my purchase.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    I am not sure that even the solar charging is a valid argument.  That information was readily available that the solar only adds about 10%, etc, etc.  To me it feels like it is more of buy now, ask questions later, read specs and description later, etc. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    Nobody made you buy a $250 band. And you aren't complaining about the band, so I don't understand why you even brought it up. Actually, I do - you wanted to inflate the price of the watch to make your other complaints seem more justified.

    Short cable: Sorry to hear that your laptop is "on the fritz" and doesn't have working USB ports, but how is that Garmin's fault? Have you never heard of USB extension cables? They didn't include a USB wall adapter because that would be silly, everyone already has drawers full of those and another one would be pointless. Since the watch is useless without being paired with a phone or tablet, Garmin rightly assumed you probably have a phone/tablet charger you could use with your watch. And as others have mentioned, you can buy longer charging cables online for a couple dollars. It's ridiculous to say that the only way for you to charge your watch is by "throwing it on the floor". Come on.

    Elevation accuracy: You're complaining about 70 feet of barometric sensor drift over the course of a day. Sorry to hear about your unrealistic expectations and misunderstanding of how barometric pressure sensors work.

    Weather not working: Don't know what to tell you, it's working for everyone else, you probably configured something wrong.

    Solar not charging enough: Sorry to hear that you bought the watch without doing any research. Garmin plainly states that the solar feature is for supplementing the battery, helping to extend how long a charge lasts by a few hours or days. That does NOT mean that it will forever keep the watch charged and you'll never need to plug it in again. It was never meant to increase the battery percentage, it is only meant to reduce the rate at which the battery percent decreases. You clearly didn't undertand that when you bought it, and still don't. Now sure why that's Garmin's fault.

    In conclusion, sorry to hear that you bought the highest-end Fenix model and an optional $250 band without understanding anything at all about any of it.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    You sound like the person that bought this watch for the wrong reasons. If you did some research before your purchase you would have known that the solar is kinda useless, that is why I never went for the Solar and enjoy my Sapphire edition. This watch is not comparable to a normal watch or smart watch, THIS IS A SPORT WATCH. For sport athlete's this watch is awesome. I can track my swimming, mountain biking perfectly with it. so yeah you can only blame yourself for being stupid not to read reviews before you purchase I guess. I knew about the solar. I know about the value will be close to nothing in 5 years. I didn't buy this watch for those purposes. I bought for what it can do to help me with my sports. You seem like a no sports person. So go get a Galaxy watch or an Apple watch......

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

    Solar is kinda useless? Well, that depends. I’m guessing you’re Dutch? Here in Australia, 2hrs in the sun yesterday meant I went to bed with the same battery percentage as I woke up with. I didn’t complete any activities but still - I would have seen at least a 4-5% drop during the day without solar.

    I’m kinda interested to see what happens when I’m back at work and spend more than 2hrs in the sun per day.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Yeah I am Dutch. But living in Singapore.

    The solar is not totally useless. Just don't expect to get a full charge from it.

    As soon as you do activities it drops faster then it can charge.

    Btw the battery is very good of the Fenix 6x sapphire, I guess for all Fenix 6 models.

    My battery easily last 13 days with HR, Vo2 constantly on, and use gps for my sports.

  • +1 over 5 years ago

    Send it back. Simple. 

    Many of us on here are happy with our watches. 

    I love my 6x pro. 

    Yeah there are faults now and then, but all manufacturers have faults. 

    The USB thing is a petty complaint. They supply a basic lead and if you want something longer, you can buy your own. I did. Straight on to amazon and got a dock for peanuts with a longer lead. 

    Doesn’t matter what cable you supply, someone’s always going to want longer or shorter. They sell usb leads on amazon up to several feet. Who wants that? Not me, but clearly someone does. My partner however loves her short lead and sticks with that. Garmin can’t send out three or four leads of varying size just in case in the box, it would be a waste. 

    As for the lack of plug, yeah I’d prefer one with my Fenix, but again - I have loads of these. I’ve got a couple spare from phone purchases and other devices so it’s not the end of the world. I’ve even got my old Garmin one from my Fenix 3HR. 

    The rest of the watch I’m happy with. I do wish Garmin would fire their software team and get some decent developers in, but most of the time it’s great. I’m keeping mine. But I’d suggest you send yours back if you dislike it so much. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    this watch isn't for you.  Keep your Citizen Eco-Drive (I've got one of those- great watch). 

    The watch does a hundred things very well, and no other watch out there does as much.  If you are a multisport athlete that likes a lot of data, perhaps it's for you.  If you want a watch that tells time and has a long battery life and a nice case, there are many others that are better.  The solar power addition is really just a gimmick at this point- not enough surface area in that little ring around the display to provide much power.  

    FWIW- the altitude differences you are seeing are based on the barometric pressure sensor.  Since barometric pressure changes hour by hour, even a couple hundred feet difference in a day isn't uncommon.  the purpose of having the sensor is for precision, not accuracy (i.e. if you are doing an activity and climb 30ft, it will see that climb, where GPS based altitude alone might not see it accurately).  

    there are some longer power cords for about $8 on amazon.