How flexible is the configuration of fenix 6 watches

You can remove (and add back) unwanted activity types entirely. You can add your preferred apps to a favourites list to appear at the top of the pile and sequence the favourites and non favourites as you like. You can create new activity types from existing ones, for convenience on the watch and in customising screens the suit. However, these don't integrate so well back into the Garmin ecosystem as it won't understand Greek Snail Racing as a thing. The data will be there, but probably classified as the original activity type. I don't use this feature so I'm not sure of the exact details of operation.

Software is not updated to a fixed schedule. It comes when it's ready, but since the 6 series is now on firmware 16.70 it averages about once per month. Beta versions are made available in these forums if you care to test ahead of release. Official updates are via Garmin Express on PC or Mac or via mobile phone app sync. APAC {Asia Pacific) software lags the rest of the world in timeframe and does not get betas to try.

The 5 series continues to receive updates, as does the 5 plus series - just check the respective forums - so support is certainly for a few years after initial market release. Software updates both add new features and fix bugs.

I own a 3HR (no more updates) 5X+ and 6X Pro Solar. There is definitely some pain to be felt by early adopters, but even the 6 series is maturing at last. Still some unhappy owners though. It will never be perfect, but it may be good enough. Is there anything as fully featured as a better alternative? I'm not sure, and I'm not looking, but probably not

Wow, that sounds pretty flexible. Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. That helps a lot!

Here is an example of activity management from the mobile app. Favourites are at the top, then others on the watch, then removed apps. 

Also check out the CIQ store for loads of third party apps to cover all sorts of additional needs beyond Gamin's included offerings. 

eezytiger's response is excellent, I was going to write something similar. as well.

I'll only add that the watch is something I would call a "highly customizable fixed architecture", if that makes any sense. I made up that term just now ;) Basically what I mean is, the operating system and menu structure is static, it is the same for everyone and can't be changed. But almost everything else can be customized.

For example:

• You cannot change the fact that widgets exist, or how you access them; however, you can add or remove any widgets you want, change their order, and change how they get displayed (1 at a time, or 3 at a time)
• You cannot change how you access and start your activities; however you can fully customize which activities are in the list, and what order they're in. You can easily create your own activities if there's a similar built-in activity (ie, making a Snowshoe activity based on a copy of the Hike activity), or you can even download 3rd-party activities like Inline Skating, etc. You can also make "multisport" activities which combine several activities into one, and use the Lap button to switch to the next activity. Then it saves them all as one multipsport activity, but you can still view the stats/map/etc for each sub-activity individually later. For example, I made a multisport activity called "4x4 / Hike", where it starts with a custom activity I made called "4x4" and records my offroad driving to get to a hiking trailhead, then it switches to Hike and records my hike, then after that it switches back to 4x4 again and records my return offroad drive. The other common example for a multisport activity would be biathlons, triathlons, etc.
• You cannot change the basic design of an activity (how it uses datascreens and datafields as its UI), but you can absolutely customize what datascreens and datafields you want it to show, or not show, and in what order.

In addition, the settings for the various aspects of the watch are virtually endless. For example, one person's Run activity could look, feel, and function COMPLETELY differently than another person's Run activity, just based on each person's needs and desires.

And then, obviously, the sky is the limit in terms of watchfaces. You can use any of the dozen or so built-in watchface layouts (and customize the data, colors, etc), or you can download any one of thousands of different 3rd-party watchfaces. Or if you're technically inclined, you can even make your own watchfaces from scratch.

Regarding ongoing updates, I would expect the Fenix 6 is starting to get to the point where they're not going to be adding a lot of new major features from now on, as Garmin is going to start moving their development focus to newer watches in the coming months, but bugfix updates and minor feature additions are likely to continue for at least the next 2-3 years. The Fenix line is one of their 3 or 4 "flagship" watches, and they tend to support them for quite a long time.

the configuration is quite flexible, don't let the pre-defined activities lead you to think they've locked everything down and you have to choose from their pre-defined options.  I could probably write an entire page on all the possible things you can do but just to scratch the surface you can configure each screen of each activity (activities typically have multiple screens available) to have 3, 4, 5, or even more data fields depending on the model, then decide what data goes in each field and where its located on the screen. You can decide which activities show up when you hit the start button, and which are hidden.

If you're into programming, there's a free development kit available and you can write your own apps and do literally anything you want with the screen.

I'd recommend downloading the user manual and look in there for a few more specifics as to what can be done.

5693709 said:

I'd recommend downloading the user manual and look in there for a few more specifics as to what can be done.

Also Youtube is a great resource. Try some searches for things like "configuring activities", etc.

Just the datascreen/datafield setup deserves a whole book by itself, it's quite an intensive process if you really dig into it. For most of my more frequently used activities (like Hiking, Running, etc), I pretty much scrapped the default datascreens entirely, and constructed my own from scratch.

Yep the flexibility is great.

I like having a 1km autolap for road running, and 5km for trails. When I started doing structured workouts, I didn't want the autolap so GC would show the stages of the workout properly. So i copied the Run Activity, called the new activity Workouts and switched off autolap for that activity and added some different fields.

Really useful!

Thank you to everyone who as responded. You have helped a lot!