For those fenix 6 owners considering a fenix 7 but still undecided...

I decided not to upgrade.

I have the 6X Pro with non-sapphire glass, got it for £350 in some Amazon sale in October last year as a stop gap from my S3 Apple Watch LTE.

I waited until release day but the F7X just, to me, seems a costly to little value upgrade so am holding out either for a new rugged Apple Watch (with better battery life) or a Fenix 8. 

My reasons are:

1. Really wanted LTE, so I could leave my phone at home and still be able to be in contact for emergency situations (for example I need the emergency services or my wife needs me urgently). Garmin were talking about incorporating Signal messenger into the LTE support but that seems to have died off. I'm a mountain biker and ride a lot of enduro/downhill so the LTE would be useful, I do understand though that it may not be useful for others.

2. Don't need any of the new functionality the F7 brings.

3. The bugs Garmin inevitably brings with new software/hardware. I can't afford the watch to be another Garmin beta test case, so holding off until they hopefully improve this (doesn't solve the waiting until F8 line though I know). How they've managed to screw up some of the displays (blue tints) after years to rectify the issues in production with the F6 I don't know...

I decided not to upgrade too, screen being to reflective and no multiband on non saphire beeing prime reasons, also no significant new features. 

Only thing bugging me are those nice clean accurate GSP tracks F7 and Epix have (even on GPS only setting) while I need to wear my other way around (inner wrist) to get average tracks at best.

I'm in the same situation, I have 6 Sapphire and Stryd and I don't justify extra cash for 7 even with new 'features'. I saw it and I don't like the screen and don't care for touchI. ll keep until fails.

I'm keeping my 6s saphire (and my 5s saphire and 5s plus). Had them at bargain so money is relevant. However, having  a small wrist, i'd consider upgrading to an Epix 2s or a a fenix 7s saphire NON-solar, as I find the solar ring so ugly (and I don't practice activities that long).

There's no small Epix 2s. It's all in the size of the Fenix 7. Which is why I'd not even consider the Epix 2, having tiny wrists as well.

I have had a F6x for 2.3 years, and it has been fantastic for me. I love the functionality, the battery life and the big screen. There is nothing in the F7x to justify the cost for me - a few nice new features sure, but nothing significant enough for me to upgrade.

I am waiting for an Epix in the 7x size. That will be my next watch.

Steve said:

I do actually have a Stryd pod but have found this (perhaps oddly with some recent firmware updates?) to sometimes give inconsistent distance and instant pace readings (although this should not at all be impacted by watch firmware?) and then there's the calibration factor for different trainers which I often forget to set before the run

A lot of people have found the same thing with Stryd - there was a long 'Stryd is not all its cracked up to be' thread here and I'd say it was 50-50% if people were happy with it - rather like with GPS in all honesty. The reddit Stryd forum is full of moans about people running a marathon etc and coming up 1/2 a mile short! So  it's a solution with iffy credibility IMHO.

Like you I find it inconsistent and will tend to measure short by just over 2% short per mile which also impacts the pace. Calibration helps but you only have one calibration offset and distance accuracy changes with pace - it comes up long on fast runs, and short on slow runs which just 1 calibration figure cannot solve - and also it changes with shoes as you say as well. Someone did a test on Youtube wearing 4 Stryds at once - 2 per shoe, and got 4 different results....so I'd say your results are typical not unusual.

I have always thought the 'buy a £200 pod to improve the accuracy of your £800 watch' pretty specious too be honest, as in many scenarios GPS is going to be more accurate for distance anyway. I find a Polar V800 solves the pace issue - it looks daft running with 2 watches, but long sleeves sorts that.

I have no problem with GPS distance although pace is of course nonsense, but a rolling average 5s datafield can help a lot without buying a new watch - and during a race I find average pace is fine.

I decided to update fenix 6 sapphire on Epix 2. Apart from the buttons that work differently, I am very happy. Epix does not have the two most disturbing disadvantages of fenix 6, the first does not underestimate the distance and pace of the run in the forest, and secondly, the music on the Airpods pro works without interruption. The watch catches the GPS signal in my home bathroom where I have no windows. The secondary display is great for viewing the map. The battery is sufficient, I charged it 7 days ago, I had 2 x 1 hour running workouts with music and the best GPS accuracy setting, I still have 35% of the battery and 6 days of work.

Exactly my point ! If they ever release an Epix 2s, I even think i'd upgrade to an Epix 2s Saphire, because the multiband GPS seems to be working great.

I've been wearing a Fenix 1/2/3 for years and did not care much about the size but now that I tried the 5s/5s+/6s, I'm wondering how could I wear those huge watches.... I tried a regular Fenix 6 and honestly, it still looks too big as compared to a fenix 6s which is even smaller than the 5s+ and 5s (lug to lug at least).