Fenix 6s Pro Solar or 6s Pro or something else?

I can get a 6s Pro for USD350 or 6s Pro Solar for USD399. Which would you choose and why? While I like the idea of having solar power assist, seems energy gain is <5% even in sunny places like California so not sure that justifies the price difference.

Also, 6s Pro is marginally thinner (~0.4mm) & lighter (~1g) than 6s Pro Solar so I'm leaning towards 6s Pro.

Considered Instinct 2s Solar and while I don't mind the grayscale display (heck I used the original Fenix for 4years), it doesn't have the mapping capabilities I want (unless I'm mistaken).

Fenix 7 is beyond my price range.

Have been a huge Garmin fan since 2009 (Forerunner 50) and while I've tried competitors (Motorola, Nike, Amazfit, Apple), always find myself going back to Garmin.

My Vivosport has gone past 4yrs and still love it to bits (amazingly the battery life on GPS is as good as day 1 and I have thousands of miles of stats to prove it :)) but since Garmin hasn't released a new GPS enabled band, think it's time to upgrade to a different form factor. I looked at Fitbit's GPS enabled band and frankly, didn't see it as a worthwhile upgrade from my Vivosport.

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful advice!

Joe

(Forerunner 50 > Forerunner 310XT > Fenix > Vivoactive HR > Vivosport > ???)

0 pamarunkov over 2 years ago

I have used the Fenix 6 pro Sphire Solar watch for 2 years. Bought a Fenix 7 Saphire Solar 2 weeks ago. The main benefit of the Fenix 7, besides the longer battery life, more accurate multi-band GPS, is that there is no lag when changing heart rate. Fenix 7 captures any change in heart rate and shows the real heart rate. The Fenix 6 had a huge lag when changing heart rate, and some fast changes didn't register at all. Therefore, it is better to save money to buy Fenix 7.

0 JCLEIGH over 2 years ago in reply to pamarunkov

pamarunkov - thanks for your thoughtful comments - as well as everyone else who responded. Let's face it Fenix needs to release new iterations as often as possible and as a consumer, it's up to us to decide if latest and greatest is worth full mark-up or we're happy purchasing a previous gen at a discount. F7 is definitely nice - and I'll add the touchscreen significantly enhances the user experience over 5 physical buttons, but me personally, I couldn't justify the price difference. For me, it was deciding whether to hang onto my vivosport for another 2 years (or whenever it died) until Fenix 8 is released and F7 can be purchased at a discount or going for the F6 now. I chose the latter and super happy with the decision!

Think it comes down to personal preference. Happy Holidays Everyone!

(Forerunner 50 > Forerunner 310XT > Fenix > Vivoactive HR > Vivosport > Fenix 6S Pro Solar)