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F7X : Why did they add this Flashlight ?

falconeye75
over 3 years ago

Hi,

The Fenix 7X looks very promising with lot of improvement, hope this time GPS accuracy will be fine... But why did they add this plastic Flashlight that will impact the watch Toughness ? Il will scratch easily, flashlight can't be changed.... It looks like a transparent plastic on the the watch lug...

I would prefer not having this gadget... They made an effort with HR sensor making it enchassed in metal with the sensor itself made of glass and they add another weak part to the watch... Unbelievable...

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Dan.Boilermaker

    Ahhhh…Cadence.  I’ll have to see how that works.  I watched the initial video and I thought it served two purposes…flash light and a safety strobe for night running.  I recall it flashing white and red.  Anyhow…Cadence is very useful if it works.  

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Dan.Boilermaker

    So I paid more attention to the cadence during my run last night.  Indeed the white LED flashed every fourth forward arm swing.  So maybe not random, as I initially thought. 

    When you say it recently worked "right of the bat", do you mean it flashed with every forward arm swing (not just every fourth), or that it flashed with every fourth arm swing from the very beginning of the run?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to kskilskyj
    kskilskyj said:
    that it flashed with every fourth arm swing from the very beginning of the run?

    This one.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Garmin added the flashlight for obvious reasons: it's perfectly suited to the watch's "outdoor and recreation" intended usage, is very useful to anyone and it's a big selling point, everyone loves it (statistically speaking). And I personally wished it would also be available on the Fenix 7 but...oh well :).

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 6447640

    I really love the flashlight. Wish the Epix had it, too. 

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 6447640

    One guy on Reddit wrote that he's actually buying the 7X literally only for the flashlight, with no plan to use the watch for anything else other than telling time Smiley To him, it was worth $800 to have a flashlight always on his wrist and always available, because he frequently gets up in the middle of the night to care for a disabled infant, and doesn't want to always have to look around for his phone or a flashlight.

    It's an extreme example, but it highlights the value the flashlight can have. It totally sounds like a gimmick at first, but honestly the value of always have a flashlight attached to your body 24/7 can be a really big deal for a lot of people.

    There are tons of other scenarios where it would be extremely useful to have a flashlight attached to you when you otherwise wouldn't have a phone or flashlight immediately available. Standing in the shower when the electricity goes out, hearing a noise outside your tent at night while camping, making your way to the kitchen for a glass of water in the middle of the night, the list goes on and on.

    In the 2 weeks I've had a 7X, I've used my flashlight dozens, maybe even hundreds of times. It certainly isn't the reason I chose the 7X (I would have chosen it anyways, without the flashlight), but it has proven to be worth its weight in gold to me.