The review from The Quantified Scientist is out for the Fenix 7 (Youtube)

jsanneblad said:

Well his tests are done with n=1 person. And he doesn't test running, only cycling and weight lifting.

If he added me to the group, n=2, then the results would be completely different. 

Well, the more you move the wrist the worse the measurements get. If you get average results while cycling I don't expect good measurements while running. Plus, as he pointed out, for the very same activities other watches (all of them cheaper, some much, much cheaper) performed much better, so it would be odd to expect (hope?) good results just for running.

In the end the best solution is to pair an HR strap for every activity you care about HR values, as I do.

Regarding sleep, YMMV, but I -do- care a lot about it and knowing that both Fenix 6 and 7 are poor in that regard doesn't make me happy. Add that much cheaper Garmin watches with the very same HR sensor perform much better is a nonsense to me.

The result would not be different, if you only tested running and he didn't it would still just be the 1 person that tested the specific activities. You are not influencing a test result of weight training (with the same exercises) and cycling if you didn't do that.

I can only speak about me of course and can compare the F6x HR accuracy and GPS to the F7x and the 7x is by far more accurate. I used HRM Pro to test it both while running and while biking. I will need to test the hiking profile too since this is where my F6x struggled the most (it has to do with the algorithm since in walking mode - used for hiking - the HR was spot on).

PLEASE NOTE: I use Garmin Nylon strap and this was the BEST improvement I applied to the F6x and now to the F7x since it keeps the watch from bouncing if too loose or from wearing it too much tight (no good for blood flow).

Do not forget that the Fenix is much more heavy watch (I have hit it in wall and rocks while the Galaxy Watch 3 I had, minor hit and the watch is useless) and can bounce if not properly tight on the wrist compared to all the smart watches. By using the Nylon band the watch sits firmly on your wrist (not too tight, not too lose). This greatly improved the OHR and the metrics connected to it.

Another point (at least from Quantified Scientist) is that Apple does not support sleep stages. It only shows sleep or awake (at least this is what I remember seeing in his videos).

The GPS on the F7x compared to the F6x and to Suunto 9 (this one is also very good) is one of the best (I didn't test the multiband still on trails).

The Pulse OX on the F7x is much closer to the medical device that I tested than the F6x, but I have found that if I use the watch on my right hand the OX levels are almost identical to the medical compared to my left hand where it always shows 2 - 5 % less. This may have to do with the fact that I have 'burned' the skin at my left hand from ~10 years wearing OHR enabled devices.

I will not even mention the battery, robustness, navigation and the outdoor-sy profile of the Fenix vs AW.

xyan said:

Another point (at least from Quantified Scientist) is that Apple does not support sleep stages. It only shows sleep or awake (at least this is what I remember seeing in his videos).

I agree, that's the only serious limitation on the AW. The API for HealthKit at this time only support three states: "inBed", "asleep" and "awake", thus won't monitor sleep stages. The hardware is perfectly capable to detect them, so I bet it would be added in a future iOS release, maybe already this June at WWDC.

Sleep monitoring is a very recent introduction for Apple, so maybe they didn't feel the need tu support this level of detail where the watch wasn't able to track the sleep. I still think they should have added support for sleep stages for external devices to record them, but that's another story.

One strange bit of information in the video is the tremendously better sleep tracking of the vivomove sport both in reference to the Fenix 7 and the to the Venu 2 and 2plus...

Also here, I suggested form factor as a possible cause, the vivomove is weightless in respect to the Fenix, and much smaller. Only other possible explanation would be that it's got a better algorithm, which would make sense only in case Garmin is using this a test device for a newer more advanced algorithm.

Exactly. Quite frankly, this lack of uniformity in measurements quality, where paradoxically the (vastly) cheaper one is much, much better than the flagship model doesn't make any sense to me.

Agree... And additionally also myself found a tremendous difference passing to a nylon band and minding correct positioning for my Fenix 6, for hr accuracy and responsiveness... Maybe true that for a relatively big and heavy watch this is a big factor... Sleep tracking relais a lot on hr reading I guess, so could impact also on this.

Maybe the square shape of the AW is contributing as well to it's generally very good performances, IDK

Sleep tracking always depends on the individual, how you sleep, how much it differs from being awake, etc. For me, sleeptracking on Fitbit didn't work at all. I'd end up with about 30 wake-ups each night while I'm just someone who rotates when sleeping. The Fenix seems to be a bit less sensitive in that respect. Overall, I find the explanatory text to the sleep tracking to be rather spot-on for me. Had a stressful day, might get a sleep like a stone or rubbish night. But of course I don't need a watch to tell me this as I know this myself. It's more fascination with what tech can do. HR sensor during 24/7 tracking is fine I'd say. During exercise it's very similar to what my external sensor measures.. if I bring it along. And sometimes it's connected, sometimes it isn't. Makes no difference for me, but if I want to record something on my phone, or get HR variation then that's the way to go of course.

Ok, can you post an video with F7 wrist HR monitor compared to older Fenix models. I really am not interested in toys like aw is, so can we get serious about tests?