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How satisfied are you with your fenix 6 / 6Pro / 6Pro Solar in overall ending 2024?

Diego
6 months ago

Hello ppl. As the title says, how satisfied are you with your series 6 watch (any models) in ending of 2024?

I was owned fenix 3hr, Fenix 5 standard and today have a fenix 6 sapphire. Last year I bought a forerunner 255, but his plastic body and cheap appearance, made me sell him. I bought a fenix 6 sapphire, in overall, the gps is a little bit weak than my fr 255 (im always using only gps Mode without dual band on 255 cuz the precision was good enought for me) and on fenix 6 is good, but not almost perfect if compare to 255.

The heart hate acc in rest or without any activity, is good on both watches. During exercices (running and hiking) is ok, maybe correct on 75-85% of time, but inferior than fr 255 elevate 4 gen (80-95% accuracy on my experiments) . Fenix is heavier than 255, then I always use a nylon Strap to adjust him in my whirst.

The altimeter work flawless on both watches. 

And maps are a game changing because I like do hiking and is way better real maps than breadcumb navigation.

In overall, I rly like my fenix 6 sapphire 47mm, and Im very happy with him, I know I made some downgrades, but its ok for me.

I give him a final note of 85 / 100. Probably Ill keep him until 2026, than finnaly go to fenix 7 Pro series.

And you guys, how happy are you with your old friend series 6??? Or unhappy??

Let US know your experience with a 5 years old watch release. 

  • 0 6 months ago

    While using my Fenix 6X Pro Solar Titanium as a second device, for all run workouts, trailruns, navigation, maps, recording tracks of weekend trips, livetracks during travel and making up for some shortcomings of my Forerunner 955, I give it a solid 8 out of 10:

    -1 for the maps not being as colorful as they used to be,

    -1 for navigation missing directional arrows

    -.5 for the barometer not having min/max indications whenever the pressure differential is > 10 mbar, 

    -.5 for inadequate or lack of response to many bugs reported in the beta program

    +1 for the UI being MIP friendly and easy to read even with less than optimal vision, plenty white backgrounds in watchfaces and apps.

    Actually, a 9.

    Forgot a +1 for the battery being user-replacable.

    If it ever breaks, I will get another one of the exact same type, no matter what.

  • 0 6 months ago

    I have the 6 pro titanium since 5 years now (bought it for 999€ right when it came out).

    I like it a lot- still works great. Even the battery life has not decreased yet - still 14 days in Smartwatch mode. Also the sapphire glas is still in excellent shape - no scratches whatsoever. The Titanium bezel shows some wear and tear, but that's absolutely normal. As a sports watch, I use it mainly for hiking and for this purpose the watch has every function I need. The accuracy of GPS, heart rate, altimeter, etc. are all very sufficient for my usage pattern, even though I often read complaints from others regarding this topic.

    However, there are also some cons and those are all software related - no deal breakers of course, but just annoying and some very basic & easily fixable by Garmin if they wanted to:

    - After each firmware update battery life degrades, but magically stabilises back to normal after some time

    - I don't like that the watch doesn't warn you, when the activity is manually paused and you are already back on trail forgetting to restart it. Due to this, I lost many miles of hiking in my activity recordings.

    - I don't like that if an activity is paused too long, the activity will be stopped & saved automatically rather than switched to "resume later". Due to this behaviour, a day hike will be fragmented into pieces and there is no way to merge those pieces afterwards on the go with the help of software right on the watch. 

    -  The software to plan a track (explore or connect) is a pain to use on mobiles. I often plan my trips only with the help of my smartphone. My Workaround: I use OSMAnd and transfer the tracks via IQMapReceiver. This worked great for a long time. However, Garmin changed something in the software and now I am no longer able to transfer those tracks without a cell phone connection (IQMapReceiver only needs Bluetooth, but Garmin decided to block the connection if no internet connection is present - there's a bug report for years now). And in addition, I am no longer able to transfer a track while an activity is currently running - a function, that I need often e.g. If I re-plan my route on the go. 

    - And last: Garmin, please provide a functionality to mount the watch's file system on a smartphone. I want to be able to change/access maps, tracks & data on the go. And Garmin Express for Android/iOS would also be great - as a long distance hiker, I normally don't have access to a PC.

    Other than that I have absolutely no complaints. 

    I was tempted to buy the fenix 8 solar MIPS version as an upgrade (I don't like the amoled screens). However, the ugly sensor guard colour ("yellow"!) is a deal breaker for me. I wear my watches all the time - not only for sports/hiking. And such an expensive watch should look decent also in e.g. business settings. Therefore, I will stick to my fenix 6 pro titanium for longer, hoping the next version addresses my issue or perhaps switch to another brand. But as said before: no pressure, since the watch still holds up extremely well.

  • 0 6 months ago

    I’m very satisfied with my 6X, which remains my trusted daily driver and training companion. It’s been reliable through countless runs, bike rides, and adventures. The only issue I’ve had was during a summer vacation when a swim activity started mismeasuring distance while I was standing still, forcing me to discard it. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

    In contrast, my 7X Pro has mostly gathered dust since I bought it. While faster than the 6X, frequent software issues make it unreliable. I’ve seen reports of watches restarting during activities, and though I haven’t experienced this, it’s enough to shake my confidence in using it for long adventures.

  • 0 5 months ago

    An update from my side: Yesterday the heart rate sensor stopped working (green lights are off). I tried all the usual things to "repair", there is even a complete thread in this forum covering this issue. But no luck - it works for some time and suddenly stops working again after some minutes. Well, this might mean, I soon need a new watch... Satisfaction is now somewhat "reduced" Wink